Hello friends.

I am embarrassed at how long it has been. That has been part of my delay in writing... the shame of facing you all after such delinquency. My most profound apologizes to you all. I can safely say I will not again go two months without blogging my adventures, because my Brazilian adventures will end in just about 2 short months. Hard to believe, but it is true.

So, where am I currently? Physically, I am in Recife taking a mental vacation. Or, if you've seen "What About Bob?" I am taking a "vacation from my problems". Really, I don't have many problems, but my life was getting a little complicated and worn out, and while I was here for a goodbye party for John and Julie and their girls (the other MCC volunteers in Monteiro), a few close friends and co-workers suggested I spend some time here to relax and get all geared up for the final stretch. I concurred. And it has been a lovely little vacation.

Where am I mentally? In a good spot, I'd say. I am pleased with my work over the past year, although most of my "work" has come in the form of building relationships, learning, sharing, and growing. I think by the time I leave, I will have completed 6 banheiro secos (or dry latrines), and a simple hand washing station to go with each of those units. I have made zillions of new acquaintances, yes zillions, and several families that have adopted me as their own. I even recently made a group of people my own age at the local Catholic church. I attend mass when I can on Sunday nights, as all the other church options in Monteiro don't quite fit. The evangelical churches are known for being loud and yelling about the power of God and prosperity and those kinds of things. They are also all about rules and who's in and who's not. The Catholic church is much more open to anyone, and generally less concerned with rules and more concerned with praising God altogether. So these new Catholic young folks have been such a blessing in my life. I have only had the privilege of hanging out with them on a few occasions, but it is nice to know I have people to go to outside of my host family(s) and work colleagues. It is so good to genuinely laugh and smile and sing and be jolly.

While I have been here in Recife for the past week, I have reorganized the MCC unit house library, a job that has apparently been done by countless volunteers in the past. Every country representative has a new idea of what should go where, and so every 5 years or so, stuff gets swapped around within the unit house. The majority of books are in English, so a couple months ago we Americans from Monteiro came to organize the books into save and keep piles, and the books have since been waiting for an English speaker to put them all on the shelves in the new air conditioned library. So I happened to be that lucky English speaker who spent the past week organizing dusty books in the comfort of climate control. :-)

It has been great to get to know the MCC Recife folks in a more friendly way. Usually during our team meetings, the time passes too quickly, and with little time for relaxation and conversation. So this time here has been quite a blessing.

Well.. that's all I've got for now. I will try to post pictures soon... I don't have the ability at the moment to do so..
Thank you all for your support, and again sorry for my delinquency in writing these blogs on a regular basis. I will try to be more faithful in my last couple months.
Peace,
Annie