Today is our final morning in Salvador before we head to Rio to finish our trip.
I have to say, the three days here felt like three weeks. Our busy schedule always kept us moving and by last night, we were all feeling tired and worn out- but that feeling was worth it.
On Monday we took an amazing boat ride to go swimming on a small island. Between the views, the sun, and all the fresh fruit we were served- the trip was perfect (and I managed not to burn horribly!) From there we headed into a recording 
session and was able to record sing, sing, sing with a Brazilian feel thanks to two guest drummers- I loved this! Finally, we were granted free time which resulted in heading down from the hotel to find dinner and drinks.
The drinks were fantastic, the meal was not.
Don’t get me wrong, the restaurant was delicious- I just happened to be traveling in a group that didn’t have a translator. I took a wild stab at ordering something and what showed up was enough to make me sick. At first I thought I was okay- the dish came covered in batatas (potatoes) that were a lot like mash potatoes. As I dug into the dish and took a bit, I realized that the word I didn’t understand was a type of fish.
I just don’t like fish…
Needless to say, I learned my lesson about ordering without knowing. Salvador is on the coast so it makes sense that seafood would b popular.
Yesterday was a long day. We had three performances, a clinic, and a walking tour of the old city in Bahia (still part of Salvador.) The only downer? We were pulling out of the parking lot and I remembered that my camera battery was still charging. I had to go the whole day without my camera. While I was sad (there were so many photos to take!) I felt relieved to just stand there and enjoy my surroundings.
The first performance/clinic happened at the Federal University in Bahia. We learned about traditional Brazilian music (there improvisations could whoop many of the jazz improvisations I have heard before) and then we played for the students. The whole experience was pretty awesome considering we were crammed into a smaller classroom. From there we performed for (and some of us with) an amazing youth orchestra from Salvador- these kids were amazing.
Our final performance took us into the heart of the old town where we played with Fred Dantis and his brass band. The crowd enjoyed the collaboration so much that we had to play an encore. I keep using “amazing” to describe events that are happening because that is the word the suits everything- this whole trip so far has been amazing. Even better- we still have four more days!
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