Hello my dear ones. Well yesterday Portuguese class started again. I passed Intermediate I and I advanced to Intermediate II with the same professor. There are 7 students total: 5 from my last class, plus an Italian and another student from the CIEE program who skipped a level. My Portuguese class time was moved from 2-4 to 4-6, so that means that I can’t take the social work class I wanted. There’s a chance that the time could be moved back, but if not I’ll have to go back to the CIEE office to look over the schedule again and pick a different class.

I went to capoeira last night and paid for the month so I’m officially committed! The class is definitely too advanced for me, but I’m trying. Algodão, one of the instructors that Sonia and Bethany befriended, helped me with some of the basics. He’s a bit of a flirt, but he’s a patient instructor. (Sonia, if you’re reading this, he wants to know why you didn’t say goodbye before you left.)

Today Bethany and I went to an island a 40 minute ferry-ride from Salvador. We took a bus to Pelourinho, paid 5 centavos to take the Elevador Lacerda down by the port, and rode the ferry. The ride was a bit rough, but I only saw one little boy get sea-sick. When we got to the island we were a bit disappointed because the beaches were dirty and it certainly didn’t seem like the paradise that we had imagined. After walking around for a bit, we stopped for lunch and the man who attended us suggested that we take a taxi to the historic part of the island, then to the Ponto da Areia where the best beach is.

The “historic” region consisted of a port where it is prohibited to fish, swim, or even touch the water. Our taxi driver escorted us to the dock and explained that it was a nature preserve and pointed out a few exotic fish that swam by. We also visited Fonte de Bica, which is a source of mineral water that is clean enough to drink from the tap.

When we got to Ponto da Areia it was overcast and we feared rain. Our taxi driver agreed to pick us up at 4:00, so we had three hours to burn on the beach. When we saw a man renting out his horses for those who wanted to take a ride along the beach and Bethany’s eyes lit up. I haven’t been on a horse since I was a little girl, so the man agreed to lead and let me go alone if I was comfortable. We trotted along the shore and a little ways into a forest trail. On the way back Bethany and I switched horses and I rode solo. It went okay until the strap to my backpack came undone and I had to toss my bag to the man. I regretted having done that when I thought about my camera and wallet, but I didn’t have any trouble and he didn’t even mind waiting a few hours to be paid since we didn’t have any bills smaller than R$50.

We had about 2 hours of sunshine before the rains came back and we headed home. On the way to the island we sat on the top deck, but for the way back we decided to try the bottom level. It was hilarious because everyone riding down there laid down on the benches. I’m not sure if it is because they were motion sick or because they were so accustomed to the ride that they didn’t care for the view above and passed the time napping. Whatever the case, Bethany and I decided that when in Rome, do as the Romans and laid down like pros until water sloshed in through the windows. So that’s why everyone laid down in the middle benches…