Back Home

After travelling for 26 hours (2 airlines, 3 flights, passport control, security and customs in 3 countries -Brazil, US and Canada) I arrrived back home yesterday afternoon safe and very tired!
I really miss my new Brazillian and American friends, and especially the children , all of whom I've enjoyed working with, hanging out with and just getting to know. I am glad to be home and look forward to connecting with everyone and sharing my experience. Thank-you to the people of Brazil!

Last Day with the Kids

Today was my last day volunteering at the orphanage, and tomorrow I leave for Canada.
As a special treat we brought in cookies (trans fat - free) and tons of prints of photos we'd taken of them. They loved it! For the main caretaker whom I worked with, Mara, I made a small photo album of her with the children. For the two teens, I also made small albums. The rest of the kids glued the photos on Bristol board (which we put up) and kept some photos of themselves.
When it was almost to leave, the children surprised us with singing us some songs, dancing with us while they sang, and at the very end, running over to us with hugs and kisses and goodbyes. It was so touching. One boy, who is about 10 years old, quietly came up to me in the hall afterwards and hugged me tightly. When I looked down at him I saw that he was crying. He began to cry harder and didn't want to let me go. It was so hard to leave them, especially since being left is such a big part of their lives. I only hope we did more good than harm.

Nights Out

Salvador has a lively night life. Although I don't opt to go out as often as some of the younger volunteers, I can see why they like to go out often. There are a few areas here that we can go to, but we mostly go to Pelourinho which is also the historic district. It is the colonized area of town with a strong influence of architecture from Portugal. It has its original cobblestones and small streets and it is not open to cars making it very pleasant to walk around. We were warned that it is an area where tourists are targeted and pick pocketed (two volunteers have been pickpocketed since I have arrived) so we don't bring cameras, passports, bank cards visa cards etc. Just enough cash for drinks and taxis, both of which are very inexpensive.
Walking around Pelourinho at night you can see people demonstrating Capoeira, people dressed in traditional clothing, and people performing live music. My favourite thing I've seen so far is an all female drumming band with a lead singer. The band is mostly Negro women (correct term here) who are dressed in traditional clothes and dance as they drum and sing in perfect unison. The crowd gathers around them and dances along with them. It is alot of fun.
There are places that we can sit at tables right on the street and enjoy a drink, or Samba bars which are outside in courtyards and have live music playing on stages.
One night we all went to a Samba bar. Since we take Samba lessons here once a week I decided to try it out without my teacher's help. We all tried out our steps and because there were mostly locals at this bar they began to help us one on one learn the dance. I felt sorry for the guy who tried to help me. I am hopless and little did he know how many people have tried to teach me in the past! But he didn't give up. Overall it was a great time, but dancing with the locals who knew what they were doing, was especially fun.

Futebol

Soccer, called Futebol (and pronounced fut-che-bol), is a huge sport here in Brazil. Every bar, restaurant, store, ferry boat -everywhere soccer games are playing on TVs. Also people play soccer anytime, anywhere, on the beach, in a desserted field, school yard or their front porch. Kids all want to grow up to be futebol stars.
Last night we went to a a very lively Futebol match. Bahia (home team) played against the team from Recife (Carmen´s hometown). The staduim wasn´t full and we could sit wherever we wanted. So of course my new friends all wanted to sit in the rowdiest section which was also right behind the net. I was a little concerned, as it was the only section that was surrounded by police; I counted 20-25, but I figured since we survived the taxi ride to the stadium luck was on our side. We tried to chant along with the other fans and slowly learned the chants and their meanings (some unrepeatable). It was mostly men at the game and almost all of them had on a Team jersey. The away team had their own section, fenced off and well protected.
When our team scored, many fans from my section suddenly ran down to the fence and at the same time, the player who scored ran over to us, with the media chasing after him, and took in the cheers for the audience. It happened so fast! I could easily see how people could get hurt. At half time, the military (about 12 people) came on the field with dogs. I thought we were going to have a half time show, but they waited until all the players left the field and then escorted the referees off the field. They also did this at the end of the game.
In the end, the other team scored and the final score was 1-1. The Bahia fans were annoyed as it was the first time they didn´t win on their home field.
We were all glad we got to take in such an exciting cultural event!

Facebook, new post

Hi All
FYI- I am now on Facebook. I have some photos posted and plan on posting more after I get home. Add me as a friend!
Also, I put a new post up called "Tuesday's Tours" please scroll down to find it. Obrigada!

Lar da Crianca

...means "Home for Children" and is the name of orphanage where I have been volunteering. The children are exactly what I expected, as they are just like children everywhere. The only difference is that these children just don't receive the attention they need. There are 25 of them and the few staff they have are spread thin. That's where we come in (bandaid solution).
Right now there are only 2 volunteers (myself and Joel) and there has been up to six volunteers at times- and we need 6 plus many more. Our jobs are to help out by playing with the kids. Joel and I plan and bring activities and different toys. For the 2 teenagers we bring activities to help them with their English- and they love it.
Once the activities are done I would say it is pure chaos. We play with who we can but we are in high demand. The kids are constantly calling "Chia, chia chia chia chia" (I estimate I hear this at least 20 times/minute) trying to get my attention. I love it, the time goes by fast, we are having fun and they seem happy to have us, even for a short time.
Above is a picture of Ester who is also known as "Susan's Favourite" (don't worry the other kids don't know). For some reason she doesn't walk very well and often resorts to crawling. She is quiet and very sweet and therefore it is easy to put her somewhere and leave her be for a while and of course she doesn't get much attention or interaction. I try to walk with her as much as I can. In the beginning she would only walk if I held both of her hands, now she is starting to only hold one of my fingers. I really look forward to seeing her and our walks, it makes my day.
All the cultural activities we do are fun and interesting, but my work placement is by far the best part of this experience.
Tia (Chia) Susan

Learning Brazillian Portuguese

Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon Marina, a language teacher, comes to teach us Brazillian Portuguese. These classes are alot of fun, as most of us are finding the language extremely difficult - especially trying to pronounce words correctly. The training we've had in other languages (Spanish,French) helps us with understanding the written word but hinders us in interpreting what we hear, or when we try to speak Portuguese with the correct pronounciation. I tried to learn some before I came here, but it didn't seem to help.
Some interesting things about Brazillian Portuguese:
"T"s may be pronuonced "che". At the Orphanage the kids all call me Tia (means aunt) but it is pronounced "Chia". Other times "t" is said like "tea". I haven't figured out when to say "che" versus when to say "tea".
"D"s may be pronounced like our "g", other times it sounds like "dee". When I am with the kids I often say "divida" (which means share) and it is said "giviga". No wonder they looked at me strangely the first week.
It is also hard to know which syllables to emphasis, what is silent etc.
During orientation we were told to tell taxi drivers to take us to the "Graca McDonalds" as it is close by, there is only one in this area, the taxi drivers will all know where it is and there'd be less of a chance that drivers would misunderstand us. Well this didn't work for any of us for the first 2 weeks because "McDonalds" is actually pronouced "MackeyDonalge". We are now getting home quicker and dropped off closer to the Home Base. I'm going to recommend on my evaluation that they teach this first.
Tchau (Bye)!

Life at the Home Base

Day to day life at the Home Base is very pleasant.
The home base is located in a middle class area with everything we need within walking distance. Grocery stores,a pharmacy, a hardware store, banks, restaurants, fast food and fruit stands are all within a 2 minute walk. Laundry services, the mall and the beach are a 10-20 minute walk. When or if we need/want something it is easy to just pop out and get it.
When we are not volunteering or out exploring the city, we relax at home. This house holds 45 people (although now there are only 10) and has 2 lounges, a mini-library, a resource room, a dining room and garden terraces. They are all simple and basic but clean and more than adequate. We spend time on computers, plan activities and weekend trips, talk about our placements, and prepare for the next day.

The staff here keep the place very clean and running smoothly... Our housekeeper's name is Lulu and she doesn't speak a word of English but hugs and kisses everybody every morning! Lulu also helps us with our Portuguese.

There are 2 cooks, Amelia and Deni, and they cook us authentic Bahian food 3 times a day all week. The food is excellent, they always put out more than one dish and as well a vegetarian option. Meals are served 3 times a day, and when it is ready, they call up to us, with a strong Portuguese accent ``guys... Lunchee/Dinner``- we love this! On their days off food is prepared ahead of time for us.

During the week the office staff is here. They are available to help us all day long. For example the other day I had difficulting getting money out the the HBHC Bank at our corner; and was a little concerned because I had tried using the card more than once (with the help of the staff at the bank), and we were told to be careful of this as people (including someone in my group) have had money stolen through card readers. (It turns out that this never happens at the banks that have security guards like this one did). My bank card didn´t work at another bank the HBHC sent me to, (Banco Brasil), and of course this is all happpening in Portuguese so I wasn´t even sure what the problem was. I let Vinnie at the Home Base know about this, and he said that another Canadian had the same problem and not to worry but he´d take me to a bank that ``works for Canadians´´ and go through the process with me. He did this and as a result it didn´t turn into a stressful situtation.

There are and have been alot of volunteers who have passed through here that haven´t wanted to leave- they keep extending their stays- and I can see why! I have a great place to stay, happy people working here who treat us extremely well, and all I have to do is volunteer and learn about the beautiful Brazilian culture.

Candomble

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a Candomble ceremony here in Salvador. Candomble is a religion that was developed in Salvador by Western African slaves (Yoruba) about 400 years ago. It is primarily practiced here, but is also popular in a few other countries. When slaves were brought here they were forced to practice Catholicism so in a effort to preserve their culture they continued their rituals, and gradually combining them with Catholicism. To achieve this they would use strategies such as hiding idols in the churches and secretely bringing them out during the service. They also illegally practiced other rituals out of site or out of reach of the police (ie in the forrest). The West Africans were sucessful and over the years the religion developed and grew into a strong part of the culture.
Yesterday was a National holiday here in Brazil as it was Corpus Christi. This is also the new year for Candomble, so the ceremony was extra special. We were told not to wear any black, only light colours or preferably white. We were taken to a Casa Branca (a large white house), the men went to the left side of the room and the women went to the right. It was pretty crowded (and hot!), but I could see into the middle of the room which is where all the action took place.
The ceremony soon started with African drumming and about 25 people came in the room and slowly danced around in a large circle while singing. It was beautiful. The dancers were from all races, both genders and a were a wide range of ages. The dancers (I don't know if there is a name) wore white clothes with colourful belts and sashes. The colours were light bright pinks, blues and greens. They each had a white scarf wrapped around their heads. At some point ( I didn't notice when) the "Mother of Saints", the head of the Casa, came in and sat at the front of the room. Two "Priests" were also sitting on either side of the room. The dancing continued for over an hour.
In Candomble, they believe in spirits or saints which are called "Orixa"(pronounced Orisha). Everyone has 2 Orixa with them, the Orixa represent different elements of life and they are aligned with Saints in Catholicism. The purpose of the dancing was to call the Orixas so they could communicate with us. The Dancers then one by one went into a trance- so that the Orixas could talk to us through them. As each dancer went into a trance their eyes closed or left slightly open and rolled back. They then verbalized, chanted and danced. There were "spotters" who mostly adjusted clothing and ocassionally guided them. Then after about an hour and in small groups, the dancers were lead out of the room. Sometimes one would come back in and I noticed that the chants from the audience escalated. Once everyone danced out,and the spirits had stopped communicating, and a meal was passed out (I didn't eat, it was about 10:15 by then).
When people were finished eating, the dancers came back in, this time dressed as the Orixas. Again the costumes were gorgeous. Bright colours, well made and each of them were different. One had on a cowboy looking hat, one had on a Roman style hat and another had on an Egypitian style crown. They also each had a veil made of small beads. It was so pretty, but we couldn't take pictures so you'll have to take my word for it.
The party then continued for the members of the Casa and we left.
This was the most facinating religious ceremony I have seen!

Capoeira

This area of Brazil is famous for Capoeira a type of dance that mixes martial arts, gymnastics and music. It was developed by the African slaves and it is a huge part of the culture here.
Every Wednesday night we have a Capoeira class with a dance teacher named Fernado. I have had two so far and it is extremely hard but alot of fun. Fernando warms us up with stretches (and adding to the difficulty we each take turns counting in Portuguese up to about 160) then he teaches us the basic steps. We've learned about 6 steps/moves. Capoeira moves include kicks, spinning and cartwheels. I think I have almost mastered one of them (the first one). After reviewing each step he then practices that move with us one on one. Once we have it, or sort of have it, he then faces us and mirrors the movement without contact. It is pretty neat looking. After going through the lesson part we then pull all the steps together and "play" with him. I think we are supposed to try to take him down by contact but so far he's taken us all down after a few minutes.
I plan on continuimg to take the classes while I am here, but I think I'll need to keep my day job.

Tuesday's Tours

During my time here, Cross Cultural Solutions Brazil offers us optional cultural actvities including city tours. So after lunch on Tuesdays we've been on tours of the Open Market, the Bomfim Church, Favalas and Parks.
Salvador has a large open air market. This market had absolutely everything- food, hardware, clothes, jewelery, live animals (either for food, pets or sacrifice), gifts, toys, vodo dolls etc. About 20,000 visit this market everyday, although luckily it was not too crowded when we were there(just hot!). The most interesting things that I saw were a large variety of different fruits, some of which are only grown here in this area and there is no English name for them. I also saw alot of palm oil (in old pop bottles), seafood and herbs.
A famous site here is the Bonfim Church. This is a beuatiful old Catholic Chruch that sits on the top of a hill and overlooks Salvador. It has very old statues of Mary and Jesus that made it over from Portugal during colonization. I think they are from the 1600´s. People from all over come to see this church, give thanks and pray. Ther is a whole room of gifts, photos and letters of thanks from people who have been sick, prayed for recovery, and recovered.
We also took a tour through a Favala. Favala is the name for an unofficial poor community that sets up homes on city property. The city has three years to evacuate them and if they don´t succeed, it becomes the person´s land and they become a community. People have been working together and building homes as a group, making it harder for the city to fight, which is good as more people will have permanent homes.From what I understood, the favalas all have electricity and running water.
This city also has a number of parks (pronounced park-ees here). They are quite pretty and it is hard to believe that you are in the middle of a city of 3.5 million. I spent most of my time in the parks looking for monkeys. I have seen 4 since I have arrived, but not in the parks-just near our Home Base.
Next week we get a tour of the historical district call Pelouhrino. I have been there a few times and love walking around it is very lively; I am looking forward to going there with our Tour Guide, Bruno, to learn more about it.

Morro de Sao Paulo

I spent this past weekend on a beautiful island just off of Salvador called Morro de Sao Paulo.
After arriving home on Friday at 12:30 pm from our placements all 12 of us voulunteers (who started together) rushed to leave so that we could make all of our connections. We first took taxis(30 minutes in traffic though Salvador) to catch a Ferry Boat (for a 45 minute crossing)then took a bus (for 1 hour 30 minutes)though beautiful countryside to the next town, Valenca, then a Launcha Rapide (fast boat for 30 minutes) to Morro de Sao Paulo. This travelling was not that hard, but was quite an adventure since none of us are fluent in Portuguese. We also had to make sure we got to Valenca before the last Launcha Rapide left at 5:00 pm. We made it and the Brazilian people took care of us all along the way - taking their time with us while when we bought tickets, while we were trying to ask questions and confirm we were in the right place etc. We also luckily met up with an English speaking local woman who helped us get the bus to stop before the station and conviently let us off. Considering we are 12 people who only met a week ago we travelled amazingly well together.
We arrived on the island at about 5:30 pm just when it was getting dark. I beleive that toursism is the main industry on the island and they were well prepared for it. We each had to pay a tax (about $4 CAN) and a guide helped us navigate to our Pousadas (hotel/bed & breakfast). There are no cars on the island so we carried our stuff and walked through the neatest little town, then to Beach 2 where we wanted to stay. Since there are no cars, there were alot of men with wheel barrows who are the taxis and delivery trucks.
My roomate at the Home Base (Liliane) and I decided to stay at a fancier Pousada and the rest (the 20-year-olds) stayed at a hostel. Everything was right on the beach, and they were just two doors down from us. Once we were there we really didn´t need our shoes and basically went barefoot the rest of the time (glad my tentenus is up to date).
At night we all ate dinner together on the beach and walked up and down the strip of bars along the beach stopping for interesting fruit and alcohol dinks (that they make you right on the spot)and talking to locals. During the day Liliane and I went for long walks along the beaches (there are 5) and then sat by the pool (which is on the beach) reading and swimming. We also walked around the town and shopped.
The island was very friendly and safe. The beaches were not crowded I guess because it is now fall and they have 2 months when tourism is low (May, June) but there were alot of Brazillian people there. The beaches were also not topless or clothing optional, but there was a heck of alot of butt cleavage from both genders.
Overall the weekend was not expensive I think all included I spent about $200 including travel, Pousada for 2 nights, and meals out.
We may go back!

Placement

My placement is at an orphanage in a poorer area of Salvador. There are 25 children ranging in age from about 6 months to 17 years. I started yesterday, Tuesday, and have mostly been with the 1 baby and 3 toddlers who are all girls. They kept us busy! And yes, myself and the other volunteers all wanted to adopt a child who was there within the first 20 minutes of arriving.

The kids are all extremely excited when we show up at about 8:30 am. They yell and come running to the gate (we can barely get in) and hug and jump all over us (right now there is a total of 6 volunteers at this site). And today, my second day, when I went in the baby\toddler room the girls all smiled and laughed when they saw me.

We were advised to try to interact one on one with them as they don´t get much individual attention, and to help out with the routine and whatever the staff wanted us to do. I first changed the sheets and then held and played with the girls as Mara, the childcare worker bathed them. When the girls were all ready we took them to another room and spend the rest of the time playing with them, feeding them etc until I get picked up at around noon.

Some of the little girls that I have been with seem to have some developmental delays. One can´t walk very well and the baby is not able to sit up or hold her head (the staff say she is 6-7 months old). They all need alot of affection. We were warned that we will see things that may be different than how we would do things or that contradicts our training. Sure enough, I have already seen alot of things that contradict both my instinct and training (just like I´ve seen in Canada), but we are not to interfer -- but where possible be a role model. For example, they don´t want us to pick up crying children (or even comfort them), juice is given in a bottle, and there is some force feeding. But overall we can tell that the staff are committed and love the kids.

This is going to be a great experience for me!

Orientation

Yesterday morning we (the new group of volunteers) were introduced and oriented to our Home Base, Home Base staff, Brazil, the Brazilian culture, norms and realities. We also learned about our placements and most importantly safety.
The staff each introduced themselves, sharing openly their personal histories and lives. They are all Brazillian (even though this a U.S organization) and seemed really thrilled that we all chose to come to Brazil. All in all, they are extremely helpful, fun and interested in each of us which creates a nice environment to learn and live in.
For the placements, we all will be working with children in different capacities and in some cases with older women who are in the same programs. The placements are at schools, daycares, orphanages, and an agency that looks after children with HIV/AIDS. We will each work for 4 hours a day which seems easy compared to what I am used to. We saw pictures, heard a little bit about the history of the each organization and what to expect all contributing to our greater understanding of Brazil. Also, they want us to be well informed and prepared. By the end of this part we were all anxious to start.
Safety was also talked about quite a bit and they have many things in place to ensure our safety. So for all of you who so kindly worried about me and kept telling me to be careful, don't worry I will be-- and there are alot of staff watching out for all of us.
Safe, secure and happy in Brazil,
Susan/Sue/Susie

Exploring Salvador

Yesterday was my first full day in Salvador and although I was exhausted I wanted to get out and start exploring the neighbourhood and city. In the morning we all went to the closest beach which is only a fifteen minute walk from our Home Base. It was small but beautiful with high waves (well at least they were high to me) and quite strong. Those of us who went in the water were careful and stayed together. The sand was fine and soft and it was a sunny day with a nice breeze. We stayed for a couple of hours then headed back to the Home Base for lunch.
In the afternoon my roomate (Liliane) and I went to Pelouriho which is Salvador's Historical District. While there we discovered that it was "African Day" and with live music and dancing they were celebrating their strong African heritage, a heritage that is embraced by everyone.
I am looking forward to getting to know the city and its culture in more depth.

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