I wept. Standing on a hill overlooking the sacred gardens of Casa Branca, viewing the transquality of its religious shrines, I experienced a surge of emotion. It was the first time in my 37 years that I had ever seen a traditional African place of worship, known as a terreiro. But I wasn't in Africa, I was in Salvador de Bahia, a balmy state in northeastern Brazil. Approximately 75 percent of the 2 million people who live in Bahia are of African descent.
I've never been to the Motherland, but CITY LOAN MONEY OKLAHOMA QUICK in Bahia the movement, the color, the flavor are all home--albeit home to a samba beat. Yet it's a beat identifiable to anyone with even a hint of African roots. For me it was a good opportunity to study a culture and lifestyle that related directly to my own heritage.
It didn't take long for me to adjust to the city's 80-degree temperatures, fanned by a delicious ocean breeze from All Saints Bay, and to immerse myself in the flow of Bahian life. Surrounded by faces in every shade of brown, I fit right in. I suspected that if I kept my mouth shut, these descendents of West Africa, mixed with indigenous people and Portugese colonials, couldn't tell me from one of their own.
I loved exploring the modern business hub of Salvador called the Lower City, but I was more attracted to the Largo do Pelourinho, the heart of the old colonial Upper City. Built in the eighteenth century, it has been designated one of the oldest historic areas for colonial architecture in the Americas by UNESCO. And like most of the other baroque-style edifices in Bahia, it was constructed by Africans at the behest of their Portuguese captors.
On the bustling cobblestone streets baianas, sisters in white lace dresses and colorful orixa beads, sell typical Afro-Brazilian delicacies such a acaraje (black-eyed pea patties) cooked in bubbling dende (palm oil). I had a feast. Further rounding out my hips were visits to restaurants in the area, among them Casa de Benin, where I was served by brothers and sisters garbed in beautiful African-style prints. Many of the eateries feature generous helpings of seafood dishes such a vatapa (fish-and-shrimp stew over rice) served with Brazil's trademark batidas, rum-based cocktails.
Hooking up with Paula Santos, a local guide, we traveled the city's sloping streets set against pastel-colored colored Old World Buildings and discovered a treasure of museums, art shops and monuments.
Among my favorites was the Afro-Brazilian Museum, showcasing a colorful collection of carnival regalia along with religious objects related to the much-practiced West African-based candomble faith. At the same time, most baianos are also practicing Catholics. When their native religion was originally banned by white authorities, enslaved Blacks began a unique syncretism by secretly worshipping their African gods and outwardly honoring Catholic saints with similar characteristics.
One of the many churches I visited was the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, known for its annual procession of parishioners that ends with a reverent and ceremonial washing down of the building's steps. I was also awed by the gothic Convento Sao Francisco, a church built by enslaved Blacks in the seventeenth century, its entire altar covered in glittering gold leaf.
Leaving daytime activities behind, I unwound at Solar do Unhao, one of the city's many night spots. Ironically, the site is also famous for having been a major port of entry and a plantation for slaves during the colonial period. Slipping my shoes off under the table, I, along with other audience members, joined a local dance troupe onstage, where we danced African freestyle to a chorus of drums, percussion and hand clapping.
Bare-chested and wearing loose-fitting white pants, the brothers from this group demonstrated the exciting capoeira, an African martial-arts form of fluid acrobatic proportions. The fierce drum accompaniment and sensuous sounds of the berimbau, a one-stringed gourd instrument played with a bow, from Brazil's interior, held me mesmerized.
Other days found me haggling over prices at the mammoth bazaarlike Mercado Modelo (Model Market) at Praca Cairu. At the market there were items ranging from fine leather work to exotic musical instruments.
Art loomes everywhere in Bahia, and woodcrafters, painters, and jewelry makers eagerly invited me into their open-air shops to watch them create. Already laden with enough handmade earrings to last me a lifetime, I checked out the Black-ownd Las Bonfim jewelry store on Rua de Carmo, where I was dazzled by an array of precious stones, gold and crystal.
Refreshing were schooner trips to the many islands dotting the bay, notably the lovely Itaparica, where there were fine hotels, restaurants and craft shops. I can't swim a lick, but just bathing in the azure waters of beaches like Porto da Barra was good enough for me.
In the mountain town of Cachoeira I learned the real meaning of the word "sisterhood." I met the town's most revered residents, Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte (the Sisterhood of Our Lady of the Good Death), a sorority of Black women who act as community advisers. Their order dates back to 1823, when they banded together to buy one another their freedom from slavery. Baianos made me feel at home throughout my stay, although I didn't speak their Yoruban-spiced Portuguese. One of my happiest memories is of visiting Paula's home in the suburb of Patamares. After a familiar dinner of black-eyed peas and rice with chicken, I, along with other guests, spent the rest of the City loan money oklahoma quick sultry evening dancing on City loan money oklahoma quick her front porch. With my shoes off, of course.
After giving up on learning the back-breaking lambada, I was grateful to be taught the finer points of dancing the slower-paced Afro-samba by Paula's husband, noted painter and sculptor Terciliano, Jr. Even the couple's outgoing children joined the party, dancing with their mother and other visitors freely. Bahia is like that. Warm smiles and embraces make you feel welcome and in the middle of a cozy family reunion.
Though the overall population of Bahia is humble in material wealth, I feel that I was given a most invaluable gift--a chance to experience a rich and still-flourishing African culture.
Lula Strickland-Abuwi won a 1989 international writing award from the New York Association of Black Journalists.
Listed below are several organizers who conduct Afrocentric cultural tours of the Brazilian state of Bahia each year:
Simmons Collection African Arts Museum, 1063 Fulton St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11238; Stanfield Simmons, (718) 230-0933.
The Yoruba Society of Brooklyn, 578 Quincy St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11221; Ms. Oseye Mchawi, (718) City loan money oklahoma quick 919-1716.
Earl S. Davis Associates, Box 1341, Madison Square Sta., New York, N.Y. 10159; Earl S. Davis, (212) 725-2019.
Paula Santos, Av. Pinto de Aguiar, 5, Patamares, Salvador, Bahia 40.000, Brazil (5571) 231.7498.
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