Corpus Christi

Well, I don't think I'll have a major breakdown this time over leaving. Mostly because I know I will be back. This place and the people of Salvador have once again stolen my heart. I shed a few tears this afternoon thinking about leaving, but it's okay. One of the important things I know is that I could stay longer. Probably not three months, like some people, but at least a couple more weeks.

Many of the group has gone to Lencois for the long weekend, so there are only a few of us here now. Over lunch, we had a heavy discussion about what is really our value here and why do we want to do it. Larry and I have an assignment that is like a pleasure cruise compared to those at Casah, the home for HIV positive people of all ages. In Brazil, medication to treat HIV is free, but the living conditions there are shocking. It is so bad, that CCS stopped sending volunteers there for a while because it was too difficult to handle. This is the first group to go again for a while. They restarted the program because they decided if the volunteers were willing, showing up and doing something to bring a little care and distraction into the lives of the residents was better than doing nothing.

Education is a big issue in these places. A teacher shows up occasionally at Casah for the school aged children and the Madre Teresa program is intended to serve only the basic needs of the poorest of the poor and does not include an educational component. Davi, who turned three last Saturday, is starving to learn. He is so smart and needs to be in pre-school. It's his hope for improving his situation.

We came up with no answers to solve these problems, but we do know that the little time we spend here, and the others who follow us, does make a difference in these lives. We can also hope that our presence can inspire others locally and abroad to make change. I'm going to miss my children until I return.

Since it was a holiday, we got to sleep late today - until 7am. Being so close to the equator, the days are about 12 hours of light year round. 5 to 5. And I've been waking up with daylight at 5, even though I don't need to get up that early.

This time of year, fall, the beach was not nearly so crowded as it was in the spring. But Praia da Barra is always a happening place. People chanting and singing to sell their wares - everything you can imagine - bathing suits, dresses, jewelry, sunglasses, nuts, food cooked in a charcoal pot by your chair, you name it. Each section of the beach is "owned" by an entrepreneur who will rent you chairs, an umbrella and deliver your drinks with a cooler and a table for a reasonable price. We hooked up with Davi who took very good care of us all afternoon for a great price.

Last year, we were the only white people on the beach. This time, at least 30% of the people were lighter skinned. It's definitely not tourist season, so I'm not sure why the change. We were not nearly as glaringly different. The population in general seems to have an increase in lighter skinned people as well. In Brazil, people of African descent are very proud of their heritage, but you do not call them "black." The politically correct term is Negro, pronounced nay-grew.

We headed for our favorite acaraje stand this evening, but apparently she took the day off for the holiday. Last trip, I tried another local specialty, acai, on the way home in the airport. I thought it tasted like cough syrup from my childhood. Everyone convinced me to try it again. So we walked to the local favorite acai shop. Totally different this time. Acai is a dark purple berry from the Amazon and the way it is typically eaten is like a slurpy with sliced bananas with a very crunchy granola on top. Delicious!
Judy