Clare Elsewhere

So far, an amazing weekend- to the point where I have to document some of it before it runs away from me. Friday we went to a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band, and after it finished danced to 80s and 90s pop tunes until 4am. It was an amazing little find, and the same bar is having a series of cover bands and even actual American bands coming to play soon. Post performance, the drummer came to talk to us because he was from Australia and spoke English, while the rest of the band were Sao Paulo natives. Getting home at sunrise, I almost slept through my 8am boat trip. A group of friends- Brazilians, Americans, and Europeans, rented out a boat for the day and made a trip to Ilha dos Frades. A few of us swam to shore and conquered the abandoned beach, even went so far as to don war paint (clay). Throughout the day it really felt like we were in Pirates of the Carribean, exploring untouched earths and forging our own reckless way. It began to rain for some of the day, which actually on

I think that I have experienced my culture shock. It snuck up on me, happened in the course of two hours, slowly unraveling the way I saw Brazilian society as I gradually realized what I haven't been seeing thus far. I've been thinking about the implications ever since, and I really don't understand. I cannot relate. I cannot adapt. It happened on the bus, a necessary evil in Salvador- a system with inconsistent or nonexistent schedules, notoriety for theft, and in general disregard for efficiency. Saying all that, I should have expected my situation.  Having no car, the streets living in a state of disrepair that isn't conducive to biking, and not wanting to pay for a taxi, I opted to take the bus to run some distant errands. It's peak traffic season in Salvador, which was not planned for any kind of traffic, so between 3pm and 9pm I enjoyed two two-hour-long bus rides to the mall along with my co-passengers. Those co-passengers inhabited all the bus seats, ais