A Cidade Maravilhosa v. A Capital da Alegria

It is interesting how the human mind works when presented with the unknown. There is a brief period of shock, acknowledgement, and observation where we stand just absorbing the experience, marveling at the novelty. But our mind isn't too comfortable with foreign territory, and quickly works to associate these new observations with things which we already know: it compares, contrasts, and builds upon our previous memories, tying the unknown to familiar concepts, relating it to established knowledge, rationalizing.

The cliff is about a football field high, it smells like coconut water, 7*7=49 because seven 7s added together is 49: all concepts which we know and remember, welcome as new knowledge and learning because we can base them off their relationships with what we already knew, we can base them off our comparisons to that information. But almost everything we learn, we "base off" something else.

This past week our program visited Rio de Janeiro, and that's what I felt like there- that everything I was experiencing, I was basing off my experiences in Salvador, comparing them to what I had already known about Brazil. Unfortunately for me, Mark Twain might have had it right when he proclaimed, "Comparison is the death of joy."

Rio (hee-oh, for all you Americans), was absolutely incredible. Beautiful beaches, clean streets, safe neighborhoods, friendly people, amazing art, crazy nightlife, natural parks and rainforest... it, in every way, lives up to its nickname of "A Cidade Maravilhosa", "The Marvelous City".


But the things I enjoyed most about Rio were the things that I thought Salvador was most lacking- and almost everything I complimented about Rio seemed to be a dig against Salvador. I went into the trip with a very skewed mindset, thinking that because I had lived in Salvador for four months, that I understood Brazil. That Salvador was a representation of Brazil, and manifested its political, social and economic problems as well as showcasing its greatest virtues of happiness, passion, and energy. I figured that as the third largest city in Brazil, it would be quite comparable to Rio, which is the second largest. Please allow me to swallow my tongue- they are worlds apart.


From the first venture into the city, we started noticing little things that months ago would have just been accepted as a given. Well paved walkways, grid-style streets as evidence of city planning, no street vendors, few homeless people (the government ships them out of the city), no trash on the streets, clean, air-conditioned buses which rich and poor alike utilized, a metro system... It was almost ridiculous hearing what people would call out in amazement. "Look! Their second floor windows don't even have bars in them!" "Public trashcans!" "Where are all the stray dogs?"


It did get to be a bit excessive, but the little freedoms were so treasured to us, in a way that would've been taken for granted had we not grown accustomed to Salvador. Talking to some British guys when we were in Foz do Iguassu, they said they felt a certain unease in Rio, less safe than they were used to because of the favela presence.

Granted, favelas are still a major issue in Rio. Some cab drivers and native cariocas even told me that they don't think the favelas will ever go away- that they're just an aspect of Brazil, that they may get better, get pacified by police, get transplanted farther away, but that they'll always exist. It's a scary, depressing thought, but all the same the favelas in Rio are already so different from the ones in Salvador, that I'm not sure if I buy into that grim diagnosis. In Salvador, favelas are woven into the city itself, nestled between rich neighborhoods and major landmarks- to the point where I pass three favelas just walking twenty minutes to class. In Rio, they're in the hills, present, looming, but very avoidable, very separate.


That separation, estranged and problematic as it may be, makes Rio as a whole safer. Iphones were safe to use in public and bring to the beach, you can walk home at night in certain neighborhoods, and there are even "24-hour neighborhoods", places where it is supposedly safe to be outdoors at any time without major threat of violence or theft. We maintained a level of caution, but this was a huge transition from our sunset-to-dawn no-fly-zone in Salvador.

Such little allowances for us were treasured as freedoms- but then talking to the Brits again we realized that without Salvador, we likely would've had an entirely different feel for Rio- that it was safe in comparison, made us so much more comfortable in comparison, but maybe for others it was still lacking.

Regardless, I wandered the city in awe. There was American food- Starbucks, KFC, Dominoes, green apples and peanut butter in the grocery stores, and even a Gringo Cafe with an American diner menu. There were so many tourists that English was commonplace- even Germans, Italians, Russians and Israelis visiting used English, making us the occasional translators for Portuguese.


The sites themselves were breathtaking. Cristo Redentor, Escadaria Selaron, the Lapa Arches, Sugarloaf Mountain, Ipanema, Copacabana, Arpoador, the Tijuca Rainforest, Chinese Lookout, all the 1910s, 1920s buildings in Lapa, including a samba club with stained glass windows, or Rio Scenarium, one of the 10 best bars in the world... every day left me with a new sense of wonder and appreciation.

The people of Rio, the cariocas, were also incredibly welcoming and helpful. We had a lot of entertaining conversations with cab drivers, including one who told us the history of the city, gave us a tour of landmarks and told stories about people living in different buildings. Our first night on the bus, we didn't know which stop to take for our hostel, and more than half of the bus pitched in to help- getting the bus driver to stop specifically for us, applauding the Americans as we got off, then all cheering and pointing to the street we should continue. Heading to the airport, we asked a man for directions from the beach, and he found a cab for us, checked the taxista's credentials, license, bartered the price down to the equivalent of bus fare and sent us on our way with his number in case we had any problems.

In the next few years, Rio de Janeiro will host the Confederations Cup, the FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 Olympics. And they're ready. The world should be very impressed with "The Marvelous City".

So then why, when Sunday rolled around, were all of us ready to go back to Salvador, why were all of us missing it?

Because, with all its faults, it is still home. Rio is absolutely incredible. I would love to live there- or at least spend several more months getting to know it better. But I am so beyond happy that I am studying in Salvador instead of Rio.

Salvador has an energy and lifestyle that the rest of Brazil mocks- calling Bahians lazy and slow- even making fun of our Bahian accent. When we went hang-gliding, our guide joked that we could put it off for tomorrow, or after a nap, or after the beach- are we sure that we need to hang-glide now? In Bahia, everything can be done the next day.

But as ridiculous as that sounds, I think it's somewhat true. It's part of the reason that I couldn't live here for a longer period of time, but Bahia has this peace and patience, a way of life that has basically been lost. It does have an incredible number of problems, a lot of which can partially be attributed to that attitude- but it is still a great experience.

Going into study abroad, I had plenty of options. Notre Dame offers over 46 programs on 6 continents. In terms of materials, I'm only in electives here so any of the programs would have fit, and in terms of language- well I started taking Portuguese only after I applied to Salvador. I'm one of five Notre Dame students currently in the Salvador program, but I could have just as well been the only one- in years past ND students came here on their own, it was just a blessing that I have friends here with me.

So then why Salvador? I could've had a semester in London with over 100 friends, travelling through Europe. Could've explored Australia with friends, made my way through China, gotten to know Russia, roughed it in Uganda... could've done just about anything. But, as the boys have been saying since we got here, we absolutely nailed it with this choice.

Salvador is an experience that I will never have again- a whole new culture, lifestyle, language and attitude, a history and a dynamic presence that I'm really apart of and that's truly challenging me beyond my comfort zone. It is beautiful on a grand scale- in the many aspects of it in which I first fell in love, the music, the people, the beaches, weather, old architecture, the history and lively culture.

And yes, through a course of months I have recognized more of the marionette strings that hold this city together, gained somewhat of an understanding of the faults of this city, and truly felt their presence- even suffered from some of them. As part of the Salvador program, we have joined families, attended local universities, joined clubs, become local sports fans. We've suffered through the murder of one of our Brazilian classmates in a local park, we've avoided a shooting down the street from our campus. We've chosen sides in the Ba-Vi rivalry, we've celebrated with the empregadas when the law granted them protection and respect. We've joined in on family birthdays, graduations, even births. In as many ways as possible during such a short time, we have become Bahians.

Salvador is known as "A Capital da Alegria", "the Capital of Happiness". And it truly is that. Through it all, Bahians are happy. They are optimistic. They are pacient. It's an entirely different mindset, but it's an amazing one to live with.

Going to Rio was incredible. It opened my eyes to the carioca culture, and taught me how much more there is to Brazil beyond Salvador. It even gave me hope for Salvador's future. But through it all, I was basing my experience there off of what I already knew about Salvador.

My mind didn't accept Rio as something new- but as a comparison to Salvador. Rio was so much more, so much prettier, cleaner, wealthier, safer, more organized than Salvador, yet it still didn't measure up in spirit and culture.

I loved Rio, and I definitely plan to return. But for now, I'm happy to be home in the Capital da Alegria.