Salvador is a very large metropolitan city located about 13 degrees south of the equator. It is on a pennisula, with one side being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the other side bordered by Baía de Todos os Santos, or the All Saint's Bay. Salvador was founded in 1549, and was the original capital of Brazil - it's still the capital of the state of Bahia.
This was my second time in Salvador - the last time I stayed for about three weeks, living with a family, and attending language school. This time I'm in the same neighborhood, but a lot closer to the school that before. I am staying with a very nice woman named Norma who works in tourism. My room is very nice, and it even has a double bed which is a treat.
We went on the city tour yesterday (see pictures), and we went to some places I had been last time as well as some some new places. We went to the park Dique do Tororó, with the Orixas - African god/desses - represented by statues in the lake. We also went to the Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim - one of the oldest churches and one with a custom of tying colored ribbons on the fence to represent prayers - when the ribbon falls off, your prayer is answered. I went there before but this time the church was open - it was very pretty inside (I don't like taking pictures in the churches - it seems sacreligious). There were a lot of peddlers selling their wares - I was prepared this time. We also went to Forte Mont Serrat, an old fort. I got some cool shots there - there were some horse just roaming free, eating the grass! Finally, we went and had some sorvete - ice cream - yum!
