For we wash by hand, not by machine.

It's funny how quickly one can realize that one doesn't need even a fraction of all of the clothes that one has simply by washing an even smaller fraction of ones clothes by hand.

One of the most enlightening experiences I've had thus far in Bahia came from (and continually comes from) laundry days. Here in my neighborhood we do not have a laundromat nor even a washing machine. Come to think of it, I've traveled miles and miles around the area where I live and I have not seen anything even remotely resembling a laundromat.

Being the city boy that I am (but working very diligently at changing this), I had never needed to wash my clothes by hand, and have had no previous experience in doing such. Funnily enough I had to have one of the women that runs the possada that I live in show me the ropes on the whole process. I mean, who would have thought that filling up a sink with water, adding some detergent, and scrubbing 10 to 12 items of clothing on a washboard would be so tiring - not to mention time consuming. My first attempt at washing my clothes by hand was horrific. I mean HORRIFIC! I think it took me close to two hours just to wash a handful of T-shirts, shorts, underwear and socks as well as rinse all of the soap out of them. When I was finally finished, everything was a mess; the floor was soaked, my hands were blistered from wringing out wet clothes, and it looked like I had tried to eat a gigantic powdered donut in the process because I was sticky and covered in white powdery detergent.

If you guys really want to know why it appears that all Brazilian women are so fit... I can't be 100% sure, but I'd wager that washing clothes by hand has something to do with it. When I was done rinsing out all of the soap and started hanging the clothes up to dry it felt like I had just left the gym with my biceps bulging and my face glistening with sweat, or maybe it was just soapy water. The point is, this is very difficult work. What makes this story sort of humorous is that being ignorant of the business of washing clothes by hand, I happened to pick a rainy day to do my first load. With a sense of pride in what I had accomplished, I hung up my last couple of items to the clothing line and headed for the shower. I just knew that by the next day I'd have a bunch of my favorite stuff clean and ready to wear again. Boy was I wrong. Nothing actually dried completely and everything that I had washed the previous day smelled horribly of mildew. Realizing that I would have to do this all over again nearly made me shed a tear. I'm being serious. However I sucked it up and washed everything a second time. Another 2 hours of my precious time down the drain

All in all, I can say that after two months of this I've finally smartened up and decided to pay my friend's sister to do my laundry for me. However I can say that I've learned that I have WAY too many clothes at home, and when I get back I plan on donating a whole lot of what I have to a good charity. Seriously, If you wanna test this for yourself, do a load of what you would put in the laundry machine by hand. I guarantee that you will also be heading to your nearest Salvation Army drop off station (although the salvation army is a crappy organization, but that is a topic for another day and time).

In closing... Still loving it here, still having wonderful and new experiences, still growing, still being open to change.

and as always: (love life)









Boddie

Home sweet home (a mini tour)

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain


Unfortunately this post is about two weeks overdue along with a handful of others, but like they say "It's never too late to get started." A quick warning though: I've never actually posted pictures to a blog before and I'm not exactly sure what I am doing, so we'll try this together. If for some reason this little experiment goes terribly wrong, just remember this was partly your fault also. :-)

So this is my house, the place I call home, and the place my poor arms and legs are under constant siege from the Mosquito's that were tenants here before me. I honestly wish I could have gotten a better photo of the place because it is actually 4 stories high and the colors are much more vibrant than i was able to capture on my first and only attempt at showing the front of the building.

The way it works here is that the first two floors are designed more like small two bedroom apartments (which are inhabited by my Capoeira mestre's family), and the two floors above them are like tiny little hotel rooms.





My room is actually quite small, but I chose it because has its own bathroom and a big window that opens out to the neighborhood outside, and more importantly, a view of the beach. Well sort of. There's a huge tree across the street that blocks what would be a perfect view of the beach.

Looking out from my window I can see the entire front part of my neighborhood. There are usually people everywhere doing all sorts of random things. On any given day you'll see people getting their hair cut curb side (which is actually a great idea in my opinion because you save on clean up time), there is always a game of dominoes going on, as well as hordes of kids playing soccer, or swimming along the coast. In general, things move pretty slowly here and it's very easy to fall prey to the lazy vibe of Bonfim.

I'd have to say that although the kids in Bonfim are often mischievous, they are really cute and are very patient with me when it comes to speaking Portuguese. They're probably my favorite part of living here. Whenever they see me on the street they yell out "Oy Coqueiro!", run over so i can pick them pick them up, tickle 'em, or something of the like. The other day I was speaking with Jessica (who is the most adorable 3 year old girl I've ever seen) and i asked her if she liked my hair. To which she quickly responded "No!" and started laughing. I asked her why she didn't like my hair and her response this time was "Ninguém gosta!" which means "No one likes it" Everyone in the room started to laugh hysterically. She's such a ham! What I've learned is that Brazilians don't always like dreadlocks and they are especially not fond of facial hair, and/or beards (and I have both now). I've actually been asked several times by different people that live here "when are you going to shave that beard of yours. É feio (it's ugly)". To which I always smile and reply "Nunca (never)" Below are some pictures of these little rascals that run amok in the neighborhood. The first is of Jessica.







































This was just a little taste of where I'm living at the moment. As for this adventure, I'm still taking it head on and looking forward to the days to come. I'll have some new updates soon, now that I officially have internet at home (well at least when it wants to work), and can continue to post more pictures of my experiences.

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read this, I honestly appreciate it.

If you have a dream, chase it. If you don't, go and get one. You'll thank yourself later.

and as always. LOVE LIFE!

My Arrival

"Look, I've never had a dream in my life,
because a dream is what you wanna do but still haven't pursued,
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done,
so i've been the dream that i wanted to be since day one" - Aesop Rock


So, after having to make a random stop in Puerto Rico to re-fuel due to what I can only chalk up to poor planning by the authorities at American Airlines I finally arrived to Salvador Airport unscathed and only an hour an a half later than my itinerary predicted. After pre-paying around R$105 (which depending on the day is about the equivalent of $60 American), a very easy going, round Brazilian man with a warm smile grabbed my things and we headed towards Bomfim. We tried to chat for the first 5 minutes of the ride but that was an epic fail after the very basic stuff, "like where are you from", "and are you going to watch the world cup" was asked. The ride took about an hour and a half, which is apparently common for Brazilian weekday traffic. For those of us who have been on the 405 freeway during rush hour in California, let me just say that it has nothing on the traffic out here.

The weather on the other hand is just my speed, hot day in and day out. I don't even mind the constant humidity. When I arrived to the pousada (sp?) i was greeted by my Capoeira Mestre's mom who showed me to my room. I actually stayed here before a few years back, and for some reason i don't remember the room being so small. There are actually 12 other rooms to choose from, but i personally like mine because i have a view of the ocean which is about 60 ft. from the front door. After settling in, I took a walk around to get a feel for the upgraded neighborhood and quickly found an Internet cafe. Well I wouldn't exactly call it a cafe as there is no coffee or drinks at all for that matter, and it's ran by a couple of kids who religiously spend their time playing a soccer game on Playstation 2. The price is great however, only about .75 cents an hour.

The Bonfim neighborhood is great! The people are friendly, and some of them even remeber me from my past trip here. This will be a great place to start shooting exteriors for the documentary. Gzz.. i think i forgot to mention why I'm even here. To make a long story short, I've partnered up with Mestre Amen and Brasil Brasil Cultural center to make a documentary about street kids here in Bahia. As a matter of fact, here is a short description of the project.

Brazil Brazil Cultural Center (BBCC) in partnership with Guerilla Hollywood Films have come together in order to bring awareness to the many issues that plague the youth of Brazil. The presence of vast numbers of unsupervised and unprotected children is a phenomenon that is common throughout Latin America, and in few places are the street children more visible, and reviled, than in Brazil.
“Meninos De Rua” will identify various problems plaguing Brazils youth as seen through their eyes and heard from their mouths. We will focus on a group of kids of varying ages who are associated with the “Emilia Research School” for music in the Pelorinho district in Bahia. Along with identifying pertinent issues and seeing their struggles first hand, we’ll also explore ways for creating a better future for Brazil and highlight organizations already working to make a difference.

Well, that is it for now, i'm going to try and update this as often as possible. In a perfect world, it would be everyday, and even though I am perfect (except when it comes to spelling and grammar), the internet here is often times sketchy which will force me to miss days now and again. ;-)

Ps. There will be tons of pictures in future post, however i've first got to settle this power conversion issue so that i can get all of my toys up and working.

Love Life!

Boddie