Bemvindo to Brazil. Welcome to CLM

Welcome friend and family and internet stalkers to CLM, Entre Rios. I have been in Brazil for 5 days and two things have become abundantly clear to me: 

1. I was meant to be here. 

2. Blog posts will be far less frequent because living on a farm with 35 kids doesn't leave much time for anything else - but work and play. 

I can't possibly begin to describe the love, the frustration, the joy, the tiredness, and all the thing that have happened in these five short days. So instead I thought I would do a David Letterman -esc top 5 list of my best moments thus far. 

5. Running with David (Dah-vi). 

I share a bathroom with David, a 21 year old Hungarian who can't speak english and only a little more portuguese than me, and Donnie (Do-nee) who is a 14 year old Brazilian kid who plays guitar and loves soccer. (yeah, we get along). 

Quick Donnie story... My second night he pulled his guitar out and we jammed using a vase and table for drums. After, about half an hour of just jamming to random C D GE combinations, all of a sudden, I recognize the song Donnie is playing. I look up and he grins "Red Hot Chilli Pepper...Californication". Musically, its a small world. ha!

So my first morning, I see David running in the fields behind the house and through a series of physical gestures we negotiate that on Tuesday I will go running with him. Tuesday morning just as the sun has peeked over the rolling hills around us, we left on a two mile jog through the wheat fields and around the forest. I'll post pictures so you can see, but the colors seemed deeper, brighter, and more pure than reality usually does... like some movie director artificially created a set on a sounds stage and then enhanced the quality later...but there I was standing in a golden yellow wheat field surrounded by Dr. Suess like trees and 80 degree weather (sucks, to be you Ohio). 

4). Arivold0's  "Orange Tree"

Arivoldo is a little boy about 9 years old (i think), who looks amazingly like a young Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He is also a tough little guy. He plays basketball and soccer like he's 6'3 even though he's one of the smaller boys. So yesterday Mike Cochran (Cool Guy and Missionary), Arivoldo, and I drive the tractor into the woods to cut fire wood. Mike used the chain saw to cut the trees into logs and Arivoldo and I loaded the wagon behind him. Now, I worked hard (I have the blisters to prove it) but lil Arivoldo drug branches and logs 5 times his size into the wagon! And the whole time we are working he keeps talking about taking me to some "tree". He would point, smile, yell something in portuguese, smile, nod, smile. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I would nod and smile too. 

Today, I get done chopping wood and Arivoldo is waiting for me in the drive way with about 8 other kids. He is armed with a large bamboo stick and plastic bag. He runs up and announces "Orange Tree. Pa-tree-que". Never one to turn down an adventure, I join his lil army of 8 kids, 3 dogs, 3 bikes, and me. We begin marching into the fields, and I am carrying lil Everton (2) on my shoulders and I have a lil girl name Rita (He-ta) clinging to my leg because she's afraid of the black dog (named Negro). By the time I drag myself to this lonesome green tree in the middle of the field, the kids have already climbed to the top, and golf ball sized, green fruits are flying out of the branches at my head. They pick about 4 walmart bag of this fruit, which taste like limes, but look like oranges on the inside, and we march back to the house. When I come down to help prepare dinner, every plate has three "oranges" sitting next to it, and Arivoldo is walking around grinning proudly with a two liter of green "Orange" juice in his arms. 

3) Baby Maria - My Calm in the Storm 

My first day I intentionally asked to be put to use with simple, manual labor jobs. I swept the boys rooms and folded laundry...all whole time, kids, workers, and missionaries are running around like worker bees (mind you, they are also speaking portuguese.) Although, I felt like I was being helpful.. as I was folding cloths in the front room I began to a feel incredibly lonely and lost. I began to question how could i possibly connect with the kids and befriend the adults when I couldn't even stop anyone long enough to fumble through a conversation. Just at the moment, Megan (the Canadian Volunteer) asked me if i would hold Maria Luiza's - a 6th month old, angel of a baby's - bottle for a minute. I held Maria in my arm and she chugged her bottle like a college student on spring break, and then in a matter of moments she blinked a few times, she snuggled into my arms, and she was asleep.  At that moment in the middle of the chaos, Maria calmed me down and in her own way told me stop worrying and just relax. I know now that Maria is the most content child to ever be conceived - she only cries when she's hungry and she love anyone who picks her up, which is every one. But even if she'll never know it she gave me the best welcome of any one here, and became my first Brazilian friend.

2) Birthday Party as part of the family. 

Tonight we celebrated three birthday's and everyone sat around the dinning room table, playing games, eating cake, and just enjoying each other. After, a week of emotional highs and emotional lows - I finally knew everyone's names and they finally all knew mine. I have established friendships, jokes, and relationships with all the kids and adults. I felt like part of the family tonight - not just some visitor. I don't think I can overstate the sense of community here. The workers (the farmer, gardener, cook, and cloths washer) all eat lunch with kids and missionaries at never ending table. Meals with the kids here are like that scene in Hook where the kids imagine their food because playtime doesn't stop of lunch (and if not for Mary Gibson a food fight seems always just around the corner). All the kids share toys and help each other with home work and chores. I have not seen one temper tantrum because a kid didn't get his or her way. Yes, they are kids and we have had pouty moments and a few tears, but those moments are brief, and usually they are remedied by one of the older girls or one of the always giving and loving missionaries. Tonight, as I played spoons and rock, paper, scissors with the kids I felt like a member of their family - like I had always been here with them and like I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. 

2) Mowing and Teamwork or why it's better to play hard than to work hard. 

My second after noon here at CLM, I pulled out one of the push mowers to mow the sports and futbol field. Even before I could get the mower started Gisi, Allison, Lobinho, Caroline,  and Carolaine surrounded me. I started the mower as I started to push I felt another pair of lil hands grab the bar...and than another, and then another, and then other. I barely had room for one one hand on the bar, and I didn't have control enough to keep the mower in straight line. The other kids soon formed a group of stick grabbers, who would move the sticks and rocks out of our winding path (they would also throw paper and plastic into our path too :). I pleaded with the mob to go jugar basketball or empusar on the swings, but they just wanted to mow, and so we did. We didn't get alot done (i finished that area yesterday in about half the time), but I wouldn't have spent that hour and half playing - er...i mean working-  any other way. 

adoro voces todo

gerbs