Free Day

So yesterday was our free day, but I think we exhausted the boys almost as much as if they had played a game.  After breakfast we went to the beach and found a section without rocks for some of the guys to go into the surf.  Ty, MJ, and Grant got too far out in the waves for the lifeguards’ liking.  The Brazilian lifeguards were yelling at us to yell at the boys to get them to stay closer to shore.  They claimed there was a strong undertow at that beach that would sweep them out to sea if they couldn’t touch the bottom.  One of them claimed to hear a lifeguard use the word “gringo” repeatedly.  Once the guys were closer to shore we had no more problems with the lifeguards.

About half the guys went into the ocean, just diving over, under, or through the waves.  The rest stayed on shore playing keepaway for a bit before setting up a field using sandals as goalposts, drawing endlines in the sand, and just like true Brazilian beach soccer, no sidelines.  The spectators and the surf were all in play.  The tide started coming in as we played, meaning that our ad hoc goals kept getting washed away.  Each time it washed away play was suspended and the goal was reformed a couple feet higher up the beach.  Unfortunately, Diego had to sit most everything out due to his ankle.  But he and Andres did go haggle over bracelet and shirt prices with a lady selling clothes and trinkets on the beach.

After a couple hours we went back to the hotel for lunch.  After an hour’s rest the guys were getting restless and I was getting worried that the guys would spend an entire week in Brazil without actually seeing the country, its people, or way of life.  So, I convinced Anderson that we should walk through the streets south from the hotel to reach the boardwalk that I had run to the previous day.  We began walking through residential streets keeping as close to the ocean as possible.  Only a few small hotels like ours are scattered amongst the homes, apartments and small beachside condos of the neighborhood.  None of the buildings are any more than 3 or 4 stories high.  We walked for a spell, stopped at a grocery store, then continued on.  As we came in sight of the boardwalk we began to see people, where before we had only seen cars.  Cafes started popping up, as well as streetside vendors.  I was getting excited that we would finally get to walk amongst Brazilians and experience the culture.  Buying local staples from a food cart, window shopping for Christmas gifts for my family, dropping a coin in a street musicians music case, and resting at an outdoor café watching life go by.  These are the things I was hoping to do.

I suppose we did get to experience Brazilian life.  For about 2 minutes.  From the time we came upon the boardwalk, Anderson was getting visibly nervous.  In my international experience, safety comes in numbers.  If there are lots of people in the group, someone is much less likely to attack, and if there are lots of people around, someone is a lot less likely to risk an attack with many witnesses and citizens to assist the victim.  I fully anticipated pickpockets, and reminded the guys of that danger.  But we had a group of 25 with 5 adults and there were people everywhere; on the beach, walking on the street, sitting at cafes.  Moreover, I had run down that boardwalk further than we walked twice, with never a disturbance or noticing any dangerous activity or advances.  But apparently that wasn’t enough.  Very quickly Anderson sensed danger and got us to turn around and head back.

We stopped off at the grocery store again and ate at the outdoor pizza restaurant located just outside of it.  The pizza was pretty good.  More than anything it was a nice change of pace from the hotel food, which has become a bit repetitive.  The same beef stew, the same fried chicken, the same rice and beans.

By the time we had finished eating, the sky was dark, save for the bright glow of the full moon.  Ronald, Anderson’s friend and business partner came in his car to get us to prevent us from having to walk back.  I suppose it was a good thing to save the guys’ legs for the game today, but the primary reason was safety yet again.  Because only 5 guys could fit in Ronald’s car at one time, he had to make several trips.  Each time Anderson chose to send back the kids that “fit in” the least, so that the group would be less likely to stick out from the crowd.  So that meant the Americans went first, with (and I’m going to try to say this as literal and scientifically as possible) the kids with less melanin pigmentation in their skin leaving before the kids with more melanin pigmentation.  The area of Bahia is inhabited with predominantly African peoples due to the dominance of the slave trade in the local economy before its abolition.  So our excursion into the real Brazil was short-lived, and in my opinion, disappointing.

But while it may be my bone to pick, the guys aren’t necessarily complaining about not having seen much of Brazil outside of the hotel, bus, beach, and fields.  Their contention is that they haven’t had any opportunity to spend any money on souvenirs.  They were asking to go to the mall that we see from the bus window on our way out of town for the games, but I really believe that the mall here is going to be no different than a mall in the US.  I guess the primary roadblock to us doing anything else has been transportation.  The bus is really only available to us for games, and without it we have no way of traveling around.  We are too far from the actual city of Salvador for things to be walking distance, and none of us are from the area so I wouldn’t trust us to be able to navigate the public transportation system.  But. I have asked and Anderson says we will get to a Brazilian market and get some non-hotel Brazilian food, but we’re running out of time.  As I write this we are on our way to our fourth game, against Ypiranga.  If we don’t do anything different tonight, then all we have is tomorrow.  So I have hopes, but they are not expectations.

After we got back, I took some more pictures on the beach.  Apparently the lighthouse near us is pretty famous in Brazil.  The Farol de Itapuã it is called.

Then some of the guys decided to partake in the Baiana tradition of drinking the water from inside a green coconut.  They picked their coconuts from the hotel trees and hotel staff cut the top off for them to insert a straw.  I tried it.  It didn't taste like the sweet coconut I was hoping for, but not bad.

I think that’s going to do it for now.  I’m going to try to get up to see the sunrise tomorrow morning, so I’ll try to write up today’s game and other happenings/observations then.