Last Day in Salvador

Last night was our curfew adventure for this trip. We made it back at 3 minutes of 2am. I can't remember the last time I was still up at 2, much less out somewhere. I guess they probably wouldn't send us home with only today left. Marina met us here and went with us to the bar. It was a place a tourist would never be likely to find. On the beach, but far from the tourist areas. It was in a middle class neighborhood and filled with casually fashionable twenty and thirty-something locals, most of whom seemed to know each other. Definitely different from anyplace else we've been.

Marina's boyfriend, pronouced Heny, but probably spelled Remi, plays guitar and speaks only a little English. He was very pleased, but a little embarassed we had come to hear them. The band, Rock Band (pronounced Banjee jee hrockee) plays British and American 70's classic rock such as Pink Floyd, Neill Young, Beatles, Eric Clapton, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc. It was very bizarre to hear them singing "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" , etc, knowing they had no idea what they were singing. Because they learn the songs by mimicing the sounds, when they sing Pink Floyd, they have a very British accent and when they do southern rock, they sound like hillbillies. It was a real kick. I had Marina tell him that we live about 20 minutes away from Neill Young and I thought he would faint from envy. He called over all his friends to meet us. I had her assure him that it was not like we'd ever run into Neill in the grocery store!

Marina ordered a local seafood specialty, sururu, for us to try and when he saw the size of the dollop of malagueta hot sauce I put in mine, his eyes became huge. He got really excited and said that if I like Bahian cuisine, his mother was one of the best regional cooks around. She lives in a town nearby. He invited us to come to dine with his family next time we return. He meant it and I am so there. I am starting to tear up at the thought of leaving these friendly, gracious, generous, joyful people that we have come to love so much. Lulu, who tends our room and keeps it clean, just left for the day with many laughs and hugs. It was hard to say farewell. We'll have to do the same later today with Joceline, the other housekeeper who laughs all the time, Emelia and Laura our fabulous cooks and the other great staff. Our good friend, Vini, the house manager will pick us up at 5:30am tomorrow and drive us to the airport.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Brasilia, then Manaus, and then take a boat down the river to the lodge on the Amazon where we will spend the vacation part of our trip. We may not have internet access there, so this might be the last report for a while. You may have to wait for our return to hear about our Amazon adventures.
Judy