work is different here. work is longer and more monotounous. it is not nicely divided up into different, entertaining sections throughout the day. it is the same thing 8-5(or 6, 7, or 8 depending on how much work needs to be done). yet, these brazilians remain happy, if not about the work, then about talking with each other. my mood began to fail me going on the 11th hour of sorting grapes. "megan, va a descansar" loiva told me, but i refused feeling too stubborn to give up and not wanting to rest while everyone else worked.
apparently it is also not uncommon to recieve deliveries of produce to your house very, very late at night. all cargos of fruit we have recieved here have been between 6 and 8 pm, when things are starting to cool down. when the cargo didn't arrive by 9 on saturday i figured that it would arrive the next day and took my long awaited shower. fast foreward five hours, i am blissfully sleeping, dreaming of, apparently, carrying crates of grapes from a truck into the vinicula. i can even here a rumbling motor, men talking, and the sound of heavy plastic crates hitting tile floors.
the next morning loiva asks if i heard the delivery last night. "delivery?" i ask. "yes, it came at two in the morning. oiii, i never sleep..."
there were shocking similarities between the grandparents of joão perdo and mine. i accompanied loiva to her parent's house in a nearby town. here we sat around the television in brightly colored lawn chairs (as opposed to recliners or couches), sipping çhimáro (erva maté) out of a wooden cup with a silver straw. instead of the livingroom where we would always gather with my grandparents, in brazil we sat in the sun room. both the sunroom and the livingroom are in close proximity to a window for spying on the comings and goings of the neighbors. much television was watched and the newpaper was read by every member of the group.
the beauty of not totally understanding everything that is being said is that sometimes you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. i realized this when loiva turned to me and said "i hope you brought a book, we're going to be here a while"- damn it, all i brought was my english portuguese dictonary. ricardo was on a business trip set to return late that night, to the house i thought; turns out he was meeting us at a casa dos pães.
the family was very nice, but i was feeling too shy to strike up a conversation. loiva never introduced us, and i believe for the majority of the evening they thought i didn't speak any portugese. so mostly i shared shy smiles and bashful looks with sr. and sra. parents of loiva.
the telenovela 'caminos do india' is over and im thinking it's time to go home. no movement. next up, another round of the news, okay. my mood started to sour and i became seriously unhappy when i realized that i would be there for the enirety of big brother brasil 2. and then some program about people and their pet dogs. and then, after loiva's mother almost shoved cookies and coca-cola down my troat, i fell asleep, head in my own lap. exausted, i had worked all day and it was way past my newly aquired 10pm bedtime. i am awoken at 1 am by ricardo arriving, a crying joão, i grunt in greeting to ricardo and zombie my way to the car. the entire ride back i curse my very grumpy existance.
the compound on which loiva's parents live is shared with two of the sons. they have a large piece of property with three houses on it and a large shared backyard. families are very close here in brasil, ricardo lives down the street from his parents and his 30 year old brother still lives at home. ricardo's mom comes over and watches joão every weekend and his dad helps out with all this grapey madness, i eat eggs from their chickens almost everyday. mom, don't get your hopes up, were not sharing a backyard...
leaving here soon! heading by bus to florianopolis, a beach infested island in the state of santa catarina. lots of european architecture, secluded beaches and surfers- i can't wait! next up, a trip to foz do iguaço, 3rd largest waterfall in the world. then, bussing it to brasilia, capital of brasil. catching a flight to belém capital of pará, a state in the amazon. from there meeting up with a friend of ricardo's and going to live and work on her farm. amazon, chocolate, brazil nut and guarana farm here i come. here's to eating açai everyday, hopefully.
i love you all, unless of course you don't love me, then the deal is off. until next time...
tchau!
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