Salvador da Bahia, Brazil's third largest city, has an energy and unadorned beauty reflecting what was once the magnificent capital of Portugal's New World colony. I am staying in a beautifully restored colonial house surrounded by a "living museum" of 17th and 18th century architecture and gold-laden churches. (Breathtaking but challenging in a country of such extreme poverty!) The city is also a heady blend of two seemingly disparate cultures - classic Portugese architecture and African drum beats, cobbled streets and lively festivals, Catholic Churches and the Candomble (Afro-Brazilian religion.) Last Tuesday, I experienced something of this fascinating blend when I attended Igreja NS do Rosario dos Pretos's Mass for St. Anthony.... Yes, there would be all the elements one might expect (candles, incense, processions) but also the exuberant percussive worship songs ( acapella except for drumbeats) accompanied by lithe, ecstatic movements of many worshippers.(...