Officially a Cyst-er

Oh, so much news....I´ll start with the good stuff...

I went this past weekend to Mucuge, a little city in the interior of the state of Bahia, for the festival of São João. This festival is a huge deal here in the Northeast...kinda like Carnaval is for the Southeast of Brazil. Basically, it´s a redneck festival. People wear straw hats, dress in plaid shirts, jeans and cowboy boots and dance to Brazilian country music (called "forró" here). It is also a festival that includes many different traditional foods and drinks of the Northeast. It´s really my cup of tea-- the whole idea is to eat, drink (and get drunk), be merry and dance all night long. Awesomeness! I went with a tour group so, there were 23 of us in a tour bus. Everyone except myself and two Germans were Brazilians so, it was great to see the dynamic of Brazilian tourists for a change. They were hilarious! Everyone was trading stories, jokes and food. Our tour guide was a riot and very energetic. He was also very into spiritualism so, every time something went wrong (and plenty of things did), he would say, " Ok everyone, let´s just think positive shall we? Let´s take 3 deep breaths now....ok, one for you, one for the group and one for the universe." haha Part of the tour package was a series of small trips to neighboring cities where we went rock climbing, swam in grottoes, got drenched in waterfalls, went hiking in the mountains and then, every night, partied for São João. It was easily the highlight of my time here.

Ok, so now the bad stuff. Having said all the above, the highlight of my trip has surely passed. I spent all day Wednesday in the emergency room of a local hospital. Why, you ask? Well, before leaving for Brazil I noticed a lump on my neck. It was small, right below my jawline and wasn´t causing any problems for me. However, I went to a doctor in TN (who shall remain nameless....the bitch) who told me it was probably nothing....some kind of allergy...and it would pass. So, I came here. As the weeks went by, I noticed that this lump was starting to enlarge. After returning from the trip this weekend, this lump began hurting. My host family got scared and took me to the hospital. After a whole day there, a battery of tests and R$2,000, it was finally determined that I have a branchial cyst (more or less like the one in the photo, except on the left side). I was referred to a specialist, who I met yesterday. He was very nice and explained to me that it´s not cancer, just fluid. However, I will need surgery to remove it; otherwise, there is a very real risk of infection which, around the head and neck area, is serious business. So, as a result, I am in the process of changing my flight to this Sunday. My parents have already called my doctor there and are scheduling things. More bad news-- I didn´t get to finish my research here. In fact, I barely got started. Today was going to be my last day of language classes and then I had interviews and meetings scheduled for the next two weeks, in addition to trips to libraries and museums here. No research, no more fun and no more Brazil.....

So, America, I´m on my way home....but I´m not happy about it.... :(

Misadventures at the Morro de São Paulo

This weekend was crazy! Got to tell everyone this story...

A group of American students and I decided to visit the Morro de São Paulo (a tropical island off the coast, photo above) for a weekend get-away. We almost missed the last boat on Friday afternoon because traffic was bad, one friend was late and the line at the ticket counter was rather long. Luckily, we got there in time and got on board. We opted to take a catamará (very fast motorboat) to the island instead of the slower (and cheaper) ferryboat. We had been warned by the language school not to eat lunch before leaving. I heeded this warning, and for good reason. The motorboat was so fast that it cut the waves which meant that everyone inside moved both up and down and side to side. Virtually half the boat got intensely seasick, including myself. This suprised me considering I´ve been on lots of boats before and I don´t really have motion-sickness issues. The beginning of the trip had been full of laughing, talking and jokes about how rough the sea was; after about half an hour, no one thought it was very funny anymore.

Two hours later, we landed at the island. It was incredible. It looked like something from Gilligan´s Island mixed with Jurassic Park-- wild, craggy, and fantastic in the setting sun. Giddy as school girls, the four of us settled into our pousada (little hotel). We had a great steak dinner on the beach by the light of tiki torches and drank ourselves silly. About 2am, our friend A wakes us up in a panic. "What the hell?? There´s something in the bed! Guys, get up!" Naturally, we all leap out of bed and flip on the lights. A´s back and chest were covered with large, red welts. We frantically checked his bed but there was nothing there. As the others discussed a possible case of hives, I took a closer look at A´s back. "Hey guys, these look like mosquito bites, not hives." As we all looked around, it became apparent that little black dots were buzzing from every corner of the room. Stupidly, we had left the window of the room open for fresh, cool air during the night and invited a dozen or so buggy-friends in from the rain. Strangely, they only went for A. Another friend had some Off! wipes which we all used on A and ourselves rather generously before tenuously falling back asleep.

The next day, we all basked in the glory of the equatorial sun and thought our troubles had ended. Eh, not so much. By dinner-time, I started to notice that my cash was running low, as was everyone else´s. Despite having little VISA and Mastercard plaques in their windows, virtually every place on the island did not take a card--of any kind (not even the hotel!!!) There was an ATM near our hotel that had the proper insignia so, I went to get some cash. It kept saying it couldn´t read my card. Damn. So, I went to ask at the hotel where there was another one. The closest one was further in-town so, my friend B and I went on a quest to get money. We went for the national bank of Brazil but, that ATM was out of order. The last one left on the island was the same brand as the one near our hotel that hadn´t been able to read my card. Shit, shit, shit, I kept thinking. If this doesn´t work we´ll have to wash dishes or pimp ourselves out or something to eat and get back. Thanks be to Jesus, the ATM worked on my card. So, I took out a ton just to be safe. Ironically, no one else could get it to work. I became the sugar-momma of the group.

That night, our group went out to celebrate our new problem-free existence. A dinner and a few drinks later and my buddy A was down for the count--- food poisoning. We suspect that the ice or perhaps lime in one of his drinks was dirty. He was vomiting all night long in our hotel bathroom. We didn´t have the heart to leave him there alone and we were tired anyway so, we went to bed early. The next morning we ate and did as little as possible to not tempt fate, got on the return boat and made it back to the mainland intact. Ahhhh.....world travel!!!

Attitude Adjustment

I can´t believe it´s already week two!! Time is definitely flying down here. I feel like I´m just now starting to feel comfortable and well-adjusted. Maybe too comfortable; you can blame it on the heat, the intensive language courses, the laundry list of things to buy, do and see but, the truth is that I haven´t gotten any work done yet. It´s driving me crazy! I have been trying...honestly, I have. I tried emailing a few professors/grad students here in Salvador that do the same kind of research but, they either pass me off to other people or simply don´t reply to my emails. I´m not exactly sure what to do about this. Be persistent and kick down the door (figuratively speaking, of course)? Leave well enough alone and forget about talking with anyone local? Social mores are rather different here and I know that but, I don´t know what the alternative is. Clearly, I need an attitude adjustment of some kind.

So, what have I been doing instead of work? Lots of stuff. I´ve visited the Mercado Modelo (local artisan fair in the historic city center), which is where everyone´s gifts are going to come from. I love this place. The area around it is a bit dodgy but, the stuff they sell is awesome. Anything you can imagine made from wood, leather or stone is there (musical instruments, jewelry, clothing, shoes, artwork, etc.). Way too much fun.

Yesterday, a few of us went uptown to the Museu de Arte da Bahia (Bahia Museum of Art). I wasn´t allowed to take any pictures (at least from the inside) but, let me tell you, it was fantastic! To be totally honest, most museums in Latin America (at least in my personal experience) are not all that great. However, this one made up for all the rest. It is a beautifully restored colonial house converted into a museum of all varieties of art relating to the history of Salvador, Bahia. Royal furniture, portraits, dishware, sketches, maps, etc. It was wonderful-- worth way more than the R$2.50 (roughly USD $1.20) that I paid to get in. There is also a Museum of Modern Art here that I hope to get to some time soon.

There´s more but I´m running out of blog space and time (gotta pay to get on the internet here). So, I´ll have to wait until next time to give more info....Bye for now!

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Rain, rain go away....

Well, I´ve made it through my first week here in Salvador, Brazil. The first few days were rather rough for me. My Portuguese was rusty, I didn´t know anyone and I had nothing to do. Thankfully, I know my way around now so, there are plenty of things to do. My language skills have improved to the point that even taxi drivers compliment my Portuguese. One even thought I was from São Paulo, haha. I´ve also made some friends here. As an internationally-oriented language school, there are people here from all over. It is a constant flux of foreigners in and out but, as of now, there is: a Spanish girl, a guy from NY, a guy from Minneasota, a guy from Montreal, Canada, a couple from Slovakia, two German girls, a Russian girl, a guy from South Africa, a British guy, and a few that I haven´t been introduced to yet. It´s pretty awesome.

I´ve seen a bit of the city so far, but only a small bit. The weather here has been really tempermental. It pours rain one minute and then it´s hot, humid and sunny the next. This weekend, a group of us had plans to visit the Morro de São Paulo, which is an island off the coast of Brazil. It has a nature preserve, a resort and some of the best beaches in the area. Unfortunately, the forecast is for rain and thunderstorms all weekend long so, those plans will have to wait. I did get to see some of the historic center of the city, Pelourinho, at night. A group of us watched a drum corp and dance troupe as they moved through the streets. It was awesome! Everyone was joining in, dancing and singing-- even tourists. Then, we went to a reggae club and I learned how to dance forró, which is a typical dance of the Northeast of Brazil. The picture here is actually not Pelourinho, but Barra-- the area where I spend most of my time. This is a photo of the fárol (lighthouse) there at night. I have pictures of it during the day but, uploading photos here would be impossible. You get the idea...

Not sure what I´m going to do this weekend. A few students here were going to go out again and the school is throwing a party for us on Sunday night. Still trying to get my research started. I´ve emailed a few people and am waiting on responses. I´ll keep everyone posted!