oi!

I AM AT CARNIVAL! we arrived yesterday in salvador, brazil for 5 days of culture and partying carnival style. yesterday i went to the candomble temples, a religion that is unique to bahia. the drive out there was very interesting-we went through the favellas, which are the slums. brazil is very mountainous and these people live in little cement boxes, on top of each other, all up and down the mountain. we were in a huge tour bus, so we attracted a lot of attention from the locals. last night our huge group went to the carnival area to explore. everyone was fine, we felt very safe in a big group and there were police all over. yesterday though we heard about a semester at sea girl who was held up with a knife and had her videocamera stolen. from now on all we are carrying on us are our disposable cameras and money belts. most people here are very friendly, but almost none speak english. this is the first time i´ve been in a place where people actually cannot communicate with me, nor i with them. it is very hot and humid, we sweat through everything we wear, and then it pours for 10 minutes making us even wetter. today we are walking around the main carnival streets, where everyone is very festive even though it is 10:30 on a sunday here. tomorrow we may go up the coast to the beach, or stay around salvador again. it´s a bit difficult because many people are very poor, and everyone begs you for money. if you are able to communicate with someone, they ask you for money in exchange for helping you find something. another interesting thing is that everyone is black. we are literally the only white people. i learned in my classes about how salvador in particular is very african. ship life is good, before our next stop, however, we will spend 8 days at sea. i probably will hate the ship after that. neptune day is coming up though, which is when the ship crosses the tropic of cancer and the equator. the tradition is that girls and guys alike shave their heads. if you don´t shave your head, you have fish guts poured on you. i hate fish but i think it´s worth it to keep my hair. the pictures for the rest of the trip would be crap if i did shave it, plus my family/friends might disown me. send me e-mails at mab5006@verizon.net, i miss talking to all of you!