Wednesday, May 30, 2012

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5/29/12 Today we went to a small village to paint part of a school. We all hopped into Cacique Marcos's truck, and started our journey to the village. Many of the roads in the Xukuru territory are not paved, to say they are bumpy is an understatement. If the roads seem hard to travel on now, they are almost impossible to travel on when there have been heavy storms. When we made it to the school, we all hoped out of the truck and got the paint ready. Like magic men appeared to help paint. The day started out cold, but the sun soon appeared. I have been recovering from a cold that has been going around, so needed to take a break from painting and sit down. As, soon as I sat down, I was followed by little girls.
The girls were very fascinated by me, and also fascinated by the fact that I could not speak Portuguese. As we made are way to the pack of the school, we were greeted by a couple Xukuru women, who wanted to show off their lace work. The lace work that the Xukuru women do is beautiful, intricate and time consuming. The women take a great but humble pride in their work. When we went back into the school, we were given a chicken soup. There we sat, with one of the little girls who had been following me around, like a shadow happy to be getting attention. The other people in our group continued to paint as several children came out to see these Americans painting. Some of the children picked up brushes and started to help paint. Meanwhile, I was feeling very dizzy and ill, one of the teachers noticed and asked if I would like to lie down. I followed her to her house that was behind the school. Their was something about her energy, her kindness, that made me instantly feel at ease, and trust her. She, then brought me to a room to lie down and took a blanket and covered me up. I was in and out of sleep, and could hear people talking. A strange thing happened as I drifted in and out of sleep; I was able to understand some of what was being said. I could not see anybody, to distinguish body movements, and I could not tell you what the words meant, but I could loosely follow the conversation. This has happened a few other times, when Marcos was telling a story, and when we were sitting in on a classroom lecture. Although this time was different because I was not able to see the people who were talking. After I woke up, I walked down to where the rest of our group was. Everyone, was chatting and some women came with several pieces of lacework, and would walk to and from their homes to show off their work. After about an hour, we loaded in the truck and drove for awhile, than stoped at another leader's home. Their was something very calming and relaxing about this home. The couple that lived there were kind and sat and talked to us, they had a relaxed energy about them, like we had known them for years. The women even said she feels like she has known us for a long time. She is a teacher at one of the schools we had toured last Friday. She had worked very hard to get her degree and proudly displayed graduation photos in her living room. Like every Xukuru home we have been in we were offered food. She had prepared a sort of Guava pudding, fresh orange juice, and homemade coffee. When, we were preparing to leave, we all knew that we wanted to come back and see this family again. Today, I am filled with happiness in how kind and genuine the Xukuru people are. Erin Previous Item Next Item

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