Yemanja
Topic: Brazil
Apart from carnival, there are lots of African festivals here in Bahia. We were lucky enough to be here for one of the most important ones, Yemanja. This is an annual festival to give offerings to the goddess of the sea.

It was a boiling hot day and the shade-free streets were packed with people and food and drink vendors. Down on the beach, a giant raft was filled with offerings of flowers from the people. Queues of people stood in line with more flowers, dolls and perfume to put into the boats that would go out to sea later that day. On another part of the beach, a group of men played fast furious African drums while women in hooped skirts danced themselves into a trance. Some of the women ended up in the sea and had to be rescued.

Up in the hot streets, a Capoeira school performed. Capoeira looks like a cross between a martial art and break dancing. Members form a circle around the performers and chant while three or four people play drums, tambourines and strange looking local instruments. To the untrained eye, the dancers looked like they were spinning on their heads on the tarmac.

We found a tiny bit of shade under a tall coconut tree on the beach and watched all this for a while. I felt oddly detached. The sun was frying my brain. Everything was so strange and all taking place in an alien place and in a language that I couldn't understand. I have never felt this so strongly before. I can't imagine what Japan is going to be like!