Well I am a happy girl. I have found a place to buy my yogurt and granola! The yogurt that I bought the first time was light so it was sweeten with aspartame. This time I found the real stuff. I scoped out all the local shops to find it after I ran in Campo Grande this morning. I hadn’t realized how close I am to the coast. One of the streets by Campo Grande has a beautiful view of the ocean. I explored a little to see if I could possibly run along the coast but the area didn’t seem very safe so I think that I’m going to stick with Campo Grande.

After lunch I went on a tour of Pelourinho, the historic part of Salvador. The Franciscan church in the main square is incredible. As soon as you walk into the sanctuary you are wrapped in gold. Gold plating is everywhere! The crucifix shows Jesus on the cross with one arm reaching down to St. Francisco who is embracing him. Of course this is historically impossible because St. Francisco didn’t live during the time of Christ, but symbolically it serves its purpose. The Franciscan order was considerably poor so it seems strange to see such an opulent display. The tour guide explained that it was built during the gold find in Brazil when the entire region was swimming in gold. The church was designed to demonstrate the authority and importance of the church, which it does brilliantly. There is an area above the altar where the rich would sit while the poor stood below (there were no pews originally). On the left hand side of the church along the walls are the female saints and the males are on the right, according to the old tradition of separating the genders at mass. The tour guide also noted that the statues are held up by figures from greek mythology who according to tradition hold up the world, but they have faces of Indians.

The main square is where there used to be a pole for flogging before the criminal was taken down the hill for public scorn (you know, call the person names and throw rotten veggies) and/or prison. Across from the prison used to a church that was demolished in the name of progress and the picture of the leaning broken cross is a monument of this thoughtless destruction…