Finding Salvador

Today hasn't really been a good day. I woke up with an acute pain in my jaw which hasn't really subsided. I think that my wisdom teeth are back...Yes, I mean BACK! I am not kidding when I say that they have grown back for a second time! (For the sake of entertainment: I had two sets of wisdom teeth removed, another another set of molars growing. What can I say, I am either very wise or a freak of nature!)

It being a lazy Sunday afternoon, I spent my time on Google maps, looking at satellite views of places that I plan to visit this summer. This process, which is probably one of my favourite things to do on the net, inspired me to write. And so I share the rest of my South America itinerary with you!

Last week I wrote about my travel plans for Venezuela. Today, I shall reveal my second destination: Salvador, in Bahia, Brazil. The trip to Salvador is by far the one I am looking forward to the most (out of tourist-y things that I am doing). Initially I was just going to fly to Rio de Janeiro, but after spending nearly $140.00 on a Brazilian visa, I figured I should see as much of the country as possible during my week-long stay there.

So, why Salvador? Well, I found out about this marvelous city through a course that I took back at the University of Toronto. At the time, I was in my fourth year, looking to feed my curiosity about the land of Soccer (futbol, I should say) and maybe learn a thing or two about music along the way. While a lot of the course's content had to do with samba and carnaval music, our professor, Dr. Packman spent a fair chunk of time introducing us to Brazil's fascinating North - Salvador, the birth place of Capoiera's fame and the epicenter for Brazilian Candomble. The more I learned about Salvador, the more I became enamored with its people and culture. I remember hearing a song by a famous Bahian ensemble, Ilê Aiyê, titled Que Bloco e Esse (YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJbmHF5DYYI). The song sparked a great passion within me - I knew that I had a special connection with the style, a connection that cannot be explained by my Belarusian upbringing and not my diligent studies in Western classical music. Nonetheless a connection that ignited a whole chain of events, including the hosting of a party in Brazil's honour, many evenings of watching Brazilian movies, and finally, the purchase of a Portuguese phrasebook.

It's hard to believe that three years later, I will be actually going to the place that I so often dreamed about. I will actually witness capoeira being played out on the streets, and hopefully even attend an authentic Candomble ritual. yes, I will hear the drumming live, its echoes ringing against the city's walls! For anyone who is interested in Bahian music, I would like to suggest a documentary that I recently took out from the library: Found Sounds Bahia, by David Zucker. In it, Zucker documents the creative process of a drumming ensemble named Lactomia; a group of young men who perform with instruments made solely from recycled materials. Their story is truly remarkable and inspiring, not to mention valuable for today's students and educators. I've included a link to a portion of the video below:

http://vimeo.com/11084459

If you aren't able to find the video, or don't think it's has room on your 'to watch' list, I would like encourage you to follow my photos of Salvador (when I actually get there) via this blog!