So yesterday I posted about Odulum. Michael Jackson actually filmed a video at the very spot I took pictures. (Pelourinho). Regardless of whether or not you like him, the videos gives you a really good idea of what Salvador looks like. It shows the favelas (slums) (shown at the beginning of the video). These are the houses you see stack on top of each other where the clothes hang outside etc. These are the areas where we are spending our volunteer time at.
The last couple days at my placement we have left right after the kids eat lunch. One of the interesting seasonings they eat is called farofa (manioc flour). It comes from manioc root. The children get a bowl with some rice and beans and then farofa on top of it. If we have not put the farofa on it, they will let it set in front of them and ask Farofa! Farofa! Here is a before and after picture. The second picture is what they put on their food.
And last but not least! A group pic!
From left to right: Olivia (from Ireland), Belinda (from England), Carlos (from Puerto Rico), Me, Denai (from Indy), Jess (from Indy), Manuel (originally from Spain now in Indy) and Scott (from Indy)
Placement:
My apologies for not blogging the last two days. Time flies here b/c there is so much going on. If we arent at our volunteer placement we are learning something about the culture or studying our Portuguese. I am also going to apologize up front for my wrong punctuation. The keyboards are different here and dont have the same keys. IE: aren~t, don~t, can~t should all have apostrophes.
So today was my third day at placement. We had a feedback session after lunch today. Here was my feedback:
Number one challenge is not communication with the kiddos, but with the instructor. Because I am only here two weeks, I didnt want to interfere with how she runs the room and I am having trouble asking if I can get the children do to something. I was/am totally wrong in this thinking; according to Vinny, we are not interfering by bringing in `lessons`. They actually take the ideas we have and use them once we leave. I am working with Mari in a classroom of 18. Prior to coming I thought two things: 1. 18 kids aren~t too bad (THEY ARE 2). 2. We only are at placement for 4 hours a day? Let me just tell you this, CCS has been doing this a long time and they know what they are doing when they place you and for the amount of time they place you. 4 hours a day with two year olds can exhaust anyone out especially when you throw in the language barrier. I do however understand why they need volunteers year round. There just flat out isnt enough hands to go around. These kids need love, hugs, some sort of structure and just attention. One of the challenges I think short term volunteers have is feeling that they arent contributing because we are here for such a short amount of time. NOT TRUE. I asked Vinny what Mari has said about me being there (feedback feedback feedback) and he said that she looked at him and just said, thank you thank you` and `you arent going to leave me without a volunteer right? Overall, I would say that Im forsure out of my comfort zone, but staying patient is key.
To me, the second most important thing they need besides extra hands is the tools to learn. This afternoon when I got back, I got very emotional about not being able to find books to read to them. Books are the key to learning. I looked all over the classroom and there were about three books. They didn~t correlate though with the age range. Even though they didnt correlate, I thought well, lets read anyway. They ran over and just circled around me and were THRILLED to see what was in the book and where trying to point out what stuff was in it. IE: elephant, monkey I was thinking about where I live and the amount of books that are available to kids and not just books, but leap frog, interactive learning etc.As far as toys go, there is a basket with random toys. You might find thre or four random leggos, a head to a doll, a large piece of plastic that came from some sort of playset at one point. This allowed me to see the IMAGINATION the children have. I ate a lot of imaginary food today! My tummy was FULLL!
As an educator here, you have to be extremely creative and use what resources you have. So tonight Im going to use a magazine and cut out categories of stuff like colors, parts of the body, transportation, numbers and paste them to paper. Although I cant leave what I bring (due to CCS rules which are in the best interest of the children), hopefully it will give Mari and idea of something she can do. Ive pretty much planned out the next several days so that things can go as smoothly as possible. The more group activities we involve the kids in, the better the day goes. I think this is a universal concept! =-)
Macarena what?:
Two nights ago we had Capoeria lessons at the house. You might be wondering what Capoeria is. Our pictures do it NO justice. My video isnt loading, so I will have to share when get back to Texas! Capoeria is a type of dancing/fighting. When slaves where brought over from Africa, they practiced fighting, but made it look like dancing so that their owners did not know what they were doing. When they practiced they would `duck` so they didnt actually kick each other, but then when really fighting they would follow through. Its pretty intersting stuff!
Pelourinho:
Yesterday afternoon/evening we got a tour of the Pelourinho. This is where the orginally city of Salvador was at. It was enclosed by a wall all the way around and had a north and south entrance. Today is consists of the upper and lower city. This is a picture of the lower portion. Pelourinho stands for pole. A pole stood at one end of the city and they would sadly tie slaves to the pole and beat them.....
On Tuesday nights the Pelo turns into a different place! This is the night that people in Salvador go out and listen the drums play and dance until late into the night. We only stayed until about 10:00. The story behind is the night life on Tuesdays is that a group of drummers called Olodum, they used to go out in the streets and play music to sell their albums. It grew into a community wide event. Now, on Tuesday nights, you can find the Pelo filled with people and goups of people playing drums everywhere. IT IS AWESOME!!!
This was one of the groups we saw last night. I have video that I will have upload later!
This is a youtube video of Olodum from youtube. This is what you will find at the Pelho on Tuesday nights!(kind of small, sorry!)
This is a church that has over 500 kilos of gold. A rosary was taking place when I took this picture! All that you see is GOLD!
Although Catholic is the main religion here (they have 365 churches alone in Salvador, and I thought Keller had a lot of churches!) Candomble is a also a type of religion that is practiced here. There are eight different God and to find out which God protects you, you roll shells. Below is a picture of the main food for each God. If you see the third picture it is popcorn. When we were standing there as a group I said, `Bryan worships that God!` hehehe...everyone laughed! Love you babe!
Below is a picture of their `Pepper`. They truly only have salt (not that ANY additional is needed in the food!)on the table. If you want pepper, this is what you use! Cammie, I promie this would even be too hot for you to load on your food! lol
Tchau for now!
I really miss my family and friends back home! Love you!
This is a picture that came about after a deep discussion around what each of us do. When we first met we gave our "titles", but then after talking a little more we put the puzzle together on how we each are involved in a different part of getting the right product to the right patient.
From left to right we have Scott and Manuel who are mad scientists in the lab =-), Denai is a statistician that supports health outcomes, Carlos who manages a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico and then ME! I work face to face with the docs!
Discussing what each of us do and the passion we each have in our roles is awesome! I have a new appreciation for what others do to get the right products to patients!
There is so much more behind a TITLE, ask someone to really explain their role to you within the next week! You might be surprised!
Boa notie,
Today I am thinking of my mom, mother and law and all the amazing mom and grandmas out there! Today is your day and thank you for the support and guidance you have given to many of us over the years! If it wasn't for my mom I probably would not be sitting here in this Internet cafe writing you from Salvador today. She is the reason I have been blessed with so many amazing things in my life and made the sacrifices she did to make sure both my brother and I and grew up with solid foundation. She made sure we did everything with integrity and to our fullest potential! Love you mom!
This morning we had our orientation where we went through our volunteer packet placements and discussed out loud more about where we would be. The education center I am at is there to support children whose families are the poorest of the poor. I was looking over the schedule of daily activities and twice they change clothes during their time and we even bath them at the center; this is not a normal routine event at their home. In America we are not thinking about if we are or not going to bath our children but more often which parent is going to do it that night and which cute pjs are we going to put them in once they are all clean? Big difference. We also began going through common phrases that are spoken here and specifically in our volunteer placement areas. I have so much respect for those that learn another language other than that of their native country. Many people here speak no English at all. I took this for granted, as many of the places I have been that are NOT predominately American, majority of the populations learns and speaks English. I´m on Brazilian playing field now and I am trying so hard to make sure I show patience in trying to communicate.
I have tried twice now to load a video of where I´m staying, but having trouble. I´ll keep trying! In the meantime here are some other photos!
I´ve seen multiple areas like this where there is a big fence all the way around a field in the middle of busy roads.
By the beach
A CHOCOLATE DIET.....WOW...if only this was possible!
This is Vinnie. He is our house Director. We were introducing ourselves, I said I was from Fort Worth, Texas....he said "O, I had someone from Texas come and he gave me this!" (and then he proceded to lasso Ronnie) I told him," yes, Vinnie, we all carry lassos with us wherever we go in Texas."
Make sure to give your mom a hug and kiss for Mother´s Day!
Well I have arrived! Plane ride went really well and I have had the opportunity to meet most of my "housemate". Everyone is so nice and shows the same enthusiasm that I do. Ronnie, Leigh and Cindy were here before we arrived. They are doing 9-12 week trips. Leigh first went to Cape Town with CCS and then came to Salvador and Ronnie is leaving today to make his next 12 weeks stay in Guatemala. So cool!
My first reactions are WOW....this city has so much history, culture, different types of people, different types of food, the list goes on and on. When we got in the van to go from the airport to home base the first thing we saw were slums, known as favelas. They are stacked high up on a hills and most windows were open with laundry hanging to dry. There are bars on all the windows and around buildings here safety and it is sometime hard to tell when you are going from a "rough" part of town to a "good" part of town. Again, where we are staying is known as Garca. (I spelled it wrong in my last post). Right by home base we have a bank across the street and believe or not, there is actually a Subway and McDonalds here. I'm going to stay away from those, I've got enough of that back home in the states! =-)
I did take a long hot walk around town and down to the beach. (The humidity is worse than Houston and there are no air conditions here) To get down there it is about a 15-20 min walk downhill and to get back a 20-30 minute uphill hike! lol We all went together to a the north end of the beach where a line of "bars" are. It reminds me of a Brazil version of Broadway in Lubbock, McKinney Ave in Dallas or Broad Ripple if your from Indy. My point is, there is a line of little windows that each represent a different "bar/restaurant." Kind of interesting.
Getting around town is pretty easy. We wither walk or take a cab. Most of the locals use the bus system. When we passed by various bus stops there were upwards of 80 people around the stops. The buses all have open windows for air. Reminder: no air condition here. Because they don't have air conditioners you will see shutters on a lot of the building so that in the summer time (this is not summertime for them) they can "shut out" the sun to keep cool.
More to come tomorrow!
Boa noite,
Nicki
City and Beach View
This is Vinnie's car. Brazilian's that have cars typically have one that is small that looks like this. He is getting it ready to sell b/c he said he doesn't really need it. He said it costs 25,000 reias (pronounced heyis). This is approximately $15,000.
I've read books, I've made a packing list, I've checked it not twice but like 40 times, I've made a photo book of my family and friends to bring, I've done as much as I think I can to prepare.
For some reason I fee exhausted right now. I think it's all the emotions stirring up in me. Flying isn't my favorite thing in the world and I'm about to be in the air for nearly 12 hours. I know people travel international all the time. But, Nicki Turnbow doesn't. The exhaustion also come from saying "bye" to my husband this morning; I broke down. After he left, I texted him and said, "I always realize how much I love you when I have to leave you." We all tell our spouses/significant others we love them, but probably more out of routine on a daily basis because that is what you are used to doing (I'll speak for myself I guess). But, then when you have to be apart, for me anyway, it reaffirms the feelings I have.
Anyway, overall, two weeks isn't long, but being in a different place, with people you don't know, and with out your normal "routine" (I'm a routine girl) it can make you home sick. While I'm more of a homebody, I think that this is going to be such a phenomenal adventure and will allow me to experience another culture, and means of living. So don't get me wrong, I can't wait to explore, learn, teach, and grow over these next two weeks!
I had planned on bringing my computer, but last night I decided to leave it at home. No worries though, there is an internet cafe about 15-20 walk from out home base. I'm going to try really hard to share with yall at least every other day. Plus, I want to submerge myself in the culture. I think it is going to be nice walking to and from the cafe (with a buddy obviously).
Centro De Educacao Infantil Santa Teresa De LisieuX-Saint Therese of Lisiseuc Eduation Center (That's a mouthful!)
So the official name of my placement is above, in other words, I will be at a community educational organization teaching children, assisting teachers and teaching English.
The center was founded in May 1980 and gives attendtion to children and their families by providing Education, Social Assistance and Spirituality in a holistic view. Upper-middles class ladies and couple from Salvador supply the funds to help this organization run. There are a total of 85 children and 5 teachers.
My activities will include:
Assist teachers by caring for the children and organizing learning activities
Play games with children
Assist the staff with educational programming, including teaching, entertaining activities and creating new ways for children to learn
Organize and develop learning activities for the students according to what is being given in class
Provide individual attention to the children
Teach basic for kids
Organize and develop arts and crafts projects
I could not be more excited. The challenging part of the placement is that the 3 head organizers of the center on a scale of 1-5 in English proficiency are a 1 and 2. And my Brazil-Portuguese proficiency is probably lower than that. While we may not speak out loud the same language, I'm sure there will be multiple ways in which we will be able to translate to one another.
Next steps: I think I'm going to go to a local Half Price Books and see what I can find. Children's stories, flashcards etc. that will help teach ABCs, numbers, family, body parts, food, animals, greetings, etc. If you have any great ideas, let me know! I'm all ears.
