I will never be able to truly express my gratefulness and appreciation to Dr. Stauber, Dr. White, and Clara Ramos. This trip to Lencois has not only opened my eyes to the vast beauty Brazil has to offer, but has proven to me the importance of traveling and actively inputting myself in unknown environments. While everything I experienced today was a big highlight in itself, there were a couple of points that were more memorable than others.
The expedition in the cave of Gruta da Lapa Doce was out of this world. To know that nature, with time and water droplets, was able to create such a massive and beautiful cave is impressive. I believe that nature has a sense of humor because some of the shapes that were formed from the water droplets were interesting. While I can not say what they looked like, I do highly recommend everyone to visit the cave if you find yourself in Lencois. On the other hand, some shapes we saw were of a lion, a bear and its cub, a man screaming, a male backpacker sitting on a rock, and, if you moved your flashlight back and forth, a woman rocking in a chair. The conspiracy theorist in me wants to delve deeper and connect the shapes to alien life or indigenous people, but the realist in me understands that nature in itself is an artist and can create incomparable art. My favorite part of the entire hike was when we stood in the middle of the cave, turned off our flashlights, shut our mouths, and just embraced the darkness and silence the cave offered. It was so dark that I could not see my own hand moving in front of my face. The coolest part was that my sense of smell and touch almost immediately heightened being that my sense of sight was useless.
Our next activity was also fantastic and breathtaking. We visited Mucugezinho-Poco do Pato e Poco do Diabo, a waterfall with two swimming wells, one shallow and the other deep. The moment I saw the waterfall and the clearness of the water itself, I got so excited. While Georgia does have its own waterfalls that are beautiful in their own way, none of them compare to what I saw. While the majority of my group stayed in the shallow end and relaxed or took photos, I wanted to be a daredevil and cliff jump. My view on life is that I do not know the next time that I will be in Brazil or even when I will travel internationally, so why not try to experience new things and create awesome memories. The jump was not that frightening; however, it definitely took the wind out of my lungs and made me question my decision for a split second. At the end of the day, I am happy I did it and will not ever regret it.
The last activity of the night was the capoeira presentation with Mestre Cascudo at the Academia de Capoeira. If I had to choose my favorite activity for the night, I would, without a doubt, choose this one. It was inspiring to see children as young as six years of age practicing capoeira with such speed, technique, and diligence. I have already decided that upon my return to the States, I will practice capoeira myself, and hopefully, I will, one day, become as good as they are.
I wholeheartedly enjoyed giving the children their gifts, and as I witnessed each of their faces break out into massive smiles, all I kept thinking was that I wish I brought more gifts so that their smiles never wilted. I could tell that they were all grateful for everything they got and that that moment was as special for them as it was for my peers and I from Georgia State.
Discussion Question: If the practice of capoeira was heavily enforced in black communities in the United States and gained as much love and support as it has in Brazil, do you think that there could be a correlation to a drop in crime in young children and adults?
Do you believe that American blacks have a nation wide, recognized tradition? If not, why? If so, what is it and has it helped the community to prosper and invoked a sense of black pride?