I spent a long day of finding a "nice beach" outside of town called Itapua, only to turn right back around and come back. By the time I got there (about an hour's bus ride,) the weather had gone south. I had an abara (the same as an acaraje, only the bean mash is boiled in a banana leaf) and took the bus right back.
Jenny managed to drag me off my ass, having been tired from nothing, to take a "free samba dance class" at the School of Angola Capoeira. It was a very basic class, but it was exactly what I needed to finally learn that crazy move that defines samba and differentiates it from the other african style dances I have learned. The one where their little asses are moving in a thousand different directions, but you're not really sure how because their upper body is completely still and relaxed. At the end of the lesson (which turned out not to be free at all, but a very cheap $5.50, something I expected but seemed to piss off the english girls on a tight budget) I think I had a pretty good grasp of it. Very exciting, considering that I had planned to spend my days taking dance classes, and I hadn't yet done it in the 6 days since my arrival. There's just so much to see and so much going on...
I met Sinead, an Irish girl who just came from Buenos Aires (which just saw its first snowfall since 1918. Fuck!), who is essentially doing the same trip I am, in reverse. She spent 2 weeks in BA learning tango, and is spending the next 3 in Salvador to learn tango! She is also traveling sozinha (the delightful portuguese terms for being alone, but not ALONE) so we made plans to start going to classes together! She's done some research and has also been a bit put off that the classes are not so organized or easy to find.
Tuesday night is THE night to go out in Salvador. Every Tuesday there is some kind of free music performance at a large set of stairs in the center of town (which we were just a bit late for), followed by a percussion disply. Olodum, very famous percussion group (they re eived international notoriety after performing with Paul Simon on some tour) owns this town. They played in the street while a group of locals and tourists followed three amazing dancers in some routine that they put together. It was awesome.
After that, off to the main square to hear some live forro. Forro is a partner dance that is very similar to cumbia, which is close to west-coast swing... lots of one and two-handed turns. Then they mix in a little lambada, where the legs were the bodies are very close, and the legs sandwich each other, and there is a small grinding motion. Lastly, there is an "aerial" move which I can't really describe with words.
We met up at the square, where this one brazilian guy was sitting with a group of the english girls and some American guy with a real gift for accents. The guy kept trying to teach the english girls Forro, whoch they did not like so much, so they shoved him in my direction, telling him I was an excellent dancer. (They whispered "sorry!" and giggled..)
This guy was an excellent dancer. I picked it up right away, including the little aerial bit. I danced a couple of songs before the intense headache I woke up to returned.
The best part about dancing in Brazil is it seems to be the only thing that, ironically, stops the Brazilian men from trying to get in your pants.
This guy could not have been older than 17, yet had this way of asking everyone how old they were before inventing an age he wanted to be.
Walking in town at night bring on a lot of touching. Not even flirting, which would be fine. It goes from touching to making out. If you're lucky, there may be a few words of conversation or a dance.
I am now pretending I speak and understand no portuguese.
One guy came up to me, told me I was beautiful, and I looked at him like I didn't understand him, and Jenny took over. She said I had a boyfriend, that she had a boyfriend, and the third girl we were with had one as well. He literally said "Do you know anyone who doesn't have one??"
Then Alex approached me, and he didn't speak any english, but he spoke very good spanish. He said he liked me because I danced with such "happiness and spirit." There was no touching, so I talked a bit longer. He works on a boat, and told me he'd take me on a boat ride to Morro de Sao Paulo, a popular island that's a ways away from Salvador. Free, he said.
Uh-huh.
We spoke for a couple of minutes, and he said he'd really like to take me out. I said I had a boyfriend. He said he had a girlfriend. Then he asked me for a kiss. Just one. Hmmph.
The crazy thing about it is they really don't need to act this way. They are all gorgeous, with terrific bodies. Perhaps if the foreigners would stop screwing them...
There was some really good salsa playing at a local club, but I decided I had enough touching for one evening. Jenny and Naomi got a meat on a stick, grilled up by some woman on the street and we made our way back.
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