Welcome to Salvador. The land of a once enslaved people who has maintain their African culture despite many attempts to erase their history. Faced with several trials and tribulations, both past and present these brave Bahians has been an inspiration to me, a fellow Black person of African descent born and raised in the United States of America where our history of affliction is  homogeneous to one another. It is as through I have finally met a distant relative that I have never seen before, coming here to Salvador. Despite being unacquainted with the Portuguese language, the people of Salvador have been patient and kind with me. Never for a moment during this two week study aboard program have I felt as though I wasn’t welcomed here in Salvador, Bahia. I started my Monday morning here in Salvador, Bahia like I would in Atlanta, Ga, a early morning run to boost my immunity and to focused my energy. Yet there was a huge difference between running on the street in Salvador than in Atlanta, Ga. For starter the beautiful uneven cobblestone side walks in Salvador will make your average morning run twice as hard to complete. Yet while the pavement is demanding, seeing the beautiful Bay of All Saints as you wrestle down the hill of Av. Sete de Setembro, will give any runner a boost of energy to continue as I did. I was blessed to run pass the Fort of Bahia along the coast and finished in the beautiful neighborhood of Rio Vermelho. After changing clothes we were off to the old city called Pelourinho to hear an inspiring lecture on race and culture in Brazil at the the Great Steve Biko School. This school is in Salvador Brazil to help Afro Brazilians prepare for university and workforce while instilling Black History and Black pride in Bahians. A few hours later we were on our way back to the Victoria neighborhood for a quick ice cream break before we will have an hour long class learning the wonderful techniques of Capoeira. This martial art called capoeira was created by enslaved Africans to help them fight against slave masters and soon help them gain complete freedom. Capoeira combines dance acrobatics and music. I was lucky to have a bowl of soup at the end of Capoeira class to help from passing out due to learning and doing this style of martial arts. This was a great and busy day that I never will forget.