When It Rains It Pours...Literally

**Salvador as told by Vandria**

It rained all 7 days we were in Salvador, which was such a buzz kill coming off of a 5 day stint in paradise. We arrived in Salvador wanting to keep the beach vacay going and had planned two side trips to Morro de Sao Paulo and Porto Seguro (islands and another beach town). Those will have to be saved for a return trip in the summer as who wants to visit beautiful beaches in the rain?! So instead our first three days in Salvador were spent in the shopping malls. We "toured" three very nice and huge malls, with some damage on the credit cards. We were stuck in Salvador for the time being as I was waiting for a FedEx package with my new bank card, luckily we were staying for free at one of Mads' friend's mom's apartment as we would not have wanted to pay to stay a week in the rain.

We hung out with another one of Mads' friend Carol several nights - she was awesome and offered to let me come visit whenever I wanted so I could see all the beauty/fun that Salvador has to offer in the non-rainy season. Through her we met Felipe - our new found friend and tour guide. Felipe immediately intrigues Mads as he spoke with a British accent. She was convinced he was faking it, but sure enough he wasn't - he had just learned English in England at a fairly young age and the accent stuck. it was pretty funny to hear it coming out of a Brazilian, especially when he transitioned from English to Portuguese, or vice versa. Mads and I enjoyed mimicking his accent/phrases which I think sometimes annoyed him (as he felt we were making fun of him) but it was really just all fun and games and I think he knows we love him!

Felipe took us around town and showed us all the sights from within his dry car. We visited the Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim where I got my obligatory fita (colored ribbon souvenir). The ribbons have "Lembrança do Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia" printed on them. Translated from Portuguese, the phrase roughly means "In Remembrance of the Savior of Bahia" The tradition is as follows: You tie the fita around your wrist and with each of the three knots you have to make a wish, which should come true by the time the fita naturally disintegrates and falls from the wrist. Cutting it off is inviting doom! I was excited to take part in this necessary tradition that has come to symbolize Bahia itself, however I am a little concerned with how long it will take to come off. We met a guy a few nights ago who is a daily surfer (i.e. his fita gets a lot of wear and tear) and after 4 months his is only half the size of mine... I could be wearing this hot pink ribbon for months (at least it's neon). Let's hope I can even remember what I wished! Felipe also was kind enough to take us out a few nights. Thanks to him we got to see Salvador in a good light (despite the rain).

On our last day in town we were blessed with a few hours of sunshine. We took the bus to the

Pelourinho - a UNESCO-declared World Heritage site of colorful colonial buildings and magnificent churches (btw Salvador has 365 churches!!). There we wandered around the narrow cobblestoned streets going in and out of shops and taking photo opps with the Bahianas (traditional Bahian women - who are simply

there to take money from tourists).

We rode Elevador Lacerda which connects the Citdade Alta (where the Pelourinho is located) with the Comércio down below via four elevators traveling 72km in about 20 seconds. Just as we got to the bottom for my photo op it started raining! I looked like a fool running out into the downpour to take a photo - but you know me I'll do anything to get the picture.

All in all I am glad we visited Salvador, but am definitely sad we did not get to experience it in all its glory. I guess I will just have to take Carol up on her offer!!