"Oi! Tudu bang?" (Hi! Everything good?) the words we were greeted with each morning as we arrived at the children's home, usually accompanied with big hugs despite little arms. For three weeks we were surrounded by beautiful children with whom we shared lots of laughter and love, despite our inability to speak Portuguese. They were a hoot! Plus, our dear friend Tiffany came along for the Brazilian portion of our adventure, and she was just a treat to have around.
We split our time between the boys' and girls' sites; each was fun in it's own way. We were given the project of painting the boys' homes. The boys started out watching us and keeping us company, but were so eager to help that we turned the task over to them, one boy after another, until there weren't enough paint brushes for us. Thus, our role became monitoring the scene: washing paint drips off the wall before they dried, turning a puddle of spilt paint into a soccer ball and washing paint out of the boys' hair. All that said, it was so fun to watch them focus intently the job they had been given, and show it off proudly every few minutes. We took breaks to eat oranges that they had picked from the trees for us, or to sing along with them to Justin Beiber.
Our time at the girls site was split between baking cookies, playing voleyball, tye-dying shirts and painting nails. We even got to treat them to a salon day, using a hair washing sink that the local hair stylist donated. We shampooed and braided 25 beautiful heads of hair. Mondy and Wednesday nights the boys and girls came together to play 2 games of soccer. The first was for the younger kids, the only ones we were qualified to play with. It was fun to cheer and watch the second game, but they would have run circles around us, because by age 10, a Brazilian can school almost anyone at soccer.
It's safe to say that the kids stole our hearts and every minute spent with them was packed with fun, even if a lot of it was at our expense. Our time outside the home was spent with our wonderful hosts Randy and Carla. We were constantly impressed and inspired by their love for the children and the time and energy they pour into the home. If you're looking for a cause to support, Home of the Good Shepherd is a great one to look into. Carla, one of the warmest and most hilarious people we've encountered, never failed to provide us with entertainment and laughter. She also provided is with jars of salsa and the closest thing to a DQ Blizzard outside America--two things we've been craving for months.
On our way out of Brazil we spent two amazing days at Iguazu Falls, a place that cannot be done justice with words. Not only did we get to admire the expansive falls from afar, we were soaked by the cascading water as sped under it in a boat--so incredible!! This was followed by a day in Rio de Janeiro, where passed the moring at the beach and summited Sugar Loaf Mountain by cable car in the afternon. We bid Tiff farewell at the airport, before having the privilege of sleeping there (one of the things we certainly won't miss about budget traveling). En route to our final destination...how crazy is that?! and just like that, we are back on the home continent. PS. Pictures to come later...maybe.
We split our time between the boys' and girls' sites; each was fun in it's own way. We were given the project of painting the boys' homes. The boys started out watching us and keeping us company, but were so eager to help that we turned the task over to them, one boy after another, until there weren't enough paint brushes for us. Thus, our role became monitoring the scene: washing paint drips off the wall before they dried, turning a puddle of spilt paint into a soccer ball and washing paint out of the boys' hair. All that said, it was so fun to watch them focus intently the job they had been given, and show it off proudly every few minutes. We took breaks to eat oranges that they had picked from the trees for us, or to sing along with them to Justin Beiber.
Our time at the girls site was split between baking cookies, playing voleyball, tye-dying shirts and painting nails. We even got to treat them to a salon day, using a hair washing sink that the local hair stylist donated. We shampooed and braided 25 beautiful heads of hair. Mondy and Wednesday nights the boys and girls came together to play 2 games of soccer. The first was for the younger kids, the only ones we were qualified to play with. It was fun to cheer and watch the second game, but they would have run circles around us, because by age 10, a Brazilian can school almost anyone at soccer.
It's safe to say that the kids stole our hearts and every minute spent with them was packed with fun, even if a lot of it was at our expense. Our time outside the home was spent with our wonderful hosts Randy and Carla. We were constantly impressed and inspired by their love for the children and the time and energy they pour into the home. If you're looking for a cause to support, Home of the Good Shepherd is a great one to look into. Carla, one of the warmest and most hilarious people we've encountered, never failed to provide us with entertainment and laughter. She also provided is with jars of salsa and the closest thing to a DQ Blizzard outside America--two things we've been craving for months.
On our way out of Brazil we spent two amazing days at Iguazu Falls, a place that cannot be done justice with words. Not only did we get to admire the expansive falls from afar, we were soaked by the cascading water as sped under it in a boat--so incredible!! This was followed by a day in Rio de Janeiro, where passed the moring at the beach and summited Sugar Loaf Mountain by cable car in the afternon. We bid Tiff farewell at the airport, before having the privilege of sleeping there (one of the things we certainly won't miss about budget traveling). En route to our final destination...how crazy is that?! and just like that, we are back on the home continent. PS. Pictures to come later...maybe.
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