The City of Salvador Welcomes Team Melli

Salvador’s main square is all dolled up for the World Cup. The capital city of the northeastern state of Bahia will host Iran’s last game at group stage, with Bosnia-Herzegovina, on Wednesday. Though most Salvadorans don’t know much about Iran, they know a lot about welcoming visitors—and about how the World Cup can change a city's atmosphere in dramatic ways.

The city commissioned a special exhibition to celebrate Salvador’s role as a host city. In Praça Municipal, the city’s main square, “Salvador” has been spelled out in huge letters. Each country playing in the city—Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland—was given a letter to decorate. Team shirts were an obvious choice, so each letter has its own individual T-Shirt.

At Praça Municipal, I meet a young couple. Twenty-one-year-old Fábio Silva takes a photo of his girlfriend, Irene Santos, 21, in front oft the letter D, which has been decorated by Iran. “We don't know anything about the Iranian team. Are they any good?”, he asks doubtfully, revealing a row of shining braces as he laughs. “They are very welcome in Brazil.”

He mentions the protests Salvador—and the rest of the country—has seen in recent weeks. The “Não Vai Ter Copa” movement  (“There Will Be No World Cup”) has been building momentum since it began during the FIFA Confederations Cup last summer, and protesters continue to pour out on to the streets of Brazil. In Salvador, on June 14, two days after the World Cup started, police fired teargas at protesters and arrested dozens of people. Prior to that, on April 17, a strike by military police in the city led to a surge in violence, with 39 murders being reported in a 48-hour period and widespread looting taking place.

The unrest, said artist Roberto Gonzaga, also visiting the square to look at the display, was not unlike scenes broadcast around the world during Iran’s Green Revolution in 2009. He admitted he didn’t know a lot about day-to-day life in Iran, or about the protest movement there.

 “Iran is known for being constantly at war, for terrorism, and the way women are censored”, said Melissa Teles, a 23-year-old resident of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, where Iran played Argentina on Saturday.

Melissa moved to Salvador eight months ago to find a job as a nurse, but so far she hasn´t had much luck. In the meantime, she sells popsicles for one Brazilian Real each in the Praça Municipal.

She says she’s looking forward to Iranians visiting the city. She thinks it will be good for women in particular to see what life is like for Brazilian women. She thinks Brazil is probably a happier place to live than Iran, “but of course we also have our problems”, she says, adding: “Men can be as cruel here as they are in Iran.”

Violence against women is without a doubt an ongoing a problem in Brazil. In a recent report published by the Institute of Advanced Research in Economy (IPEA), Nadine Gasman, Brazil’s representative for the UN Women initiative, wrote that the endemic violence against women has its roots in the very structure of Brazilian traditional society, which, to a degree, simply overlooks or dismisses the rights of women.

Melissa is familiar with the “My Stealthy Freedom” campaign on Facebook, where Iranian women post photos of themselves without the Islamic headscarf, which is mandatory for women in Iran. “It’s so beautiful and strong!” she says of the campaign.

As we are talking, a middle-aged man comes up to us. He tells Melissa that “cannibals” had come from abroad to Salvador to “eat” women. “I listen to idiots like him all the time here”, Melissa says with a sigh.

Melissa has a positive attitude towards the World Cup. She says it’s obvious that there are some great teams emerging from the Middle East and neighboring countries. “Many Brazilians are moving to play football in that region. I have a friend who played in Saudi Arabia and came back knowing so more about Muslim countries.” She says learning about different cultures is “the good thing about globalization. We see each other from different perspectives”.  It’s clear that, although the World Cup hasn’t necessarily educated people about other cultures in any substantial way, it has absolutely generated a strong interest in other ways of life and other experiences.

I buy Melissa’s last popsicle, which is “umbi” flavored. The green fruit is a symbol of resistance for people raised in the drought area of Bahia. It’s juicy and nourishing. And it just so happens it’s the color of Iran’s Revolution five years ago. So, for many in Brazil and Iran alike, it represents hope, and a chance for a brighter future. And some of it might just begin with football.