Day 2 - Itaparica Island: Misadventures in Language and Ferry Boats! We decided to head out to Itaparica Island today, which is on the other side of the Bay from Salvador. No real plan in mind, we set out for the ferry, but our group had conflicting information on the ferries and after a walk through some shady part of town, we ended up at the 'wrong' one; the car ferry that goes to a different part of Itaparica, instead of the passenger ferry to the part of the island we were looking for. We decided to take the car ferry. No big deal...some broken Portuguese thanks to Carrie, and a short taxi ride later, we were at the other ferry terminal. We grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach. We found the beach closest to the ferry terminal and although it looked beautiful from far away wasn't really all that great. I think that this was the first time in my life when we were the only 'white people' and that was a real eye-opening experience. Not a bad experience at all, just something to think about. Salvador and this region is an Afro-Brazilian area with a really interesting history. So anyways....we spent some time at the beach, there were tons of people there; little kids running around flying home-made kites, people selling food along the beach, and more. Because the whole country shuts down for Carnaval, alot of people also use the time for vacation, and we found out that many people from the city who can't afford to go very far, come out to this island to get away. I think today was the most removed I've felt from "1st world" society...it was crazy, not outside of my comfort zone just yet but definately different from anything I'd ever experienced before, especially because of the language barrier, it really makes you feel helpless. I'm fairly good with languages and can make educated guesses with most signs but person to person communication is almost impossible.

I was supposed to meet KP at 4:00pm to check out Skydive Itaparica but we never found each other and at 5:30, we headed back to Salvador and the ship. After dinner, I was a little nervous about where she was but everything turned out fine. They also had some ferry misadventures but did make it to the DZ and we're going to head back there tomorrow. I don't know if I'll jump or not, depends on how I feel after getting a feel for the place. Gotta be safe! I'm looking foward to going back to Itaparica...I feel like there is alot more to the island that I experienced today. It will also be cool to check out another DZ, even just to hang out for a little while.

Tomorrow we're also going to a soccer game. I've never been in to soccer, but I figure going to a brazilian futebol game will definately be an experience.

Boa Noite!

PS - I read some of these blog entries after posting them and wonder if I can even speak English! So I apologize for that...I just sit and type my thoughts as they pour out which isn't always coherent or with correct grammar.