Some Random Fragrances: A Brief Season on the Coast

Salinas, as we locals in Pará usually call Salinópolis, occupies a rather unique spot on the map of Pará, in northern Brazil. Located in the northeastern part of the state, in a coastal area known as the Salgado region, it lies remarkably close to the Equator, facing the Atlantic Ocean, a combination that explains much of what it feels like to be there. This is the Amazon, but an Amazon that meets the sea surrounded by mangroves, coastal vegetation, dunes, and ocean beaches under an intensely hot and humid tropical climate. And perhaps that is why the temperature alone tells only part of the story. To me, 31°C (88°F) in Salinas does not feel quite the same as 31°C in the city. By the sea, there is wind, salt in the air, humidity, sun-warmed skin covered in traces of seawater, and that constant alternation between heat and ocean breeze that changes the way you experience the temperature. For five days, this was the setting where I joined around 150 other educators for an immersive professional development program by the sea, and, without initially intending to, I ended up turning those days into a rather unique olfactory experience as well.