Back in the Home Land

Reflection is coming soon ! Stay tuned. 

Minus One

Jake Stika has left the building, and now its down to two interns. Yesterday afternoon I said farewell to Jake as he boarded a bus to the airport to spend the next few days in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo before making the long trip home. I have to say I'm sad to see him go, he's a great guy not to mention my sushi partner ! Wednesday we had a fabulous farewell dinner at Villa's
a Brazilian Barbeque, same idea as Copacabana in Niagara Falls, but much more reasonably priced and the meat is better in my opinion. It was so much fun and everyone made it out to say goodbye even some of the student from IFBA who had been teaching us english, however, I was forced to try LAMB !!! First of all I barely even eat beef (mature beef, never babies) and second of all I think lambs are adorable and I vowed to never eat them... but then you come to Brazil and they tease you until you try and then video tape my first experience... !!! It was gross by the way, it had the oddest flavour and a horrible texture, never again people, I hope your satisfied. Oh and there was this divine mint jelly that they add to the lamb, luckily the piece with that on it was taken by the waiter hahaha :D

So here I am all by my lonesome, well Keaton is here but regardless we are still one man down. I am not sure what I am going to do with myself for the next two weeks of my stay here, most my Brazilian friends are traveling but hopefully I will find something to do, any suggestions ??  I have downloaded season 3 of Sex and the City so that should help with some of the boredom haha ;)

Tchau for now !

Visitors from the North

Well I suppose it's safe to say I am officially missing home. I do love it here but I think 3 months is just enough time (for now, I mean I hope to come back !). On thursday Keaton, Jake and I met up with Jos and a teacher from Niagara who teaches a course called Go Global Live Local and she is taking her student here to Salvador next May ! We had a lovely dinner at the Hotel followed by a full day of meetings at IFBA on Friday. Friday night we all went for dinner again and had a great time, I think Jos helped me decide what to do when I graduate haha Thank you Jos !

Sunday was amazing ! Bora Bahia !!!!! We saw our first Brazilian soccer game !! It was so much fun the energy was great, you could choose where you sat in the Stadium. If you were a wild fan you could sit with the other wild fans, if not you sat somewhere else. Overall Sunday was the greatest day in a long time, sun was shinning and I even got myself a Bahia jersey :)

Monday me and Jake did some more touring of Salvador with our favourite German friend Fabian. We went to see Bon Fim a famous healing church that has been known to have miracle healing powers for those with illness. I can never get over the beautiful churches with such amazing stories here and the amount of churches ! The religious presence is predominantly roman catholic brought over by the Portuguese, however the African slaves that were brought here by the Portuguese (3 million of them to be exact) have kept their religion presence called Candomblé and integrated it into the Catholic religion. Definitely one of the biggest attractions of Salvador is history of religion and culture and the movement from Slavery to liberty and the history of the natives. After touring the church we got some ice cream at a famous place by a sort of marina with old ships then it was off to the Market to barter our way to cheaper brazilian soccer jerseys, which did NOT work to our advantage, in fact Jack got thoroughly robbed, twice. Poor guy. The markets in Rio were much easier to bargain with let me tell you !

Wednesday we (the interns) and our Brazilian friends are all meeting at a Brazilian BBQ Restaurant to say goodbye to Jake who leaves Thursday, we will all miss you Jake !! Then shortly after his departure keaton and I leave on August 1st ! I am excited to get home but I will definitely miss all my friends here, but don't worry I will be back !

Tchau for now !

Visit from my sister and our trip to The River of January a.k.a Rio de Janeiro

My sister Kristin flew into Salvador on the 17th of June to visit me for one whole week ! You can imagine my excitement since my home sickness was starting to kick in. Immediately I took her our this cheap little restaurant in Campo Grande we all love that serves the most delicious typical Brazilian food, rice, beans and chicken. She LOVED the food so it was off to a good start. I took her touring and to a Brazilian night club her first weekend here but unfortunately she refused to learn to Forro haha. Monday came quickly (the 20th) and it was time for us to pack our things because at 4a.m. we were off to Rio thanks to a friend (Yuri) and his Tia (aunt) who booked us our flight to Rio last minute !! After a short 2 hour plane ride we had finally arrived in the city I have only heard storied about since I was little, RIOOOOOOO!!! We were so excited the first thing we did was go to Copacabana beach to watch the enormous waves and soak up some sun. Around 3p.m. it was finally check in time at our Hostel so we FINALLY left the beach for some dryer land. This was our first time at a Hostel, and let me tell you, I have never felt so high maintenance in my life. This hostel was rated the best in Rio (Copa Hostel if anyone is interested) but it is still far from a Hotel. Thankfully, we only had two nights here where literally all we did was sleep there and then one night in a gorgeous hotel called the Golden Tulip with an ocean view !! So on our second day in Rio we did some typical tourist stuff, learnt the history of Rio and saw Santa Maria. We went to see Cristo Redentor then it was off to the Stairs of Lapa (where Snoop Dogg made a video, oh yes he did) and we also got to see a huge Cathedral built in the late 80's that holds 20,000 people. Finally we went to Sugar Loaf where we watched the sunset as clouds began to roll in and smother us on the top of the mountain haha.

A few facts of Rio:

 Although Rio de Janeiro translates to River of January for the month it was discovered, there is not a river insight, in fact the original settlers thought the bay called Guanabara at the edge of Sugar Loaf mountain known as Pão de Açúcar in Portuguese, was in fact a river ! Flying into Rio is spectacular, you can clearly see the mountainous terrain that stretches for miles and a light misty fog that hangs at the tips of the mountains in the early morning. I never knew how many mountains there were until then, its a spectacular view.  While flying in me and my sister could also see the statue of Christ the Redeemer or Cristo Redentor in Portuguese, its absolutely breath taking. I think the most amazing part of the trip was by far seeing Cristo Redentor and laying on Copacabana beach. The waves and the size of the beach are unexplainable, I think Rio was the most beautiful City I have ever seen because of its natural beauty along with its infrastructure and history. I highly recommend Rio to any traveller who loves history and natural wonders. The one thing I do regret not doing while in Rio was a tour of a Favela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favela) especially since Rio has the highest density of Favela's in the world. However, I am able to see Favela's here in Salvador which to me seem to be in much worse condition than those in Rio. 


Overall my sister's visit was amazing and I am so glad she came, she was able to see the contrast of Salvador and Rio, the contrast of Brazil itself and Canada and now she can take that knowledge home. I know this trip was not what she expected because it was not in a sense a vacation but a realization that the world outside Canada isn't so perfect. I think she was mostly impressed that her pretty high maintenance little sister was surviving in such different conditions ... (hahaha a.k.a ants everywhere, no hot water, no antibacterial soap, no dryers and no A.C.)


So as of sexta-feira (Friday) I only have one month left here in Brazil !!!! :( I love it here so much I don't want to leave but at the same time I know I will be happy to get home. I know I am going to miss the amazing people I have met here though, I think that will be the hardest part. Here's hoping they can come visit me in Canada and I can show them the same great hospitality they showed me :) 

Trip to Rio de Janeiro !!! More pictures will come once I get to Canada and reliable internet :)

Its Alive !

Wow I can not believe how fast time is passing, as of this Friday (which is also Canada day !!!) I will only have one more month left here in Brasil !! Although I am so excited about going home I don't want to leave this beautiful country and all the amazing people I've met here. So much has happened since my last post (since it has been like 3 weeks). Work at IFBA has started to get more interesting as our Ilê Aiyê project moves forward, me and Keaton are working on the Financial sector of the institution while Jake is focusing more on the Human Resources. I am hoping that in two weeks we can have this institution implementing some of our action plans to manage their organization better. Also there is a new side project we MIGHT have the privilege of working on through ITCP (a small co-operative that makes organic granola bars with anti-depressants). I will have more information on this project as things begin to unravel and we should find out soon if we can work intimately in our remaining month on developing a market in Canada for these granola bars. I'll keep this post more work related and my next post (tomorrow) will be on my adventure to Rio de Janeiro with my sister and Pelourinho (the old part of Salvador) oh and of course Sao Joao, which I missed most of because I was in Rio. Basically I am still loving it here although each day brings a new culture shock - today I saw a dead dog decaying by some garbage at a bus stop in a run down neighbourhood, I have to say that kind of ruined my day but that's life I suppose and expect the unexpected. I guess I have come to realize that in Canada I am sheltered from the brutality of real life. This experience is definitely changing me and I'm grateful for it.

Tchau for now, e beijos !

Aventuras De-Samana: viver a vida que desejo

Olá fellow gringo's (foreigners), I have news ! On the weekend, I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers right here in Salvador !! Or as the locals call them, Head Hotch Chili Peppers (haha). Ok so I didn't see the actual band but pretty close ! The cover band was sooo good, my fellow gringo had a rough time and hugged the porcelain throne for about 3 hours but thank god he heard the best songs before that happened. The bar we went to go see them is called Groove Bar, we saw the Beetles cover band there too, its really a great place I highly recommend it, and don't worry they sing in perfect english gringo's ! The bar is in Barra right by the beach, great location and decent price, about R$30 to get in. After the bar I watched the sunrise with my girl Pri, overall a great weekend. Sunday consisted of watching The Hangover 2 hungover, great combination I think. However, I was NOT impressed with The Hangover 2, it was essentially The Hangover with a different location and animal and missing person but everything else was identical, and yes the movie was in english, my portuguese is not that advanced yet. I really wish I could just wake up one morning and be fluent in Portuguese, life would be so much easier, but for now I suppose I'll just keep studying. Today we have a meeting with the Afro Brazilian institution we are working with called Ilê Aiyê, I am pretty excited to be working with this group as they have deep african roots and a large impact on afro brazilian culture here in Salvador, they are greatly respected by the community and I think they have amazing potential. We are just trying to re-organize them so they can use their full potential and hopefully get some more funding so they can continue their social work in the community. That's all for now ! Até amanha !

Bom Dia, beijossss 

Salvador 101 - tips for the foreigner !

Here are today's 5 tips for being a foreigner in Salvador


1. Bring bug spray... I'm serious ! I have 36 bug bites, all from an unknown critter, all from one night

2. Bring Raid, unless you like 80 million ants setting up camp in your room for that one glass of juice you had 20 minutes ago. I caution you about these ants, they are like the armed forces... I dream about these ants carrying me away in my sleep, thank god they don't bite on top it all

3. If you love Ketchup, bring your own.

4. Don't bring clothes that wrinkle easy after being washed because you won't find a dryer with a wrinkle free setting, actually you won't find a dryer so wash clothes that you don't plan to wear for at least week so they can dry

5. And finally, bring an umbrella if your coming in May. The locals say this much rain is rare but since I have been here it has rained at least 15 out of the 17 days. So bring an umbrella !!!!! And when it rains, it pours !

I hope these tips help you when you decided to travel to Salvador. Don't get me wrong though, I love it here just these are some unexpected things I am dealing with. Talk about culture shock ! Now I understand what they mean. Salvador is amazing and the food is possibly the best food I have ever had throughout my travels (sorry France I think you're tied with Brazil). I am sure in a few weeks I will have some more tips so stay tuned ;)

OH ! I almost forgot, my sister is officially coming to visit my June 17th !!!! I am so excited I know she will love it here and we are booking a trip to Rio de Janeiro for 3 days. AHHHH SO EXCITED !  Plus I think this will help with any potential home sickness I could face, its a nice little visit from home !

Tchau for now ! Bom dia !

Beijos !

Forro !!

Yes that's right, Forro. I learnt how to Forro this weekend (a brazilian two step dance). I finally made it to the club scene here in Salvador and some how made it back to my casa too ! Friday night was full of Forro and late night, or should I say early morning McDonald's. It seems Brazilians can party way longer into the night than I can. We left Madre (the club) at 4:30 a.m. and it was still packed with people ! Then saturday night me and Keaton (my coworker) went to Porto Brasil, this beautiful bar that over looks the ocean where I tried a Kiwi drink that was absolutely amazing ! It had freshly chopped kiwis and vodka but surprisingly the kiwi's took away from the potent vodka. After a few hours at that bar with some friend we went to a local hangout to get drinks, a gas station... go figure ! We stood around and had a few beers, it seemed like the place to be ! Then sunday I got to watch football !!!! (soccer to us north americans). It was the championship cup between Bahia and Vitoria, Bahia won... sadly this means nothing to me because I don't follow either teams but Priscilla (our friend who took us) was a Vitoria fan so that's who we cheered for. Monday was successful, me and my colleagues had a meeting at a local NGO (non-government organization) called Ilê Ayê. It is an incredible organization based on Afro (black) culture and history, founded in 1974 and it focuses on abolishing racism and rising above the slavery that took place here in Salvador for much too long. I am very excited to work with this organization and help them restructure their organizational structure and hopefully maximize funding and sponsors. I think this will be our main focus for the next 3 months while we are here. As of right though, I am super sick :( I'm hoping it goes away soon but stayed tuned for some more updates !

Ps. it was sunny and no rain for the first time all week yesterday !!! Sadly the 14 day forecast predicts rain everyday. I think us Canadians brought Salvador bad weather because according to locals this crazy rain is not normal... shame... the poor Canadian weather follows me everywhere. 

I Have Arrived !!

Oi ! I have finally sat down long enough to post a blog, I know it took a while but finally here it is ! I flew into Sao Paulo Saturday around 11 after a bit of a delayed flight leaving Toronto. I sat alone on the plane while my friends got to sit together, but fortunately I sat beside a Brazilian who taught me a thing or two about Brazil. Again, another delay (things move slower in Brazil it seems) for our flight to Salvador from Sao Paulo, only a small delay thankfully. When I arrived in Salvador my first impression was, wow... this is beautiful and nothing like Canada !! I guess you could say my culture shock set in when I got to my room to find a small single bed with a thin sheet, no air conditioning and an electrically heated shower head. I cried. No just kidding this room is awesome and the building is great just a big adjustment from home. I think what upset me the most was not being able to use my curling iron or flat iron, sad I know. However, now I am on my third day here and I love it, the food, the people, the culture, the beach, all so amazing. Just be careful on the buses you may break something or be hassled by a drunk, not to worry the rough ride will put them in their seat.

That's all for now, boa noite !