Oh my God. Did you ever think you might die from being crushed? Tonight we had that opportunity. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go to an important playoff game for the local Bahia soccer team. I now understand about the riots and deaths you read about at soccer games. The hundreds of MPs at the entrance should have been a clue. Crushed in 100,000 seven foot tall maniacal Brazilian fans was terrifying. We’d heard what fun the games were, but this was serious business. Even the regulars (CCS volunteers) who went tonight came home shaking from the experience. But everyone has returned safely. We left at half time, having no desire to experience the crowd’s departure, win or loss. We heard it was a tie. All goals scored while we were there. Ask me later about what rains at the soccer game.
We had a wonderful day with the children, but wake up came too early after a night out. Tuesday night is the street festival where there was live music, dancing and drumming. We only had four minutes to spare before curfew. It would be embarrassing to be sent home at our age for violating curfew. They are very strict and it doesn’t matter if you are 17 or 77.
Today there was no scrubbing or laundry – all play. Legos, balls, giant balloons, singing and dancing until both the children and the adults were all exhausted. I’ve attached photos of two children. The little girl is Jade (pronounced Zha Zhee) shown here with Maria, another CCS volunteer. Jade loves to blow bubbles and is the princess of the orphanage. She is stubborn, inquisitive and very bright for two years old. She always wants to be the center of attention. The boy is Raphael, her brother. He is six, but looks only three. When he arrived he was very malnourished and couldn’t walk. Now, a year later, he walks well and his motor skills are good, but he does not talk. From what I could understand they lived in a dump before. I was worried that our presence and all the attention upsets their
routine and they don’t take their nap as usual. Sister Gloria laughs and tells me (in English) that they can sleep anytime and to have all the attention we lavish on them is much more important than sleep. I’m not sure Chinquina, the director, would agree!
This afternoon we checked out the Mercado Modelo, the local market, for some quick shopping. The vendors are so aggressive, it’s exhausting just to walk by. Then we rode the elevator from the lower town to the upper town. The elevator has been in operation for some ridiculously long period of time like 135 years. It costs .05 R to ride up and down – the equivalent of 2.5 cents.
I’m pleased that my Portuguese is working for me. I have learned to navigate the taxi system and can get where I want to go and back in Portuguese without being cheated. Today I bought tickets to the balet, a show of traditional Brazilian dance, from a man who spoke no English. He was very worried than I meant tickets for tonight and I kept having to reassure him that I
knew what I meant. I was pretty pleased with myself.
Judy
We had a wonderful day with the children, but wake up came too early after a night out. Tuesday night is the street festival where there was live music, dancing and drumming. We only had four minutes to spare before curfew. It would be embarrassing to be sent home at our age for violating curfew. They are very strict and it doesn’t matter if you are 17 or 77.
Today there was no scrubbing or laundry – all play. Legos, balls, giant balloons, singing and dancing until both the children and the adults were all exhausted. I’ve attached photos of two children. The little girl is Jade (pronounced Zha Zhee) shown here with Maria, another CCS volunteer. Jade loves to blow bubbles and is the princess of the orphanage. She is stubborn, inquisitive and very bright for two years old. She always wants to be the center of attention. The boy is Raphael, her brother. He is six, but looks only three. When he arrived he was very malnourished and couldn’t walk. Now, a year later, he walks well and his motor skills are good, but he does not talk. From what I could understand they lived in a dump before. I was worried that our presence and all the attention upsets their
routine and they don’t take their nap as usual. Sister Gloria laughs and tells me (in English) that they can sleep anytime and to have all the attention we lavish on them is much more important than sleep. I’m not sure Chinquina, the director, would agree!This afternoon we checked out the Mercado Modelo, the local market, for some quick shopping. The vendors are so aggressive, it’s exhausting just to walk by. Then we rode the elevator from the lower town to the upper town. The elevator has been in operation for some ridiculously long period of time like 135 years. It costs .05 R to ride up and down – the equivalent of 2.5 cents.
I’m pleased that my Portuguese is working for me. I have learned to navigate the taxi system and can get where I want to go and back in Portuguese without being cheated. Today I bought tickets to the balet, a show of traditional Brazilian dance, from a man who spoke no English. He was very worried than I meant tickets for tonight and I kept having to reassure him that I
knew what I meant. I was pretty pleased with myself.Judy
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