ISABM Journal Caracas still

Our Journal

Sao Luis

We arrived to Sao Luis in the dark and drove straight into a giant traffic mob. We slowly worked our way to the Revive area and found a nice pousada that had a garage for the bikes. We wandered out to where we had seen mobs of people around a stadium. It was a giant Bingo event with thousands gathered around an open area. I don’t think you could ever find such a mass of Brazilians completely silent, completely concentrated on the numbers. Most were playing at least four different boards. The different techniques were impressive, some with the boards taped to a large cardboard background, one girl had tucked them into the shirt of her sister and played on her back, another guy played reclined on the seat of his motorcycle. One hour of silence until the final numbers were called and everyone moaned. The bingo ended and there was a flurry to get out as the young moved in for the free forro concert afterward. Dancing went on for hours, we danced with as many different people as we could. Later that night we walked back to the pousada and saw several guys we had met at the concert totally drunk passed out on the side of the road. I walked over and screamed as loud as I could. They all laughed hysterically at the crazy gringos.

A couple of days later we walked the downtown market area looking for rain pants and sandals. In one large shopping center we saw all the same guys working in the shoe department. Of course all work was dropped to sit around and talk for a while. I had met Kaylane dancing forro and she called to invite us to her house on the outskirts of town. We bussed the hour out there to what felt like a peaceful pueblo. We sat in her backyard while she climbed trees to pick different fruits for us to try. In front her brothers were all playing volleyball in the street, the net tied across from post to wall. This was clearly the neighborhood event very well coordinated with score keeps and a team of people to raise the net every time a car passed or take it down for buses. They eventually forced us to play but the level was semi-pro with real sets and spikes. No wonder Brazil dominated volleyball in the Olympics. We had to get out of there before dark because according to them it wasn’t safe for us.

We walked the Revive area where there have been some attempts at restoration. Restaurants and bars line the streets with musicians on every corner. The rest of the area is all dilapidated old buildings full of families living and squatting. Sao Luis has a lot of folkloric drumming and dancing, but unfortunately we were there over All Saints Day and everything was closed. The morning of departure an old catholic priest who had seen our bikes in the lot walked over to chat and bless our travels. He was especially thrilled to see two guys on an adventure through Brazil. He left as saying, “You are living reality, not virtual reality.”

We drove on toward Parnaiba. This area must not see much of the foreigner. Stops in towns brought strange stares from all directions. Road conditions were worse than we had expected and the potholes slowed us down. We drove until dusk and found we were only 60 km to Parnaiba so we pushed on in the dark. The road became dirt and rock in parts with trucks blinding us for parts. Eventually we hit good road again and arrived in Parnaiba.