Pelourinho, Capoeira, Olodum - Salvador, Brazil

We haven't had internet for 6 days so we apologize for not posting anything for almost a week.

Yesterday we flew from Rio de Janeiro to Salvador, Bahia.  The flight was 2 hours and we arrived around 5 pm.  We took a city bus from the airport to our hotel (more like a hostel) in the historic Pelourinho district of Salvador.  We were on the bus for 2 hours and 20 minutes.  We had 2 rooms at the hotel, one with A/C and one without.  It was about 90 degrees and super humid when it was time for bed so it was miserable for the kids who had to sleep in the non-A/C room.  The beds were terrible, very thin, with rock hard pillows.  We met a couple from Holland that was traveling for 4 weeks in Brazil and were staying in our hotel.  We stayed up talking to them for several hours and learned a lot about their country and their perception of the United States.  They spoke good English but no Portuguese.  A comment they made was that everyone learns English in Holland from the time they are 5 years old and most people have passports and travel outside their country regularly.  In the US the opposite is true, most people take only 2 years of foreign language in high school and learn very little and few people have passports and travel outside the US.  We are not sure why that is because the world is a huge, interesting place.

The next day we started out by visiting the beautiful catholic church of Sao Francisco that was built by the Portuguese in the 1400s.  The entire interior of the chapel, including the ceiling, is finished in gold leaf.  We also visited a museum about the history of Africans in Brazil and slavery.  Slavery began in Brazil in 1550 and officially ended in 1850.  More than 3 times as many African slaves were brought to Brazil as were to the US.  We also toured the cobblestone streets of the Pelourinho distric and did some shopping for souvenirs.  Michael Jackson visited the Pelourinho in Salvador, Brazil in 1996 and did a music video with the Olodum drumline and they still have a poster of him on the balcony where he danced in the video.  They charge $1 to stand on the balcony and get your picture taken.  We also ran into a group of students on a field trip.  They were so excited to practice their English with the kids and touch their blond hair.  One of the kids told Taryn she looked like an angel and one girl said she had never seen such beautiful blue eyes as Carson's.  We finished off the night by going to a capoeira school practice and watching an Olodum-in-training drumline.  Carson and Derek got a personal capoeira lesson from a few of the students.

Hanging out in our pousada hotel room.  

Cobblestone streets of the Pelourinho.

The Sao Francisco church from the outside.

Sao Francisco church from the inside.

One of the main squares in the Pelourinho.

The Olodum is a famous drumline band.

The balcony where Michael Jackson danced in a music video in 1996.  It is still a big deal here.

School group loved our kid's blue eyes and blond hair.

Derek doing capoeira.

Carson starting his capoeira fight.