Travel (Outside of Canada)

My father was working for 3 months in the city of Salvador in Bahia. My mother was in Sao Paulo with me and my sister waiting for my father’s return. Unfortunately, for us, my father decided to live there and did not inform my mother. So, she decided to go there to see what was happening. There he was working and studying with his colleagues. My mother decided to be there until this phase is gone, after all, she did not work and had 2 children with her.

During this period of time, they divided the tasks. My mother takes care of my sister because she was 3 and my father took care of me. My father was an adventurous young man, he loves to show his muscles and his courage to every woman there. The beaches were his favourite place, and he loved to sit in front of the ocean with his colleagues and me. In Salvador usually people drink beer at some tables listening to samba* or pagode*.

Once, my father forgot his mug of beer on the table and I drank it. It was so funny but my mother was furious. Another day he decides to go to the beach with me. My father did not know how to swim, which unfortunately affected me since I wanted to swim but didn’t really know how to. I decided to try swimming anyway and ended up needing to be rescued by the lifeguard. In fact, my father tried to save me but he also ended up being rescued. My father is a good father, sometimes, he forgets he is still a human being. This period of time created an important link between my father and I.

Until now, we have a strong connection, and he is my best friend.

What a beautiful place to live, hot weather, sunny days and wind comes from the sea. We lived in Bahia for two years. There, we can go to the beach every day. People there love to sing and dance. Fun fact: Salvador was the first capital of Brazil until 1763.

Also, we have delicious food such as acaraje* and vatapa*. If you go to Salvador it is mandatory to eat these delicious dishes. Coconut water is exported to every place around the world. Beautiful beaches with coconut trees, it is practically a paradise on Earth. There, we have a treat called cocada prepared with coconut and sugar.

Michael Jackson increased the popularity of Salvador and Olodum. Olodum is a music group and non-governmental organization. In 1995, Michael Jackson was there and filmed his music video “They Don’t Care About Us,” unfortunately, this video reflects the real situation of Brazil. If you want to watch the video linked above you will see some poverty. Sadly, the government for every level responsible for each municipality does not care about basic sanitation and education for the people. By the way, I don’t know what they put in the water in Salvador but many beautiful Brazilian singers come from here. This is the place for Brazilian music. There you can listen to: Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Ivete Sangalo, Claudia Leite and Pitty. One of my favourite songs is Caetano Veloso singing “ Lua de Sao Jorge”. This music made me remember how amazing it was to live in Salvador, Bahia.

You cannot write about Bahia without mentioning Jorge Amado, he was a Brazilian writer and was responsible for having a lot of books talking about small cities inside Bahia. He wrote Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands and Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon. He loved to write about mestiços* in all of his books.

We can not speak about Salvador without mentioning Fonte Nova Stadium. It was one of the Stadiums for the 2014 World Cup. There, we have two main soccer teams: Bahia and Vitoria. Besides beautiful beaches from coast to coast, we have some traditional places to visit:

Elevador Lacerda, Pelourinho and Bomfim Church. Besides, we have Carnaval in Salvador, every year crowds on the street follow Trio Eletricos (trucks with a singer and a band playing music and driving people in front of the main beaches).

After 15 years since my departure, I had an opportunity to come back to Salvador.

Nothing changed, my mind, my heart were never able to forget the fresh air coming from the sea. People there are happy and they are always been happy despite the difficulties facing each day. Brazilians from Salvador, they are warm and you can listen to good music everywhere.

Besides, this blessed place has beautiful beaches and sunny weather every day.

Samba - Braziilian Popular Music with roost in Afro-Brazilian traditions.

Pagode - Brazilian Traditional country-folk style of music.

Vatapa - Brazilian shrimp stew

Acaraje - Black-eyed pea fritters

Mestiço - a person of mixed indigenous and Euro-American ancestry.