So here I am in Brazil! At what we here at CCS (Cross Cultural Solutions, no doi) call the Home Base. I'll fill you in quickly on the end of Peru trip.
We ended up going back to Machu Picchu and toured around just the ruins and kind of just took in the whole scene for a while. It was a lot to take in. Also I petted a llama. Then we ventured to the museum at the bottom of the mountain and actually learned about what we just saw. Just lovely and educational.
We left Aguas Calientes pretty late and had a mean girl sitting next to us who refused to trade the exact same seat with Joey so we were seperated for like 2 hours. It was totally terrible. We made it back to Casa de Wow!! late and headed back to Cusco early in the morning. We spent some time doing some souvenir shopping then sadly bid adieu to our friend Kealan. Brooke, Joey and I played some Rummy 500, drank 2 for 1 drinks, ate food then slept our last sleep in Peru.
It was 4 airports, 3 plane rides and about 23 hours later when I arrived excited and SO full of energy to Salvador, Brazil. I easily located the CCS driver and his most recent pick up and the three of us headed to the group's VW van in our glamorous matching t-shirts. A half an hour later, we arrive at Home Base, a 3 story building located in a middle class neighborhood known as Graça. The building has a main dining room, kitchen and 2 offices on the main floor; 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a living area on the second floor; and 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a classroom area on the third. Yes, I have to throw my toilet paper in a trashcan. Yes, I hate it. After getting over that disappointment, the home base doesn't seem that terrible. I don't get internet in my room like most people so I conduct most my business in the main living area, but this does allow for me to talk to passer-bys, ipso facto, I have made friends, SURPRISE! There are 14 other volunteers here currently, about 10 of whom started the same day as I did. My roommate is a 50-ish year old 5'1 woman named Pamela. She's nice. Everyone else is between the ages of 28 and 19. Everyone is very friendly and funny and goes with the flow so we have all been getting along. Which, by the by, is good because it hasn't stopped raining since we have arrived. When it rains in Salvador, and I might guess Brazil as a whole,things just shut down. Apparently Bahians (Salvador is located in the state of Bahia) are allergic to rain. We have been watching movies and going to the ice cream shop down the street quite a bit. A few of us are planning a trip to an island this weekend, hoping the weather will clear up.
Today we began our volunteer work. I am working in a day care that cares for children from ages about 2 to 6 who live in an area known as Alagadros. Alagadros was once a landfill for trash on top of which people began to live and eventually developed into a community. Many people live in shacks supported on stilts that stand in trash filled waters. Today, because of the rain, many of the children could not make it to day care because the "streets" become so flooded with water, no one can get through without a boat. You would not guess from the children that these are their circumstances. They are chalk full of energy and anxious to be holding my hand, sitting in my lap or just touching/hanging on me in any way.
When I first walked in to the somewhat run down building, the children were in the middle of their breakfast (for most children, whatever they are fed at this day care is all they will eat) and a little, silent, skinny boy walked up to me and just hugged me. My heart tuned and I thought to myself, "This is going to be a lovely and heart warming experience of cuddling and hugs and pats on the head for everyone!" I was wrong. I think that boy was set up for me to feel at ease so I wouldn't run out of the establishment in the first 5 minutes. These children are off the walls. I have been placed with the 4 year olds, old enought to speak sentences, but not quite old enough to understand that I have no idea what they're saying to me. I walk into the classroom with the 15 or so 4 year olds and they are immediately surrounding me, holding my hands, attaching to my legs, jumping on my knees. The teacher, I believe at the time, saves me from their destruction, setting them up against the wall in a line. "This is better," I think to myself, "just keep them like this." Then the teacher turns and looks at me, says something to me in Portuguese and waits. I stare at her blankly. Then she repeats herself, this time clapping, sort of humming, and pointing at me. "You want me to sing?!" she waits and claps a little more, still staring at me. I look and see the children, still lined up, staring as well. I build up all my courage, put my index fingers to their opposite thumbs, and slowly begin the All American Favorite Tune "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". Teacher and children continue their blank stares but imitate my hand motions as I feebly spit out the iconic lyrics of this brave old spider. The song ends with silence, and then an outburst as the children immediately forget what just happened. I start again, and again. Then show them Ring Around the Rosy, which we play 2-9 times. The rest of the morning was a blur of crayons, pee smelling kids sitting in my lap, Diego cartoons, and fruitless attempts of getting 4 year old boys to sit down.
Next Day Addendum- today was a very similar day with the kids, except the regular teacher was there, laying down the law. Also, the roof in the kitchen collapsed. The rain caused flooding on the undone second floor and has just been seeping into the main floor. The bottom portion of the ceiling in the kitchen caved slightly sending plaster, mud and other ceiling materials crashing to the floor, just missing one of the employees working in there. This place is in desperate need of repairs, but there is no money to make them.
It was 4 airports, 3 plane rides and about 23 hours later when I arrived excited and SO full of energy to Salvador, Brazil. I easily located the CCS driver and his most recent pick up and the three of us headed to the group's VW van in our glamorous matching t-shirts. A half an hour later, we arrive at Home Base, a 3 story building located in a middle class neighborhood known as Graça. The building has a main dining room, kitchen and 2 offices on the main floor; 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a living area on the second floor; and 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a classroom area on the third. Yes, I have to throw my toilet paper in a trashcan. Yes, I hate it. After getting over that disappointment, the home base doesn't seem that terrible. I don't get internet in my room like most people so I conduct most my business in the main living area, but this does allow for me to talk to passer-bys, ipso facto, I have made friends, SURPRISE! There are 14 other volunteers here currently, about 10 of whom started the same day as I did. My roommate is a 50-ish year old 5'1 woman named Pamela. She's nice. Everyone else is between the ages of 28 and 19. Everyone is very friendly and funny and goes with the flow so we have all been getting along. Which, by the by, is good because it hasn't stopped raining since we have arrived. When it rains in Salvador, and I might guess Brazil as a whole,things just shut down. Apparently Bahians (Salvador is located in the state of Bahia) are allergic to rain. We have been watching movies and going to the ice cream shop down the street quite a bit. A few of us are planning a trip to an island this weekend, hoping the weather will clear up.
Today we began our volunteer work. I am working in a day care that cares for children from ages about 2 to 6 who live in an area known as Alagadros. Alagadros was once a landfill for trash on top of which people began to live and eventually developed into a community. Many people live in shacks supported on stilts that stand in trash filled waters. Today, because of the rain, many of the children could not make it to day care because the "streets" become so flooded with water, no one can get through without a boat. You would not guess from the children that these are their circumstances. They are chalk full of energy and anxious to be holding my hand, sitting in my lap or just touching/hanging on me in any way.
When I first walked in to the somewhat run down building, the children were in the middle of their breakfast (for most children, whatever they are fed at this day care is all they will eat) and a little, silent, skinny boy walked up to me and just hugged me. My heart tuned and I thought to myself, "This is going to be a lovely and heart warming experience of cuddling and hugs and pats on the head for everyone!" I was wrong. I think that boy was set up for me to feel at ease so I wouldn't run out of the establishment in the first 5 minutes. These children are off the walls. I have been placed with the 4 year olds, old enought to speak sentences, but not quite old enough to understand that I have no idea what they're saying to me. I walk into the classroom with the 15 or so 4 year olds and they are immediately surrounding me, holding my hands, attaching to my legs, jumping on my knees. The teacher, I believe at the time, saves me from their destruction, setting them up against the wall in a line. "This is better," I think to myself, "just keep them like this." Then the teacher turns and looks at me, says something to me in Portuguese and waits. I stare at her blankly. Then she repeats herself, this time clapping, sort of humming, and pointing at me. "You want me to sing?!" she waits and claps a little more, still staring at me. I look and see the children, still lined up, staring as well. I build up all my courage, put my index fingers to their opposite thumbs, and slowly begin the All American Favorite Tune "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". Teacher and children continue their blank stares but imitate my hand motions as I feebly spit out the iconic lyrics of this brave old spider. The song ends with silence, and then an outburst as the children immediately forget what just happened. I start again, and again. Then show them Ring Around the Rosy, which we play 2-9 times. The rest of the morning was a blur of crayons, pee smelling kids sitting in my lap, Diego cartoons, and fruitless attempts of getting 4 year old boys to sit down.
Next Day Addendum- today was a very similar day with the kids, except the regular teacher was there, laying down the law. Also, the roof in the kitchen collapsed. The rain caused flooding on the undone second floor and has just been seeping into the main floor. The bottom portion of the ceiling in the kitchen caved slightly sending plaster, mud and other ceiling materials crashing to the floor, just missing one of the employees working in there. This place is in desperate need of repairs, but there is no money to make them.
Oh my gosh to all of the above. P.S. I love how you got the 50 yr old roommate.
ReplyDelete