Sundays for the past couple of months

Often Sunday afternoon has a touch of melancholy to it. Is that cultural or is it just me?

Today I was thinking about the past Sundays since September. Not much time for sweet sadness.

Nov. 9 (today)
I went with my sister Mary to hear the Soweto Gospel Choir. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it was. Here, listen:



Nov. 2
I worked on my Nanowrimo novel and on other projects. Just a bit melancholy.

October 26
Came home from Brazil. Real sadness at leaving so soon, combined with exhaustion from the 26-hour trip.

October 19
Walked in the park with Pati, found kittens! In case you missed that post, here's the picture of Charlie and his sister:


October 12
I went to a concert in Sao Paulo, heard Thomas Rohrer (Swiss but he lives in Brazil), Chris Stout (Scottish) and two Brazilian musicians--dang, can't remember their names. Afterwards, we went to eat lunch and then went to a park that overlooks the city. Here's a picture of Pati, Carlos (Chris' brother-in-law), Chris and Sarah (Chris' sister):


October 5
I rode the bus from Rio to Sao Paulo.

September 28
Went to the Botanical Gardens in Rio with Pati. Here's a waterfall in the Gardens:



September 21
Worked on the dragonfly program and anticipated an amazing trip to Brazil.

The next time I have a melancholy Sunday, maybe I'll look back at this post.

One more Sao Paulo picture

Where were these going? This was on a quiet street, near St. Francis school. 

Spring weather

Faith asked about the weather here in Brazil. It has been warm here this week, around 85 today (29.4 celsius) and sunny for most of the day. However, I took these two pictures out my window about half an hour ago and now I hear thunder.




It has rained many of the days I've been here, but usually not much. In the first week I was in Sao Paulo it was chilly, around 65 degrees (18 celsius).  In Rio it was warmer. In both cities I've worn shorts and tee shirts, in both cities I've worn sweaters and long pants. A fellow at one of my workshops said that in Sao Paulo, you have to dress for five different seasons all in the same day.  

On a side note, many of the trees I noticed when I first arrived have stopped flowering. I'm so glad I got to see them!

"I could skip lunch"

After one of the performances today at St. Nicholas School, a student stopped me in the lunchroom. "Tell another story, please!" I said it was time for lunch, for both of us. "I could skip lunch," she said.

This was another really nice school, following on yesterday's good performance day at Red Brick Preschool. At both, it was clear that the children understood English (and puppets) and were having a good time. Just as important, the teachers were having fun. Cris and I noticed that at both schools, there was an atmosphere of kindness and respect for the children. I love that. 

Here's a picture from Red Brick. We're doing a finger story.

And these are some of the attentive listeners at St. Nicholas. My sister Mary is right--the children enjoying the stories in Brazil look very much like children enjoying the stories in the US. 

When there's time and there aren't too many kids, Trixie likes to shake hands with the children as they leave the performance space, if they want to. If they don't, she sometimes just blows them kisses. 

Here we are at Red Brick, saying goodbye:

And at St. Nicholas, with a bouncy child: 

Yes, that's my Halloween vest. I'm also wearing socks with skeletons on them. I don't mind starting a little early for my favorite holiday.

Surprise in the park

Yesterday Pati and I went to a large city park for a walk. Gray day, but not rainy, so it was pleasant. I find that sometimes the colors on a gray day are even more vibrant than on a sunny one. We wandered around the nursery of this park, which was fascinating. Once again I was struck by the plants growing in the ground that I've only seen in pots at home (many on my own windowsills). Rows of spider plants, for example.

This tree and the plants covering it seem to have a symbiotic relationship.


Pati stood next to this one for perspective on these enormous leaves.

I love the shape of this palm surrounded by other trees.

As we were moseying along, at the same time we both saw something unidentifiable in the road. A bit of trash? Leaves? Something dead? Fur? Fur! 

At first we thought one of them might not still be alive, but it moved. Both had gunky eyes, though the more alert one cleaned his off. 

Pati went to ask the gatekeeper nearby if these cats lived here, or if there was a mother around. No. Somebody had abandoned them. We sat down to consider what to do. The weaker one got up and came over to me. She let us pat her. The other one wouldn't let us get near. He hissed at us and jumped away. Both were scared and meowing piteously.

Pati called her friend Paulo who lives nearby and who loves cats. He and his partner Estela came right over. In the meantime, Pati got a cardboard box from the gatekeeper and we managed to put the weaker kitten in it. The other kitten escaped into the brush, but he couldn't stand to hear his sister crying, so he came back. Paulo was able to catch him and put both of them in a cloth cat hutch they'd brought. Whew! We walked back to Paulo and Estela's apartment, where the kittens had a little milk and got their eyes cleaned off. 

We left them there, in very good care. Today they went to the vet for antibiotics. This is how I know that one is a girl and one is a boy. The kittens will stay together for the week, and then Pati will take Charlie (the feisty one) home. 

Isn't this an interesting life? A simple walk in the park can so easily turn into an adventure.

Green Sao Paulo

Everybody told me what a big city Sao Paulo is. Everybody told me that it's polluted. Everybody told me it's dangerous.

Nobody told me about the trees and plants. Nobody told me that there are small houses mixed in with tall apartment buildings, and that many of these have lovely gardens. Nobody told me that it's safe in the way other big cities are safe, if you just pay attention and don't do stupid things like walk around late at night alone.

Here's another view from my 9th floor hotel room. Click on it to see it larger so you can see the orange flowers.

I believe this is an ipe tree, though you can't quite tell how stunning the flowers are.  They come in different colors--is that an ipe outside my hotel window as well? And what's that on the trunk? 

Okay, so maybe the streets are dangerous--these cacti are growing in a wall next to the sidewalk!  Ouch!

Late this afternoon we went to a park that overlooks the city, near a green zone. I loved the shape of the branches on this tree in the park.


Here's a view of the green zone and then some of the city. I'd need a panoramic camera to capture how massive Sao Paulo is (19 million is one estimate I've heard). Once again, if you click on it, you'll get a better sense of the size.

One more of the view.

Back to work, yippee!

Sometimes when I have days off, I can't remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Office work? Playing with stories? Planning new programs? Honing my art? Yes, yes, yes and yes, but sometimes I just flap around, then give up and have a nap. That was yesterday. That and the quest for clean clothes. Also, yesterday I discovered that in Brazil, women do not have size 11 feet (42, if you're using European sizes). If I want to go home with Brazilian shoes, they'll have to be men's shoes. Sigh.

Enough of that. Today I got back to work, telling stories at the Sidarta School. 

I performed right next to the library in a wonderful room full of puppets, a puppet stage, dress-up clothes, hats, mirrors and these amazing trees. They're stretchy fabric! 

Notice the automobile tires as seats. They're clean and stuffed with pillows. 

As I have in all the performances in Brazil, I began by showing the map of the US so they can see where I'm from. I also show them where my mother and my brothers and sisters live. It takes a few minutes, as I'm the youngest of seven.

Though the children were far from native speakers, they were great listeners. In this next picture, I'm telling "Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle," a very simple story but one that uses pairs of words: in/out, up/down, open/shut. 

The two older classes had prepared questions to ask. Then a few of them even dared ask a few more. They did splendidly! 

This school is part of the Sidarta Institute. Across the road is a Buddhist temple. Quoting from a brochure from the Institute: "We truly believe that the path to a better world begins with the access to quality education for all." Amen. 

In talking with Carmen, who hosted the performances (and who was tremendously welcoming, as were Robson and the other staff members), I learned that the teaching at the school is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, an approach that I've loved since hearing about it in the late '90s. I mentioned it in a post about Gianni Rodari last year. What I've noticed in RE schools, Sidarta included, is a delightful atmosphere, with a pervasive kindness. Aaah.

Laundry

Laundry. I'm in Brazil for a month, and it occurred to me that it might be nice to have clean clothes. I don't mind washing some things out in the sink, but jeans and heavier shirts are problematic.

We asked about laundry at the front desk yesterday. Yes, they can do it here. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, there's a lavanderia down the street. Off I went to check out the lavanderia. Hmm. Seems it's dry cleaning, and will cost around $3 for one pair of jeans. Back to the hotel to do a little Internet searching for "lavanderia automatica." Success! There's one not too far from here, maybe a half mile.

This morning I set out with a full bag of laundry, ready to use a self-service machine. Alas, it was not to be. The place will do my laundry for 4 reais/kg (6 if I want it ironed), but it will take two days. This is not as expensive as the dry cleaner or the hotel.

Back to the hotel with the dirty laundry, discouraged. At the hotel, I formulated a new plan. Some of these clothes are not completely awful. I sorted through for those that need washing the most and that I can manage without until Thursday. Back I went. On Thursday, I'll take the clothes I didn't wash and trade them for the clean ones.

Time to go wash out some socks.

From Rio to Sao Paulo

I took the bus from Rio to Sao Paulo, about a six hour ride in Executive class, cushier than the regular class bus. After my bag was stowed, I was given a blanket, a pillow, a newspaper, a bottle of Guarana (soda made from Guarana berries, with a kick like caffeine), and a little box of snacks in the shape of a bus. 

The top is a calendar, to boot! 

The bus ride was beautiful, through countryside with mountains and rolling hills. We stopped halfway at a restaurant, where many of the riders had a full lunch. I'd packed snacks, so I had a bowl of fruit and espresso. Then back on the bus, where amazingly enough after the espresso, I fell asleep for an hour. We had two movies on the bus, Runaway Bride (the worst claptrap I'd seen in a long time) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. When this last was over, the DVD reverted to the screen of special features, on a loop. We suffered with the repetition of the sound for about 25 minutes until one of the riders asked the driver (closed off in his own compartment) to turn it off. Whew!

Patricia picked me up at the bus station and off we went to Carillon Plaza Hotel. We had trouble finding it as the entrance is quite dark. The room is very moderne: 

 Here's a closer look at the console next to the bed:


The lower part is the TV control, upper part manipulates the lights and radio (I think). You can't tell, but there's only one electrical outlet in the room that I can find, high on the wall by the TV. I'm plugged into the bathroom outlet and am sitting on the bed. Apart from the bathroom, there's an entryway with a table, two short pleather banquettes and a mini-fridge.

And here's a look at the view from the window. I'm on the 9th floor. Notice the planting in the outside windowsill!

You can't tell from the picture, but the neighborhood is quite lively. More on that when I've explored. I've got today and tomorrow off, so I have a chance to do just that.