First Day

28.05.2012 17:32

I’m sitting on an ocean-side patio soaking in the day. I lucked out with a perfectly smooth plane ride here, arriving at 6:00 a.m. and meeting up with UT classmates in the airport. Our first night is at a hotel in the barrio Campo Grande in Salvador before we meet our Senhoras who will house us the rest of the trip. I spent the day with my colleague Priscilla walking along a stretch of sea that extends for miles. The streets are lively, the air is infused with the sea, and giant trees shoot down roots in attempt to grow in the sidewalk. It’s partly familiar, partly exotic. Street vendors sell jewelry made of coconut and seashells, cars beep and honk as they zoom past, and tropical fruit lures you in at every corner. It’s very new though, too. Bahia, the state I’m in, is the heart of culture in Brazil—the music, the food, the clothes, the religion all stem from its tumultuous history as a colonial city and slave port. I made a discovery today that puts into pictures what Diego Rivera did on walls in Mexico: Carybé, one of the most beloved twentieth century artists of Brazil. Priscilla and I randomly walked into an art gallery, Oxum Casa de Arte. It was empty, except for the guard who opened the door and a woman at a desk. We quietly looked at the pottery and paintings, and on our way out of the small room I mentioned that I liked a painting. Carybé. The woman led us into a downstairs room full of paintings and books on the artist who captured Bahia in action—caipoiera, the martial art-like dance; candomblé, the syncretic religion, danzas, música, people. His style, his subjects, they all speak of life. Most certainly a new favorite! Lots of images on Google: http://bit.ly/M4nP5r

Photo image: http://bit.ly/Jzf0yF