Once again up early hanging out by myself on the hostel patio drinking coffee, waiting to go inside and grab a ham and cheese sandwich when breakfast is ready. Since I just mentioned food I’ve also remembered that I found out that the cornmeal-like side dish that we had a couple days ago at La Boca is called farofa. It is actually not cornmeal although it closely resembles it and is actually a toasted manioc flour mixture. Manioc is root vegetable similar to the potato in case you don’t know. Fortunately you ARE supposed to eat it straight or use it to soak up the juices from your meal just like you would rice, etc. It is very dry and there is nothing like it in the US that compares to it except of course cornmeal which we don’t eat as a standalone dish. It’s like eating sand or dirt, it sucks the moisture out of your mouth but it is actually not that bad tasting.
Our hostel is very full now, we moved out of our single occupancy room, not by choice I have to mention, and into a dorm two nights ago. The first night it was just Kevin and I in the room and one other dude that we didn’t really see but now the room is filled with eight other people. It kind of sucks because you get no privacy. There are two English couples, two Brazilian dudes and I think also two Belgians. We made friends with everyone in our room and also with an Australian couple across the hall that took our old room and spent the night hanging out with everyone. The Brazilian dudes like Jack Kerouac and one read me some poetry that the he had composed. I’m not a fan of poetry usually but I am a fan of Kerouac so these dudes were cool. He recommended that I check out William S. Burroughs novel, Junky. I think I will.
To get specific about last night we started out with caipirinhas at Zulu Bar down the street. I should describe what a caipirinha is. A caipirinha is the national cocktail of Brazil. It is made with very bad tasting sugar cane rum which is not sweet like sugar but is actually a little bit bitter. The rum, or cachaca as it is called, is mixed with fresh squeezed lime juice and a bunch of sugar stirred in. Last night was the first time that I decided to go all out and fully partake in the national drink and I planned to experiment and experience caipirinhas to the highest level in order to see what the effects would be for science. The problem with this plan was that I found out that I am not really a fan of caipirinhas. It is very sour drink and is definitely something that you “enjoy” with your pinky up. It is also obvious when you drink them that you will be partaking in a very bad hangover if you have too many which to me is any number of drinks more than on one. I had a couple and switched back to beers.
After hanging at Zulu for awhile we walked down the hilly streets of the Pelourinho, or historic district, with the Australians Julian and Natalie to a samba concert on some large outdoor steps. These steps were about one hundred feet long and fifty feet high, big steps, about a foot and a half high each and filled with Brazilians and a band at the bottom. They like music here. We got there a little late and only caught a few songs so when they music ended we traveled to another music club. Outside Kevin was accosted by two women of the night. For some reason they are always attracted to him. One of the hookers was definitely a lady boy. We skillfully ditched them and then went inside the club which was full of people dancing and drinking. I was pretty hammered by this point and the music was really loud and I was having trouble understanding some of the British people from our hostel that we met there, mainly because it was so loud and I was so hammered.
I took off by myself and went back to Zulu bar/restaurant, got a water and a plate of french fries with sausage and talked to the Belgian dudes from our hostel who were sitting outside with me. We of course talked about Belgian beer… what else do you talk to Belgians about? That about did it for the night, I went back to the club to rendezvous with Kevin and then we headed back to the hostel to enjoy some sleep in a room with eight other people who I hardly know sleeping close to me. I slept fine though.
I want to mention that earlier in the night I came upon a scam that I read about in Lonely Planet and that I will describe here so that you can be ready for it if you encounter it. It is a common practice for bar waiters to keep track of your drink tab by simply leaving your empty beer bottles on the table and then counting them when you are ready to leave. That’s normal, that’s not the scam. The thing that you have to do is make sure that when you sit down at a table that all of the bottles from the previous occupants have been cleared and none have been left underneath the table either. If there are any left they will be added to your bill. Basically, if they’re on your table you pay for them whether they are yours or not. If you move to a table and there are empties already on it and your waiter is shady they will try and charge you for beers that are not yours. Lesson is make sure you start with a clean slate because in the shadier areas they will try to make a few extra bucks off of you this way.
That’s about it for now. Today is our last day in Salvador and we leave for Manaus which is a city in the Amazon Jungle today at 4:20PM.
To get specific about last night we started out with caipirinhas at Zulu Bar down the street. I should describe what a caipirinha is. A caipirinha is the national cocktail of Brazil. It is made with very bad tasting sugar cane rum which is not sweet like sugar but is actually a little bit bitter. The rum, or cachaca as it is called, is mixed with fresh squeezed lime juice and a bunch of sugar stirred in. Last night was the first time that I decided to go all out and fully partake in the national drink and I planned to experiment and experience caipirinhas to the highest level in order to see what the effects would be for science. The problem with this plan was that I found out that I am not really a fan of caipirinhas. It is very sour drink and is definitely something that you “enjoy” with your pinky up. It is also obvious when you drink them that you will be partaking in a very bad hangover if you have too many which to me is any number of drinks more than on one. I had a couple and switched back to beers.
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