After 24 hours of traveling that included a nine hour layover in the Rio de Janeiro airport, we finally arrived in Salvador last night! The city is much bigger than I anticipated. When we got to our lovely hotel, we were treated to a nice meal and much-needed hot shower. Today we enjoyed a breakfast buffet at the hotel. It contained a lot of fruit and fresh fruit juice, coffee, tea, and various breads in addition to the usual breakfast fare. I tried 3 new fruits: guava, papaya, and passion fruit. I did not like the latter, and neither did my new friends. Some of these fruits will be an acquired taste, but at least we were all willing to give them a shot. I have decided that I am in love with the cheese bread called Pão de queijo. After breakfast, we met Clara, our Brazilian program director. She can best be described as extremely vibrant. She was funny, friendly, and clearly a force to be reckoned with. After our orientation, we met our host mothers and had lunch at the hotel. Mine is very nice, but I wish I spoke Portuguese. That seems to be the theme of our trip so far. It’s quite frustrating not to be able to communicate or be self-sufficient. Some of us have a Spanish language background and seem to be faring better than others. Surprisingly, I actually understand more Portuguese than I was aware of. With my host mother, I have been using google translate and a lot of miming to communicate. I only understand about 3 words for every 20 she says. I can’t wait for training to begin tomorrow in this unique melodic language. The highlight of our day was a walking tour around town and it is simply beautiful. It is also hotter than I thought it would be in winter. We had a meeting at the university that we will be attending where we met the Vice President and a were given a presentation on Carnival. It was fascinating to see the deep cultural impact this event has on the Brazilian people and Salvadorans in particular. Later we will learn more about Salvador’s African heritage and the racial divides that still exist today. Today was mildly overwhelming, and I can definitely feel the culture shock setting in, but I know it will get better very soon and I greatly look forward to the next 3 weeks. I’m sure it will pass by all too quickly.