Passing

I just arrived in Salvador a few hours ago. It has been exactly a day since I left new york and it feels like I will be away for a long time. As soon as I stepped off the plane the tropical heat enveloped me letting me know this aint nyc no more. Portuguese sang all around me and I found myself mute, embarrassed that I could only mumble "obrigada" (thank you) when someone helped me with me ridiculously heavy luggage. The brother of my landlady met me at the airport and drove me to my apartment. I asked him if he spoke English – he said to me you must speak Portuguese now. so our half an hour ride to the apartment consisted of him describing the city sites to me in 3 word or less – “igeria” (church); “shopping center" and me nodding my head saying “sim, sim” and practicing one of the few phrases in portuguese that I know: “eu sou Americana mais eu mora em Salvador agora” (I am American but now I live in Salvador). Sindhu- his sister and my landlady met me at the apartment and we went out to get a bite to eat. The apartment is one block from a beautiful beach with rocks and coves in a lively, slightly touristy area called the barra neighborhood. We walked to the water and at 8 pm there were still plenty of people hanging out on the sand-making out, jogging and playing volleyball. Sindhu and I sat down at a little restaurant and drank fresh pineapple juice with mint and ate a pizza that had corn and peas on it (sounds weird but was actually good). Sindhu is very sweet and though from one of the most spiritual places in Brazil - the reconcavo which is up north and a hotbed of the African candomble religion- she is a follower of an Indian guru. Sindhu lived on a commune in oregon during the 80’s, then moved to Brooklyn for a few years before retuning to her native brazil. she continues to travel to India a few times a year. I asked her to describe her religion. “well” she said “its hard to explain. It’s basically a way in which we are asking questions about ourselves and trying to not complain about life.”
I told her- I'm down with that.
Sindhu is going to come by tomorrow for lunch and to take me around the neighborhood a bit. She also told me she thinks I will learn Portuguese fast. i asked her if i passed as a brazillian. she said no - in order to look more like a brazilian, I need to shake my hips from side to side when I walk. this was confirmed the next morning as i left my apartment to go get a fresh fruit drink native to brazil - (acai- a berry found in the amazon) and a man on the street looked me over for one second and declared "americana?" i gots to work on swaying my hips.