Natal, Brazil 2007: The Notebook...

The familiar sound of the porcelain express leaving the station woke me out my few hour sleep at around 5:45 in the morning. The sight of a red eyed William exiting the bathroom confused me at first. He showered and dressed and was ready to head to the Planalto to work with his dad by 6:00 AM. He told me that his dad wanted him to get up at that time, but a conversation with Uncle Mark at the breakfast table at 7:30 proved that he specifically told William NOT to get up at 6:00. After they finished Breakfast the two of them headed off for a morning of work at the Planalto, while I prepared to leave for Boston the next day.

The doorbell rang, and two gentlemen had come to fix the gate. A few minutes later I looked out the back door to see Gisele, Adelmo, Dona Lucia and two pool filter repair people enter the back yard. One of the two was a woman whose sole job seemed to be to clutch a notebook in her hand and oversee the entire process. They spoke in Portuguese to Gisele and Adelmo, and Aunt Lori listened intently from the dining room table. Juarez (the other person) was not happy with this system that seemed as if it had been neglected for at least 5 years. Gisele informed him that he was correct with his assessment as "The Notebook" glared at the two landlords. It looked as if Adelmo couldn't see what the problem was, but that could be due to the fact that he was over 50% blind!

Two more repairmen showed up a few minutes later to repair the alarm system and Gisele made sure to spend time with each specialist. We were informed that the pool would be fixed the next day, which was annoying due to the fact that we had already scheduled to have the exact same work done to the pool the previous Saturday while we were on the dunes. Either Gisele or Adelmo had kindly turned the repairman away when he arrived for his appointment. The gate system was completely shot and was replaced entirely. The alarm technicians identified the problem and went on their way. There is also supposedly supposed to be someone coming to install the new fan in William's bedroom to replace the one that had burst into a ball of flames.

Mark and William returned for lunch and we informed them of the events of the morning, including the peculiar "Notebook". We talked for a bit and I told them I wanted to go to the Planalto that afternoon. It was stated that it would be difficult because Salomão was going and there was not enough room in the Gol for the six of us. We discussed the possibility of me returning to Brazil after Jillian's wedding in August, which is a distinct possibility, and then Mark, Lori and William left. Caroline and I stayed home with the intent to go shopping, but that never happened due to the perturbing afternoon I spent trying to restore my files. I managed to recover about 60% of them, including all of the ones I had removed from William's camera, which had been my primary concern.

Mark, William and Salomão went to work at the Planalto. They decided to move the front door to the center of the front wall, and get rid of some empty space that they had. This would now allow them to put a bench in the area that had turned into being a standing room only area for Gospel meeting. They chipped all the remaining concrete on the front and side walls of the church receiving help from Paulo, Eriberto and Dedo. William went about his routine of helping one minute and then playing with Herbson and some other kids the next. By the end of the day the entire exterior of the building had been chipped, and one of the three walls had been layered with fresh smooth coats of REAL concrete.

Aunt Lori had a productive afternoon by making the necessary stops that she had been trying to make for the past week. She and Lillia met with the wood professional to the south and are currently in the process of negotiating a price. She also contacted some people she had been trying to help, and took care of some responsibilities that she needed to take care of for works that have been going on in other states of Brazil. They all returned home at about 6:30, and we went about the normal routine of finding something small to eat for supper. William wanted me to make one more smoothie before I went home so I obliged and after many ingredients finally perfected the art of concocting a Brazilian smoothie, a very difficult task considering their dairy products. I have come to the conclusion that they slaughter all the cows they have for beef, and don't leave any for dairy, thus having to make due with what they have or import the boxed milk.

Salomão had told William that he could swim in his pool since ours was green, cloudy and only about a foot deep. Caroline and Aunt Lori went shopping, so William and I walked the mile to Salomão's house, bringing him back his bike. William swam in the pool and Salomão allowed him to jump off the abandoned fountain that was sticking about 10 feet in the air. The wise man then attempted to take a picture, but the lighting was bad. He had me prop up a light with a pole. I gave no thought that the pole was metal and I was standing in a puddle of water. After about three seconds of electricity shooting through my body, I let go of the metal part and wisely grasped the plastic bottom.

After about 45 minutes of swimming we left Salomão and his daughter Julia to go home. I said goodbye to them both and thanked them for everything they had done for me during my three weeks in Natal. William and I jogged half way home, until my foot started hurting from the straps on my sandal, my shoes were still drying. When we reached home I began the process of packing. I was trying to talk William into staying with me the next morning rather than going to the Planalto, and after telling him I would go to the beach for a little while he decided that he would stay with me. He fell asleep as I continued to pack and go about the tedious task of making sure I was ready to go. When I grew tired I went inside and stretched out on my mattress. For the first time since Saturday, I was asleep within minutes...