What continent am I on?
First we were in Europe. OK, I get that. Cobblestone streets
and architecture from a number of different centuries. Then we went to Africa,
not the mainland but the coastal islands, and they were Africa but with heavy
European influence. Now we are in South America, the city of Salvador, to be
exact, of which our guide book says, “This is Africa transported, complete with
all its ancestral traditions, culture, colours, music, and mysticism, brought
here in times past by African slaves.” But it also seems very European, it is
after all the city of 365 churches, one for every day of the year. And, though
I haven’t personally counted them, I believe this statement; there are churches
everywhere, like Starbucks in the states, sometimes you can see three or four
around a single square. You wonder why they would ever need so many. But, more
to the point, they were built in the 15th to 18th
centuries by the Portuguese colonialists so the whole place looks very European
to my eyes too. (The African slaves of course did the actual work to build all
these churches being forced to ‘moonlight’ moving huge stones about after their
normal work in the sugar cane fields all day!) So which continent is it
exactly?
And is it safe here?
Our guidebook also says, “The visitor is instantly struck by
the fascinating character of the city and the warmth and the welcome of its
people…” which may be true but is hard to judge. I tried to walk around the
‘lower city’ yesterday but kept getting turned back by, what looked to me, to
be homeless people. Though I speak very little Portuguese it was very obvious
that they were saying, ‘No. Don’t go here, it is too dangerous. Go back.’ And
who, I wondered, is going to attack me if you, who look so dubious, are being
so solicitous. Eventually I gave up and went to explore the ‘upper city’. I
successfully wandered a six block tourist region, complete with shops and
restaurants and museums and market stalls galore, but, if I tried to venture
out of this very artificial neighbourhood, populated almost exclusively by
other tourists and those with something to sell to them, I met, at every
possible exit, and I tried quite a few, armed guards, who, just like the
characters in the lower city, said, very clearly, ‘No. Don’t go here, it is too
dangerous. Go back.’ So? What? The people are warm and welcoming but yet it is
too dangerous to even walk the streets by day? I don’t get it.
We may well be in Salvador for several days. HS is going to
try and fix at least one of the auto-pilot systems before we move on and we
have both a weekend and then a couple days of New Year’s holiday which will get
in the way of his ordering new parts. What
he really wants he thinks he will have to get shipped from Australia. If so I
should have the time to get this place figured out!
