When I first arrived in Brazil at the beginning of December I headed straight to my tiny piece of land which I bought 3 years ago. There is nothing there but tropical forest (palm trees, fruit trees and jungle), but perhaps one day I will be able to build a little house to rest my weary bones. For now I go there to camp and relax and be totally in nature.

After several days of that I went back to Salvador, the city where I spent my gap year when I was 18. I love Salvador, it feels like my spiritual home, a city where I feel totally at home and comfortable although it is changing rapidly and is now well and truly on the tourist map. When I lived there, most people I met had never met an English person before. I am no longer ‘exotic’, but that’s fine. My portuguese is almost fluent so most people think I am Brazilian (from the south).

Last week I went skating by myself along the fantastic cycle/skate path that runs for miles along the seafront. In the mornings and evenings it’s busy with people walking, running and cycling (Brazilians are really into outdoor activities), but during the day it’s pretty empty so that’s when I choose to skate as I can appreciate the space, go as fast as I want and zone out to the feelings and rhythms in my skating body and the hypnotic effect of the sound of crashing waves mixed in with the music on my ipod.

On the outskirts of the city centre there is a public skate rink, smooth concrete tiles, circular and open to the sea. This is the perfect spot to practice some dancing, jumping or whatever comes to the feet. In the evenings it is busy with kids skating and skate boarders but I had it to myself. What a luxury. I was dreaming of there being a similar rink in London one day, as I noticed how my skating is so limited due to always skating on Serpentine Road and its narrow configurations. I love being able to skate in big circles (but maybe that’s just the figure skater in me).

I met a photographer Airton Ferreira Santana who was waiting for his friend who never showed up and he took all the pictures in this blog entry. It has allowed me to share with you what was purely a personal experience and now memory.