Photo Essay: CET Brazil

October 22, 2018

Photos by Alexis Maciel, (American University) Student Correspondent CET Brazil, Fall 2018

Hi again! This post is all about our recent Traveling Seminar to Salvador Da Bahia. A trip filled with so much culture, food, and memories that will last a lifetime.

Dancing through the streets of the historic center, Pelourinho. While Pelourinho is now one of the most touristy landmarks in Salvador, it’s history represents the Portuguese colonial period and was named after the slave whipping post in its central plaza. The Historic Center is extremely rich in historical monuments dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries.

Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos (Church of the Third Order of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People) — Many of the churches within the city center were built by, but not for, the slaves in Salvador.

One of the most important artistic-architectural monuments in Brazil, the Convent of San Francisco, which dates back to 1587 is home to the famous portuguese blue-white tile (azulejo) panels, created by Bartolomeu Antunes de Jesus.

Similar to the layout of Lisbon, Portugal, Salvador da Bahia has a high city ‘cidade alta’ and a lower city ‘cidade baixa’. Here’s the view from cidade alta overlooking one of Salvador’s many ports.

São Paulo Roommates <3 (left to right: Sinclair, Me, Alyssa)

Local barber shop in Cachoeira city. Cuts are taken very seriously here.

Quick pit stop to try traditional Bahian liquor!

On September 29, 2018 women across all of Brazil took the streets to protest extreme right wing presidential candidate, Jair Bolsonaro. Here is the view from our hotel. #EleNão #NotHim

I might have an Açai addiction…oh well.

We began our third day in Bahia visiting the Arte Consciente (Conscious Art) NGO. Arte Consciente offers activities such as; boxing, percussion, graffiti, dance and circus art training to at risk youth that live in Saramandaia. Here we are walking through the Saramandaia neighborhood.

One of the students showing us the amazing acrobatic skills he learned thanks to Arte Consciente.

Bahia Street — an all women’s non-profit that works with young women ages 5-17 through education and art. Angélica Moreira, head chef at Bahia Street taught us how to make moqueca a traditional candomblé dish.

The moqueca masterpiece right before being placed over the stove.

One of my favorite excursions during our week in Salvador was our visit to Santo Amaro City: Quilombo Kaonge. We were able to talk to locals as well as learn how to make traditional dendê oil and franiha.

Learning how to make dendê oil. A very long and tedious process.

We finished our week in Bahia with a tour of two beautiful local islands, Ilha de Itaparica and Ilha dos Frades.