A t about 7:00 on Friday morning, I stumbled through the living room on my way to the piece of pottery in which the sacred bottle of Advil is hidden. Uncle Mark and Aunt Lori were already at the breakfast table, which was a surprise seeing I had not seen either of them before 8:00 in two and a half weeks, excluding Sundays of course. Uncle Mark was already showered and dressed for the day. Inacia had expressed to them moments before how the refrigerator she had received was the best gift she had ever gotten. She kept thanking them, and Aunt Lori told her that she shouldn't thank them...she should thank God. She had cried out to God with a need and he had heard and met her need.
My head was pounding with the worst headache I had experienced since my arrival. I sat at the table with a blank expression on my face and did something I rarely ever did. I reached for the coffee pot and poured myself a half a mug. My face twisted into a distorted shape as I struggled to choke down the piping hot brown liquid that I had been told time and time again can soothe the most savage beast of a headache. William was up at this point and trying to find something he liked for breakfast. Uncle Mark asked him if he wanted to go to the hall to start the work on it, and William jumped at the opportunity of getting out of the house without Caroline. They left and I went about my morning business, minus the blog since I couldn't muster a creative thought to save my life, as I waited for the Advil/Coffee to kick in.
An hour or so later, I installed the new pool ladder stairs that had been purchased the night before and thoroughly enjoyed the comfortable heat radiating from the star closest to our planet. After a delicious lunch of steak, beans, rice and juice (have I mentioned how much I like the food here) Aunt Lori, Caroline and I went to the hall with Uncle Mark and William, who had returned for lunch. They had spent the morning chipping the cement off the wall that surrounds the hall. All the houses and small buildings have a wall built around them, even in the poorer neighborhoods. The cement used to coat the cheap brick material wall was easy to flake because they mixed the dirt from the street in with the cement to cut costs. This had resulted in the concrete chipping off and looking horrible over a short period of time.
Uncle Mark had met with Concrete King Luciano on Tuesday and had got the recipe for a good wall concrete mixture that would stay strong and look nice. Luciano, William, Uncle Mark and a young man from the hall named Assis had already chipped about half of the cement off of one of the walls before I arrived. I grabbed a hammer and a chisel and got to work. Luciano was a machine! Dressed with his head wrapped in a towel that made him look like a Middle Eastern sheik, he hammered away at the wall with progress greater than the other four of us made with a combined effort.
We worked the afternoon away chipping at the material. Some was easy to take off and other bits were more difficult. Caroline and Aunt Lori were working in the cooperative and William had now become sick of the concrete dust getting in his eye. Luciano gave him the task of trying to level the dirt driveway with some of the concrete dust that had accumulated throughout the day. Neighborhood kids began to gather as they usually do in the Planalto, and William went into the street to join them. Uncle Mark returned from the hardware store with Luciano and told me that I had to take a look at William.
I made my way into the dusty street, where I saw a crowed of kids gathered around William and a lost young donkey that he had managed to lasso with a piece of rope he had found earlier that morning. They donkey was more than happy to pose for pictures and I even convinced the poor shaking animal that he could hold my massive bulk on its back. Herbson was quite worried about the donkey's safety and told me in Portuguese to get off it. I obliged the 13 year old boy and went back to my work. After bumping the power line with my pickax, the co-op lost power and Luciano, being the jack of all trades that he is, quickly went to work to repair the problem. The electrical system that operates the hall is one that someone in their first week of electrical school would be able to wire in their sleep.
At about 5:30 the sun was gone, everyone else was packing up to leave and I had the makings of a killer blister on my right hand. All of us piled in the car to leave and made the 30 minute drive back to the house on Lobster Road. We had planned a dune buggy ride up to Maracujau to snorkel the next morning. Usually the buggy's left at 9:00, but seeing we were going further north than usual and had to take the tides into consideration, it was picking us up at 7:00. This meant an early morning for an already tired Alex. Mark, Lori and the kids went to bed before 8:30, but I couldn't take part in that luxury. I still had a blog to write and I had told my dad I would try to talk to him that night. Because Friday night is softball in Saugus, a fact I had forgotten, and there is a one hour time difference he didn't get home till 11:00 my time. Our talk was cut short when my battery died, so I packed up the outside office and headed to bed.
It was the second day of the Saint Peter festival, and at exactly 12 midnight a party or concert of some type started in the soccer stadium behind our house. The chuva (rain) that we had experienced earlier in the evening had put an end to the loud and annoying fireworks that had become a normal routine rather than a special occasion. I prayed for good weather for the next day, and despite the ruckus of the nearby party I was able to fall asleep. Falling asleep hadn't been the issue. My problem was staying asleep...
My head was pounding with the worst headache I had experienced since my arrival. I sat at the table with a blank expression on my face and did something I rarely ever did. I reached for the coffee pot and poured myself a half a mug. My face twisted into a distorted shape as I struggled to choke down the piping hot brown liquid that I had been told time and time again can soothe the most savage beast of a headache. William was up at this point and trying to find something he liked for breakfast. Uncle Mark asked him if he wanted to go to the hall to start the work on it, and William jumped at the opportunity of getting out of the house without Caroline. They left and I went about my morning business, minus the blog since I couldn't muster a creative thought to save my life, as I waited for the Advil/Coffee to kick in.
An hour or so later, I installed the new pool ladder stairs that had been purchased the night before and thoroughly enjoyed the comfortable heat radiating from the star closest to our planet. After a delicious lunch of steak, beans, rice and juice (have I mentioned how much I like the food here) Aunt Lori, Caroline and I went to the hall with Uncle Mark and William, who had returned for lunch. They had spent the morning chipping the cement off the wall that surrounds the hall. All the houses and small buildings have a wall built around them, even in the poorer neighborhoods. The cement used to coat the cheap brick material wall was easy to flake because they mixed the dirt from the street in with the cement to cut costs. This had resulted in the concrete chipping off and looking horrible over a short period of time.
Uncle Mark had met with Concrete King Luciano on Tuesday and had got the recipe for a good wall concrete mixture that would stay strong and look nice. Luciano, William, Uncle Mark and a young man from the hall named Assis had already chipped about half of the cement off of one of the walls before I arrived. I grabbed a hammer and a chisel and got to work. Luciano was a machine! Dressed with his head wrapped in a towel that made him look like a Middle Eastern sheik, he hammered away at the wall with progress greater than the other four of us made with a combined effort.
We worked the afternoon away chipping at the material. Some was easy to take off and other bits were more difficult. Caroline and Aunt Lori were working in the cooperative and William had now become sick of the concrete dust getting in his eye. Luciano gave him the task of trying to level the dirt driveway with some of the concrete dust that had accumulated throughout the day. Neighborhood kids began to gather as they usually do in the Planalto, and William went into the street to join them. Uncle Mark returned from the hardware store with Luciano and told me that I had to take a look at William.
I made my way into the dusty street, where I saw a crowed of kids gathered around William and a lost young donkey that he had managed to lasso with a piece of rope he had found earlier that morning. They donkey was more than happy to pose for pictures and I even convinced the poor shaking animal that he could hold my massive bulk on its back. Herbson was quite worried about the donkey's safety and told me in Portuguese to get off it. I obliged the 13 year old boy and went back to my work. After bumping the power line with my pickax, the co-op lost power and Luciano, being the jack of all trades that he is, quickly went to work to repair the problem. The electrical system that operates the hall is one that someone in their first week of electrical school would be able to wire in their sleep.
At about 5:30 the sun was gone, everyone else was packing up to leave and I had the makings of a killer blister on my right hand. All of us piled in the car to leave and made the 30 minute drive back to the house on Lobster Road. We had planned a dune buggy ride up to Maracujau to snorkel the next morning. Usually the buggy's left at 9:00, but seeing we were going further north than usual and had to take the tides into consideration, it was picking us up at 7:00. This meant an early morning for an already tired Alex. Mark, Lori and the kids went to bed before 8:30, but I couldn't take part in that luxury. I still had a blog to write and I had told my dad I would try to talk to him that night. Because Friday night is softball in Saugus, a fact I had forgotten, and there is a one hour time difference he didn't get home till 11:00 my time. Our talk was cut short when my battery died, so I packed up the outside office and headed to bed.
It was the second day of the Saint Peter festival, and at exactly 12 midnight a party or concert of some type started in the soccer stadium behind our house. The chuva (rain) that we had experienced earlier in the evening had put an end to the loud and annoying fireworks that had become a normal routine rather than a special occasion. I prayed for good weather for the next day, and despite the ruckus of the nearby party I was able to fall asleep. Falling asleep hadn't been the issue. My problem was staying asleep...
William Working on the Wall Early in the Morning
Luciano, Uncle Mark and Assis Chipping Away
William Leveling the Driveway with Crushed Stone
I am Trying to Save Time By Taking a Pick-Ax to the Concrete
Uncle Mark and Luciano "The Sheik of Concrete"
William Has Lassoed a Young Donkey in the Planalto
William, You Can Lead a Donkey to Water, But You Can't Make Him Drink
Herbson Goes for A Ride
That's Either One Small Horse or One Big Jockey
The Old Navy Shirt that This Planalto Baby is Wearing Was One Distributed Earlier in the Year
2 comments:
ALEX WHY DON'T YOU LET THE DONKEY RIDE YOU!
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