Travel in Brazil: Belo Horizonte – MARANHÃO: (07) Way of Life in Bahia

Belo Horizonte – MARANHÃO (07)
Way of Life in Bahia

Destination São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão.
Imaging the unique lifestyle in the state of Bahia.

Saturday, 9 AM.

Bahia and the Bahians

We were approaching the center of the state of Bahia. This Brazilian state is larger than France and Wallonia together. Nearly fourteen times the size of The Netherlands. It is not surprising that about twelve hours are needed to cross this state from the south to the northeast. The state of Bahia has an interesting history. Cabral was the first European who set foot on Bahian soil. Salvador was very important city during the colonial era, and was the capital until 1763. Rio became then the new Brazilian capital, until 1960. For me, this travel was my third time in Bahia. In February 2005, I traveled to Recife and Olinda, to enjoy ‘festa e praia’, Carnival and beach. In July 2006, I was in Salvador for one week. And now we are traveling through Bahia, on our way to Maranhão. I have met some Bahians already. If I consider them as examples of the Bahian people in general, then I consider Bahians as very friendly and open. It already became obvious to me that Bahians are generally in a jolly mood, even when the biggest tragedies might happen to them. Many people in the world may consider this Bahian way of live as a good example. Another aspect of Bahian life, is their apparent peace and easiness, and their slow way of pronouncing Portuguese, like they are singing it. When you open this link, you will notice that I am not the only person that has these impressions of Bahians (the text is in Portuguese)….