Yesterday consisted of watching older men swimming in their underwear and being put in prison by a witch.
Just another normal day...
OK, maybe not. I should explain. After a morning of independently studying Portuguese, I went with Carol to watch Luca's swimming lesson. There were so many cute little kids already swimming better than I could ever dream to, and it looked like such fun. Afterwards, Carol gave Luca a shower while I went back to the viewing area so as to not overcrowd the locker room. I was by myself sitting there watching the pool, when all of a sudden these men came and got in the pool. And male swimsuits in Brazil are the equivalent of underwear, by the way. So that was an experience.
And later, Isabela (almost 3) told me that I was a princess and she was an evil witch, and she promptly imprisoned me. There were only 4 unlocked doors leading to the room, so there was no hope of escape!
We also spent a significant amount of time throwing flip flops at a bush and trying to get them stuck, which is actually a ton of fun. Unfortunately, Luca got his stuck on top of the carport, so I tried to knock it down with my flip flop, which went over the beam and landed....well, I wish I knew where. We haven't actually found it yet.
I'm fairly certain a cow was giving birth outside my window last night. There was some intense mooing going on. And every once in a while, a chicken gave a screech so loud and sudden that my body left the bed for a minute, and my heart would have won gold if there was an Olympic category for heart speed.
I closed the window because I didn't want to win gold, but I forgot about that this morning and promptly slammed my face into the glass. Luckily, it now has a nice nose print so that shouldn't be happening again anytime soon.
I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning. It is beautiful. Due to safety concerns, most of the subdivisions are gated with someone manning the gate at all times and a special card required for entry. The rest of the subdivision is surrounded by a tall wall, topped with barbed wire and security cameras. This makes them incredibly safe.
This afternoon we visited a community center that hosts a before/after school program (most kids here only attend school for half the day until they reach high school). The center reminded me very much of the centers we volunteered at in Washington D C. The kids are ages 5-12, and I'll be volunteering there starting Monday. Everybody there is SO nice, but I'm a bit nervous because not a single person there speaks English!!
I'm currently sitting in a beauty parlor and Carol is getting a massage that consists of having the hair on her head pulled. Apparently it's very painful, but it really relaxes the muscles.
There is a thunderstorm going on outside, but I wish there was a stronger word for it. I've never experienced thunderstorms as intense as the ones here. The skies just open and it's like there are faucets coming from every inch of cloud. The streets become river-like in a matter of minutes, and the thunder is absolutely ear-piercing.
Well, that's the news from Brazil. Hope everything is going wonderfully wherever you may be!
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