Day 42: Everybody look at me, I’m on a Boat

Day 42: Everybody look at me, I’m on a Boat

I went on a boat. It took us to two islands in the bay of Salvador.

First we wrote a giant elevator that takes you from the upper level of the city to the lower level. Salvador is a very hilly city and there are huge winding roads everywhere.

Then we saw the Mercado modelo, which is the building where they would keep the slaves before they would sell them. That’s where they would weigh them and show them off to slave owners. If one of the slaves was aggressive they would put him in the basement. The Mercado is literally 15 feet from the beach, when the tide would come in, it would drown whoever was down there.

The boat ride took us to two islands. The first one had the clearest most beautiful water I have ever seen. I wanted to swim out forever, but there were jelly fish, so I stayed very close to the shore.

On the boat there was a samba band. They played everyone’s favorite song, Ai se eu te pego. They were really funny. I tipped them well because I felt bad that when their hat got to me there wasn’t much in there. There are people who work hard in brazil, and make very little money, it makes me feel appreciative for what I have.

The boat ride to the next island was really rough on the water. We ended up on a small island which had a few locals. Some of the group took a tour of the city. I decided to sleep on a hammock, when in Bahia, do as the Bahians do, right? There is a joke that the people of Bahia, the state we are in, are really lazy, I just wanted to experience the culture on a hammock.

When we got home, I again watched community and just slept. It was a fantastic day.