Salvador

Since I missed my friends, and they don´t have my phone number, and they dont have a phone, email is the only option and I know it may take a day or so to find them. I head for Barra, where Santa Cruz represented in 2004. The taxi driver takes me to the most expensive pousada he can find, but at 6 am with no sleep I really don´t care. Its just a few blocks from my old haunts, and they have a room. I flop into bed, noticing dazedly that I am sharing my room with a bat and at least one very large gecko. I pass out.
Waking in the late afternoon, I step out and walk towards the beach, already tasting the acai I am about to have. It´s like I never left. (OK acai, pronounce ah sah EE, is this addictively tasty amazonian fruit served frozen and blended, garnished with fresh banana and granola. OMG). The city of Salvador sits within the great bay of Salvador, Bahia da Salvador. Where I am a sandy cove nestles between rocky outcrops, one with a light house, the other a portuguese fort. This is the best beach to chill- picturesque, clean, and well located. The broad sidewalk behind the beach is shaded by old trees, and the railing of stone balusters. There are people everywhere. It is close to sunset, and a band is playing on the stage at one end of the beach. Everything is for sale. Fresh coconuts, coolers of cold beer every five feet, meat barbecueing over coals. Activity and motion, music and color. The pickpockets are working the crowd, warming up for carnaval. As I thread through the throng towards the stage, an arm snakes in front of me and settles on the cell phone in a young girls back pocket. I gently cover his hand with mine- he melts into the crowd and the girl turns suspiciously. I smile and move on. I settle into a spot cliffside to watch the band and the scene. The orange sky fades to black, but swimmers still play in the light surf, jumping off rocks into the warm water, right next to the throng dancing in the sand, right next to the band rocking the stone stage and light show. Loving it.