After 27 days in Rio de Contas, I have returned to Salvador. I got on a bus at 5:45pm on Saturday, and after 12 hours of trying not to sleep on the person next to me I arrived in Salvador around 6am. My arrival was a little rough, after a month in a town of less than 15,000, with picturesque mountain views, and where it was equally likely to see a car, motorcycle, bike, horse, or donkey as a means of transportation, Salvador was quite a shock.
After managing to get my huge backpack on, I walked out of the rodoviaria, the long-distance bus terminal, to where the buses into the city come. After waiting for about an hour, the bus to Barra where my friends apartment that I'm staying in arrive. It was so full that the bus driver didn't open the door and almost drove away until we knocked on the bus to make him stop.
I climbed in the back door of the bus, but because it was so full I couldn't get any farther than the first step. I was standing on the first step and kneeling on the second while my huge backpack pushed against the bus doors. At one point they opened and I was sure that I was going to fall backwards, but i managed to inch further into the bus, only to have the bus doors close on my backpack, so then I was stuck and couldn't move any further even when there was finally a bit more space.
Eventually I managed to wiggle out of my backpack and the two guys next to me helped me pry my backpack out of the door. Then the bus conductor had to help me lift my backpack over the turnstile.
So after this semi-horrendous/traumatic ride, I arrived safely at my friends apartment and I am now re-settled in Salvador. For the next 3 days I'll be busy writing my 40 page research paper, while I try to process my experience in Rio de Contas. Turn in my paper, make a presentation and then it's officially summer vacation (or I guess winter vacation in Brazil, but to be honest, there isn't that much of a difference here)
Also, I've begun the countdown until the mom and Lauren arrive. 8 days!!!!
