At last... fotos!

Que bonito all the desire to help with my escolina. I need to create a list of things I desire. I have a dream already in my head of things I need, but quite a bit is impractical to send all the way from the US. BUT I will make a list for now of things for the children---materials and eventually once I figure out how much money I can spend here, I will begin asking for other things!! What a blessing.

Today is my first day of descansa--rest day. Irma and I came to Salvador to the small office they have and I was able to upload pictures. I am literally dripping sweat sitting here, but I accept the sacrifice because I am so excited to share tehse with you. I had a total fail though in my rush to pack that I forgot to take photos of the church, other houses, the school, etc. But I guess it's like a relationship.... you dont reveal EVERYTHING right away because if you did, the other person would lose interest. And so I keep some secrets to reveal at another time!!
the gate into the fazenda!
my first view of the hill!
bea received a new violin. this is irma josete, my roommate
a sign for me!

the view from the window in our kitchen
the little altar in our kitchen
our kitchen that is always full of many many antsshowing padre arno. i also live with padre
tete and bea in our hammock
me and bea at a festa to say goodbye to one of the amigas das criancas, the hearts heart about 20 minutes away from us.
the church where i attended a two hour mass!
the bug that joined me in prayer.
irma and me!
beautiful beach for my first time going!!!
bea in some shades to block her eyes from the salt water
gabriel, 4, who belongs to lucas and estefanie a french couple. he was left by his mother at 6 days old and they are trying to adopt him. they have been in teh fazenda SEVEN YEARS.
building a piscina
gorgeous!
this beautiful resort!
a very funny photo for you
tete, oh tete. she is 7 and often heard singing throughout the village. she is adopted by dona joselita, my walking partner
after the beach, we went to this museum of sea turtles
nina and marcus. marcus's brother is daniel. they live with maria ines and reno and baby jose, from france.
carolina, a permanent member, bea and tete
jean lucas and diego
rafaela and daniel as ninja turtles
i went to another two hour long mass. the church and city were very beautifully, though so it made it worth it.

in the church
nina, irma josete, and rafaela. depois missa we went to lunch at the priests house. i even got to drink a beer!
a church entirely made of wood. the altar and all are carved wood. amazing
a cow arrived in my front yard!
padre arno teaching something
why doesnt daniels hat fit? i have no idea
me and nina
my lovely bea
me and dona louranhia, a missionary from brazil
i live with a lot of french people as you can tell by this outfit
we all went to the beach for an outting before school began. que lindo!



reno tried to climb the tree to get coconuts
this is diego. he has lived here since he was a young boy. he was abandoned into a little corner. we took him in and he is amazing now. he doesnt talk, but he definitely speaks with his eyes.
mateus was much better at it
bananas from our banana tree!
the hammock
the view from the other side of the porch... there is our laundry basin to wash
the beautiful church
the clothes line after i did diegos laundry
the church in the passagm which is where many of our people come from. it is an INCREDIBLY poor town, i guess you could call it. but the church is gorgeous and overlooks the amazon river!!

i had my first dinner party!
here is my bed. there is nothing on the wall because i didnt bring anything. and patrick, no i never make my bed. it is much too difficult with my mosquito net
the clothes of irma and then all of my things. she also has a desk and a bookshelf. and two of these shelves are mine. i refold my clothes every week because they get very untidy...

Until more,
Erica

life of adventure

I have this great desire to share the beauty of this place with you. It was quite impossible to convey anything while I sat in the little box with the computer and so now I am preparing in advance. I realized again today that this experience with Hearts Home is not only for me and I have a duty to share my life with all those who support me. Because without others, I would not be here. I am very conscious of my sponsors and know that I do not live these things alone... that I am only the vessel for immense love from home and God. And so, I carefully spend time to share OUR life.

I am receiving many graces here. 3 things I never would have guessed I am good at: cooking, portuguese, and futebol (soccer... said foot-chee-bol). As we all know my cooking past is non-existent, yet the three nights a week that I cook dinner, I get much applause. And theyre not just being nice. They thank I pulled a Madison and just said I didnt know how to cook even though I actually did. Next it is known that my memory is terrible, yet after two weeks I miraculously can speak as well as the people who have been here for five months. all of the Brazilians ask me if I knew portuguese before I came. And lastly, I was very timid to play soccer. After 2 weeks I finally conviced myself to just play. I was wearing my skirt from mass and then I made all of these amazing plays. They said,"ah, the american knows how to play futebol!" Marcus, an eleven year old very very intelligent boy who a few years ago was found eating garbage on the side of the road with his little brother, asked me "erica, youre a soccer player in the US?"

One thing I havent gotten used to yet are all of our creatures. The bugs (things ive never seen in my life) frightened me. Cats jump out of shadows and I scream and I am still learning the lesson to wear pants and socks after 5pm because of the mosquitos.

Our life is full of adventures. The sink wont drain, the cat ate an entire months cheese, the dinner we prepared for the workers fell apart. It is never ending.

It is easy for me to share the funny things with you, but I also want to make sure to share the others. The people are very happy here, but in an instant I am reminded of their pasts. They come from pasts that I cant even imagine.

My first day of daycare was impossible. I showed up and there was bird poop from an entire summer on the ground. The mother was not pleased that all the other kids were leaving the fazenda for school and bia had to have school here. But Bia is only three years old. So Bia cried for the entire time. I was very discouraged (even though they told me this happens with every teacher who comes). So I spent my day praying about waht to do. And the little voice that I know as Mary's said to invite her to dinner. So I did. SHe was so happy. That afternoon without me knowing, she cleaned the entire school house until the floor was sparkling. This little act was to show me that she supported me in daycare. Today was a much better day and there was no crying. Bia was her happy self and I cannot wait to teach her so many things.And tonight is our dinner. I am making pizza and lemonade from our lemon tree. Squeezing all the lemons for the juice is impossible and I think it will be the last time I make it :)

As some of you know after college I gave myself sometime to dream of ANYTHING I wanted to be. No longer would I be tied to being a teacher. What I came up with was to design classrooms. Environment is so important for children. Yet of course I had to figure out if there was such a thing. Anyway, this has remained in my heart. And waht do I have here? A little school house of my own... a blank slate... a chalkboard, a bookshelf, a few desks, a computer and a few toys. I am in awe. I have found my mission here-- to create a beautiful, intriguing area for the kids. Quite a challenge because I dont have many things to work with, but it gives my imagination room to grow. Amazing, right?

I also have a new walking buddy! I have been getting up before 6 to run a little. It is the most beautiful time of day when the sun is rising and the birds are just awaking. Dona Josalita saw me and asked if she could join. She is the mother of three and recently adopted a child of her friend who didnt want her anymore. Tete is 7 and in quite bad shape. she doesnt know her numbers yet, but knows other adult things that no child should know... Dona has her hands full, but I was amazed and delighted that she felt comfortable to reach out to me. So three times a week we are walking and talking. Our first time, she showed up in a skirt. She has never in her life walked for leisure. So I pray for tennis shoes to replace her sandals. Each day her endurance will increase and we can go further. But no matter what, together we watch the sun rise and pouco a pouco (little by little) her story of life will be revealed to me.

Each day has its difficulties, but also many tiny miracles. I work for God in tiny ways--cleaning, cooking, laundry, talking and He in turn gives me tiny miracles.

My time is up so now I must go back to my life of adventure, trials, and many many many joys.

I miss my dear friends and think and pray every day.
Much much much love,
Èrica

Minha Vida

Each day as I lay my head on my pillow, I think about what I would write in my blog for that day. I think it is the most important thing that has happened and then by the time I get here a week later so many other things have happened.

Yesterday was the hardest day Ive had here. Not physically, but emotionally. Last week I was learning so many new words and I was thrilled. And then this week it has come to a hault. I get embarrassed to speak and I dont feel like Im making many improvements. (Sorry for no ' in my words. It is in a different place than in the US and I am getting tired of the mistakes..) What is beautiful of becoming like a child is also absolutely difficult. One on one conversations I can do fine, but in large groups (which is at least twice every day at meals) I am lost. I get bored and tired. Like a child. I do have a new compassion for children and all their antics. I dream of all the other things Id rather be doing than sitting there unable to understand the conversation. And when I do understand, it takes me so long to form a sentence that by the time its ready, theyve moved on topics.

I finally realized that this is my home, not a little vacation, but where Ill be for the next year and a half to two years. And that there is no choice but to learn portuguese. And so I continue to ask God for the grace to be patient with myself. I am here in a mission and compassion and I cannot give to anyone else until I learn to give it to myself.

Favorite moments of my week:
1. When I thought we were going to an hour mass and then a "festa" (party) and it ended up just being a THREE HOUR LONG mass without chairs. I guess its the brazilian way.. these long masses. I attended another a few days later. They had so much rock music I thought it was a concert. But it really was lovely to be a part of my new people even though I was the only white person with blue eyes. I am becoming one of them even if I cant understand any of what they are saying.

2. When we cleaned out the water tank. I arrived without having a clue as to what we were doing. Then they showed me the tiny hole I was to descend into. It was a gigantic cement box that gets cleaned every two years and lucky for me I was able to be here to experience it. We had to scoop out the dirty water with buckets, lift them up to people outside and they threw the water away. After we got the water out, we had to scoop up all the dirt and rocks three times until it was entirely clean. It was like our own sauna. I was dripping in sweat (at least I think it was sweat... maybe it was dirty water). I will never ever take our clean water for granted again. Then of course we didnt have water to shower in... Oy vey what a funny evening.

3. My second day of cooking dinner we were out of food except for bread and cheese because two days later was the one day of the month where we get our food. So what did we eat?!! grilled cheese!!!! with forks and knives.

4. I had my first coconut water from the side of the road. It was okay, I guess. I wont be dying for more though.

5. OHHHHH we went to the beach!!!! Brazilian beaches are gorgeous. We saw sea turtles and the water was so crystal clear. We are going again tomorrow with the entire fazenda, which will be pretty fun. I need more sunscreen though because my white skin burns within 30 minutes.

6. Yesterday Irma Josete and I stayed at the hearts home in the city. It is such a different life than here. Hustle and bustle and I became ever more grateful that I was sent here. God is amazing how He knows where to place us in our life. I was so happy to return today to my life of tranquility and routine. I realized it really must be my home if I MISS it while Im away.

7. Uba invited me for dinner! She takes care of Bia and has an 18 year old daughter. It was really nice and she gave me a necklace. What a beautiful offering. Two days later she taught me how to make necklaces and the next day, she gave me a shirt. These little acts of kindness mean so much to me. She also lent me her "little prince" book and I am using it to learn more portuguese.

8. At mass one evening there are 3 TOADS. Hopping around... So Anita has to shoo them out with a broom. After that night I have seen so many. I go to the bathroom at night and there one is waiting for me. They are so large and slimey and gross.

9. I have become like a Brazilian because I take two showers a day. One in the morning after I run and one in the evening after I sweat all day.

On Monday is the first day of school for the kids. I am going to be teaching Bia at the tiny school here. I am a bit nervous since my language is not that good, but I guess a three year old doesnt mind. Then one day a week Ill be teaching english and one day a week with two 7 year olds. They will be my challenge as they are quite.......... special.

My other responsibilities include cooking for the fazenda once a week... 35+ people. And Patrick-- we have to clean our house every day because its so dirty!!!! We clean and clean and it never really gets clean. My feet are perpetually dirty from the sand. I think of you, Patty, every time I pick up my broom.

I really should write my blogs before coming to the computer because I forget so much in this little computer box. It is much easier to see the beauty of life when I am staring at our beautiful hills of green.

It has been really hot here because not much rain. Sometimes I think I might faint, but then I chug along. My day of rest is on the 12th of february and I will be able to upload pictures then! I cannot wait to show the beauty here.

Ate mais,
èrica

Shell could you and your friends make 9 aprons? That would be one for each house here... You are the best. I am writing you a letter because I have so many other things to tell you!! And thank you for those paints... they are my life saver here.