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Word from Brazil by Stefanie Weber

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I felt a special energy in Salvador, Bahia, the third largest city in Brazil, the moment I left the airport. Everyone else must feel this energy too because people barely sleep-they go to bed late at night and start their days with the sunrise at 5 or 6 a.m. I found that people are more relaxed and friendly there, and time goes by much slower than time in Austin. It's not that people are lazy-they're relaxed. They work very hard but are able to enjoy life. People in the United States are much more stressed out.

Something special about Salvador is to see street vendors everywhere, selling picoles (popsicles) and baked cheese with oregano on a skewer on the beach or tropical fruits and agua de coco (coconut water) on the street. Salvador also has an amazing meal that you can find in almost the same form in Nigeria today, called Akaraje, and just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Enslaved Yoruba people of Nigeria brought it to Brazil, and the women have so many secrets about how to make it. They sell it on the streets from movable-kitchen carts. Compared to Austin, Salvador is a walking city, as most people cannot afford to have cars. My friends and I always walked to the beaches and spent most of our free time lying in the sun drinking capirinhas. But not everyone gets to have this experience. There is a lot of visible poverty and racism in Brazil-social problems our own country still faces.

Back in Austin by Celso Lazaretti

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So much in Austin makes for a legendary trip-even small details, like the free refills at restaurants or the squirrels scuttling all over campus that make me feel like I'm in a Disney movie. Speaking of movies, the Alamo Ritz is a unique theater, playing everything from special "sing-along" screenings to YouTube videos. I've had some memorable times there, like Q&As with mob-movie legend Chazz Palminteri and horror queen Zelda Rubinstein. The Ritz is so cool it even makes bad movies fun to watch.

But my number one memory of Austin will be Halloween downtown. Sixth Street was so packed with freaks, nut jobs and characters it took me half an hour to walk four blocks. But it felt like five minutes. Who wouldn't want to keep walking for hours when you're rubbing shoulders with the likes of Betty Boop, the Joker, Hunter Thompson and Marilyn Monroe?

My Brazilian hometown of Porto Alegre is famous for its movie theater circuit (with more than 60 screening rooms in 20 theaters), and we do get a few Halloween parties around the end of October but nothing like the effort people put into it here. I only wish Sixth Street bars wouldn't shut down in unison at 2 a.m. (in Brazil it's not hard to find bars and clubs open until sunrise). But the variety of Austin nightlife makes up for it. Beats London, too, by the way.