Our Too Cool Adventure (Melanie, Rami and Me)

All right – our trip to Salvador was 5 hours by bus. From Salvador we had a 2 hour bus ride to a little town called Diogo. The bus dropped us off near a stand of trees next to a dirt road. We asked for directions and found we had to follow the dirt road. After about a few minutes walking we started seeing little square houses and buildings. Diogo is a little town that is on one road with one T intersection. In order to get to our pousada (resort??) we had to take the T in the road. After about a 20 minutes walk we ended up at Too Cool pousada. After greeting us they took us straight to where we needed to go. We found out that we should have made reservations because they were booked. When Sophia the owner arrived she explained that there was one room available for one night then we would have to find some place else… For those of you who know me for a worry wart would have been proud of me. After unpacking and deciding to go down to the beach Sophie came back and said we could stay in the room normally used for massage because she didn’t believe we could find anything else because of Easter. That taken care of she gave us directions and we went to the beach.

In order to get to the beach we had to walk for about 30 minutes through town, a cross a river bridge and sand dunes as it got dark. When we arrived it was full dark. The moon hadn’t come out yet and the sky was filled with stars! I stared at the stars with my feet in water so warm it felt like love that had been waiting for me. Melanie and Rami played in the water…


A nice man who was closing up is refreshment stand offered to show us out off the beach to a smaller town called Santo Antonio. It was in the middle of the sand dunes with NO roads leading to it. From there we made our way back. On our way we disturbed two donkeys on the dunes sleeping.

We spent the next day on the beach after a wonderful breakfast and a trek through 15 minute short cut with a nice French couple and Junya the dog that took us over a beautiful old land bridge over a swamp, wading through a lower part of the little river and a cross the dunes, we spent the day on the beach. Running into the water practicing Capoeira, drinking out of coconuts and dancing.

At 2pm after the start of a very nice sunburn for Melanie and Rami we all nearly got heat stroke walking back through the dunes.

Later that evening we sat in the middle of Diogo at what we had dubbed the night before as our favorite sandwich shop eating egg and cheese sandwiches when the sandwich shop owner let us know that he saw us on the beach practicing capoeira and told us of an Angola capoeira group that taught kids in the area. He said he’d tell them about us. (The funny thing is we never saw anyone else on the beach.) A few minutes later some guys that were clearly capoeiristas strolled up and sat a few tables a way playing biringbau. The next thing we new Melanie was talking to them and we had a date to play Capoeira on the beach the following morning. Our new accommodations was a charming little hut hidden in the woods behind the dining area made out of a kind of wood with a coconut leaf roof. You could see right through it in places. We joked about rain and getting wet. Our mattresses were on the floor. Very much like camping right down to the bugs. We had a big spider in our room, between 4 and 5 inches in diameter. (no joke) It disappeared somewhere when we were deciding what to do it. Lucky we had talked about it earlier with a naturalist who said it was harmless to people. We tried to do it this morning but failed. After a great breakfast that included homemade cake and fresh fruit we discovered little squirrel like monkeys had gotten into our room and pooped on the section of mosquito net that across our bed. We cleaned the room and locked it against any other invaders then headed off to meet our new friends.

I played in the tide pools, Rami and Melanie swam, two boys randomly raced by bare back on two horses while a dog chased them barking wildly. Our new capoeira friends showed up and took us down the beach a little ways to where the set up the hota. Val, Corro, Antonio, Raffel pulled us in right away. We spent a good long time playing, learning the rhythm on the tambourine and learning the songs. Two donkeys and a dog ran across the beach making a racket. After we sat at the refreshment stands made of coconut trees drinking beer and talking. Melanie and Rami’s sunburn was getting kind of ruff. Other things we did with our new friends - swam in a fresh water river, showed them some of the dances we know, waited in amazement as Val climbed a coconut tree like it was the easiest thing on earth and picked seven coconuts for us, watched in amazement as they crack the coconuts open for us to drink. Val ended up being our unofficial guide on our way back to Diogo. As we walked along he told us about how he grew up there and how an Italian conglomerate had bought all the land and in 20 years all we saw would be hotels. Periodically he’d reach into a bush and pull out fruit for us to try. One was a dragon fruit which tasted nasty when I had it in the States. It was wonderful here (of course).

Diner at a really good restaurant – hung out with our capoeira buddies at Val’s house in his family compound.

The next couple of days Melanie and I went horse back riding and spent time in tourist area with shopping and food. Rami spent time out of the sun. Her sunburn was pretty bad. That night there was a barbeque at Too Cool. It was a birthday party for the owner of the pousada's boyfriend who we found out was Val's brother. Almost everyone from our Too Cool adveture was there. We also had the chance to get to know the other guest better. We sang Bob Marley tunes, danced samba and drank.

This was only a portion of what happened. If I tried to put everything I wouldn't have written anything. Check out these pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/chateaulorange/Diogo#

I'm back

Its a little hecktic I'm to able to sit and write. My trip was FABULOUS!! I'll let you know about it soon. Until then...

Tchau!

I just was looking at the weather back home right now and saw it was 55˚F and I have to say. I’m so sorry y’all. I feel your pain. Right now it 6am and a nice muggy 75˚F. Since I’ve posted before I’ve co-taught two English classes. One was amazing. The students were all very motivated excited about the lesson. Two students brought food for us teachers, homemade chocolate cake and local flat bread like a cracker. They asked me a lot of questions. I participated in the lesson plan. Then I taught them the song Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes. After that they taught me the same song in Portuguese. We gave them homework and the students gave me homework since I’m learning their language. I’ll have to study hard. They’ll expect me to be as serious about my Portuguese as they are about their English. The other class was fun too however it was hard to keep the students focused. Rami had a dance class at the same time as this class. Halfway through our English class an other teacher, (Marena - who is also an English teacher) ran to the door to our class and yelled. “You have to see the dance class! It’s great.” All of our students promptly revolted and went down the hall to stand at the door to Rami’s class. It took some doing to get everyone back but since everyone had a hard time concentrating to begin with it was all over. Next week Rami’s class will be in another building.

Rami and I also visited the local nun’s. They are known for massage and natural medicine. We both had an hour massage for the equivalent of 8 dollars. They asked me to come and teach them some of my remedies. I’ve also volunteered to go there to learn and help make local medicine. It’s really old school. They go out and wildcraft the herbs, dry them then make remedies.

We had our first Portuguese class. Our teacher Alaina can’t speak English so I have to actually try to use Portuguese. I suck but that’s okay. I’ve only been here for less than a week.

More about bugs:
I’ve have gotten some questions regarding my last post and I just have to say. There are bugs and some bite but it isn’t that bad. As sensitive as I am to discomfort I’m really surprised that it’s not as bad as I thought. Normally you don’t have to worry about those ants unless you disturb them. I’m not a mass of scabby bites. In fact my skin never looked better than it does here.

So the school is closing for the rest of the week for Easter. Rami and I will be headed to the coast to go to the beach and see a city. So I we may not have access to the internet until after Sunday.

By the way you can add comments to the end of the post if you want!!
See you in 5 days!!

Domingo (Sunday)

Rami and I slept late. There were no set plans. We did a little shopping with Melanie at the market. I bought a melon using Portuguese all by myself! I’m feeling a little more confident about walking around. I’m going to start taking some walks by myself soon. That has always been a good way of immersing me.

I went to my first capoeira class night with Rami. My legs are already starting to hurt. It was so fun. The teacher is very dynamic. The students were all concerned with making sure I understood what was happening. I had two spectacular falls, few times I ended up with my back to my partner and several times that I just was moving around not knowing what the heck I was doing. But… everyone was so encouraging. I’ll probably have some bruises tomorrow. Rami, on the other hand, is catching on fast. She’ll have a good foundation when we leave. After we played capoeira we formed a smaller circle and danced samba. I perked up for that since it’s one of my favorite dances! While we were playing it started to rain really hard. By the time we walked home it had stopped and there were little streams in the road.

You bite/I’ll bite:
Can I talk to you about bugs? Do you remember the National Geographic program about fire ants? They swarmed over an armadillo with a thousand stinging bites, with venom so painful, the poor animal was paralyzed. Then they ate it? Well I don’t believe these big red ants we have here are the same but they must be related. Last night while working on my computer I was bitten by one on my ankle, My whole foot hurt so bad I thought I was going to die. One ant! I couldn't even catch the little monster it ran so fast and I could move well with my foot falling off. The pain only lasted about ten minute but now I keep imagining that armadillo covered in fire ants and wince. Mosquitoes are small and everywhere. I’ve stopped trying to keep from getting bitten and just concentrate on getting bitten less.

We have to keep food sealed and surfaces clean. The amount of flies, ants and other miscellaneous bugs that appear in the kitchen if we accidentally leave something out is no joke. The day I made pizza I saw movement in the flour. There was a small hole in the bag and bugs had gotten in. We decided to sift the bugs out and use the flour (waste not want not). On closer examination I estimated the ratio of bugs to flour to be about 50/50. My vote was changed to throwing it out this time. Buggies are everywhere! So far I’ve swallowed about 10 bugs that I know about. Fair is fair. They are eating me.

Our Whirlwind Arrival (2 days)

So our trip started off like clock-work. Before we new it we were sitting at our gate with plenty of time on our hands. Rami did yoga. I jumped in for a little bit then went back to being catatonic. Our flight was nice... we got stuck in Atlanta for around 5 hours... good times... I remember it as if it were yesterday... The rest of the trip was nice. We arrived met Fabio and his friend who drove us home.

The distance from Salvadore to Capim Grosso is analogous to driving from Oakland to LA. The traffic was crazy as anyone who has traveled to a Caribbean country might know. Green and beautiful. Our driver (sorry I can't remember his name) was a dare devil with super reflexes. As it got dark I had to close my eyes so I didn't have to suppress the ergo to scream. Rami saw a marge of a black cow running along side the road. It disappeared right after it ran in front of our car - we were tired.

Sacia and Fabio are now the parents of beautiful twin baby boys Gabriel and Zeca. Bundles of cuteness. They love the two baby stroller we brought for them. I think having it here is significant. People stop and stare as they pass. Rami started her dance class for the little kids today. They are so cute. I went to the market to help by veggies and helped make lunch. They wanted pizza - go figure. We had lots of other yummy food.

There are several other volunteers in our compound Charles, Jon, Flavia, Marena, Melanie and Nadia. Everyone is so wonderful. We eat on the patio in the court yard. Everyone takes turns doing chores. Rami and I start in the rotation at the beginning of the week.

Later I volunteered at the local coop. They have lots of locally crafts and products. One of the big projects the have is to find uses for a small nut called licudi. It's a coconut like nut that is around the size of an almond (rounder and smaller. The tree is endangered and there trying to save it. John is REALLY into licudi. Our visit we are off to the compound again. The as we walk I look at the city. It's filled with mostly one story brick and stucco houses/compounds and trees ( little different than Salvadore). It takes some getting use to but I've decided that I think it's beautiful in it's own way.

Back at the compound... We are invited to a Heavy Metal concert in town. What was notable? It was a community event. People of all ages were there. It was my dream to be in the midst of other Metal loving Africans - BAM there it is! Rami and I danced up a storm; a mash-pit was started and pictures were taken and perhaps a video? We may add more later. I didn't sleep till 3:30am.


03/27/2010

I co-taught an English class at 8:00am. Then after class we had ice cream with our students.

After a wonderful lunch we went to a break-dance class. After that we went to a party for Sacia and Fabio's new babies. Rami played really hard with Bianca the 6 year old warrior princess. While there we experienced homemade chocolates, trading children's hand-slap games in English and Portuguese and lots of hugs. Then a walk back to the compound. On the way back the streets are packed for another community dance Fiesta tonight. As we walk it starts to rain. By the time we get back to the compound the rain is pouring. We sit on the patio while Nadia make sure her baby (a kitten) is okay. Then I start this entry to all of you reading. Guess what? It's only 8pm. There is a band playing in the main square of town and most of the town is out there. I might go but I'm exhausted. I still might...

More Farewells

An email from Yael to the other Chateaulites:

Dears,

We would like to have a family dinner on our last "official" night here (we may already be sleeping over at the new place by then depending on when we move our bed).

We would like to request that one, two, or all three of the following games be played:

Are you there, Moriarty?

Mao

Celebrity

Also, we would like to have at least a short singalong, with as many small and big instruments as we can possibly play.

And we want lots of pictures.

We feel immensely blessed to be able to expand just in the nick of time -- two days ago Ori began crawling in earnest, and pulled up to standing, all in one day! We also feel very bittersweet about leaving this sweet nest in the beautiful treehouse village we've shared with you dear friends for almost two years. Over these last two years we have felt so, so lucky, on a constant basis, to live with such a special family of friends, and to have had the immense honor of living with the one and only Ellen Margron (whose real estate prowess and adventurous spirit was part of what inspired us to go for it, and who we imagine has been smiling upon our journey). Our new home is only 2 miles away, so we've decided it's just an east wing of our beloved Chateau L'Orange, and just an extension of the fun and community and creativity and love that has been such a profound part of our lives here. Ori will always be able to visit this magical home (his exact place of birth!) and to hear the stories of his first eight months of life from those who watched him grow day by day.

We love you. We are going to miss living with you. But we are not going to miss being with you because we'll be over all the time and you will be over all the time. So there.

Yael, Addie, and Sproutus Maximus

News from Brazil

Fabio and Sacia have moved back to brazil. We are so blessed to have lived with them for the last year. Here is an email sent by Sacia, titled "Yesterday"

To give you a sense of a day in my life here:

Start the day doing yoga, then make coffee and beijú for breakfast with Fábio. Take it downstairs to watch the news at his parents' house. Guga is having breakfast there, too. Neura is getting him ready to take to school. Bianca arrives with Bethânia and Jorge, carrying a new puzzle that she insists Tio Fabio and Tia Sacia help her with when they finish breakfast. Robson (Guga's dad) and Flavio (Fabio's brother) pass through to ask others some questions about the day. Lots of noise and movement.

Fabio leaves for work and I walk to the main plaza, where I'm meeting Lu-Lu, one of my old students and a volunteer, along with Charles and Jamile. Charles is from Kansas and has been at AEC-TEA for about 2 years. Jamile is from Salvador and is visiting this week to give some Theater of the Oppressed workshops with youth in our Ponto de Cultura. She's a psychologist and actress who volunteered at AEC-TEA for a good part of last year. We are all going to visit Lu-Lu's work in a neighborhood on the outskirts of town, a center/school for "exceptional" people through the Dept. of Social Welfare. Lu-Lu, who is 18 and still in high school, has told me that she is a teacher there and I'm really curious to see what it is. She got the job through her mom, who is a cook there and, like all city jobs, with the mayor's approval.

When we get there, it's breakfast time and quite chaotic. We're greeted with lots of hugs and handshakes. Lu-Lu's mom offers us a cafezinho and gives a tour of the building. It's only been functioning for about 3 mths. Before this, the clients had to take a bus to a center in Jacobina, an hour away (or didn't go). So, who are the "excepcionais"? From what I observe, they are about 20 people in 2 classes who are deaf/mute, developmentally delayed, autistic, have cerebral palsy, and/or have some mental health issues. Lu-Lu, who doesn't know sign language and has never taught, is in charge of the deaf/mute group (+ 1 delayed boy who had behavior issues in the other class and was moved) whose ages range from 12 to 25. Some can read and write, others cannot. She has them all coloring out of elementary school reading books.

We move to the other classroom with 2 teachers and all the other students, aged 9 to 40's. The resident psychologist, in a white lab coat, and physical therapist come through, checking in with everyone. They are both from other cities and are dressed tudo chiqué. Both professionals say that they are unable to do their work because of lack of resources (offices), so unfortunately they haven't started yet. I'm thinking about the salaries the city is paying them to do nothing, when the building is actually quite big. The psychologist and teachers describe each of the clients to us in front of them. At this point, I'm still having a lot of internal shock, but then start to relax and just visit with everyone. We end up staying about an hour, during which they sing us a song, one student leads a prayer, two make speeches to thank us for the visit, and the whole atmosphere gets really fun as they are clearly excited to have visitors. We make a plan for the group to visit AEC-TEA next week. The physical therapist gives us a ride home in her new car and is really interested in the the yoga classes I'm starting this week. Says she may be able to hook me up with projects in other towns that would hire me to give workshops.

Back at the association, Vitor and Megan are making lunch. Megan is from the US and has been here about a month. Vitor is a 19-year old from Belo Horizonte who just arrived last night and is already so motivated and involved, I just love him! He has been at boarding school in Norway and wants to volunteer for a few mths. before starting college in Canada. I go home to cook lunch---chicken, rice, greens, salad, and mango for dessert. Fabio gets there at 12.30 and we eat fast, remembering the new cleaning lady is coming to AEC-TEA at 1 pm and has no instructions----yeah! We have a cleaning lady paid by the city!! The excitement is enough to get our tired bodies back out the door.

In the afternoon, Vitor and I attend a workshop Jamile is giving on storytelling with children. A school principal and pre-school teacher also come. At the end, we follow the pre-school teacher back to the creche to watch her tell stories with about 20 kids---they love it! I recognize some 5-year olds who were 2-year olds the last time I saw them. The creche looks great--so organized with really motivated teachers. I tell Jamile some of the horror stories of our volunteer days there, but it feels like I'm talking about some other place or century. Vitor makes a plan to volunteer here on a regular basis. He'll also be in charge of the Cine-Club we got. AEC-TEA was selected by the state to receive equipment to show movies in our new patio---a big screen, speakers and projector---with the goal of showing Brazilian films in places with no cinema. He and Jamile start selecting films to order for it.

At sunset, Vitor, Aija, Megan and I go for a walk to the outskirts of town, my favorite activity of the day---getting fresh air and exercise, feeling the wind as it starts to cool down, having time to speak English with other volunteers about whatever is going on. When we get back, it's bread and coffee time in the patio. The capoeira teacher stops by, complaining about what a headache it is to teach women, then encourages us to come to his group. I go prepare for my Yoga class, the first one I've taught to locals since I left in 2006. I sweep and light candles in my same old room, enjoying the sound of the crickets. Aija and 3 news students come, along with Cirley, my friend and first yoga student, who really taught me how to teach---so happy to have this reunion!

We leave in a group that starts to dwindle down after lengthy conversations and goodbyes along the way....and I walk home, along the streets I know, in my town, so grateful for my life here---the comfort and community, along with the constant change and activity.

And now grateful for this morning coffee and Internet access that allows me to connect and share with you!

Have a great day!

Abraços,

Sacia