Finally Sunshine

The weather today was glorious. The first day with no rain. Not too hot and a nice breeze. We took the children outside to play in the courtyard for the first time this trip. The daycare joined us and it was quite a commotion. Fortunately, several of the nuns came out to play, too. They are so wonderful with the children.

The morning flew by quickly with all play. We served breakfast and lunch and got everyone ready for naps. And back to me doing the laundry and Larry doing lots of mopping. We are still spending a lot of time comforting Jocko and Clarinhia as they are still fearful and anxious.

We took an interesting excursion this afternoon. We headed to a hilltop favella. The streets are very narrow and lined with shops. Little alleys go up and down the hillside that lead to the houses. Most people don't have cars, so there's no need for a real street. The houses are all in terrible condition. Bruno, our wonderful guide, said this area is the poorest of the poor. I was glad that our excellent driver, Moises, could not understand the English because he lived in the neighborhood. He took us to his street and showed us his car, of which he is very proud. The exteriors of the buildings may look bad, but let me tell you, the people in the streets all looked sharp. This living arrangement is just a way of life. Half the houses aren't even finished, but Bruno says the attitude is, don't worry, the money will come. When we have a few dollars, we'll buy a few more bricks. The people in the favells have the best views in town since they are on the hilltops. Ocean views we'd all have to pay big bucks for.

We stopped at the most famous ice cream shop in Salvador. I had mangaba. It's a fruit that we can't get at home. We also taste-tested green corn ice cream. Quite strange, if you can imagine.

Then we went to Bonfim Church. It is the oldest and most famous church in Salvador. Long history intertwined with Catholicism and candomble. Bonfim means good end. Many people have experienced miracles from praying here and there is a room dedicated to people bringing offerings of thanks related to their blessing. It is filled with photos, diplomas and plastic body parts (to represent the part of someone that got well).

For such a large city, the crime rate is quite low. There is no organized crime and little crime involving bodily harm. Mostly theft. Caitlin went out running alone early on Saturday morning (which she shouldn't have) and was robbed of her camera at knife-point. She said she was never physically threatened, they just showed her the knife, pointed at her camera, and when she handed it over, they told her to go away. Even in the favellas, it is pretty safe to walk around during the day in groups.

Tomorrow we will spend the whole day at the orphanage since Thursday is a national holiday, Corpus Christi. Although the country is not officially Catholic, it represents such a large percentage of the population, many of the religious holidays become national holidays. And if it falls on Thursday, often everyone takes off Friday as well. Great if you want a vacation, but not so great for their economy. So tomorrow will be our last day at the orphanage as it is closed on Friday as well. We'll help out in the daycare, which will be open.
Judy