Mom and Dad Visit Salvador

My mom and Dad got to come visit us in Salvador! I was so happy to have them stay with us for a few days before we all flew to Manaus for our Amazon Adventure. There was a bit of a hitch at the beginning when their flight from Boise was delayed. They were very nervous that they were going to miss their connection in Atlanta to fly to São Paulo. They called the airline and were told that the next flight wasn't for 2 more days. That would make them miss their whole time in Salvador, so we just prayed really hard that they would make it. They had to run through the Atlanta airport and were the last ones to board their flight, but they made it!

Jonathon was working out some immigration issues at the airport immigration office the day they flew in, so he met them there and they got a shuttle to our apartment. Mom and Dad were super tired after 24 hours of traveling, but they were excited to be in Brazil. We were excited to see them too, and as a bonus, Mom and Dad brought so many fun gifts and surprises with them. A few of the items we specifically asked for because we couldn't find them here, and others were just Grandma being awesome. Just some of the things they brought for us were: a scientific kit for Jonathon (saved him lots of money) peanut butter, cereal, cookie mix, a swimsuit for Christian, black pepper, a squirt bottle (for my hair), games, a football, Reeses peanut butter cups, jelly beans, macaroni and cheese, Christian's ACT prep book (for his Summer study program), and so much more. It was like Christmas in July!

That night it was already pretty late, so we ate dinner soon after they arrived. During their visit, each person in our family chose a favorite Brazilian meal and dessert, and we rotated through them. It was a fun way to help Mom and Dad experience Brazilian culture and have the boys get to share things that they are enjoying here. Hyrum's meal choice was first, so we had coxinhas and pão de queijo for dinner, followed by Andrew's favorite dessert of Flaccos ice cream with doce de leite.  Then we played a quick game of Skull King before sending them off for an early bedtime. 

The chosen meals and desserts were:

Jonathon: Pasteis, pé de moleque

Sarah: Romeo and Juliet toast with smoothies, Tapiocas

Christian: Brazilian style hot dogs, churros

Andrew: Galinhada and beans with farofa, Floccos ice cream with doce de leite

Hyrum: Coxinhas and Pão de queijo, cake from Vivagula

The next day was a bit cloudy and rainy early on, so we played some games (Cover Your Assets and Knock-Knock) and then went to the mall for churros. In Brazil they have churros that are filled with delicious sauces. They are way better than regular churros. My absolute favorite is chocolate and doce de leite. Yum!

After lunch, the weather cleared up nicely, and we got a lovely afternoon. Jonathon was able to come home from work early, so we headed to the Porto da Barra Beach for swimming and snorkeling. At the beach, I always like to rent some beach chairs and an umbrella so that we have a home base to return to. It costs R$20 (about $4), and it is so worth it to stay out of the sun a little more. The conveniences on the beach is one thing I love about Brazil. I had never been snorkeling at that beach before, and I was completely blown away. There were so many fish! We literally swam through hundreds of thousands of fish, mostly large schools of sardine-like fish, but also some more colorful tropical ones. We also saw fire sponges, urchins, and an awesome morey eel that was on the sea floor right below me. I have been snorkeling at many different places. This one might not have been the most vivid and colorful, but it had the most fish, by far. It was a very cool experience!

After we finished at the beach, we headed over to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. We sat down on the grass below the lighthouse and enjoyed the breeze and pleasant temperature. Just before sunset, the clouds came in, so we didn't get the full experience, but it was still beautiful.

After the sunset, we headed to our favorite tapioca spot on the orla. We got an outdoor table and ordered pasteis (fried dough with cheese and meat fillings) for dinner and tapiocas for dessert. We got seven different tapiocas and shared them around. They were delicious as usual. The Romeo and Juliet was amazing as always, but I also loved the banana, chocolate and mussarela one, and the strawberry and leite condensado one as well. It was fun to try lots of new flavors!

The next morning with breakfast, we all had to start taking our malaria pills. Manaus is in the heart of malaria country, so we had to get several shots to protect against diesease (typhoid, yellow fever, tetanus, etc.) and also pills (malarone) to protect against malaria. They only offered pills, and Hyrum couldn't swallow them, so they had to be crushed and added to food. It was drama every. single. morning. The pills were hard to crush, and they tasted horrible, so he had a rough time with them. I was also frustrated because I was worried he wouldn't get the required dose to protect him. We tried teaching him to swallow them, but that was a complete disaster that ended in many tears. In the end, we just did the best we could and tried to get as much as possible of the pill down with a glass of yogurt. Hopefully, we will all remain healthy. We have to take them 2 days before arriving, the whole time we are there, and then for another week after we get back. I'm just glad that we don't need them for Salvador because that would get old really fast.

After breakfast, we headed out to Mercado Modelo to browse through the craft/souvenir booths. They have been remodeling it most of the time we have been here, so it was our first time going. There were so many cool things to see and buy. Jonathon bought a new Salvador shirt and Hyrum got some "rattlesnake eggs" (magnet toys), but I decided to wait on my souvenirs until right before we leave to go back home. I have my eye on a painting of our lighthouse and didn't want it to get destroyed before we leave.

Next we took the Elevador Lacerda from Cidade Baixo to Cidade Alto. It is a national historic site and one of the oldest elevators in the area. It cost R$.15 to ride, so about 20 cents total for all 7 of us to go up. From the top, there is a great view of The Bay of All Saints. From there, we wandered through the Pelourinho, exploring all of the sites and sounds. We bought some acarajé for dad to try, and not surprisingly, he didn't love it. It must be an acquired taste because none of us really enjoy it much. 

The main streets of the pelourinho were especially amazing on this day because it was still decorated for Festa Junina. They had colorful flags and box kites hanging everywhere. It was so vibrant and fun... definitely a feast for the eyes! 

Our last stop in the Pelourhino was Igreja de Sao Francisco. The church is so ornate inside, and we took some time to look at the blue tiles and the plaques describing them. The kids were a little uncomfortable with some of the artwork, so in the future, I think they will prefer to stay outside and eat ice cream, but I'm always in awe with the incredible artisanship.

That night we walked down to the closer beach to see the Christ statue on the hill. The boys played football on the grass with grandpa, and my mom and I walked along the beach to look for shells. Then we came home to Jonathon's famous galinhada (chicken and rice). After dinner we walked over to the mall and each chose a piece of fancy cake. We brought them all home and cut them up for everyone to sample. Delicious!

The next day was filled with final preparations for our Manaus trip. We had lots of laundry and cleaning to do. Finally, it was time to head to the airport. Jonathon scheduled a shuttle to take us, but the guy didn't show up. After some calls, the company sent someone else. We were 30 minutes behind schedule, which made us all a little stressed, but thankfully, everything went very smoothly, and we arrived with time to spare. We flew from Salvador to Brasilia, spent about 45 minutes in Brasilia (and actually re-boarded our same plane), and then went from Brasilia to Manaus. Hyrum got to sit by Grandpa and Grandma during the flights, so he felt pretty special. Our next great adventure was about to start!