Obrigada by: Kelly Muskat
I´m sure that at least fifteen other people will agree with me when I say that our flight(s) to Brazil were not easy. After 64 hours of travel, four canceled or delayed flights, and a cold night spent on or under the terminal benches of the Chicago O´Hare Airport, we were exhausted. To add insult to injury, our luggage was lost somewhere along the way, and by Wednesday morning many of us had been wearing the same clothes for four days. That
morning, running on about 2-4 hours of sleep, I could see the exhaustion in our eyes. And yet for all that trouble, one morning spent at the CECOIA school made it worth it. We were immediately greeted by everyone present. For the entire duration of our visit, there was not one minute when I did not feel actively welcomed. In addition to the children at CECOIA, we met several students from Notre Dame. The children at CECOIA performed a dance, gave a guitar performance, and sang for us. We also played soccer, ate food, and played games like musical chairs and potato spoon race.
(continued) At the end of our visit, one boy tapped me on the shoulder and promptly ran away, laughing. A few minutes later, he tapped me on the shoulder again and handed me a bright red candy before smiling
and running off again. As enticing as it looks, I won´t eat it. It will always be a reminder to me of the
me feel like family. Thank you very
kindness of a stranger, and of a day
much for taking the time and effort
spent amongst people who made
to open up your lives to us. You have inspired me to open up my own. []
Paroquia Santa Clara When we went to the Santa Clara Parish, I reallly wasn´t sure what to expect. It felt like one of the more spontatneous things we did, just walking up to someone´s house, accompanied by no adult other than
a
strange
teacher
I
couldn´t
understand. The barking dog on a chain in the front yard really didnt help to lessen my suspicion. But once we met the elderly woman and her two daughters, I began to relax. And even though we didn´t speak the same language, I could tell
from
their
appreciative
and
compassionate looks and gestures that they were ecstatic that we were there. They even served us some sickly sweet, bright pink Jello. I don´t even like Jello, but I enjoyed being there so much that I ate the whole thing. The experience was so unexpected, so out of context, and so
unlike anything else I´ve ever done. The
couches were very green, the Jello was very pink, and the people were very nice. []