This whole trip started some seven years ago. About the same time of the year 2002 Shani started to practice Capoeira , with Amarildo (a.k.a. Sapo). I made a promise to her than, that if she continues when she turns 12 I will go with her to Brazil. However, when she did turn 12 and still continue to train, Amarildo suggested to delay this in a year, since than he’ll be able to join too. And so we did.

When we set out to Arraial D’Ajuda in Bahia, Brazil it was not only Capoeira that I had in mind – it is also a rare opportunity for me to re-educate Shani on values that are dear to me: Keep an open mind to different culture, don’t criticize but observe and learn, see how people live on basics – little money, little technology, little possessions but big happiness, mutual respect and support – and live like they do, even for a short while. It also an opportunity for Shani to live with no so many rules and boundaries and learn to loosen up, go to the beach, enjoy the sea and just have fun without thinking so much like she normally does.

July 22nd – July 23rd : Arrival @ Arraial

For some obscure reason we decided to fly with EL-AL – that turned out to be a big mistake: The flight from Tel-Aviv to Sao Paulo was terrible : the airplane was much crowded, the food sucks, the on board entertainment system is outdated and worst of all is the service. It’s kind of turndown to fly for 15 hours with air stewardess that the sign ‘I deserve a better job’ is written all over their faces , it’s been years since I saw such an unprofessional service. We arrived at Porto Seguro at 5 Pm on July 23rd and Amarildo rushed us to the port to take a ferry to Arraial, I’m very thankful for Amarildo to show up, it would have been very difficult for us after this long day to find ourselves around without him. Amarildo arranged for us to stay at a local Pousada. Our room is Spartan but that’s all we need. Home away from home. We went for local home-made dinner before calling it a day. Kind of funny though, Amarildo explained to the restaurant owner that Shani is a vegetarian and does not eat meat, so the owner said “Ok, no problem, I’ll get her a chicken than”. The local cuisine is very good: lots of meet (cooked in various gravies, fried, and the famous Brazilian BBQ), but also rice with wide range of beans seasoned with local roots and fresh vegetables.

July 24th – First Capoeira trainings

We started the day with a walk to the beach and a breakfast from groceries with bought at a local store (including some special sweet bread).

At 10 AM Shani joined the first training session with the adult group lead by Mastre Railson at the Sul Da Bahia Capoeira Academy. Shani practiced till noon time, we rested some and got ready for the evening training and we called it a day. This all place is around Capoeira, training, clothing, instruments and partying. Seems like this place never sleeps and never stops, very energetic place.

July 25th – Trancoso, and first big Roda

We took a local bus to Trancoso, a very beautiful village some 50 minutes drive from Arraial. We walked from the beach to the city center and around the city, and took a break at a local coffee shop where Shani had a Passion Fruit Juice.

We got back, went to the beach and Amarildo caught up with us saying there’s a Roda at the Academy outside Arraial. We took a MotoTaxi (a Motorcycle Taxi, first time for Shani). We found ourselves outside Arraial, at a hard core poor area where kids practice instead of working the streets. There was one Roda inside the Academy, and one outside in the village center. The Brazilian kids were amazing. Amarildo & Shani also joined the Roda.

We than took a very bumpy bus drive back to Arraial, and went out for some drinks (Shani was not drinking..) and went to see a big Capoeira Show in the shopping Roda area. Actually Amarildo forgot all about it, and he did not join due to the consumed alcohol. It was a long show with lots of energy and it ended after 11 PM.

July 26th – Birenbau Workshop

We started the day with a nice breakfast and watching flowers and parrots in the Pousada garden and cleaning up our room.

We went to Amarildo friends for a Birenbau workshop in the outskirts of Arraial. Shani prepared her own Birenbau from Bimba wood, sharp knife and pieces of broken glass, the string to the Birenbau is taken by cutting strings from a car tire and polishing it. It took about 4 hour to build and tune a Birenbau, but it was a fun process and friend people.

I used the time to play some soccer with the kids and climb a tree (which is somewhat higher than what looks in the picture…)

Once the instruments were done, the group started playing and singing together.

(you can see Amarildo in the center)

One the way back Shani found a butterfly, Shani’s Caopeira name is Borboleta (which means butterfly in Portuguese).

At night we went out to the have some good food and fun in Arraial

July 27th – Day 1 – Capoeira Mundial …

The 4th ECONTRO MUNDIAL 2009 Capoeira Sul Da Bahia starts! the day begins with three hours of intensive training ending at group singing.

At the end of the first training session Mestre Railson gathered the group to finalize the 3 hours of first training with a group singing.

After a short break, the Capoeirists meet again for a two hour session of playing the Birenbau – this may sounds easy, but it’s far from being the case. Shani played on the Birenbau she made herself the day before:

I used the time to swim and walk the never ending beach Arraial

There is no idle moments in the Encontro and we learned that on day one, in between the sessions people just grab instruments and play informally, the below is just one example or Amarildo and Maxwell play:

At night the group meet again from 8 pm to 10pm for an open Roda with participation of several Mestres and gave a great Capoeira session starts with low Capoeira (Capoeira Angola) and continuing with high energy high games (which Shani joined as well).

Amarildo, Shani and I finished the day at a great local fish restaurant (which Shani did not appreciate much, but I did).

July 28th – Day 2 – Capoeira Mundial

Training continues at the same intensity as the day before, people already start to receive injuries mostly because the bodies are not used to the training or have been partying too long the night before (which is what people here are doing nearly every day..), Shani got a nice mark on her right eye too…

You can see Shani is still having fun despite the fatigue and injuries

After the training we went to a traditional Brazilian home cooking place went Amarildo and friends, Shani was very tried that day and went back to the Pousada to rest. Afternoon was Latin dancing which Shani decided not to attend followed by a Movie in Portuguese so Shani mostly rested we played some Billiard and went to the night training (8 pm – 10 pm) with Mestre Mao Branca who’s a third level Mestre which is highest in the world. I gave Shani some sips of black coffee before the training and she was full energized.

Somewhere in the middle Mestre Mao Branca made an impressive entrance and took over the playing, with already 3 more Mestres this turned into a world class show. It was so intensive and interesting that I forgot to take pictures …

July 29th – Day 3 – Capoeira Mundial

The day started with a lot of energy and training

After the training Amarildo took us to eat Acai, which is a protein rich drink that people eat here before and after training to revitalize. Acai is  rich with Vitamins and  Fibers (and some other stuff I better not think about).  We than went to a Pitinga beach (which is about an hour walking each way) for Capoerista gathering at the beach. On the way Amarildo showed us places he played in as a child and explained how much Arraial has changed in recent year. We first went swimming, but the gathering soon turned into acrobatics show off…

Amarildo was a big star on the beach, from playing football to saltos and ending up with nearly 20 continues back flips..

At first Shani was very much opposing Acai, but since she tried it once it was hard to get her disconnected. One the way back we have to stop for Picolo Acai too… This is how Shani looks like after 3 hours of training, 3 hours of walking on the beach and swimming…

The afternoon started with a lecture on Capoeira history and origins

As you can see people where thrilled and highly interested in the lecture:

After the lecture there was an open Hoda, and Shani played a lot and played well too

A 12 year old from the US joined as well, and it gave Shani extra energy to work hard and participate. After training we (Shani from practicing, and me from watching…) were staved and went for a big Pizza…

July 30th – Day 4 – Capoeira Mundial

We started the day with a nice breakfast

Followed by yet another day of intensive training, she trained hard on two different workshops

After the training session and lunch Shani went to rest and I went to swim in Patinga beach (about an hour walk each way)

The afternoon session was a Capoeira competition which Shani was not allowed to join though she had a good chance against some of the contestants.

The competition attracted a lot of energy and attention and was a very fun event. The below video is a dance performed during the fights by the US team, cheering up each other. I think the competitions were very successful and it showed how the contestants improve from one fight to another.

The competition end late at night, we took a break in the middle and returned to the same fish restaurant we had dinner the other day with Amarildo.

July 31th – Day 5 – Capoeira Mundial

I must confess that the change in Shani is much more rapid than I anticipated. She is has been growing stronger by the day, aside the evident improvement to her Capoeira, her self confidence improved, she allows herself to do more things, she’s getting a long with everybody, our basic life style does not bother her and she’s genuinely happy and having fun (though I still think she does not realize she’s actually in Brazil…).

Shani practices hard, she’s actually one of the only participants that actually join all training sessions, while people here tend to party all night, she goes to bed around 10 PM reading a book so she can be up early morning for training (although I gave her opportunities to go out later, she’s rather read and rest for training). Shani is getting a long very well with people more than twice her age, one of the main reasons is that she is showing a lot of sensitivity and understand when to push and when to take a step back. I’m very proud of her.

My day here starts and doing laundry

Than it continues with buying and preparing breakfast, waking up Shani (which is NEVER easy) and checking on things at work. In the mean time Shani is enjoying intensive training, you can also see her talking to her sisters which are at the time traveling in Italy

Amarildo has been sick for the past couple of days, he’s specially upset since this causes him to miss the first competition event, as you can see, he is in no shape to compete…

Shani is resting after the day’s training, note she has blisters all over her feet, her muscles are tired but she will not quick, part of it is the fact that Amarildo is encouraging her to train harder and stronger, and the effects are quite evident.

Before the day’s competition and finals we went to do some shopping, Shani seems to enjoy this activity . The competitions were really good, France and Chile did well but Brazil won in most events (at time with the assistance of the judges …), it’s interesting to see that when Brazilians play there’s always a smile on their face (btw, also on Shani’s face), but with the French its mostly competition and winning. It was a good events, with lots of energy – this is the future of Capoeira.

August 1st – Day 6 – Capoeira Mundial

I spent the entire morning in Portu Seguro trying to fix our flights. It seems like we’ll have to fly to Salvador and catch the flight back from there, this is somewhat unexpected and also quite expensive. In the mean time Shani was doing two practices with two old Mesteres whom apparently still got it. Afterwards Amarildo (who’s now a lot better), Shani and I went to Sao Joao, a great fish restaurant and probably the best meal we had in Arraial till that point. We spoke on how badly foreigners are treated in Israel and Amarildo shared with us his experiences with the notorious ‘Immigration Police’ and the injustice around it in Israel. After the late lunch it was already time to get ready for the 2009 Batizado – where Amarildo was getting his Professor belt. He was very excited and tensed before the event. The Batizado started at 5pm and ended after 11pm, it lots of energy and good games

Shani was a little upset for not getting the first belt for adults (though seeing some of those who did get the green belt I can say she’s not lesser than them, yet I think it’s not a bad idea for her to train more – better to get a belt later and earlier I think).

There were quite a few shows, magic and dances as well as Mesteres plays during the Batizado which was well organized.

After the event Shani was taking everybody’s pictures with Meital’s camera (ours run out of battery…), followed by a late but good dinner at Manguti which ended around 2pm and we called it a day…

August 2nd – Day 7 – Capoeira Mundial

This was the last day of the Mundial, which consistent mostly of a beach party and people saying their goodbyes. We spent the day at the beach, followed by the gateway party on Pitinga beach and started packing our stuff for the way back.

August 3rd – Goodbye Arraial

That’s it, time to leave and say goodbye to Arraial d’ajude. Looking at Shani now, I think my work here is done…

This entry was posted on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 2:12 PM and is filed under My Views, personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.