A chuva não tem graça não

Or, this rain's no fun

I feel like I don't have very much to write about from the last week and a bit. Much of the time it has been very rainy and I've stayed inside a lot. Having said that, though, I have done a few fun things to tell you about!

Salvador from near the lighthouse at Barra

Picking up where I left off last week... I found the swimming pool on Thursday, which was great, then had a relaxed afternoon and evening, sorting things out and avoiding the rain. On Friday morning I went into UFBA early, and met up with Malika. We had a juice at the French institute with a beautiful view over the bay, did some errands, and later went for lunch at a 'kilo restaurant' - an excellent system where you choose whatever quantity you want from a series of hot dishes, and pay for the weight. Later I visited a cultural event at UFBA's architecture faculty, where there were various craft stalls and fun workshops. I spent the evening packing up my things and chatting to the family.

Looking out to sea

On Saturday I moved into Salvador itself - I'm now staying in a sweet local guest-house where Malika is living. The landlady is really friendly and has made me very welcome. I spent most of the afternoon settling in and relaxing. Then in the evening we went out to the Museum of Modern Art where there was a jazz concert, called Jam no MAM. It was really good fun. Then we had a lazy Sunday - we baked a (delicious) cake, drank lots of juice in the Pelourinho, sat on the roof... In the evening one of Malika's friends also took us out for a bit of sightseeing round Ribeira and Barra, which was fun too. 

This week I've been concentrating a bit more on getting my research going. I've had some success - getting the first two interviews done and beginning analysis. Hopefully this will continue! After all, the research was the main reason I chose to visit Salvador. So I'll just summarise the 'interesting' things I've done.

A display about fabrics at MAFRO

On Monday I visited the main Afro-Brazilian museum, MAFRO, which was great - all kinds of artefacts and displays of information about the amazing blend of cultures here in Salvador. Then on Tuesday evening I attended Afro-Brazilian mass at the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos (what a mouthful!) with Marcia, who has been staying here for a few days. It was a great experience and interesting to note the differences and similarities with going to chapel in Oxford. Then Malika and I went to part of a samba concert, run by a famous local musician called Gerônimo (I think!) which was really good too. There are so many musical events here and it's great to be able to take advantage of them.

The Farol (lighthouse) at Barra

I visited the lighthouse and the associated Nautical Museum at Barra on Wednesday. The former has lovely views and the latter is full of information about navigation, trade, ships, and all sorts. Thursday was mainly taken up with research. And on Friday I slept a lot, having come down with a not-serious-but-makes-you-sleepy illness that's currently doing the rounds courtesy of some over-friendly mosquitos. I'm feeling much better today - just resenting the fact that it has been pouring with rain most of the last few days and is showing few signs of stopping.

A view from the lighthouse

Apologies for this post not being particularly interesting. Another one will go up soon which might be better for gauging my opinions on this place!

Thank you for reading.