Coming to you with a big heart

I began typing a post on my second day here, but after five minutes, the electricity of the entire fazenda went out. It was night and so I had to figure out what was going on (I of course thought that I was the cause of it.) Thank you, Tommy, for the flashlight. It came in handy and everyone is borrowing it. Although the teenagers made fun of me for the pull cord. None the less, here I am and the internet is VERY slow so it is going to take patience to upload pictures. I am going to write and post this FIRST and if I have time, I will post some pictures.

How to explain this beautiful place? It is exactly how I imagine the garden of Eden to be. Green trees everywhere and the grass up to my knees. All kinds of fruit trees--mangos, oranges (that are green on the outside?), bananas big and small, papayas, and all kinds of fruit that I have no idea what they are (except that they are DELICIOUS). For breakfast we have bread (that they make here) and butter. We have coffee and a kind of tea that is grown here. And then a few different kinds of fruits. The two other meals are larger--rice or pasta and a meat and vegetables. After dinner we might have a tiny dessert (Bahians LOVE LOVE LOVE sugar). They put 4 spoonfuls in their coffee alone. ay yi yi.

I like in the casita of St. Therese--the little flower. It is a very humble abode. In my room is irma joseti who is a sister from Lebanon. Yesterday she made me hummus for dinner!!! We laugh a LOT together and have already grown close despite our language barrier. She is like my mother here, watching out for me and telling me when to go to things. And when someone speaks to me and I don't understand, I look at her like a little child, my face asking to respond for me. She is so patient and kind to me.

In the other room is Padre Arnold, who can speak english pretty well. He is my savior who I can ask what a word means or how to say something in portuguese. And in the last room is Anita, a 40? year old woman who has a mental disability. Mine and Irma's bathroom and shower are not functioning at the moment so we have to share one bathroom. The shower is a tiny box and I think it takes me longer to LOCK the door than it does to actually shower. My first shower, I looked up and there was a GECKO staring at me. Soon I learned they are everywhere.

I have about 40+ bug bites already. I look like I have the chickenpox and everyone keeps saying to me "NO SCRATCHING!" I am wondering how my mom is going to visit without having a heartattack. Maybe you should practice on a few camping trips or something, mama. Our plates are metal and most of our forks have bent (what do you call the stems on the fork?). I have two shelves for my things and a little bunk bed. I think the same mosquito comes into my net each morning to buzz in my ear and wake me up 30 minutes before my alarm (6am).

There is not actually any farming that goes on here. Only picking the fruit off the trees. The other food we get from a farmers market once a month. My body is loving the food here-- I have a lot more energy and I have yet to feel sick. Our water is filtered and actually very delicious. At night I get very tired because my brain is working so much to understand and learn to portuguese. By the grace of God they are very impressed with my speaking skills. That little bit of studying I did at home really paid off. I think within a month I will be able to speak and understand everything that I need to.

The inability to speak, though, is one of the most beautiful parts of my mission. I am like a tiny child, completely dependent on others to function and to learn. The children love to teach me and to ask me how to say things in english. Oy the children....

Wow, they are so beautiful. It will take time for me to learn all their stories and to be able to do them justice on here. I will speak of Bia today. Bia is three and upon my first meeting with her, she buried her head Uba's shoulder. They told me she was like the little prince and takes a long time to warm up to people. Then, the next day I was polishing the wood floors (yes, I Erica Tighe polished wood floors without my own hands. I almost fainted because I had not eaten enough, but alas I survived.) Bia was there with Uba helping me clean the church and so I asked her if she wanted to help me. She poured the oil? and I polished. That night, she came up to me and was now my best friend. The next day she cried when she had to leave me for eating or sleeping. Everyone was shocked that she was like that with me after only a day. And I knew that it was not because of me, but because of who dwelled in me. On Sunday we went to a goodbye mass for a volunteer at the house in simoa filho and Bia fell asleep in my arms. What a beautiful prayer it was for me to let Christ hold his little girl through me.

Bia was found by Uba in the favelas when she was one. She was so hungry that she was eating the wall. Her mother had another little girl, but did not want Bia and so she didn't take care of her. I cannot even imagine when I see this beautiful child that someone wouldnt want her. And on the day of my arrival, Bia's baby brother died because her mother did not take care of him. Amazing, huh?

There are many incredible stories here, many I have yet to discover. The chapel is absolutely beautiful, too. It sits at the top of the hill and when we pray, we have the doors open. I sit and when I look to my right I see our horses roaming in the pasture. It rains a lot (which I actually love because it makes the air cooler). Right now I am wearing a long sleeve shirt... the only one I brought. Oy vey.

I learned how to clean my clothes from a 7 year old. How humbling it was that Bia was better at it than me. I would wash a shirt and then Tete would do it over again and laugh.

I often sit on our couch on the porch and just look out at the beautiful creation that I am living in. This morning there was a huge rainbow in the horizon. This is definitely paradise except with way too many bugs.

I leave this post feeling a bit unsatisfied because it is impossible to share how my heart bursts here. It is truly a place touched by God. I pray for you all daily and think that you must be praying a lot because my transition has been very blessed.

Love,
E.