President Lula Visits Ribeira!

For the last few days, in the minds of Ribeira residents, the term “O presidente” no longer referred to ICBIE President Pietro Gallina, because it was usurped by someone who bears a striking resemblance to him, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.  Today at 4 PM Lula was scheduled to visit our neighborhood to inaugurate a new fishing port,  the Terminal Pesqueiro da Ribeira, which was built by Bahia Pesca and the Secretaria Especial de Aqüicultura e Pesca (Seap), in order to give the local fishermen a new dock to benefit the commercialization and distribution of their catches.  He also announced the launch of an innovative national project to stimulate small-scale fishing.

For the last few days, workmen have been busy building a giant stage in Largo da Ribeira, where the president gave his speech, and there has been a massive effort to spruce up the area for this important visit.  Yesterday afternoon, and again last night at midnight, a giant water truck parked right in front of the ICBIE, and two workmen operated an impressively large hose that gushed a high-powered spray onto the sidewalks, leaving them sparkling and clean.  This morning, city workers were everywhere, repairing holes in the street and painting the curbs a dazzling white, while crews collected garbage and raked the beach.

By 3PM, hundreds of buses had parked all along the seafront, bringing fishermen from all over the state of Bahia; Pietro got dressed up to look sufficiently presidential; then a bank of dark clouds appeared and there was a fierce downpour; we waited for Lula to pass by, and he never came, so when it got dark we wandered down to the square and heard the speeches from the back of the throng.  That’s as close as we got to “o presidente,” but it was good enough to make it a special day!  And at least the neighborhood is all clean and repainted…