5:30-7:30: Whenever my eyes have had enough of the early morning sunlight, it is time for my body to get up (yes, it’s sunny around 6 here in Salvador, Bahia).
8:00: Café da Manhã (breakfast), which usually consists of coffee, fruits, bread, cheese, and presunto (a slice of ham).
8:20: The Walk. My NGO is about a 35 minute walk from my house. In the beginning, I attempted to take the bus, but I soon realized it was more difficult, not worth the wait, and costly. My walk there is definetely a chance to witness what a normal Bahian morning looks like. Vendors, construction workers, and passersby fill the streets.
9:00-12:00: NGO. I work with Instituto Aliança in their Esporte, Lazer e Cidadania (Sports, Recreation, and Citizenship) project. My morning is spent either playing or watching soccer with youth from socially at-risk neighborhoods. There is the occasional basketball or handball day, but those are, like I said, occasasional. I roam the facilities speaking with the secretaries and the janitors, passing the time and taking a bit of my time to learn more about them and Bahian culture.
1: Lunch. Rice and beans! Everyday! Yum!
2-7: Insert random family activity.
7: Dinner. My host mom loves to cook. Whether it be feijoada, carurú, or pizza. Dinner is always delicious.
7-10: More family time! Soccer games get wild. Firecrackers and simultaneous screaming from every house in the neighborhood. Novelas (Brazilian soap operas) make the people here very emotional and very pensive; still, Brazilians are heavily invested into them.
11-12: Time for bed!
