This week I have found some relief from the stifling heat here in Salvador, but unfortunately it has been in the form of torrential downpours. It has been raining almost nonstop for a week, with no end in sight until I leave Bahia this Saturday. I cannot believe how quickly my time has passed here! I blinked and a month went by and my Portuguese has improved so much! I feel like I can have a conversation about almost anything, even though I still rely on Spanish to supplement a lot of my vocabulary.
It's no fun to go sightseeing in this weather, and obviously it severely restricts photography. I'm glad I'm going to Rio on Saturday!
A very good friend of mine was in Florianópolis this past week (a beautiful resort city in the south of Brazil), and she made time to come visit me here in Salvador. Too bad it was raining almost the entire time! We still managed to get in some beach time since the temperature is still warm, despite the rain. I have found myself spending an absurd amount of time doing things alone, so it was nice to have company and someone to eat out with for a few days. Melissa used to be my roommate and co-worker ten years ago, and she has lived and traveled all over the world. I visited her in Germany when I traveled to Europe a few years ago and we have maintained a strong friendship even though we haven't lived in the same city for almost a decade. She currently resides in New York City.
Melissa and me dining out at an Italian restaurant.
The view of Porto da Barra from the rooftop of Melissa's hotel.
I call him João.
In case you were wondering, my tooth is still aching, but I have decided to wait until I arrive in Argentina to have a consultation for a root canal. The situation has definitely improved, and is very manageable with ibuprofen, so I am not in any hurry to go back to the dentist here in Brazil. A very good friend of mine in Buenos Aires has offered to help me make the dental appointment and translate for me, if necessary (he speaks English and German fluently in addition to Spanish). I didn't mention this in my previous entry, but the dentist here began to drill in my tooth without warning or anesthesia. It wasn't until I began yelping and writhing that she said, "Oh, did you want something to block the pain?" and I replied, "SIM, POR FAVOR!" She didn't even wait for the anesthesia to take affect and continued to drill into my tooth, so I think I would just prefer to further avoid the dentist's chair altogether in Brazil. On a positive note, the lingering toothache is now completely tolerable and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg like it would have in the States.
The other day I was visited by a bird who seemed just as fascinated by me as I was by him. The little guy kept coming closer and closer to me, and when I began taking photos, he was practically posing for the camera.
As I mentioned before, I am leaving Salvador da Bahia this Saturday and meeting up with my friend Meg in Rio de Janeiro. We will be traveling together for two weeks and visiting three countries. Meg and I have been friends for sixteen years (ever since seventh grade) and again, I cannot wait to have company! I have experienced a lot here in Salvador and I need to decompress. This place has challenged me in ways that I never conceived of, and I am surprised that the language barrier has been the least significant of these challenges. Being a tall, blond, extremely fair-skinned, blue-eyed woman alone in a Latin American city with a population that is at least 80% African-Brazilian has completely redefined my idea of a "comfort zone". This experience has been eye-opening and life-changing, which was absolutely my objective when I chose to study Portuguese here, but I am prepared to move on...
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