Festival in Salvador

We had finally crawled into bed at around 4:30 AM, but somehow we were up by 8. After breakfast, we hopped online since the hostel offers free Wi-Fi. The night before, we had met the Brazilian version of "Nightlife," who took some photos of us. We hadn’t brought our own camera when we went out to see Carambole, so we downloaded the pictures, which you can check out on the website. It was time to do laundry again. To avoid turning more of our white clothes pink, we asked someone from the hostel to accompany us to the laundromat and explain how it worked. We could pick up our clothes the same day at 5 PM, and it would cost us 21 reais for two large bags of laundry. The streets in Salvador are set up so that you can only buy specific things on each street. Some areas sell only carpets and fabrics, while others focus on spare parts. We wandered down the street dedicated to clothing, but it can be tricky to find something you’d actually wear back home. Honny ended up buying another Hugo Boss watch from a street vendor for 10 reais. Since we had wandered quite far from our place and didn’t feel like walking back, we took a taxi to a restaurant. It turned out to be right next to Aeroclube, the first bar we visited the night before. We went into the Mexican restaurant Cancun, where they had a buffet for 15 reais per person. The food was tasty, but it didn’t quite resemble what we usually think of as Mexican cuisine. Feeling a bit tired from our short night’s sleep, we headed back to the hostel for a quick nap. We wanted to be fresh for the evening since there’s a city festival every Tuesday. The party is centered around the historic part of Salvador, which is where we’re staying. We just had to step outside, and we’d be right in the middle of the festivities. An American couple we met was heading to see a performance of the martial dance, Conrolei, nearby, so we tagged along. Conrolei dates back to the slave era when slaves weren’t allowed to defend themselves with their hands if they were attacked. It’s said that they developed this defensive technique, which involves standing on their hands and swinging their legs in the air like windmills. The performance took place at one of their training schools and only cost 10 reais. It was incredible to watch, with some truly amazing jumps. Afterward, we hit the streets to check out the festival. There were tons of stalls where you could buy the very popular Caipirinha and try local food specialties. Stages were set up with bands playing, and people dancing everywhere. We sampled some local dishes and ended up filling up at a restaurant where you pay by the kilo. The festival attracted a lot of people—along with many who were less fortunate. There was police everywhere; it felt like there was a cop every ten meters, day and night. They were stationed at the ends of the streets to prevent tourists from wandering down the “wrong” ones. At one point, we needed a little help from a police officer when a beggar got a bit too close for comfort with Honny and wouldn’t leave her alone. The police were on it immediately and got him to move along. It’s pretty safe here since you’re never really alone, but it’s surprising how much police presence is necessary.