SALVADOR (BA)

July 2006. I suddenly received an invitation to join students to their annual meeting, in Salvador that year. We went by bus, the bus ride took more than 24 hours. Before we arrived in Salvador, we spent a day on the beach in Olivença, a coastal city south of Salvador.
Almost all students spoke no English, and I did not speak Portuguese by then. Despite this language problem, I was very well accepted by them, and long-lasting friendships were started with some of them. Most of the time I was accompanied by a student named Carol. She guided me during my stay in Salvador. Initially, some students were wondering why I was taking so many photographs, and writing down some data. They joked that I must be spying for my native country, to prepare the second Dutch invasion. I quickly corrected them that there already had been two Dutch invasions at least. They suddenly went silent. For me this travel became the start of another two dozen bus travels with students to various locations throughout Brazil.

The Lacerda Elevator connects the lower city of Salvador (close to Mercado Modelo) to the upper city (close to Palácio Rio Branco), giving access to the historic center of Salvador: Pelourinho. This 72 meter high elevator was inaugurated in 1873 and transports about 30 thousand passengers daily.

Camera: SONY DSC-P73
f/8, 1/320 sec. ISO-100