"Crossing the street in Brazilian cities is risking your life"
-Rodrigo, (my friend's partner, he's Brazilian)
I think that's true but it's kind of true for any city right? I always get very anxious every time I'm about to cross the street here because there's usually so much traffic and not too many traffic lights so you just cross when you can because usually people don't just stop half way in the road and if they do it's not guaranteed that the cars going the other way will stop too.
I almost got my feet run over the today--it wasn't even a busy street but I was about to cross and then this car makes a quick poorly calculated turn onto the street and zooms by but I couldn't even back up because there was a car parallel-parked right behind me. The car's wheels ran over a bit of the tip of my havaianas!! And I just sucked in my gut, it was pretty scary. Terrible driver.
But apart from traffic, the streets in Salvador have many smells. One moment it's the smog from the cars, then it's the tree essences,
then it's dog poop or people poop on the street (I've had bad luck with that too, people are starting to think that I like to step in fecal matter :( ) Then it's an amazing scent of tropical fruit from the many little fruit stands that line the sidewalks. Ripe pineapples, and mamão, bananas, guavas, pinhas, maracujá, delicious. and then to the smell of cologne bathed men, then B.O. probably mine. Oh many smells, you never know what to expect in a 10 minute walk.
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