(Pronounced bonjh-jhi)
Good morning! It is a beautiful day in Brazil and the sun is shining! I am just constantly amazed and blown away at the way of life and how rich the culture is here in Salvador. Salvador is located in the northeast part of the state of Bahia. It is also the third largest city in Brazil. It is right on the coast and the ocean view is absolutely beautiful. About 85% of the population in Bahia are Afro-Brazilians and many are descendants of those that were involved with slavery. The reason for the high concentration of Afro-Brazilians in Salvador is because it is a coastal town which has a port where many slaves were deported from. Another little fact is that slavery was not abolished in Brazil until 1888, which is of course much later than other countries took action. Never have I seen a group of people so rich and connected with their culture.
The past few days have been a little bit of a rollercoaster for the group. We have bonded really well as a group and we have also gotten comfortable with where we are staying, but as we found out we may have gotten a little too comfortable with our location. On Wednesday the group was walking from the beach to come back to the convent in the afternoon in small groups of 3-5 people. Well along the way people were taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful scenery. This attracted some unwanted attention and each of our small groups were held up at gunpoint by some Brazilians and the electronics that everyone had were taken. Needless to say we quickly realized how comfortable we had become and therefore we became less aware of our surroundings and what was happening. Please do not think that I am in an unsafe part of Brazil or that the people are bad because that is NOT the correct thing to think. Instead, we learned a lesson as a group and that we just need to be careful and more aware of what we carry. Yes, Brazil is an exciting and fun place to be, but there are dangers and risks associated with this country and it is a fact of living life as a Brazilian. Not only do foreigners get robbed, but many locals are also robbed. Our directors at our program told us to expect it to happen again and to just be aware.
DISCLAIMER: If you see that I am not uploading a lot of pictures on Facebook, it is because I am not taking pictures at this time...maybe later. I don't want to attract any unnecessary attention that may place me in a bad situation until I feel more comfortable.
On Thursday we had a full day of learning about our schedule, expectations for our assignments, and also discussion of our Independent Research Project (ISP). I am tossing around some ideas for my ISP currently that include: dissecting the chain and flow of command in the hospital and looking at effective communication; holistic healing in the Candomble religion; Hepatitis A,B, and C treatment in pediatrics. Healthcare is free to everyone because they do have socialized medicine in Brazil. According to our instructors this system, SUS, has many pros and cons and throughout the semester we will be exploring them.
Anyways, after a long and boring day of syllabus and assignment instructions we got to leave the convent and took a bus to Pelourinho, the historical district of Salvador. While here we went to a theatre and watched a Ballet Folclorico. Here we saw many traditional Afro-Brazilian dances. This was one of the most culturally enriching experiences that I have ever witnessed. The performance included dances to the Candomble's gods (Ogum, Oxum, Omolu, Iansa, Oxossi, and Xango), a fisherman's dance, a dance performed by the slaves in the Brazilian colonial period, a Capoeira dance (Capoeira is a African fight brought to Brazil by the slaves from Angola), and lastly the famous SAMBA! I would love to try to explain to you in words how awesome and beautiful this experience was, but I could not do justice. (If you would like to check out the dance company here is the link: http://www.balefolcloricodabahia.com.br)
Today we had conversations about the many tropical diseases and how to best protect yourself from them. Later today we will go to the Federal Police in Brazil and get pictures taken, and later tonight we get to read our letters from out host home. Then tomorrow we finally we get to meet them and we begin our 8 weeks of living with them!
Until next time remember..."The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust
No comments:
Post a Comment