A Sunday Afternoon

For the last few Sundays I have been in charge over at the teenage girls house. Tuca stays at the girls house from Monday morning until Friday afternoon watching the girls. That is quite a work shift huh?! Every other weekend the girls go up to Casa do Caminho and come back down on Sunday. This mean that every Sunday and every other Saturday they need an adult there to watch the girls.

This last Sunday we did makeovers! All the girls love their Orkut (Brazilian Facebook) and love to take pictures to put on their profile. So of course we took tons of photos! The girls were a little crazy but loved it a lot!

Silvia

Iandra

While doing their makeup

Daiana

Ana Carolina

Camilla

Fabiline

Now you know some of the girls that I love so much! It is really nice being over there with them. It is just a big slumber party!

School Days

While walking to the school for the big party they were having we stopped to take a few pictures of Gabriely. She was a little tired so we didn't really get a smile, but we got plenty of other expressions instead! She loves having her picture taken. She loves it so much that she will stop crying if you say you will take her picture. A great thing for her mom to know!



Cristiane and Gabriely ready for the party!



I didn't really understand what the party was for, all I know is the school was full of people and there was some dancing going on. It was fun to see how the kids reacted to all their friends. It made me remember my elementary school days. Here is a picture of what their school looks like. Quite the fun playground they have huh? I am sure it is even more fun when it rains and it is covered in mud!




At the school there was a little candy stand so I went over to buy a few lollipops for the kids. Here is the math quiz for the day. If I buy 5 lollipops at 20 cents each how much is that? When I gave a 20 to the woman (no, not a child. a 40 year old woman) she gave me back 18.20. How does 5x20 equal 1.80? I am not quite sure. However when I asked her about it, she just looked at me strange. I had to explain it to her then she got it. Now I can completely understand that we all have our days, and sometimes simple math comes out wrong. But...

When I went back to what was our little group of 5, there was all of a sudden a few more kids. You can't give lollipops to just some of them. I had to go back and get a few more. There were only 3 lollipops left so I decided to buy all 3. Now lets do this again, 3 lollipops at 20 cents each... I gave her 1 real and she gave me no change. How does 3x20 equal 1 real?

Two times in a row? I wonder how many of these little kids who are just now learning how to do math like this get ripped off by the adult who can't do math! I am sure there are kids who have been gypped on lollipops.

PLAY DOUGH

The "class" that I have been having with the kids currently consists of playing, playing, and some more playing. I am hoping to begin some educational activities soon... hopefully this week. So the other day we played with Play dough. It was so much fun! We made an island, a swimming pool with a guy chillin' in it, pizzas, baskets of food, lips, flip flops, and much more! The creativity never ends here!

Leonardo got kissed!

Eveline was surprised!

And Caio shows off his... bowl of peas?

This was just in the second week of the "class" with the kids and I wasn't sure if they really thought anything of it. I mean all kids love to play so I knew that they were having fun but it is hard to know if it means to them what it means to me. Then this day Leonardo showed up with a game. A game he created the night before just for us to play. It was so sweet. It just showed to me that the class that just consisted of playing actually means something to him, enough to create a whole game. And it was a fun game too!

Botanical Gardens

Just recently I found out that there was a Botanical Garden located in Rio de Janeiro. So of course Eveline and I had to go see it! It was a nice little trip and a beautiful place to be! We saw the biggest lily pads I have ever seen! Plus it was so peaceful and relaxing. If you are ever in Rio, I would highly suggest going.

Bitter Sweet

As you may have noticed I haven't really been writing about the Culture Center and the progress of that. Well today is the day that it finally comes out. That wonderful building that we had the offer in for had several problems. We kept figuring them out, slowly, until finally in the end it was proven impossible to purchase. But to make it even worse, we found out that every building in this city is impossible to purchase. Why? Because Xerem is not a known city. As in no land is registered. I went to the government building to find out how we can register the land here and they said it will take 5 years from the time that they begin registering Xerem. I then asked when they might start and the reply was, "Only God knows." Really comforting.

Basically what happened is since this city is full of rivers it was meant to be a park full of flowers and trees. However people found the land and decided to live here. They claimed land, bought and sold it, and now live on it. This city is huge, but completely illegal. They can purchase amongst themselves, but a foreign investor can't prove the building that he is buying, therefore he can buy it. Nice to know after 4 months of being here...

However the title of this post is labeled Bitter Sweet for a reason. Although the Culture Center will not be opened (by me, nor at this time- there are thoughts of building a building on the one piece of land that is legal, but we'll see) that doesn't mean that I can't accomplish the very thing that I came here to do. I came here to play with the cute kids and show them that they are important. So last Tuesday at 9:30 am we started our "class". There was about 7 kids and we just played. We don't have a location, we just play in the streets. But that works for me and the kids aren't complaining! We will have it 2 times per day 3 days a week. So far it has been really nice. I finally feel like I am doing what I came to do. I finally feel like I am accomplishing something. I finally feel good.

Here are a few pictures from our first day.

I've Learned

Shortly after leaving the Neto Cruz family's house I arrived at Barbara's 30th Birthday party. Barbara is the wife of Junior, the main political figure in this city, and a good friend of mine. She mentioned to me that it was going to be just a small party only inviting close friends and family. Upon arriving at their farm it was clear that it wasn't just a small party. It was fully catered and decorated. They even newly tiled the floor on the veranda and painted the house for this party.

Everything was beautiful; candle lit tables under the star filled sky, flowers, and smiles on everyones faces.

People just kept arriving to the party. Aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, the secretary of agriculture, the director of all the hospitals in Caxias, even the mayor's family was there. And this was just a small party, only inviting family and close friends.

The party was wonderful, truly it was. It seemed as if I had walked through two different worlds that evening. One house that often lacks food to the other that always has plenty. One family who often lacks clothes and shoes to another who never lacks. One family of 6 who all sleep in the same room, in one bed to another of 4 who have 4 houses. And yet both families are filled with love for each other and always have smiles on their faces. Two families that live in different worlds and yet find happiness in what is most important; family. Tonight I learned that in the end it doesn't matter what you have or don't have but what matter the most is your family.

My funny boys

Saturday evening I made a quick stop at the Neto Cruz Family's house. I didn't have much time since I was on my way to Barbara's Birthday party, but I had to stop by before I went. It has been quite a while since I have taken any pictures of them; you know how it is you take tons in the beginning and then you result to taking them only when something big happens. But the boys looked to cute this evening and they wanted their picture taken so badly that I couldn't help but take several! Here are just a few, aren't they so adorable! They bring me such joy by their smiles and their hugs. I love these boys!