Tia Melissa

I just completed my second day of `work´at Gotas de Flor com Amor. I´ve inherited about 100 nieces and nephews. (All adults at GFA are called tia or tio). It has been a wonderful few days. I think the pattern will be - in the mornings I help out in the small library on the second floor. In the afternoons I´ll assist in the 8-10 year old classroom (they like to make fun of my portuguese and ask me to say their names in English.) Today was a little different. The amazing librarian, Rose, her husband (who drives the bookmobile), and I moved and cleaned the `onibus´-as we refer to it. I went inside a favela today with Rose and a student. We needed brooms to sweep because we were supposed to be filmed on the onibus (which didn´t happen at the last minute). The favela (which is actually much nicer than most) was another world. I can´t even imagine growing up there.
Overall, I have noticed some significant differences in the care of school children here vs. the United States.
#1) These children are very quick to fight, and that may be true of poor kids anywhere, but the teachers never yell at them and the kids get over it in an instant. Today a young, VERY energetic, boy named Paulo slapped Jose across the face when Jose said he couldn´t stay in the game. Very calmly the staff pulled the two boys aside, resolved the issue in two minutes, and let Paulo continue to play. I feel like kids get away with a lot here, but they are such great kids it can´t be too bad of a thing. #2) We have a book in the library with pictues of naked people and their genitalia - it was written for 6-10 year olds. It is about sex. Umm....I don´t think we even let 18 year olds look at books like that. #3) Teachers and adults here don´t hate teenagers. In the States, whenever I said I taught 11-14 year olds people screamed in horror. That is supposedly the worst age ever, right? Not here. Maybe the difference can be atributed to a culture that encourages people to hug and kiss each other as a greeting. It is hard to be moody and alienated when you are getting hugged all day.
Some non related observations:
- Upper class Brasilians seem to have a real self-hate of their country. My uncle thinks the English are so much better at planning and organization, my cousin thinks everything American is fantastic. It is a little odd. I am basing this on a small sample set but I know that historically Brasilians have long felt this way - they used to be Francophiles and now they are Anglophiles.
- It seems that the upper class really thinks there isn´t a race problem here. Huh? You don´t have to be in Brasil for but a few moments to realize there is a significant racial division, which would be construed by most as a problem.
- There seems to be a consensus that North Americans proved how hippocritical and racist we are with Katrina. I agree. But Brasilians seem to be blind to the fact that their own people, typically darker skinned, live in very similiar conditions every day for years and years - they´re called favelas.
- Bidets, in theory, are great. But really, how are you supposed to use one?
- If you don´t live in a very touristy spot it is hard to find postcards. I think that is true everywhere.
- Brasilians must be smarter then Americans because they have to conjugate about 1000 verbs 10milion different ways - this language is impossible! I may need to take a class.

So how am I? I´m loving it. I miss my parents and a boy I shouldn´t miss but I couldn´t be happier to be here. My family has been SO supportive of my diet and I´m lucky because vegan isn´t a word in the portuguese language. The first day I felt like I understood 80% of what people said, Sunday I thought I understood 10%, today probably 30%.
p.s.I tried to upload pictures but it won~t let me. Argh! I can´t even email them. I´m going to figure out a way.