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Published: September 24th 2006
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Amazon Fruit
cajú, a local fruit that has the consistency of chalk, full of vitamen C Recently spent 10 days in Santos, Sao Paulo visiting with Fernando's family, meeting his city and exploring. We had a lot of fun. I practiced my Portuguese and learned a lot of new words and phrases. His family is absoloutely amazing and so nice/friendly. They are full of joy, humor and general goodness. During our stay there we took a ferry over to a near city called Guaruja-otherwise known as "The Pearl of the Atlantic." It's famous for surfing and many surfers come around the world to experience its pristine waters. It is a beautiful place. There was a sea of umbrellas and the beach was filled with people bathing in the sun. Bars lined the beach, mixing up tropical drinks. Fishermen lined the shores, waiting patiently for their next catch. Fernando and I had a good time just checking out the area.
We are back in Manaus now and finally got our apartment all set up! We now have a couch, table and chairs AND curtains. Feels like luxury compared to eating on the floor for a month with no privacy. It's good and feels more and more like home everyday.
I am now working two days a
saints altar
inside santos futbol locker room, used to praise before game. week teaching English at a local organization called ADCAM: Association for the Cohesive Development of the Amazon. It is a great spot for children in the neigborhood of São Jóse to get a good education, have fun and just relax away from the streets where poverty, gangs, drugs and crime are prevalent. My first day of teaching here was wonderful. I taught the ABC's and played games with all the kids. I'm so happy to be a part of the organization and am looking forward to teaching more and learning from my students in exchange. I am now "PROFESSORA!", which is really, quite cool. For the first month I will be working with an assistant teacher, William, born in Manaus and then after that, I am on my own.
I've also started teaching private English lessons at home. I've been teaching a local girl, Caroline, who is trying to nail a job interview in English. It's fun and I'm learning Portuguese in turn, just by teaching. This week I have a new girl, Gerusa, starting class as well. cooool.
Today we went on a river boat to go to a private beach with a lot of Fernando's old
co-workers from Honda. Ricardo and Mary came too, our neighbors who are such good, fun people. It was great.....we all drank beers and hung out for two hours as the boat took us to a private beach in the middle of nowhere. Once we got there, it was sooooo beautiful and such a paradise. We layed around all day in the sun, had a barbeque on the beach, swam around in the river, hiked around the area and just sat and talked. The water was so warm and its really brown. This little kid mentioned that it 'looked like Coke." That it does, yes indeed. After about four hours at this beach, we went to another one that had sand on the river floor instead of gooey mysterious slime mixed with sticks. Good times.....
Manaus is revealing its self more and more to me as time passes and I become acquainted with the city. There are so many beautiful moments everyday, I am always snapping photos in my mind. Today I saw a couple riding a motorcycle with a bottle of beer and dog in hand. At the grocery store as I shopped for oranges, a man played
umbrellas
guaruja, sao paulo live guitar and sang into a microphone as customers drank cans of Skol beer and shopped. The other day saw a man on a motorcycle carrying a stick as tall as me full of pastel pink and blue cotton candy. A man at the market today had a wooden crate full of squaking live chickens. Men with large bellies and gold necklaces stand in colorful doorways and watch the people pass. Men hawk sunglasses and swear they are Channel, for $10. As you wait in your car at a red light, groups of people walk from window to window selling pineapples, newspapers and candy. Occassionally at a red light there is a show in front of all the cars.....fire juggling, tattooed men on unicycles juggling bowling pins. I've heard some call Manaus the Calcutta of Brazil.....as if this is a bad thing. Yes there is grafitti, and dirt and extremely poor individuals and yes, sanitation is not up to par. But this city is teeming with life, energy and udder beauty that cannot be ignored. My eyes and heart are open to it all and this whole experience is making me feel so human and simply, so alive.
Hope
you all are doing swell! Talk to you soon
Lil
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