Day 2 and 3: Salvador

This one I'm writing as I post. They charge $10US for 24-hours of internet access, which I'm subletting to anyone who wants to use my computer... I'll probably end up making money in the end.

Tidbit of the day: the room keys must be placed in a jacket by the door to turn on the power circuit for the room. 20 seconds out of the slot and the power shuts off; I already trapped Chas in the bathroom once this way. Lesson learned.

It's 1:30am local time and it's been a long day of running around the town. Here's a brief timeline:

~3pm Wednesday July 27 [technically day 1]: we finally arrived in Salvador after arriving in Rio early in the morning and flying over here. This last flight was on the GOL airline... same one that had all those crashes and other mishaps; God kept us safe and we landed on time, though it's the only jet plane I've been on that was literally shaking us silly while just taxiing to the runway!

7pm Wed: Went to a local former church [I believe] and ate a buffet meal followed by a show ... meaning _dancing_ show. The first act was a very colorful display of samba dancing by men/women dressed as some of the traditional African god(esse)s that have been carried over in centuries past by the African slaves. Following that was an amazing display of several men "playing" capoeira, an acclaimed Brazilian fighting style that you have to see to believe. The amount of strength, flexibility, and stamina required to jump around a carry on like they did is tremendous; ask me for videos sometime or look up some for yourself... it's somethin' else.

I took some good videos of this... it's really something else.

Thursday (_today_): We took a walking tour of Salvador, visiting a lot of shops and encountering all the usuals of a big city: interesting graffiti [some was _very_ well done], old buildings, very old buildings, and street vendors like you wouldn't believe. I've been to NYC, but NYC has nothing on this place. I bought my share of trinkets using exchanged Reals [hhhhre-eyes if you will] and got a good amount for my cash [esp considering the Real trades at more than 2-per-$]. We ate at Pareira (if I spell correctly) ... 1.5 large steaks plus extras for about $19US [you had to split meals].

We did a few songs on the street in front of an apparently-famous drum school called Olorun, headquartered in Salvador; it had been scheduled for us by our tour manager. They are a patron-funded school that works with low-income families and street children, giving them something to do during their school day, since it only runs for half a day [7am-1pm]; they also performed for us and were excellent [yes, I have videos]

We performed a 1-hour concert tonight in Salvador [don't recall where], which was very well received. We really got into it, for a first concert, and I think we'll have a hard time topping it in our remaining 3 or 4 performances. If the Lord wills, we will be doing another tomorrow [today actually, it's 2am] after doing some more touring. As they say, boa noite for now.