Hello friends,
I have finally arrived at my final home for this year, making the name of my blog, Monteiro Monologues, finally appropriate. Woo Hooo!
Anya and I arrived on Tuesday along with Andrea (MCC SALT coordinator in Brazil) and Veronika (friend from Akron visiting Andrea, and conveniently me as well since I lived with her in Akron while waiting for visa. See earlier pictures of Main House Friends), and have settled in well since then. My family consits of Tiana (Mom, 34) and her two daughters Erika (12) and Karol (8). I already have so much love in my heart for them, and I think them for me. They are three strong women, especially Tiana, being a single mom with two jobs, working all day for her girls. Erika helps around the house a lot, and as a result is amazingly mature, and Karol has a heart brimming with love for all. She loves hugs and cuddling. Which is just fine with me. :-)
Our work for the first few weeks will consist of tagging along with other MCC staffers to towns and farms around Monteiro, where the cistern and biodigestor work is done. I absolutely love the rural communities way out in the sticks (and I mean way out there. the middle of nowhere). I love their accents, their interesting farm animals (I got to hold an armadillo...), their resourcefulness, and hospitality. I think since most of my work will be with the people in these places, I will be very happy here.
A funny thing happened the other day. Allow me to share:
So, I was using the bathroom the other night in my new house. I stood up, pushed the button to flush, and the strangest thing happened. Something brown flew from the toilet. My first thought was that it was poo, but then I realized I had only (I don't know the most elegant way to say this) peed. I was quite puzzled and alarmed, and I watched as this brown mass stuck to the door, and then jumped from the door to the wall (probably a clear 3 feet in the air), then from the wall to the sink (each time making an awesome thunk/suction cup noise) and finally I realized it was a frog. Yes, there was a frog tucked under the rim of the toilet, and thanks to Jesus it did not decide to jump while I was still using the facilities. It waited until it had a clear shot across the room, and once I got over the initial shock, I appreciated this great ability of the frog to jump such a great distance. Then I waited until it was far enough from the door to make a run for it, and quickly explained to my sisters what the screaming and jumping around the bathroom was all about. THey thought it was quite hilarious, and so did I. I just had to let my heart calm down a bit. Needless to say, I have since started checking the toilet very carefully before using it...
Hmm... I have all sorts of other funny things that have happened. Language blunders (lots of those), quotes from my sisters, jokes I've made with Tiana. I think I am the family jokester right now, which is fun and great because the family has somse hard times right now. So its good for them to laugh every once in a while.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you all. I won't be blogging as much here because for one, my house doesn't have internet. I will try to give a detailed description soon of my living quarters to give you an idea of where I live. But, for two, a rather unfortunate incident occured involving my computer, a leak in the ceiling, and lots of water coming through this leak. There were enough abnormalities about the situation, that I am now convinced it was supposed to happen. I have learned an important Mennonite lesson of disconnecting myself from my earthly posessions. But, IF any of you have an old laptop that's not in use, or have any brilliant fundraising ideas of how to get a new one on my measily volunteer stipened, or the like, let me know. It would probably be conveninent to have one for work purposes, but certainly not necessary. It just might mean I"m a little more out of touch... like the olden days. But it also means more letters... :-) Send me addresses if you're interested in being the recipient of one...
Alright friends, I should return home before dark, and it is almost to that point, although it is not yet 5:30. So goes the life in Monteiro.
Love and peace to you all!!!
Anamaria
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Annie!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that about the frog. That would freak me out so bad! At least it wasn't a snake or a giant, poo eating spider.
Also, I have an old laptop lying around, as does my dad, if you'd be interested.
And I am in the process of working on a letter for you!! Should I send it to the address you gave us or to Monteiro?
Miss you!