David’s Eventful Holiday in Brazil: A Mugging, a Trek, an Engagement, and Much More…

David visited me in Brazil for two weeks over the holidays, and we enjoyed 14 days full of Brazilian adventure of all kinds. And, most importantly, we got engaged! That's right, David and I are going to tie the knot! We have virtually no plans as of yet, but are thinking that we'll hold some kind of ceremony somewhere in the Pacific Northwest in either late 2010 or 2011. The story of the engagement and our other Brazilian adventures follow below:

I picked up David at the airport in Salvador, the Afro-Brazilian coastal city where I spent my first few weeks in Brazil, and where we would together launch our holiday extraordinaire. We spent a couple of days there staying at a cute little hotel on the beach, and enjoying the city's cultural, gastronomic, and natural wonders.

On our first day we stuffed ourselves with crab and moqueca at a beach side restaurant and lounged and swam the afternoon away at my favorite beach in Salvador- Praia do Farol. That night, celebrating being in Brazil and being together for the first time in over three months, we headed to Pelourinho for dinner, drinks, and dancing. Pelourinho is a fun and beautiful neighborhood in Salvador's historic district; it is also famous for pickpockets, muggers, and the like. It was a wonderful setting for a romantic dinner of bobó de camarão and caipirinhas outside on the cobblestone street. We were so content after dinner that as we began to walk down the street we didn't even notice the two boys coming up behind us. A couple of teenagers pretending they had guns by putting their hands in their shirts in a gun shape mugged us right there in the street, with plenty of people around. We quickly realized that they were not actually armed, and luckily only lost a cell phone. No one was hurt. Not too bad, considering. We were still startled and bummed in a big way, and for some reason I thought it seemed like a good idea to file a report at the police station two blocks from the mugging. The officers lounging around the station acted annoyed that we were interrupting their novela and late night snack. Why bother reporting a stolen cell phone when these things happen every day and there will be no investigation? Besides, we are just a couple of gringos that will be gone tomorrow. Who cares? So maybe we wasted our time with the police, who are notorious in Brazil for being corrupt and linked to local crime gangs. And anyway, we were lucky that this was a non-violent mugging where no one was hurt. In a way I even felt relieved (not that night, but a couple of days later) that I had been mugged and it had been mostly painless. Anyone who spends a significant amount of time in Brazil is bound to get mugged at some point, right? And I was really just waiting in dread for the day it would happen to me. Whew! It's finally over with.

That night, despite being a bit shook up, we decided to continue our night out and make it one to remember for something more than a mugging. So we headed to a bar with an outdoor stage and a live samba band. We enjoyed some draft cerveja Skoll and sambaed it up. I looooovvveee samba!!! I think David started to love it too. ;) Most of all we enjoyed watching the locals dance up a storm. Samba is such a joyous, high energy dance. When dancing samba people move their feet and hips at lightning speed, all the while maintaining a huge grin on their face. It's fantastic to watch and partake in. The energy that Brazilians bring to the dance floor, and to life in general, is just so impressive! Once that bar closed we headed to the streets, which were filled with hundreds of locals out looking for more samba. We joined a street party taking place outside another samba club until we were too pooped to samba and deal with the pressing crowds anymore. We headed back to the hotel to hit the hay. And that was just David's first day in Brazil.

On our second day in Salvador we hit up the beaches again, which this time of year fill up with thousand of beer-guzzling, cheese and shrimp-munching beach-goers. It is a fun beach atmosphere, but by no means a relaxing one. 

 Praia do Farol

By that afternoon we were out of the city and on a bus headed into the interior of the state, toward Chapada Diamantina National Park. After a 7 hour or so bus ride into the night we arrived at our destination - a beautiful lodge in the picturesque community of Vale do Capão, on the north-western edge of the park. We did a day hike to the famous Fumaça waterfall on our first day, and spent a good deal of the day trying to call Copa Airlines from our guide's brother's house (thank God for the generosity and hospitality of Brazilians!) in what increasingly seemed like a futile attempt to track down David's lost bag. Copa left it behind in Panama City on David's layover there, and as far as we knew at this point the bag hadn't even made it into Brazil. So frustrating! In both Salvador and Vale do Capão we called all kinds of phone numbers for Copa in Panama, the US, and Brazil from any phone we could scrounge up trying to tack down that bag and have them send it to us. We do not recommend flying Copa Airlines! When we finally got a hold of someone who knew where the bag was, we asked them to send it to the Salvador airport. We had little hope, however, of any of the items of value being in the bag after its extended stays in airports in Panama City, Rio, and Recife. Oh the travails of international travel!

Looking over the edge of Fumaça waterfall

The next day we put our worries about the bag (and about anything else for that matter) behind us and hit the trail to Vale do Pati with our guide, Adelson. This was a three night four day trek through what is said to be one of the most beautiful parts of one of Brazil's most acclaimed parks. When the park was created the government paid people who lived inside the area to relocate, but several families who had lived there for generations, mostly as small farmers, remained. Those families now host backpackers and have small farms, but their main income is from the backpacker tourism. Our three nights in the park were spent in the homes of these friendly local families, eating their delicious dinners of rice, beans, pumpkin, and savory veggies, and enjoying huge breakfasts with spreads of four or five different dishes at least. Despite the miles we put in on this trip, I think I may have actually consumed more calories than I burned! The homemade food was so yummy and so plentiful, how could I not? It's always the food that makes a trip. ;)

One of the homes we stayed at in Vale do Pati

On day two of the trek, December 23, after climbing up the mountain known as Castle Rock and enjoying a SPECTACULAR view of the valley, David, Adleson, and I headed to a waterfall for an afternoon of swimming and sunbathing. On the trip we visited at least one waterfall each day, almost all of them great for swimming and some good for climbing and jumping. This waterfall was stunning, and the pool below ideal for diving and swimming. While sitting on a rock ledge in the water near the fall, David wiggled a ring out of his shorts pocket (thank God he managed to hold onto it!) and proposed to me. And of course I said yes. Thanks to David's scheming we even got pictures of the proposal. Adelson was in on it and took pictures of the whole thing from the rocks. 

The proposal

We were engaged in paradise, and spent our first few days as fiances in a honeymoon-like state, trekking through this paradise full of rainforest, waterfalls, orchids, swimming holes, and lush green canyons with steep rock faces. What a place to be in love!

Enjoying being in love in the Vale do Pati

After our week in Chapada Diamantina David and I returned to Salvador by bus, spent the afternoon on another packed beach, and then boarded a plane to Recife. At the airport in Salvador we picked up the lost bag, only later to discover that it was missing nearly $200 in gifts that David had brought down to Brazil. Some airport employee had a great Christmas. I repeat: We do not recommend flying Copa Airlines! Flying into Recife at night we saw hundreds of fires in the sugarcane fields East of the city, and David got a bit of an introduction to what the state of Pernambuco, and my research here, is all about. During the sugarcane harvest the fields are burnt at night, and laborers trucked in in in the early morning to cut in the burnt fields, where only the cane itself remains standing on the scorched ground. David didn't get to visit any of the sugarcane plantations or communities that I'm doing research in on this trip, but at least he got to see some of it from the air.

That night we arrived at my apartment in Olinda, and being a Sunday night in December, we had to take to the streets to enjoy the festivities at least for a while, even though we were exhausted from traveling. From December until Carnival in mid-February, on Sunday afternoons and evenings the streets in the historic center of Olinda fill up with Carnival performers rehearsing, and literally thousands of revelers following them, dancing, drinking, and enjoying the festivities. Basically, each Sunday is a mini-Carnival. This particular Sunday was the most crowded and lively I'd seen yet. A friend from my neighborhood adopted us for the night and guided us through the maze-like streets and throngs of people. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see any of the live performances, but at least we got to experience the atmosphere. David and I ended the night with tapioca, a fried manioc flour crepe that is a common street food here. Delicious! During our next few days in Olinda we hit up the beaches (those deemed safe from killer bull sharks), sampled Olinda's best restaurants and beach-front bars, and wandered the beautiful streets of the historic center. David fell under Olinda's spell, just as I have. It is an amazing place. 

David in Olinda

David also got to meet some of my colleagues and friends in Recife, including the family that I stayed with prior to moving to Olinda. It was fun for me to have them all finally meet. My friends Mariana and Diego even gave us a grand tour of the best sights in Recife- Boa Viagem beach and Recife Angtigo- followed by a dinner out at my new favorite restaurant, the all-you-can eat sushi place. We stuffed ourselves and enjoyed a fun bilingual dinner conversation.

On the porch of my apartment 

For New Year’s Eve David and I dressed in white (local tradition- David didn’t love it) and met up with Mariana, Diego, and other friends at the beach in Olinda. There were thousands of people out celebrating in the streets and on the beaches. Families had brought tables down onto the sand and covered them with feasts. There were bands playing frevo (a traditional music that Olinda’s Carnival is famous for) in the street, and at midnight there was a truly impressive fireworks show. It was slightly scary when the stand that the fireworks were being lit off of caught on fire, but the show went on, apparently without any unexpected explosions. After the show Mariana and I waded into the water and jumped over seven little waves, another local New Year’s tradition that is meant to bring good luck for the coming year. After our beach time we headed into town and to a house party. The highlight of the night was when we left the party around 3:30 am, apparently at just the right moment, because we were met by a frevo band marching through the street and dozens of people following and dancing behind. It was 3:30 in the morning and there were people of all ages having the time of their lives, with huge smiles and amazing dancing skills. The energy in that group was amazing. I think it was a highlight for David’s trip.

David and me in our white on New Year's Eve

Sadly, David had to leave. L We spent New Year’s day on the beach, and that evening enjoying seafood and beers at various beach side restaurants and bars. It was a fun farewell. David had to leave at 3 in the morning for the airport to head back to cold Washington, D.C. I miss him like crazy. He may be able to visit again, maybe even stay for a few weeks, later this spring. However, there is a good chance we won’t see each other at all until I return to D.C. in April. Seems really far away… I am so grateful that he was able to visit for two weeks and that we had such an amazing trip, during which David was able to get to know the Brazil that I have come to love.

I will provide updates on the engagement and wedding plans as they come into being!

Looking out my window in Olinda

Link to my Picasa album with more photos of David's two weeks in Brazil: http://picasaweb.google.com/lynn.m.schneider/ChapadaDimantinaHighlights#