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So without the constant barrage of the senses of the historic district, the culture shock has subsided substantially. Today I was really able to just sit back and appreciate the beauty of this place and really kind of fall in love with it. A friend we made had a car and drove us around town a little and to the train station to check on ticket prices to Belem. (yeah we changed plans and will probably take a train on saturday) It was nice to just sit and ride and listen to some music while watching the scenery pass. It had a feeling of normalcy and allowed me to just soak it all in. I wasn't trying to figure anything out or find anything or get a seat on the bus or try to hold on for dear life as the driver went by. I wasn't thinking about how hot I was or when I was gonna get some fresh air or whether or not we were going to do the onibus shuffle when someone tried to get off of the crowded bus. I just sat with a blank mind and watched things pass and soaked it in. He (Rodrigo) took
us (Kate, Josh and I) to his house to meet his mother and we got to see a neighborhood which is different than anything we had seen thus far. The kids of course thought seeing us was just as good as seeing the circus, but the neighborhood was a really comfortable place.
We found out from Rodrigo and Josh that a 3 bedroom house of significant size here is only about $R 430 per month, that is about $US 215. They said for the price we pay for a 3 bedroom house you could rent out a business lot here. Josh also said his dad and uncle bought his orchard for about $R 20,000. That is incredible. They also have alot of social necessities covered here for free. Public hospitals are free of charge, the bus system is huge and spans from downtown all the way to the country. Rodrigo got his braces for free, he just has to pay for the maintenance on them which amounts to about $R 90 total.
This aggravates me a little bit as well, because our teacher lived here and knew this about the property prices and opted to spend almost $R
200 per night per room for 6 or 7 rooms for a month rather than $R400 for a month in a house (much more comfortable than a hotel). He could have rented a few houses and still saved substantially on the price of the trip. This change in price affects me directly, because we had to pay for our trips and collectively for his as well. Also I feel that we would have learned more and had a better time had we been in a more hospitable environment such as a neighborhood. We could have taken visits to the historic center and it would have been much more enjoyable and affordable. Oh well, it is what it is and it doesn't do any good now. But I will suggest it to him for the future.
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Yesterday we washed our clothes like real country folk with a water reservoir a bar of soap and a scrub brush. I will post some pictures. It is quite a lot of work to do a load of laundry and really kind forces you to appreciate a washing machine for one and the necessity for taking care of your clothes secondly.
Then in the night we had a bonfire. We might have started a new tradition in this house. We cooked some hotdogs over the fire and everyone but me drank some cognac and wine. There was dancing and martial arts and stupid conversations and stupid human tricks, and everything typical of a bonfire. It was awesome. I'm having a great time and am really glad we stayed for an extra week. When the program ended I was just hoping to leave here as soon as possible, but with this extra time staying with friends and seeing the non-business non-tourist side of life I have a new respect and appreciation for Sao Luis and will actually miss it.
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