When we arrived in Salvador, I was a little sketched out because it was less of a city than Rio, but after our 3 days there I fell in love more than in Rio. The first day we went to one of the 2 markets. It was more of an indoor market and had everything from clothes, shoes, artwork, drums, tapestries, etc. We then hit up one of the beaches that was a cab ride away. Some of these ports are good like in Europe because there was a lot of public transportation, but recently most of the methods of transportation is just cabs. So it kind of got annoying when we always had to split cabs everywhere. At the beach I bought another few sarongs (the scarves you wear around your waist at the beach).

That night we loved Fogo de Chao so much that we all wanted to go again…And we had a grand time! We were a party of 8, and were eating and having wine and then this large group of men sit down at a big table next to us. We get talking to them because they say they are from the states, specifically LA (because in our group we have 4 people from California), and we found out that they were working for Red Bull this weekend! There was a Street Style World Final competition going on this weekend in Salvador. It started Friday, but too bad we left Friday night. The Street Style is a sport that is sponsored by Red Bull but it is like a dual battle of soccer tricks and skills on a circular stage. Anyways, those guys were filming the competition and were hired by Red Bull! So that was cool! We ended going out with them after dinner and they were all mad chill. Later I looked their company up online and they are so legit! The friendliest, Eric, has done work for companies like Guess, Vans, Red Bull previously, etc. Anyways that was the highlight of that night.

The next day we went to the beach again! But first we went to the other market! The other market was located in the Old Town which was on top of the cliff. So there is this public elevator that takes people up and down it in seconds. The Old Town was adorable with more store type shops, but there were a lot more creepy homeless people. After that we went to the other beach. It was within walking distance from the other one but still a cab ride away overall. Once we got to the beach Natalie, Mike, Caroline and I rented paddle boards for an hour and went paddle boarding! These water situations are when I wish I had a waterproof camera or a GoPro with a waterproof case! But it was a lot of fun to just chill out on the boards and see the beautiful view of the beach and part of the city from afar. Afterwards we swam in the super warm water! Being the American college kids we were, we were loud, and laughing our heads off over stupid jokes. As well as finding the largest rock we could so that it would sink us to the bottom and we could take cool GoPro underwater pictures. Then everyone was out on the beach and Caroline and I were sharing a towel and a Brasilian guy came up to us and told us we were very beautiful, kissed us each on the hand, then on each sides of our cheeks and invited us to play soccer with them. We took them up and then Gabe joined also and we had a good little juggling circle going on. And they deemed me the best out of our group! I regret not getting a picture with them though! Once the sun set we got some amazing photos! That night we hit up a sushi place and then we met up with our Red Bull friends again.

The last day was fun filled too. Nat and I signed up for the Axe Children’s Project SAS field program. The Axe Project is a children’s project that provides after school activities such as music, dance, art, fashion and their martial arts dance. It’s goal is to support them and make changes in their lives through these activities. We learned that most of the children that live on the streets are usually on some sort of drug. When we arrived at the place the older kids put on a musical performance. Some sang, some played the drums and other various musical instruments. Then we went upstairs, visited the fashion room and then visited the kids that were under age 12. They were ADORABLE!! and loved to share their artwork and do handshaking games. After mingling with the children we went down to the store, where I and everyone else bought a ton of things. 100% of the earnings go towards the Axe project. But their voice is that they make the clothes, bags, totes and other things look fashionable so that people will buy them because they like them and not because they feel pity. And they were right, their stuff was actually cute and I wanted/did buy a lot.

After that ended I went to get wifi and check out the last of the preliminary round of the Street Style competition. But we missed it by like an hour, and only saw a few kids juggling and stuff. The very last person on the stage was this younger boy, who wasn’t even participating but was soooooooooooooo good!! I was amazed, but at the same time not, because I expected Brasilians to be amazing at soccer! Some other little things I loved about Brasil were the acai berry bowls. Especially with mango mixed in! I loved the beachy city feel of Salvador. I don’t know if I want to come back because there isn’t a whole lot to do, and it isn’t a resort type of place, but it has definitely been one of my favorite ports!