the yin and yang of luck

With everything I owned on my back, I set off for my solo adventure of the Nordeste. I had no expecations really. My only goal was to take it all in. I can go on for hours about the adventures, hardships (yes there were various) and people I met along the way. But, one story sticks out in my mind…

It was six a.m. on a Friday. I had just traveled six hours to the next big city……..and then immediately back. I realized there that two very important little cards had gone missing from my wallet: the Visa and the MasterCard. I was left, luckily, with my American Express. (That didn’t prove to be so helpful, but that’s another story entirely.)

I arrived hours before any place would open that I had been to in the last twenty-four hours. Sleep-deprived, slightly worried, yet strangely calm about it all, I sat on the curb watching the locals and a few tourists in their morning routine. I wandered the town a bit and ran into a travel agency that showed listings of the next buses out of town on the front door. I had accustomed to prepping for my departure directly upon my arrival in places so I could plan accordingly.

Seconds later, the door swung open and a nice man appeared in the doorway asking if I had any questions. We began chatting about the places I had already been, where I was going and then all the crazy adventures we both had done in our lives. He bragged endlessly about his daughter the world adventurer and gave me months of ideas for future travel plans. I actually found myself smiling for the first time in the last few hours. That was nice. He was a very interesting man with a great outlook on life: always refreshing. I left his office a few hours later with an invite to join him on his morning ocean swim to dolphin beach the next morning. I was apparently stuck in this town until I figured out my plan B anyways, and I was in need of a good workout.

That night I was early to bed, and early to rise. I showed up in a bathing suit and flip flops ready for the adventure. My new friend was bringing a boogie board just in case of any complications. He prepped me for the swim, telling me that the ocean has a mind of its own and that realizing this will allow us to enjoy ourselves this next hour. Mother Nature always has the upper hand. (I had learned this already raging the Rockies of Colorado.)

I wasn’t too worried. Given my background in sports and my addiction to running, I felt I was in pretty good shape. So, after a little stretching, ‘to tell our bodies we were going to use it’ we were on our way. The water was perfect temperature, and the waves were rhythmic. We spent the whole hour sharing our similar perspectives on life, family, the environment and how life is what you want it to be. He was in crazy shape, and I wondered how I was struggling just to keep up. I forgot to mention, this guy only has one arm. He was in an accident at twenty three years old, which completely changed his life. But, what I admired about him was that he found a way to keep doing the things he loved. He taught himself how to draw with his other hand for work, apparently stayed active and did it all with a positive attitude.

Just as we were getting close to shore two long beaches away, he stopped us. He had warned me that he had made some friends out here, but to be honest, I didn’t want to get my hopes up on meeting them that morning. Then, about three feet away from us, a pack of dolphins crossed our paths. My face lit up and I think my voice hit a new decibel level when I exclaimed how exciting that was. These are wild dolphins. They don’t approach humans. They circled around us for the next few minutes and then we made it to shore. I think I didn’t wipe that smile off my face for days. And to think, this was this guy’s morning commute to work! So it’s true I guess, your life is what you make it.

My luck seemed to be bittersweet throughout my five months in Brazil. Some days I would have mornings of wanting to break down and cry from frustration and then have crazy once-in a lifetime moments that afternoon. The flip side of luck in my life, huh? Stranded,cashless and alone on the coast of Brasil's Nordeste, and yet my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. To think....I wasn’t even supposed to be in town that day.

gypsy back in business

if I can just get rid of some of this crap I'm carrying around.....

24-9-09
Ok…so it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. But looking back on the previous entries in my notebook doesn’t excite me as much as the now. So the run down is…..that the last month has improved at the house: both with the girls and with my life outside the house. I made some friends, I’ve been going out more….and I really am going to miss some things and people.

It’s day two of my second half of my Brasil experience and I’m already all smiles. After an 11 hour bus ride into Rio (which saved all but US$50 versus flying), I made it into Rio and to the airport just in time to meet Allison getting out of customs. And off we went! It was (and still is) raining, which has been a bummer…but has added an element of eeriness to it all, which is cool. Especially at the first hostel we stayed at.

Let me explain, as we were looking at out options for the next couple of days, we decided to try out Cabo Frio for a night instead of going all the way to Buzios. It’s within an hour of Buzios, just south actually, and was supposed to have beautiful white sand dunes and a quaint little town. I have heard nothing short of amazing about Buzios, so I thought we’d take a stab at something different first, figuring we weren’t going to want to leave our next destination. Side note: I have to get rid of some shit. I am hating life carrying around two backpacks. I wish I could explain our hostel, but I may have to tell a story instead to give you an idea. It had all the amenities: shower, bathroom, sheets, beds…kitchen…free breakfast….and of course a friendly owner giving us tons of advice. But, on our way back from a nice sandwhich for dinner and acai for dessert in ‘town’ (super dead out and really really small place)…me and Allison were walking by this darker part of the sidewalk and I decided to stay away from it and go into the street. Yea…that dark area that I was thinking looked kind of scary ended up being our place: our deserted, artsy little hostel compound…and our resting place for the night. Haha….gave us a good laugh. I wasn’t laughing when I had to make a tent of my sheet to ward off the bugs at night, or when the rooster outside let us know it was time to get up in 20 minute intervals starting at 6am. The next morning we roamed through the dunes, explored a few beaches down the way and got to climb around the coastline a little bit. Very cool. We didn’t bring our cameras for safety reasons, but to be honest it looked a lot like my trip in Tobermory, Canada just before I got here. The weather added to that effect as well. . . one day down……..and off to Buzios.

We’ve been here only a few hours and we’ve fallen in love with this place. I’m already sad we’re leaving and we still have two more days! It’s quite ‘chique’ in the town….in which we’re staying at a hostel right on the beach, right in town amongst all the shops and other pousadas (cheap hotels for travelers). We have free internet, much nicer amenities than our last stop and tons of other world travelers to entertain us. Our window is actually opposite a room full of guys that are from France…….ah hem….one of which is a ski instructor (named Antwon…cute blonde). The whole group of them just got back from skiing in Chile and Argentina. The skier dude mentioned that he’s skied all around Lake Tahoe….and Bariloche…….and loved both places. Two points for this blondie. We’ll see how the next couple days go here. This weekend is supposed to bring us sun (finally!!) Allison and are are thinking of getting ourselves a brasilian bathing suit tonight. ; ) And we’ll see if we make it to Rio. Especially if we end up getting those lessons from the surfer guy we met at the tourist info booth earlier today. ; )

Today has been a good day.

I got to sleep in.…the sun is out…..there’s a cool breeze….and the girls are at their other grandmothers house. I spent the morning doing a few things around the house, but it seems that ever since I’ve gotten it in my head that my time here is limited, nothing really seems to bother me. After one more month here, I’ll be traveling. And in three/four months, I’ll be back with my family!..........Home, probably traveling around to visit some friends….and of course, looking for a job. That part isn’t too enticing, and makes me wish I could stay longer actually. But, maybe I’ll be onto that next 6 month adventure interval. Who knows where that will be. But for now, I have a lot of planning to do for the weeks starting Sept. 21st…when I’m off to Rio de Janeiro with Allison!

So, an update on the situation with Helena…..She is apparently done hating me and has decided to be infatuated with me. I think the first nice thing she said to me was if I wanted to share her McDonald’s McFlurry with her. Wide eyed, but in hopes of this being her finally reaching out to me…. I hesitantly took a bite. I gave into my NO McDonalds rule for a yummy bite of delicious chocolate-ly cookie crumble. I know……I’m so easy. Yeah………I’m not sure if kids can be bipolar, but she’s got me thinking.


Today, I taught Laura how to ride a bike! She was pretty good at it too! I held the seat from behind and occasionally grabbed her arm a time or two to balance her out a little bit, but otherwise she was moving! It reminded me a little of how ski lessons went actually. : ) I love seeing a kids’ proud little smile when they do something new for the first time. And I felt lucky enough to be the person to teach her too. It was an experience for us both: Laura riding a bike for the first time without training wheels (sem rodinhas) and then me teaching a four year old how to ride a bike in Portuguese. : ) Haha.

I bargained a few hours off today to go ‘passear’ in this small international hip and happening market not too far away. They have little stores of nearly everything: clothes, zuco (juices), chopp (beer), Japanese condiments, Mexican condiments!!!, sushi….and all sorts of nuts and dried fruits too. They play live traditional brasilian music daily from 2-7. So, I wandered around tonight, picked up various liquor filled chocolate balls and a California roll (made with mango…I might add) and enjoyed the show for a bit. I was torn between a coffee and a kiwi caiparinha for my beverage. To sleep or not to sleep. I chose sleep. : ) Let me add, cachaça soaked kiwis are oh so tasty. 




So….a good day it was….but it seems it may be the first of many in the weeks to come. I think the girls are going to miss me, as I will miss them too.

the organized part...

14-8-09

Alright, so I intended on making this blog more of a recount of my adventures, but I thought I’d let you in on my thoughts for this one. . .

We’ve reached new levels of ridiculousness here at the Martin’s house. I’m at the point where I literally just ignore Helena when she treats me like she has been. She catches on quick though…and tries even harder to get under my skin. Ha. At first, it was working. Now, I’ve got the upper hand in that she doesn’t win any attention from me for it…….or help, or candy, or fun.

I struggle sometimes with whether or not I should stick it out here or to go home. Part of me wants to take advantage of the fact that I’m able to travel and see the world right now because I’m young, single, jobless. The other part of me is ready to settle into a place, get a dog….be closer to home again. I wonder if that part is there because I’m missing everyone…or just missing my independence. I know it’s both but, no offense to anyone…however I’m pretty sure it’s more of the latter that is really getting to me.

I used to think that I would be giving up on something if I moved on from it earlier than I expected. But, I’m starting to see that learning to move on from something is an important lesson in life. There will be times when I’ll need to move on from places, jobs (ah…hem), institutions (St. Francis), and even people. I have a hard time with all of them. I hate feeling like a quitter. And when it comes to moving on from people, that element of loss runs a lot deeper. But I think there comes a point when it’s more about following your gut feelings about something, and of course taking care of your whole self: body, heart and mind.

My days here have been so up and down. Should I do just three months? Or more? This decision consequently affects how my travels will play out after too. And although I still don’t know the way all this will play out, I’ve decided on something finally. I think what will suit me best is to work here for the initially agreed upon 3 months, then travel up north after. I will need to extend my visa now…which pains me to say that I’ll have to give up going to Carnival this upcoming year. I guess I am ok with having that be the thing I come back for.

I’m feeling good about this decision and now I have steps to take to get it all in order. I’m going to first plan a trip to Rio, then get an appointment made for my visa renewal (I will need to coincide these two) and then pack it up and go north at the beginning of October. Next, I’ll have to set a date for my trip home from Buenos Aires, and of course set out the route for getting down there.

Here are the variables of my plan: Depending on how things go up north, I may try to stay and find side jobs to make friends….and somewhere really cheap to live. I’m going to take in as much as I can…learn as much of the language, the people and the culture. I’ll even try researching a potential career path in tourism, economic development or micro-financing. Or, I’ll make my goals a little simpler, like learning to dance the samba or practice capoeira. For now, I’m going to make my last month and half here with this family productive and enjoyable. I actually just made some friends tonight at a running shop who invited me to a samba show tomorrow night! Maybe I'll end up even missing this place.....?

As rough as it is with Helena these past few days, things have been going great with the other two. Laura is super sweet and helps out all the time. Her infectious and very loud laugh is definitely something I’m going to miss. That and her crazy little ideas she has. She’s very thorough with the things she does. At first, it seemed like she took forever to do everthing. But, life’s simple as a four year old. What does how fast she does something matter really? Nothing, except that she’s going to be in bed five minutes earlier, or have more time playing in the sand. Ha. I like to call her my little monkey (macaco) girl. She climbs on everything! . A typical scenario on our way home from the park is with Laura on my shoulders and Olivia in my arms. : ) She actually has pretty good body control for a four year old…….but it’s insane how clumsy she is too. I’m always dodging a flying elbow or knee. My shins will show that I don’t always get out of the way. I think she just likes falling to be honest, because every time she hits the floor, she breaks out with this cackle. Haha. She could entertain herself for hours. Olivia is even running up to me and burying her head in my legs now too. She’s not crying when I take her from her mom or grandma as much and even Laura said that she thinks she likes me now too. It just took some getting used to me I think. It’s unfortunate Helena is so volatile.

Michelle was right, I am learning a lot here (aka parenting techniques, portuguese) and a lot about myself. For one, I know that I’ve become a person who always tries to see the positive in things. Granted, I’m not excessively positive I don’t think…or unrealistic……just optimistic about things not being all that bad. Plus, for everything there’s a reason right? Because where we are or who we’re with or what we’re doing will end up teaching us something. So, we shouldn’t regret, resent or think negatively about any decision we’ve made or some rough time we’ve been through in the past. Positive or negative. Everything we go through makes us who we are. And how can we be negative about who we are today? That’s no way to be.

As great of a quality this may sound like it could be, it can be one of my greatest faults too. As I was saying before, I’ve got to learn when to walk away: when to acknowledge those negative feelings I can’t seem to suppress in my day to day. And then…..figure out their source. Yeah, sometimes, it’s a mental thing…and I need to look at myself first before I blame the outside factors. Looking back, life has been hinting at this lesson for a while now…but I think I may be getting better at deciphering between the two.

I knew this time in Brasil was going to be a ‘quiet’ time for me. The last year has been a whirlwind of socially packed, great new experiences. This time to get back to me...and look at where I’m at and where I’m going....has been just what I needed.

Here’s a little funny for ya….. ; )…..which I read the morning after writing this entry.

Capricorn Horiscope for 8-15-09

You aren't one to let your feelings get in the way of what you are doing, but blind optimism can lead you down a dead-end street now if you're not careful. Fortunately, you can negate unrealistic expectations by digging in and applying yourself diligently to your chores. Not only will you be able to accomplish a good deal, but you'll also be left with a more positive outlook on your life.

day to go explore the city!

So, about a week ago I was given the day off to go do whatever I wanted to. Super exciting. : ) I hadn’t really done much exploring in Ribeirão Preto yet, so I really had no idea what I was getting into. So, it was going to be interesting. I got around to going on a run around 11 (bad idea by the way- way too hot) and just headed towards the tall buildings. The Martins live just outside the city so I was in it for a long run…you know the type of run that you generally run one way, make a few turns and head back in the general direction you came from. A blonde’s nightmare. But, I made my way back, familiarized myself a little with the general surrounding area and made it home for lunch.

Next stop, o centro. Now, I had no idea how to get there, what bus to take…what was there or anything. I knew my little circle between then mall, the gym and the house. : ) It was a good chance to make my way around by asking people around me, practice some Portuguese and have no real time frame for any of it. : )

I checked out a few stores on the streets near the ‘shopping’ and met these really nice store owners who gave me some good advice on what to see downtown. They had a little artisan store filled with wooden sculptures, calabaça painted dolls, and other artsy stuff typical to Brasil. I hadn’t really gotten any positive responses from people so far about going downtown, so it was nice to meet some people that thought it ‘vale a pena’ to go check it out.

I caught a bus to the city center and stopped in front of the cathedral. We passed a few major streets that had some cute stores and lots of interesting looking people. Surrounding the cathedral was an artisan fair that circled it, so I made my way around…..and a little sign caught my eye, reading ‘piercing’. It’s about time I got my nose pierced, I thought. I’m in another country, I’m out on my own roaming the city….hell why not. : )

So, I bought a tiny little post and found my way to a legit piercing place around the corner. Honestly, I think I would have done it right there at the both if they offered the service though. I first went up this ally looking for this place the lady told me about, but all I found was a row of little hole-in-the-wall shops for butcher shops, hair braiding and tattoos apparently aimed at the African descendants in the city. I was out of place, and not in the right place. The shop I was looking for was actually up these stairs above all the rest of the shops with an address of 722 and half or something weird. The place was legit though and they had all new and sterilized gear and what not…so no worries mom. ; ) The guy was some Rastafarian dude who pierced my left side for me….quite nice actually. It hurt while he was doing it, but not after…or since.

All together, it cost US$10…Perfect, I thought: cheap, foreign and a much wanted experience…just like the one I got on my upper part of my ear in Spain by that Chinese man…..who owned a watch shop, not a piercing parlor. He simulated the ‘shot gun’ technique in my face first just to show me its safe…but nearly made me jump out of the damn chair in the meantime.

Smiling and satisfied, I left the shop to go check out some more of downtown. I checked out myself in anything and everything that reflected for the rest of the afternoon…..haha. So, I had a vain couple of hours after piercing my nose, so what? I roamed the streets, rubbed shoulders with some street vendors, ate some corn on the cob for 2 rais (US$1) and sat in this park with a decent fountain I kind of enjoyed. It wasn’t quite the pensive and solitary moment I was thinking it was going to be however, as I was approached by this homeless crazy man who found me interesting. He invited me to go have a drink with him and told me I was good-lookin’.: / Yeah he’s a little off his rocker, but not that much apparently huh? ; ) But I quickly moved on…….and made my way to Pinguim, the internationally known bar that started here in Ribeirão Preto. I ordered a choppe claro (light choppe) and the Pinguim sanduíche. Great beer, awful food.

I made it home after an hour or so figuring out my way home….but made it safetly…for the second time that day without any real complications. : ) I swear my sense of direction turns on when I’m not home….and especially when I’m somewhere that speaks another language. Here's a pic of how it looks...and I'm tan, not burnt Mom.....seriously.

...sorry dad. oh and happy Brasilian father's day : ) <9.8.09>

weekend in São Paulo

8-9-10

I left this past Saturday to go have my first experience in the famous São Paulo….no expectations, and ready to take in as much as I could in just a little over 24 hours. I visited my friend Mônica, who I met in Breckenridge this winter. She’s super sweet, and as I found out, so is her family. : ) They spoiled me this weekend and took me around to see many landmarks around the city.

Mônica, me and her sister Pati

My first stop was actually with Roberto’s family at a very famous ‘club’ (club-ay) right in the center of the city as I awaited Mônica’s pick up. So, these club’s are essentially huge sport-leisure-rec centers that only those than can afford it spend most of their time. Schools in Brasil don’t have sports teams, so this is where a kid would join a team, be sponsored for a specific sport or just take classes for fun. I guess during the week, it’s empty and a haven for kids to run around with their friends after school. On the weekend’s it’s like an amusement park filled with people in bikinis and speedos, waterpolo games, kids playing in the parks, and people eating at the many restaurants. A few weeks ago, Phelps’ world record was out swam by a Brasilian swimmer that actually trained here. By the way, this guy is a national hero for having done that. Success is highly revered in this culture. I think I’ve seen this guy on every newspaper headline and magazine cover since it happened.

'o clube'

To tell you a little about the city: São Paulo’s population is well over 30 million people, and one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in the world. I believe it’s more of a city of commerce than tourism, like Rio de Janeiro. The poor and the rich neighborhoods are intermixed throughout the city with no real dividing lines.

And the 'favelas', or slums, of the city actually sit up on the hills, while the government regulated homes are in the valleys. These favelas are created by people finding a spot and building a squarelot 'home' made of wood if they're poor and brick if they have a little extra to spare. Sewage, trash and water systems don't exist in these little unregulated neighborhoods and are actually home to gangs that are constantly creating problems in the city. As they sit up high on the hills, they actually shoot across from one side to the other during gang wars, which has unfortunately caused a number of innocent deaths of people in the middle. They call these deaths balas perdidas I think, which means lost bullets.

The city has a lot to offer, of course, outside of its flaws. : ) As I learned, it is very diverse and and is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. They say that it is less Americanized, thus has preserved more the Japanese culture than Tokyo itself. Over 1.5 million Japanese people live there. Mônica’s family is Japanese, and although they are a couple generations away from their relatives that still live in Japan, I think I’d say I had more of a Japanese experience than a Brasilian one! We frequented Japan town, had sushi both days and wandered the street fairs around the major locales in the city. I can say that I was the only non-Japanese person that I spoke to this weekend. Haha.

I met a bunch of Mônica’s friends from high school Saturday night and had a chance to go meet her parents at a barzinho (little bar) for some choppe (beer) and some apérativos (appetizers). One of them was made with raw cow meat, which I found out after. : / Sunday we went to the Sushi Company for all you can eat sushi, which was awesome. I had a batido (pronounced batchido) of caiparinha made with kiwi…which was super strong.

For such a short trip, it’s incredible how much I saw and did. Oh and I spoke Portuguese most of the trip too. What patience they have huh? I’m really glad I met her family and really liked all of them. I hope that I’ll get a chance to see them again before I leave…or perhaps switch roles and show them a good Mexican-American experience. ; )

my lovely hosts : ) - missing the dad! -

farm days recap

6/9/09

The rest of the week at the Fazenda da Santa Maria was pretty relaxing. In the mornings I would go play outside with Laura on the playground, have some breakfast and then go swimming sometime in the middle of the heat of the day. Afternoons, we’d head out to the large pond to feed the fish, go for a walk or bike ride. I’d usually get a run in a little before sunset and then we’d head off to bed after showers and a little dinner.

A few highlights of the week were checking out the baby bunnies that were born a few days ago (so cute!!) and then being run out of the yard by two crazy geese (…not cool). They were hissing at me like snakes! The kids, after that, started planning on how to get them back so we could have goose for dinner. : ) One of the nights, a dozen or so men from the nearby town came and played and organized game of ‘bol’ –short for futebol- on their lit soccer field in front of the house. It made me realize how long it had been since seeing males around my age….cute, athletic, diverse ones at that. ; ) My runs in the evenings were nice too, which were just inside the walls of the property. The smell of sugar cane is quite distinct. The best way I can describe it is that smell in the kitchen when you’re in the first stages of making cookies….that melted butter and brown sugar smell. Mmmmm. It’s a nice smell, but sometimes upsets my stomach on my runs.

Oh! Feeding the fish was much more entertaining than I expected. We threw huge chucks of French bread off the dock and then stepped back to wait. Literally, these fish would jump up to grab these pieces of bread and swallow them whole. The water looked like we were cannon balling rocks in the water and making huge splashes….but you never once saw more than a tail of these fish either. Kinda crazy. All in all, nice relaxing week, and good bonding time for me and Laura. Still tan, covered in bug bites, and managed to sit on a bee : / this weekend...but still smiling.

Below is a picture of a jabuchicaba tree that is native to and only found in Brasil. The fruit grows on the branch itself and you eat it by biting down on the whole thing (size of a gumball) and sucking off the white juicy inside off the pit. They love this stuff down here, but to be honest I am reminded of that gel inside a wet diaper from it's consistency....so I don't dig it all that much.

Oh, and here's a strange tree I saw....but it made me laugh, because now I have proof that
beads do grow on trees!!!

fazenda Santa Maria

4-8-09

Today, I'm feeling like things are looking up with this whole experience. First of all, Laura was cracking me up. She was repeating a whole bunch of stuff that I’ve taught her up until now and she won two points for our reward-for-good-English game we’ve started. As soon as she gets ten points, we are going to take a trip to the mall-just the two of us. : ) She’s been singing the ‘push ‘em back, push ‘em back….WAY back!’ song in the shower, the ‘everybody clean up song’ and absolutely loves the ‘this little piggy’ bed time ritual we do. She’s saying ‘my name is Laura. I am 4 (finally!)’. Olivia was really good with me today too. I don’t know if it's because I’m becoming more familiar to them now that I’ve been around for well over a few weeks, or if it was that I was given a little more one-on-one time with them, I don’t know.

Helena is still at the farm and Laura didn’t have any friends over today, so she was all mine. We typed on the computer, practiced our abc’s, spoke with Allison on skype (and she showed us Pikes Peak!), and we practiced her name on the keyboard. It was fun. We even danced a little to MTV jams and she played with my hair. If it was like this all the time, I would love it here. Laura won two points today. One for saying she would ‘like some water, please’. (side note: she says please after almost everything in English, which is hilarious and which works better than the puppy dog look on me…haha) The other point she earned was for her blurting out, “that was me!” after she farted in the shower. Haha…I taught her that. It’s way too easy to have fun with this. (by the way, she’s quite a gaseous little girl, so I’m glad she’s got that one down).

I’m drinking some sort of Smirnoff Ice drink knockoff at the moment and its just delicious. I’m drinking alone, yes, but it completed my meal I made myself that I'm eating under the stars an jabuchicaba trees. We’re only a short half hour drive outside the city at this other farm, and it’s actually quite pretty out here. Sugar cane crops for miles. I’m planning on watching O Rei Leão (Lion King) tonight in portuguese, and I’m pretty excited.

Fast forward 2 hrs: That monkey cracks me up….and I love that movie.

weekend at the farm house estate

This weekend we went to another farm of a family friend which is only about an hour away. Let me just say...this place is BeAuTiFuL. They call it a fazenda (farm), but it is more like an estate. I guess this is a really old one at that, built sometime in the early 1900's. Insides it's ornately decorated, and outside...well, of course the house was built so that people spent their time outside. I like that about central and so. America homes. Of course, the weather is conducive to this lifestyle, but also mandates it at times. The house is surrounded by a porch with ample seating at every corner. Dining of course is outside as well. The patio is lined with vines that grow these beautifully bright pink, purple and peach flowers. It kind of adds to this place's antique feel.

On the first day we arrive around noon and then spent the rest of the afternoon finding things to do. Me and the kids had lunch then took a horse-drawn carriage ride to go watch them milk the cows. We brought out lonche (snack) which was bolo (pound like cake) and banana so that we could later have a piquinique (picnic) down by the tree with a tire swing. The we rode over to the lake to go fishing in the pond. The whole weekend went like that, just me and the girls doing all that farm-like stuff.
Most days we went swimming and at night, I'd get a chance to go in their sauna in the center courtyard and star-gaze for a bit. (not anything compared to Motto Grosso though). The sauna was crazy hot and humid. I think the temp was somewhere around 48 (celcius) and I only lasted 9 minutes. Haha. It had a shower in it, and I actually showered there instead of my bathroom both days because it was kinda fun to take a cold shower while breathing in hot air. Backwards, yet fun.

I went on a few runs out here through their sugar cane and latex crops. The soil is pretty sandy and is this really dark red. The crops are really green and hilly. It makes for a great view. So, there I was running...alongside latex trees and barbed wire fence...arms swinging....hoping not to snag one of those wires. These sandy hills are pretty, yes, but are also adding a lot my run too. I was advised to run out of the property and onto the road for a flatter run, but forget that!

As much as I rely on others opinions sometimes on things in new places (especially places they know)...I'm starting to be that girl that does exactly the opposite of what I'm told or suggested. (with some due diligence of course). Haha....'you don't need to go downtown, there's nothing there to see...it's boring.' >So I go, and have an awesome day (I need to post something about that soon btw)....or.....'you wouldn't like that trip to that waterfall...too much walking up and down these hills, no pathway....' >yeah, right, I'd probably love it. (I unfortunately couldn't control that one though). Actually, Roberto's family was a pretty good fit for me...miss that bunch actually. But for now, I'm rolling' solo on my adventures...which can add some different elements to an experience as well.

Actually, speaking of adventures. On both of my runs at this farm this weekend, I ended up running part way home in the dark. (Don't worry Mom, it was all on their property...safe...promise). I actually ended up seeing my shadow from the moon. Even though it was pretty bright, it still was hard to see out. The only scare I had was when I was listening to reggaeton and I heard these dogs barking. Half thinking it was in the song, these two mangely looking muts were fastly approaching me. They freakin' scared me! I screamed and everything...haha. But they were essentially harmless and not that big, so I just ignored them and they left me alone. Actually, quite honestly, the tall stalks of sugar cane were looking kind of creepy as it got darker out there. I thought, this is exactly why I don't watch scary movies. I'd prefer to have any shiver of fear come on because of having an real instinct than just a runaway imagination...thank you very much.

We'e on our way to another farm today actually and I'm hoping this weekend I'll be visiting a friend I met in Breckenridge in Sao Paulo.

*beijinhos* aka *besitos* aka *smooches* ; )

underneath a mango tree : )

28-7-09
So…I wanted to take advantage of my last half a day or so, and I’d say I did a good job. As soon as Roberto and Alexandra got back to the back house last night I gathered everything I’d need for the morning. I put on my running clothes and my jacket (first time since I’ve been here!) and grabbed my pillow and top blanket. I made my way out to the hammocks and was pretty excited about enjoying a night out under the stars. What a life huh? Sleeping under a mango tree to the sounds of baa-ing sheep, the wind and the crickets. Why I hadn’t done this yet here, I don’t know.

I slept alright actually, woke up a few times but it’s pretty hard to be irritated with a disturbed sleep when the first thing you see is a sky full of stars. My natural alarm clock didn’t beat my mechanical one however, and I ended up waking to that monotonous beeping rather than the sun. 5:50…stars still out……It wasn’t until 6:15 or so that I finally got the will to get up, only after enjoying the gradually lightening sky towards the east however. I thought that sunrises weren’t as colorful as sunsets. But they are. You just have to be up before them to enjoy all the colors.
I rolled out of the hammock to put my shoes on…and one was gone! Really? Where did those damn dogs take it? There really was 7 more pairs of shoes (and socks!) around for them to play with. Haha….had to choose mine. : ) I found it after hobbling around outside the house, one shoe on, one shoe off and brought it back to the hammock to put it on. Apparently, I wasn’t entirely awake just yet because I had trouble sitting up on the thing and fell backwards onto my back. Ha! And of course, no one was there to laugh with me.

Ok, slight delay…but up and running at 6:30. Sun still not up yet. I ran to the Turbina for a last little peak at our much visited watering hold and made it back, showered and packed prior to 7:30. : ) Of course our departure time was delayed as expected for an hour. But not just because of those latin ways, also because we had a donkey meandering on our runway we needed to chase off before we took off. Haha…I guess I could have had that quick little skinny dip in the pool like I was hoping. Ah, well…something to come back for. : )

last night at the farm - PICTURES!

Pictures from the trip are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2275252&id=6407352&l=30777b7631

and a few sunset shots too:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269386&id=6407352&l=bed95296bf

27-7-09
I’m going home refreshed, and with a new mindset. It’s been a little over four weeks since I’ve been in Brasil. My Portuguese comprehension has come along great, I’d say And speaking sometimes comes out alright too.

What’s really improved since being at the farm, is my perspective. The first two days in Brasil were great…but that honeymoon phase was short lived. Soon after, the schedule started weighing on my: no one really to connect and talk to (except my computer), long days, and my world was inside this complex’s walls. Was it the job? Not sure. Adapting to new situations is my forte…so why wasn’t it working out for me?

Maybe there were a couple reasons…but one I do know about was the fact that I was struggling with the role I played in the house. Was I the nanny? The family friend? English teacher? Cleaner? Even though I had discussed this very topic prior to coming with Alexandra, it still has been and probably will be a confusing one.

The girls really are generally sweet. Olivia, the one year old is incredibly smart and calls me ‘ni ni.’ We’ve gotten close since being on the farm, which is encouraging and a relief. The first two weeks I had to deal with the ‘not the mama’ fits which are quite disheartening sometimes. Laura is 4 and she’s super sweet and laughs all the time. She is a huge cuddler and I just love it when she wants to play with my hair, have me hold her hand or give her piggy back rides (cavalinho). She’s made me feel welcome since I walked off the plane. Now that we can talk in both Portuguese and English, she’s learning much quicker.

Helena, is 7, the oldest and the one with the strongest personality. She’s actually pretty daring, which I have some fun with on our vacations. The first two weeks it was great having her there to translate for me (as she is pretty fluent at English having lived in Miami for a few years). She is also very intelligent….maybe too much for her own good sometimes….ehhh…and can be a real struggle for me most days. It’s almost to the point though that her controlling and manipulative ways are detrimental to my relationship with her both her sister and her parents. I only hope that she learns one day soon that the world doesn’t revolve around her. Wow…that sounds familiar. I sound like my mom. ; )

I was thinking the other day what people mean by ‘having experience’ in life. And to me, an experience means nothing unless a lesson is learned from it. I also believe that sometimes you know what you’re getting into, but that most times you don’t. Well, this experience in Brasil as these girls’ ‘au pair’ is throwing down those lessons left and right. Firstly, not ready to have kids just yet! Secondly, the role of being a mother will be the most eye-opening, scary, crucial, heartbreaking, exhausting yet ultimately rewarding time of a person’s life. Just like everything in life, you play with the cards you are dealt.

After getting to know Roberto’s family and of course spending more time with the Martin’s family, I’m understanding a lot more of what I’ve been ‘dealt’ here with this ‘experience’. And I’m feeling a little more prepared. No, it’s not going to be all glamorous and peachy-keen as some people may think I thought it was going to be. I knew it wouldn’t be….It’s going to be bittersweet. Just how I like my chocolate.

The next couple of months will be hard at times, but I’m determined to end this on a positive note. It’s around 10:45 and I’m hoping to get the will power in the morning to wake up and get one last run in out here. Our flight is supposed to leave at 8am, so I’m contemplating sleeping outside in one of the hammocks so I wake with the sun. Yet, as this is a farm, with al that cattle raising (and sheep apparently) it will probably be another restless night. Last week it was the baby calves calling for their moms. This week, it’s who knows how many sheep endlessly baa-ing. This really puts the whole ‘counting sheep’ thing to help you sleep a whole new meaning…..this one’s not working.

moon-sets and little critters

27-7-09
Today on my run, the cows were double teaming me, one group from each side of the fence this time. I'm not going to lie, I was regretting wearing red and actually got a little nervous..haha. But the sunsets and night-time stargazing are amazing and shall be missed greatly as I head back to the city in a few days. I'm so glad to have had this experience on their farm. It's crazy how fast two weeks go.

I laid out under the stars tonight and I really don't know how often you truly can have this kind of view. When I first got here, the Milky Way and this very bright star were a lot lower than they are now. I realize that the earth is moving, as is the moon, but I need to figure out if this is a time of night variant or a time of mo/year variant.

I actually have had a hard time finding the moon out here at night. And I realized it's because the moon is on the same side as the sunsets. So, it's only out for a short while and then goes on its way to somewhere else's nighttime. But, great photo op huh? Moon and sun in the same frame. The moon actually ends up setting a couple hours or so after the sun and when it's really low, it looks like a harvest moon (just not always full). Tonight it was a crescent moon....gorgeous.

I'm definitely letting go of my fear of little critters out here. I was literally laying in the cement, in the dark, outside the back house. It's not uncommon to find snakes and scorpions out here...not to mention large and interesting spiders, praying mantis and the guaranteed ants. At night, the baby frogs and grasshoppers come out too. They didn't bother me tonight though, thankfully. The only visitor I had was the lone calf that wanders around inside the fence at night. It always makes me laugh when it passes by. Just a little reminder of where I am. The other evening, while I was doing laundry out here, it came up to me and nudged me with its nose. As domesticated as this one kind of is...I still wasn't really sure if that meant 'pet me' or 'feed me'.

day at the river

So, here's just a little side note on these day trips we've been going on. Today we went to Passa 20 a river that they enjoy relaxing and playing in. The ground here really has a lot of sand. This was strange to me at first, but considering they have a TON more water during the rainy season (6 months of the year)...it's more understandable. Secondly, the natural rock formation looks more like a cobblestone pathway with red-ish colored sand, pinkish looking rocks and even some shimmery white ones with flecks of fools gold too. Very pretty. We normally ride to these daily trips all piled into a Land Rover or truck equip to traverse the semi-forest terrain and make it down and up these sandy steeps. On a good day we fit 5 adults and ten kids in one truck. Haha...I guess they used to have a rack on top, which later broke, that the kids would ride up on too.

Roberto was telling me that just down the very river that we were on today, there is a town called Baja something. Hardly anyone knows about it, being out here in the middle of Motto Gross. But those who have heard of it knows it's a huge mining town for diamonds. It's supposedly one of the only places they mine for diamonds (in Brasil) in a river. I guess they still haven't found out where the river is really picking these diamonds up, but they do know it's from somewhere up this river we're playing in! : ) It'd be pretty cool if the Martin's family found out it was on their property.

Our short swim down the river led us to this area with a bunch of little falls and holes in the rocks. Such crazy rock formations (sorry no pics, I've made the whole takin' pics in waterfalls mistake before). Before we left, the whole family was all cheering on different members of the family to see who would do the most pull ups on the center mango tree (the same one that that cow was disected on...and where all the hammocks hang). I was running around trying to find Olivia's diaper bag as they snatched me up to join in the fun. Haha...me and Rafael (they call him Hafa) tied with ten until one of the uncles out did us with 15! Sue, the marathon runner was proud I rep'd the girls well. ; )

day?: race day to mata burro!

23-7-09

It is so crazy hot today for some reason! And I’m the only one that seems to feel it! I didn’t get to go on my run this morning, but that’s expected when I’m on morning duty. But I did get a chance to get a run in this afternoon, and I beat the record!!!! I’m not saying I’m super woman, but I did beat the time by 30 seconds or so I think. If I’m correct, the fastest time as of today was 35:50ish. I didn’t expect me to actually beat it today, but coming around the corner of the last hill, I realized I might be able to do it! And I did! I came in and touched the tree at 35:19. Whew! I’m not going to lie, I was pushing it that last little bit. It’s a pretty sandy run, let me add. I was hoping kind of just to beat 36, have an even split of 18-18 and actually finish the course instead of stop early like last time....so stupid. Sú could snatch that record up tomorrow morning if she wanted to, which she might before she leaves here, but I’m still happy I did well for myself too. I think that’s a 7:30 mi pace....not bad, not bad....in the heat too. : ) I checked out teh bottom of my soles today...and I think its time. I’m wearing them thin.

Side note: Me and all the kids ran the course again on the 25th and one of the 11 year old studs was in it to beat 38 at least he said. He had a bet running with one of his cousins with long curly hair and if he beat him, he’d have to cut it off. He wanted me to be his pacer, so we set out today on a mission. I was running it pretty fast for me as well, but I got him to stay on my heels and finish with a 36:30 today. : ) He beat him! But his cousin has a few more days to redeem himself. But, seriously, give that 11 year old a few more years on him and he’s going to be running sub 30’s. Goodbye record. Ha. Just kidding. It’ll be gone by the end of the week I bet.

day ?: adult expedition

21-7-09
So, today I joined in on the fun with the adults and went on the best excusion I’ve been on yet out here at the farm. I’m so glad I got to go! All 9 of us piled into the Land Rover and set off driving for as far as we could. About a half hour into the drive, we set out on foot. Our destination was water (as usual) and we were going to descend down into the valley and then through the river for a while. Let me explain a little. There is no path. Only a general direction in which we were heading. Ok, now the grass is about 3 feet tall and sometimes it likes to grab onto you and your clothes.

On the way down, we crossed this river that we had to descend down into through holding onto these baby bamboo trees (of which are home to these tinie tiny ticks which we were hoping not to become victim to). It was so steep, I felt like I was glisading down a 14ner, just on dirt instead. : ) The river that we ended up at had little pools of water and tons of vegetation all around us. There were these branches that looked like Tarzan swings hanging from everywhere . It is so hot out here in the sun...and in long sleeves and pants too (protection from the sun). The water was awesome and I think that although I jumped in fully clothed, hat and all, I was dry within ten minutes. My shoes, however, stayed wet all day and started out that way because I was the lucky one to fall in the water hole first thing. They started keeping count of how many I ended up falling into and how many I made it through safely. Haha.

We climbed out of there and made our way up and down a few more steeps. The waterfall that we came across was like a big kids playground...that we had all to ourselves. The rocks had great holds to climb around in and there were ‘seat’s inside the falls that were like massage chairs. You had to push against the rocks pretty hard not to be swept down to the next one, but nonetheless it was relaxing. : )

It’s crazy that there really was absolutely no chance of anyone coming to disturb us there. Granted that also meant we were a good 2 hour hike and an hour drive back to the farm, and another couple hours away from the nearest hospital....but hey. ; ) The treck back was directed, thankfully, by one of the uncles who knows this place like the back of his hand. He has the most incredible sense of his surroundings and direction, and yet I was still surprised that we made it back to the jeep! We went a different way of course but was just as fun. I think my favorite part was the brief break we took ‘na sombra’ (in the shade). I was laying in three feet of grass that was probably home to many snakes, but was soo comfortable...and we had an awesome view. All in all it was a 5-6 hour passeo and I’m super glad I had the chance to do all that.

My shower later today informed me that the grass is very sharp and that I had a ton of scrapes on my hands from holding on so much. : ) But, whats a trip to the farm without a few scratches and bruises?

day 8: how do you spell it?

18-7-09 day 8

Nana’s 80th birthday is today, which made today kind of hard. I wish I was there with everyone. She had to of course cry on the phone when I called this afternoon....not good on my end either : (.

Avô explained to me today that spelling is not something people in Brazil are accostomed to doing in their head, at school, or even in helping them pronounce a word. They just don’t do it. He said it’s because Portuguese is phonetic. There are no tricks like in english. Funny, huh?

A few more people showed up late last night, and amongst them was our marathon superstar. I guess she’s won the Palm Beach one in her age group with a time of 3:28. I ran into here just before my own run this morning. She ran a 36, but said that she was just warming up and was pretty stiff from her travels. I guess she’s been keeping up a 7 mi pace lately, so she plans on breaking her record this year. Uggh....rough competition. I guess it’s around 4.7 mi (at a 7 mi mile pace that’s 32:53). : / (note: over the course of the last week or so, she’s actually become a pretty good friend of mine, which has been nice)

day 5: as pererecas ecas (yucky frogs)

15-7-09

Another relaxing day out here on the farm....I got to learn how to ride a motorcycle today! It had a clutch and everything! I might want one of these one day.....Starting it was tricky but once I got it running, no holding me back. I switched it up all the way to 4th gear (or third I’m not sure) and raced down the runway out front. A few laps later I figured I should probably head back so, tongue-out, and seriously focused on not sliding out on the sand...I made my back into the yard....and the thing started spitting gas all over my legs! Great! I lost the freakin’ gas cap and I smelled like Jiffy Lube tech now. I stopped the motorcycle, jimmied up the landing gear thingy and went off to look for the cap.

Shit...(I thought) where the hell is it?!?! How far could it have been? After what felt like an eternity (but was probably only ten or so minutes) the grandpa was cruising by with one of the girls on his lap. Ughhh....I really didn’t want to admit I lost it. I’m already breaking all the rules out here. He keeps letting me slide, but of course, the things I do out here...aka climb the waterfalls, walk along the outside of the swimming hole...and sitting in his seat at the lunch table!...are forbidden with all the grandkids. (whoops!)

But, to my incredible luck, I nearly tripped over the damn thing that very moment. Wow. I was probably thirty meters away from the entrance to the yard...and I had gone up and down that 900m runway around three or four times already....full speed on that thing. (Later the next day, one of the cousins lost it again...i guess its loose).

I strolled along that same area later this evening to enjoy the nightly show (sunset), but this time with the baby, Olivia. Today has been a good day with her...or maybe its the empty whiskey shooter she has in her hand that seems to fascinater her. That’s my girl, huh? She keeps trying to drink from it, although it never had...and never will have....that poison she seems to want so badly in it. : )

Part 2: As pererecas ecas (yucky frogs)

Tonight me and Alexandra attacked the bathroom critters as usual. I take care of the pererecas (frogs)and she...the spiders and cochroaches. Tonight’s episode was eventful. Three pererecas were hopping around. Although they play a good game of hide and seek normally, tonight, they got creative on me. They were tag teaming me, using escape tactics such as jumping at my face (simultaneously spitting some sort of liquid or discharge at my face.....which hit my forehead....NOT COOL), and closing the night out with a game of Twister. Yup. Me, on my hands and knees cupping one against the wall with my right hand, left hand on the drain. When one escapes, we turn the wheel and see how twisted I can get on the bathroom floor. They’re just lucky I don’t have it in me to kill them. I just throw them outside. Actually, I’m probably playing this stupid game every night with the same damn frogs come to think of it. But, in the end.........I win. ; ) Shortly after, I’ll send Alexandra in to come kill the creepy (and fast moving) spider I’ve had my eye on all the while. Those just have to go if I’m going to sleep at night. Luckily, she’s heartless with them and squashes them on sight. Good work. ; )

9pm. Time for bed......Yup. 9. I don’t believe it either. But if you were expecting a little 4 year old to come crawl into your bed in the am asking to hear the barbie girl song on you ipod (just one more time!!), then you’d be in bed early too!

Boa noite. *beijos*

day 4: 'swim, bike, run'

14-7-09

Alright, so here’s the country cultural experience I was looking for: midnight battles with crickets, afternoons watching a vaquero disect a cow, lazy afternoon naps reading, doing crafts or climbing trees.

I woke this morning to Laura coming into my room a little before 8 o’clock. I pulled her into the bed with me, naively hoping just for a few more minutes of sleep. ; ) As my portuguese has been getting better, so has our friendship. And ironically, so has her english. We lazily laid there and she ran her finger over the design on my shirt. She’s all....’swim, bike, run’. Haha. She’s so cute. (I’m wearing my Pismo Beach Triathalon shirt Kacie gave me.) I’ll have these girls talking like real athletes by the time I leave here. What's funny is that swimming, biking and running is about all I do here it seems....no complaints, no complaints.

On one of our impromptu exploring adventures today, we came upon the vaqueros skinning a cow that had broken its leg earlier today (that I mentioned earlier). This afternoon, they hung it from the hooks right in the middle of the yard (conveniently right there amongst the hammocks) to cut it all up. Thank God I’m not a vegetarian, huh? And you know what’s sick? I actually thought it looked good, like tasty? ...of course I’ve been jaded from all the Machado round ups. I wasn’t surprised when we had beef that evening (and every day following....ironically I did not like the taste of it). And later the girls and the gang started decorating cabacas (cabashas), which are gourds (much like that of the Argentine mate cup). I’m brainstorming ideas on how to decorate it. This activity seems to entertain the girls to eternity.....; ) which I like.

day 3: back flips and picante peppers

13-7-09 Monday (I had to look at my watch for that one)

I’m really enjoying myself here, and I feel really good and so.....natural I guess. I’m running every day, I’m eating healthy (for what I’m given of course), getting 8 hours of sleep a night at least....and I haven’t put on mascara more than a couple times since I’ve left CA, and not once since I’ve been in Brazil. Crazy if you know me, huh? I’m going on daily swims, having lots of time for studying, relaxing in hammocks and practicing my portuguese. Everyone is helping me with my portuguese, with the girls, and teaching me things about Brazil. Today we were all at ‘a turbina’ swimming and I awed them all with my back flips...later I taught them all how to do it off the dock. I took some pretty awesome shots of them in the air too. I’ll post those soon. Great kids.

At dinner I roused them all up for another challenge...but this time to eat one of the little apicante peppers I found yesterday. Julia, or JJ, from São Paulo was gutsy enough to eat pretty much the whole thing! A few others touched it to their tongue and freaked out...haha. I’m not going to lie. They’re spicy. My mouth was burning for a bit.

They quickly devoured the bread...milk...yogurt....water...but finally found solice in the jello. Ha. Day three and I’ve already been coined the crazy one. I think I’m on a roll down here.

day 2: waterfall adventure two

I apologize for not having updated you sooner, but I think I’m lucky enough to even have access to a computer to use out here, let alone internet connection. I called my dad when I got in and I thought I was calling from outerspace....no joke. I’m not even sure how it even worked.
However, I have been ‘blogging’ in my notebook, so I’m going to attempt to get some of those on here every time I get a chance. Excuse the delay.

12-7-09

I’ve been running nearly every day out here, and it has been awesome. I did the ‘race course’ earlier this morning and I think I just may be able to beat the record out here (the record is 35:30, held by one of Roberto’s sisters who is arriving today). You can really tell that you are out in the middle of nowhere when you go on these runs. First of all, you can run forever it seems in any direction, literally without encountering with anything with a heartbeat, except for these funny looking cows. This is essentially, I recently found out, and they own nearly 70,000 acres out here. Rediculous. It’s funny, because you can’t take the California girl out of me, because on every horizon I expect there to be some kind of ocean just beyond that last fence. The cows are clearly spooked by my presence and at one point on my run today all 150 of them were staring at me. For real though....every last one of them. To be honest, the little wire fence that was between us didn’t look like it’d hold any of them back either.

When I got back, me and all the kids, avô (grandpa) and ‘uncle Bob’ (Roberto) went to a new waterfall. It was...by a long shot....one of my best experience in a waterfall....ever. Firstly, the whole thing was set up perfect for exploring its many nooks and crannies. And I was all up in those caves, under the many falls and of course, I climbed up to the top for a ritual Rocky dance. Just beyond the swimming hole, the water fell into this amazingly deep canyon of which you can’t even see the bottom. Avô said that it went 500+ feet down into the caves. Incredible. Yay exploring....and climbing waterfalls.

As Helena put it, if she were to choose between climbing and exploring, she’d choose exploring. Because when you’re exploring you can find new things...and probably even climb too! Haha. I agree.

I’m all smiles out here and I’m definitely a few shades darker, that’s for sure. I look like my Mom in her pictures from college....all dark and kissed by the sun. My bruises are even kinda faint seeming...if you can imagine that. But, I definitely have some already...of course.

At lunch today, Avô taught me how to make a caiparinha (my favorite drink since it first hit my lips in Argentina three long years ago). It’s made much like a mojito...just with limes, cachaca (Brazilian rum) and sugar....mmmm ummmm! Coctails before 5. ; )

Helena heard me say I missed peanut butter and found me this candy called Pacoquita (pronounced pachokita) which is actually pretty similar tasting to PB but might just be better.....and it made my day. Laura is getting pretty good at her please’s and thank you’s too! She’s becoming a natural with those and the ‘Lindsey, can you help me please?’, which works in almost any situation. Haha. Oh! And today on the farm I found these little peppers that actually make my mouth burn! (super stoked!)

More kids arrived today. Total: 10 + me. ..and more to come.

farm house. day 1

Wow. I am really out in the middle of nowhere. So...this morning, me and the Martin’s family piled into a 6 person plane and flew off to the family farm for the next two weeks. Ok. So, I’ve had my share of travels down here in Latin America, and I’m aware of how they ‘bend’ the rules here and there with arrival times.....business exchanges.....safety precautions......And I’ve also had my share of experiences traveling in small planes. I mean my first experience, if I’m correct, was in a booster seat. After talking to my dad.....I was ready not to get on that plane had the pilot not given me to correct response to how much ‘useful weight’ the plane could opperate on.

But, as on edge as I was before I boarded, my gut told me we’d be fine.....and we were. Actually, I was informed along the way that these planes, in specific, were used back in the 80’s and 90’s and flown deep into Brazil’s jungle to carry in and out all the necessary supplies for mining for gold. I guess they even used to fly out donkeys, horses.....people....ect. The donkeys, of course, were sedated and accompanied by a man with a gun to its head in case it woke from its sleep and needed to be ‘calmed down.’ I guess they would weigh down these planes so much (like 1000lbs on a 700lbs plane) that to get them off the ground, they’d tie them to a tree, rev up the engine and cut them loose at the last moment. Ha. There’s the latin improvising I was waiting for. The manufacturers of the planes didn’t believe that this is what was going on, or that their planes could actually do all this. So, they had to send someone out here to verify this absurdity. Ha. These planes were also used for smuggling a crap load of goods from other countries too (not drugs or anything tho ‘: l)

We flew over almost three hours worth of sugar cane crops. Brazil uses the sugar cane for a variety of reasons: sugar, some types of alcohol, but mostly....for ethenol. Now I’m quoting Roberto on this, but I guess somewhere around 90% of Brazil’s cars on the road are run on ethenol....a much cleaner burning fuel than ours. But don’t get all disappointed in ourselves, because their motives are not environmentally minded, but more for economic and logistical reasons. The oil crisis in the 70’s led them to their plan B (expanding ethenol crops). Plus, they had so much fertile land to use...it just made sense.

The views got more interesting as we got closer...canyons, waterfalls, plateaus lush with bushes/trees. I was already planning my runs on how to get to them and which ones looked like I could climb....yay! I was so excited to go exploring. Our landing strip, or dirt path I should say, is right outside the front door of the farm house. The whole family was outside waiting. The grandchildren, oddly enough , look a lot like me- blonde, light eyes. Half of them live in Boston and the others live in Florida (ages: 11, 12, 14 and 16). There should me a lot more coming....avó (the grandma) said something like 20 more. (!!!)

O avô (grandpa) took us shortly after to their favorite waterfall...just a 5 minute drive from the house...to surprise everyone with the new deck/platform he had built. This waterfall in specific they call ‘turbina’ because it’s the one that helps power their farm (from the use of a water turbine). He does all his own work on his farm....and after seeing only just a few things so far....he really is quite good at it. The watering hole was awesome. Perfect temp, rocks lined pool of water which was just deep enough to dive/flip/and play in. But the best part was the view.




First of all, when you’re in it, it feels like you are in an infiniti pool looking out over a valley of canyons and rivers. It’s so beautiful, you almost feel like it’s a mirage that you could only imagine if you were in the heat of a desert somewhere. The pool was built to act like a damn and the waterfall continued on down deep into the valley.....tiering down steps of rock . The night before I left, I was instructed ( a hem....Nevko) to do some waterfall climbing. ; ) Day 1-mission accomplished. I’m going to get into trouble ehre. I already know it. Oh and so I guess the daily plan is to go check out 1 of the 19 waterfalls they have on their land while we’re here. Maybe I’ll do OK from the outside world.....aka no skype. No phone. I do have my running shoes, my bikini and my camera however. I’m thinking we’ll make a good team.

PS: All the adults go on a 8km run (i think) in the morning and time themselves to compare to last year and each other. I have a lot to live up to, considering they think I’m the ‘designated athlete’ of the group....and it looks like the time to beat is 42 min. That means I’m shooting for roughly around a 8 min mile pace. (8km=5 mi). I got my game face on. : )

After um pequeno descanso, we went on a truck ride down to the bottom of the waterfall we were at earlier in the day. It is A LOT longer than I thought. O avô said, as we were standing back looking up at the canyon wall at the top of the waterfall....that this whole place during the raining season is flooded by water. Pretty much, the whole view of what we were looking at would be a waterfall...and the ground we were standing on....knee deep in water. Unbelievable. Seriously. He also said that their farm house is pretty much just at the beginning of the Amazonia! I made it!....kinda. But, I can’t wait to see more!

I know this one was a long one, but I’m going to do my best to detach myself more from the internet while I’m here. Até logo. (Catch ya on the flip side....note: not a direct translation) Oh, and pictures will be posted when I get home.