First impressions

Seen just outside my hotel.

Friends, I come to you now from Salvador, Brazil, approximately 13° S, 38° 30' W. I'm camping out in my hotel at the moment, waiting on the afternoon rain storm to pass. I remember meeting a girl several years ago who had grown up in Malaysia, and she joked with me that she never had to check the weather. Every day, she said, was 75-80° F (24-30° C) and humid, with a rain storm in the afternoon. This must be a common weather pattern throughout the tropics, because I remember encountering the same thing in Samoa a few years ago, and Salvador is so far following suit. Humid, warm, rain in the afternoon. It's beginning to feel familiar.

Salvador is an interesting city. Of course, it's in an absolutely beautiful setting, but the city itself is a bit piece-meal. There are very nice, fancy tourist hotels, small businesses, restaurants, and boutiques, but there are also plenty of run-down or abandoned old buildings. I walked around a little bit, and several times I passed a row of structurally unsound houses with one remodeled gem stuck in the middle. Sometimes, the gem would be only remodeled on the inside (I saw a barber shop like this), so there was a disjunct in appareances from the inside to the outside.

Street view in Salvador. For the record, these buildings are
directly across from a military base and a very nice beach.

I actually stopped in at one boutique near my hotel, just to have a look. Brazilian salespeople are much more active - pushier, even - than American salespeople, and I quickly found myself surrounded. In broken Portuguese, I explained that I was just looking, but somehow, I ended up in the fitting room with 3 different employees bringing me dresses to try on. Nevertheless, I walked out of the store with two small things I really wanted and a deep sense of pride. I started learning Portuguese a little over a year ago, but my first real conversation in the language didn't happen until today. I was able to clarify to the saleswomen what I liked and didn't like, what I wanted and didn't want. When I apologized for my limited vocabulary, they complimented my pronunciation and my ability to commuicate. I count that as a win.

Whenever I visit a new place, my goal is to understand why it is the way it is. I try to learn the history, get a sense of the geography, talk to people and figure out what drives them. So far, Salvador strikes me as architecturally eclectic, but the people are less so. They're humans, born in a beautiful place with abundant beaches and a rich history. They go about their business. They jog, they sell, they drive, they dance. And I can't wait to get to know them.