February 11, 2009

Yes, it’s been a while, so I am overdue for an update. We have now left Brazil and are headed to Argentina. We had no idea how much we would love Brazil, especially Rio. Despite the wide beaches in the northern town of Fortaleza and the wonderful dancing we were able to see on a free excursion (for all passengers), it was our least favorite of the three cities we visited in Brazil. To get to the theater where they did the dancing, we drove along a street about a block from the beach. What a contrast: large expensive high rise condos on one side, and on the other extreme poverty with favelas visible on the hillside. We don’t really have a perfect translation for favelas, but they are basically communities squatter shacks, most built from discarded construction materials. The dancing was quite something, the fulfillment of a dream of one lady who takes young people from the slums and trains them to dance, and I mean professional quality dance. We first saw a modern dance with strong African influence, and then a more traditional Brazilian dance in the garden beside the theater. Both well done, but it was HOT and we were glad to head back to the ship. Everything is reversed from our North American way of thinking. Summer is December, January and February, and the further North you are, the hotter it is. So this was the hottest part of Brazil.

I received my first assignment as an excursion escort in Salvador de Bahia, the first capital of Brazil. As an escort I count heads, carry a first aid kit and give a report on the excursion to the ship’s Destination Services staff. As an escort I do not pay for the excursions, but we decided to pay for Ronnie so we could be together. A great group of only 12 including me, and we had a marvelous time seeing both the upper and lower part of the city. The lower part is where the port is and mostly commercial, the upper is the historic part with amazing cathedrals, churches, and squares. We were on an all day cruise which included the traditional Churrascaria meal, an opulent meal of cold salads (a buffet of 50 or so salad dishes), a hot buffet and 19 kinds of meat sliced from skewers brought around to each table by the waiters. We also visted the Pinto museum, a mansion donated to the city by the Pinto family, featuring lost of silver, gold, crystal, and other art work. We drove though all kind of neighborhoods from middle class to very wealthy. We ended with stop at the Modelo market, with lots of local craft vendors. We purchased a colorful painting by a local artist in the upper city and a couple of Bahia dolls in the market. The African influence is very strong in Salvador, the beaches are beautiful, and we truly enjoyed our tour.

Rio de Janeiro is absolutely incredible, especially sailing in and seeing the huge beaches with all the high rise buildings and the cliffs on either side and mountains behind. The Christ statue is on a high mountain top and visible from almost everywhere in the city, and therefore both a great way to orient oneself (both spiritually and geographically). I cannot recommend Rio highly enough as a place to visit. Ronnie and I would love to go back. It was hot there, but I guess our bodies are used to such a climate now living in Florida, so it did not really bother us that much. I cannot even begin to describe being at Corcovado where the Christ statue is. Pictures cannot do it justice, as the huge statue over towers you and you have panoramic views of all of Rio. It is one of the most inspiring places I have ever been. We loved the Ipanema and Cococabana beaches – the sand is fine and the beaches are wide (and packed with people on the weekend). Our tour guide from the jewelry store gave us a bonus by taking us to a monastery chapel with awe-inspiring baroque carvings covered in gold. We were there just in time for the evening Latin mass, and while we could not stay for the whole thing, we were engulfed in beautiful Gregorian chant by the monks sitting on either side of the chancel (similar to choir stalls at St. Paul’s in Winston-Salem).

Every sea day I continue to do daily devotions (I use Morning Prayer as the model, but don’t let on to the non-Episcopalians) except Sunday where I do give a full blown sermon. I am doing Communion on the fourth Sunday of every month. There is a daily Mass for the Roman Catholics.