Xmas 2011

photo W.Massari
photo Zhoider
I guess that luck saw Graça and I leaving Saint Puy with the first signs of snow falling near Toulouse airport. After arriving back to the warmth of this part of Brazil I have had several emails from friends showing me the state of the European roads and in particular those in the UK. It is a long time since I not only lived in the UK but experienced very cold conditions and prolonged periods of snow, often it meant that I could not even get the land Rover out because of the ice on the roads let alone the drifts of snow. It would seem realistic to assume that this a normal cycle rather than abnormal Global activity, but then again whats normal, a reactivity of the world plates that have reactivated several volcanoes, may well be the answer. Here in Bahia it would seem that little changes, but there are signs that the rain fall is slightly more intense but not often, different to the South of Brazil, where São Paulo and Rio get constant rain, Bahia in general is a dry state, water that is and not beer or cachaça, in the interior of Bahia there has been a constant area of drought, the hope being that the government will one day give attention to the North and act to supply large areas with drinking water and water for small scale agriculture, here government incentives are large scale projects and not much in the way of artisan projects.
It seems that the move to rid the beaches of the bars may well get to Jaua next year, it as been hinted that this will happen and I see that Arembepe (http://www.aquinapraia.com.br/arembepe/)is now getting a grassed and part covered praça at its entrance off the Estrada do Coco,Arembepe is certainly the most famous tourist point from the region, thanks to the remaining hippie village of the 60's and 70's decades. The word Arembepe comes from the native language Tupi-Guarani and it means “ “something that involves” us or enchant ourselves. About 150 years ago Arembepe was founded. In the beginning it was a big coconut farm. As years passed, it was changed, little by little, into an old fish village.In the 30's and 40's, the fishermen went out to the sea from several points of the coast of Camaçari, as Jaua beach and they used the area of Arembepe where the Hippie Village is situated as a lighthouse to help them to come back to coast, because of the high coconut trees. That way the first storage huts for fishing was asserted by material were created and, little by little, it became a village. As said “Manu”, a hippie of the 70's decade.
I have long held the opinion that investment similar to Arembepe would change Jaua and bring back a much better class of casual tourist, it is clear that the lack of foreign tourist in Jaua is the reason for the Prefeitura not investing time and money in returning Jaua to a more eco friendly resort, cleaning up the beach is just a starting point, the whole of the infra structure needs up dating and the whole of the road and pavement along the beach needs to be re constructed with areas to sit as well as walk. A move to limit the access of cars from parking along the sea front would also limit the amount of pollution, this includes noise as well as the general beer cans and coke bottles that are now left by the weekend tourist.
The whole of the North East does seem to be heading for some form of recognition by the politicians, but how that may be transfered into actual solutions to the Norths problems is anyones guess.
The site of the snow in Europe does make me feel that it is well worth the effort to stay the Summer in Brazil and then the Summer in France, i am no longer used to the cold, it gets deep into the bones of my legs when i am in Europe during the Winter months, attractive as the white landscape may be in the photos I am not tempted to swap Xmas in Brazil for one in Europe, the warmth is too tempting. I have even now met a French couple, in France, a small Medieval village near St Puy, that coincidentally spend six months here in Bahia and the rest of the year in France, small world indeed, for this couple adore Brazil and have been coming back for the last 40 years. So its possibly time for a lot of you out there to think about one trip to Brazil, do not take too much notice of the world news items that get to the TV sets, there is a lot of peace in Brazil and a lot of beautiful countryside to feast on, with the 2014 World Cup and then the Olympics in 2016, it is hoped that the government will make an effort to improve road travel in Brazil and the internal air travel, both are lacking investment.
St Puy must be very quiet over the Xmas period, with nearly all the English folk taking to see their families in the UK, on the contrary, Salvador is just starting this weekend to get the Xmas buzzzz, many folks going to the various islands for a more ethnic time of it and others traveling to the interior to see family and friends, mind you I am not one for Xmas and tend to let it slide by as much as I can.

Barracas

As an add on to the last post, the Prefeitura in Salvador has used the patromonial national, www.ibama.gov.br/leiambiental/home.htm, has the excuse to remove the more than 350 barracas from the beaches of Salvador and now Lauro de Freitas, I believe there are plans to now remove those along the coast line of Camaçari, which will include Jaua. This would mean the beaches getting back something of their natural state and the litter from the barracas(beach bars) would almost disappear over night, although the plans I am told are for next year, after Carmival and the Summer festivals, and well after the present October elections for the President of the republic, state Governadors , Senadors and ministers Federal, the elections for the Prefeituras having already taken place and never on the same ticket has the state elections.
I am very much looking forward to a beach without the barracas, it will not only clean up the beach area but will also get rid of a lot of heavy weekend drinking and load music, the general public I feel will change to a better climate and the process I trust will also lead to the Prefeitura investing in a reformation of the road and walk ways, this surely must lead to a return of house owners to Jaua and its beaches, there are a huge number of people that have houses here but now stay away because of the general scruffiness of the barracas and the type of people that frequent them. It may be that the government has decided to press for the ambiental law to be used to remove the barracas for the 2014 World Cup and its clear tourist implications, along with the following 2016 Olympic games here in Brazil, but for what ever reason it will be a blessing and can only lead to a better life style for those that live here on the coast of Brazil.

Change of Weather and scene

It does seem that the World as got smaller, the rain here is also falling in France and Scotland so they are due flooding in the way that we have had to expect over the last 5 years or so. At the moment the change as been for sunshine and very little rain but the high winds have proved too much for some of the beach bars and a large area of the beach has dropped onto the road, as yet to be removed, by the council, if they ever do get around to it. I am told that we are due a great deal of investment by the Camaçari council and that this will be in the next two years. So if that is true I may well get to see our small town become a worthy tourist attraction, it has the basis for it but as yet no investment, the only investment has been private owners building more houses and rather overloading the very limited infra structure that exists in Jaua. I have sold my Fusca to the builder and have yet to see my money but i hope that this a temporary memory lapse on his part and that he will come good at some time this week, especially good if he does since I hav another monthly payment to make to cover my rather large tax bill that accompanied me registering my house as two houses, it seems unfair that I get the bill before gaining any profit from a possible sale of both, and this is what I now need to do to get rid of the tax and give me some money to continue my new quest in France. My girl friend as almost completed her two year course in Ouro Preto and will be returning to Salvador, this course seems to have taken her on a journey from none artist to artisan and from a public service worker to a self employed restorer of art, so the finishing of the course is the start of a life that could be very different. She will certainly start it with a change since she will be going with me to France and experiencing my life style for the first time in our time together. Yesterday i arranged to meet Butch, a new Australian friend that is now living here in Jaua, to see the inside of his house and for us to watch the Brazilian match on the TV, my TV is a bit difficult to watch if there is a ball to pick out, it is some what frosty and with hardly any definition, whilst the bar near Butch has a Sky satellite connection and some cold beers to help. I arrived to find Butch and his brother in law already getting into the spirit and a having acquired a table close to the TV in the bar. It is the first time that I have been in Brazil for June, I did have one year when I had to spend the first couple of days of June here in Brazil, it was for me to get my visa stamped and approved and make the arrangements for the ID and CPF cards, but that was about ten years ago and since then I have always been in Europe trying to earn a crust to pay for my lifestyle. So it is the World Cup and the festival of São João ( John the Baptist) all together this year, as well as the experience of Baiano winter and a lot of rain. It must be said that the open bar and the participation of the other drinkers led to a more exciting experience, it was like being at the match and getting all the different reactions and comments moment by moment, the constant whine of the horns was not noticeable with the whistles and shouts of the other supporters around me, it was good to b able to exchange comments and opinions with Butch and his brother in law, Val. I must do this for the other matches.
Quadrilha Junina da Festa do São Pedro de Belém (Paraíba)