Nati Vale is a native of Puerto Rico with a Bahian swing in her step. She currently lives in Berkeley, California, where she attempts to finish her dissertation one paragraph at a time. Alice Rose is a Brazil enthusiast who, while she is not working on her Bahian accent, is digging for dinosaur bones in her backyard in Oakland, California. Pedro A. Cabral discovered Brazil in 1500. He spent most of his life in Salvador, Brazil. Due to GPS technology and Google Maps, Cabral has been forced to give up his love for exploration and has retired to the tame Oakland, California, where he has dedicated himself to the art of capoeira.