Salvador, Brazil, South America

Today was a pretty quiet day here in Salvador. I spent most of the day in the apartment working on the pictures for my blog that I took in Rio. I took a break at lunch time and walked down to a beach that’s just behind the Bom Preco. It was really small, but pretty nice looking. And Rafael said that because it was carnaval it would be packed, and he was right. I’m not a big fan of sitting on the beach any time, but I definitely wasn’t going to sit down on this crowded beach today.

I grabbed a bite to eat and then came back up to the apartment to keep working. I got a better view of what this area is like during the day today, and it’s not good. The apartment building I’m in is really nice, but there is a favela right outside of my window, and it doesn’t look good. A favela is what they call a slum here in Brasil, and they are in every big city. I’ve never had to stay so close to one though, so the walk down to the supermarket or beach is a bit nerve-wracking. Nothing bad happened, but it’s just a bit intimidating for someone who looks so out of place here, and that’s definitely how I look. I’m supposed to go out and check out the last day of carnaval here tomorrow, but I’m really not looking forward to it. I might just take an hour or two and check out how different it is from Rio, and then get the heck out of there. From the sound of it, there are going to be way too many people for me to enjoy myself there anyway.