New Year = New Family

It has been just over a week that I have spent in my new house, with my new family in the situ called Tinguí. I have experienced and learned a great many things, which i will now summarize in a list:

Family consists of:
Mãe (Cida), Pãe (long name but everyone calls him Bee), Rayanne (13 years), Ruan (14), and Rayati (17, married, and pregnant- doesn't live at home)
Also, numerous uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends, some of which I have yet to figure out how they belong..

Living conditions:
Simple house, large organic farm, dusty dirt roads, lovely sunsets, heat lightning in the distance at night, lizards, frogs in shower, occasional rats in the rafters, vicious cat

Food:
Fish, couscous, eggs, bread, fresh juice for breakfast
Beans, rice, couscous, milk, juice, cheese, goat meat, beef for lunch
Soup, couscous, rice, beans spaghetti, juice for supper

Family work:
Organic farming. Leaving the house at 4:30 for the wed. market, and 3 for the Saturday market. Coming home around 2 on wed, and 6 on Sat. Rest Sunday with family all day long.

Favorite activities:
Working on the farm until dark, packin bags of produce in the house after dark, watching novellas (cross between sitcoms and soap operas) every night, playing Quirkle (an awesome game my real mother sent me for Christmas. Quite the hit here), tossing a frisbee (until my 10 year old uncle threw it on the roof), settin on the porch at the grandparent's house across the street with the rest of the family.

Things to be careful of:
The cat attempting to eat your limbs, large beetles or moths flying in your ears, not stepping on frogs in the shower, riding motorcycle in the mud, not getting hit by cows on the loose in the street, not missing the 6:30 motorcycle ride with your mom into town, wheels falling off ancient trucks that should probably not be driven anymore...

Conclusion:
I am living the simple life I always wanted, and although I am not grateful for the situation how this all came about, I am glad that I landed where I did. I am loving waking up to goat bells in the street and coming home to my little cousin jumping around asking if I will play with him. I love talking with my wise old, leathery skinned grandparents, and making my uncles and aunts chuckle with my funny Portuguese.

The truck all loaded up for the Wednesday Farmer's market. And Rayanne, my sister.

Some of the fam playing Quirkle at the kitchen table. clockwise: cousin Wagner, Brother Ruan, Mãe Cida, cousin of cousin (I think...) Lucas, Friend called pequeno(very small, because he is short for his age), cousin Everton(called Shrek because he is grumpy and ogre-ish), and aunt Verinha.

Thank you all for continuing support, especially through this whole family transition business. And please continue to pray for Tiana and the girls. They are still doing fine, but now talking seriously with a lawyer about how to protect themselves in this situation.

Peace
anamaria

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hey all,
So, much has changed since I last talked to you. First off, it is a new year. Second, the rainy season is starting to pick up. Christmas has passed. Work is back in session. And I hope you are all well.

I have some news that was initially sad, and still is, but I am seeing some big positives in the near future as a result of all this. I won't go into too much detail out of respect for the privacy of my family, but it involves highly dysfunctional family members outside of my house making death threats against my host mother, Tiana. These threats came from a very traditional, macho father who does not like his daughter's independence, or her freedom to live where she wants and date who she wants. I have been learning lots of sad details about the macho culture in Northeast Brasil, and how many women have dealt with physical, verbal, and emotional abuse because of it. I want to make it clear that this is not necessarily the norm, and there are lots of happy marriages and families, but that these cases are unfortunately common.

So, after calling my various coordinators and bosses over Christmas break because of a particularly strong threat, I was told to move out of my house as quickly as I could and stay at the house of my American colleagues, who were at the time on vacation, until a more permanent situation could be found.

After lots of support from my co-workers and bosses, they found me a new family to live with (as long as my host mom's father is alive, that situation is deemed dangerous) and I will be moving there tomorrow. This situation will be completely different. They live out in the rural farmlands (called the "situ" here) and they have a good sized farm that I think they make most of their income off of. They sell produce at the farmers market two days a week, and my host mom has a hair salon. They sound like great folks, and I will get to share my room with my new 12 year old host sister, who I have already had the privilege of meeting. Living out there will mean I have to get home before 6ish to avoid the dangerous dark roads, so that will change my ability to communicate and visit others in town. But hopefully I will develop my own new community out in the situ. I am quite hopeful :-).

Through all of this craziness, God has been good. Tiana and her girls are doing better. It seems the crazy father has settled down a bit, leaving them in peace. And they were just able to move back into their house after it was remodeled. It was flooded before I got there, and so I lived with them in a rented house on the same street as their old place. But now, they have a fresh start with a new house, and they are really being positive about the whole situation. They are trusting God and leaning on the good people he has placed in their lives. They are an inspiration to me. Especially Tiana. After a really really difficult life from being left by husbands twice, having to sell home made cakes and pastries on the streets and the beach to make ends meet, raising two daughters single-handedly, dealing with an abusive father. She is leaning on the Lord and as a result is full of strength to face every day.

Through all this transition, I have been doing pretty alright. I was able to go to Recife for New Years, which was good to get away and process everything that was going on. I had a good time dancing the night (and early morning) away on the beach in Boa Viagem. And on the way back, at 5:30 in the morning when we were walking home as the sun was rising on the first day of a beautiful new year, we encountered a school of dolphins swimming close to shore. That was an incredibly beautiful moment I will never forget. God appears in so many diverse ways. During one of my really sad days, I went out to work with Anya on a motorcycle, and all of the sudden, we came across this brilliantly colored, lime green chameleon in the road. All of the sudden i was in awe of its beauty and the beauty of its Creator, and the sun in my mind began to once again shine. He shows up in the details when you need proof of his presence.

So, good friends. Thank you for your support and prayers as always, and please pray for Tiana and her two daughters (my family). For their physical safety and mental well-being. I think they are not in any immediate danger, but it is so emotionally difficult to be in such an unloving family. And pray for the transition to my new family. I move there tomorrow, which will change so much about my daily living. I am excited, but need to make sure I keep my old host family in my life as well.

Love, hugs, peace, and smiles to you all
Annie