Belem May 6 - May 12

May 8, 2008

8:55 AM

I have been waiting outside in the blistering heat since 8:25 for a ride. If there was ever a perfect target for a kidnapping in a foreign country, it is me. I have no idea who is picking me up. I have a name - no face. A total stranger could come up to me and say they are my ride and I would probably go with them. When my kids were little, we had a secret word in case a stranger had to pick them up. I am not so lucky...I didn't think ahead. :-)

But I always look for the Rotary pin. Valdir did such a great job with our schedule, he has our hosts names on the program. So if they don't have a pin and they want to take me somewhere, at least I can ask their name before running away.

This morning for breakfast (now I am just writing to pass the time and to look busy) I had guava juice, papaya, watermelon, yogurt.

9:02

How long do I wait by the gate? Did I miss my ride? Are they very late for a reason? Yo no se (I don't know in portuguese)

Some questions I thought of...(more passing the time)

Since there aren't any mortgages here, how much is rent?

What is the percentage of people who own versus people who rent?

If they buy a house outright, do they have any household bills other than utility bills?

How much are taxes? What do they pay for?

If they own a house, and the government owns subsoil, who owns the land the house sits on?

The weather is not too bad. Just like the shore in August at 2 PM in the middle of a parking lot. There is a nice breeze every once in a while though.

We got a ton of rain yesterday (while at the restaurant) and I am sure we are due for more this afternoon. Being in the rain forest, during a rain storm is quite refreshing. It is like taking a shower with your clothes on.

Claudia, my host, was telling me yesterday that she is a teacher in the public school in the morning. She teaches at the University at night. The public school teachers are on strike right now because of pay issues. They work a very long day for not a lot of money. Even though there is a strike going on, she goes to school every day because the children are showing up. If they don't go to school, they don't eat. So 5 teachers are taking care of 1000 kids. She breaks the picket line for the children. What a great person.

9:10

Baked potato mode now...I wish there was some shade. I feel like the witch in the wizard of oz. It is not a bucket of water that is melting me but my own sweat. A bucket of water would be nice. Or chuva - rain.

I am hoping my hosts are late because they are trying to find Dean and Mike, as their host arrived last night from Sao Paulo and he took them home from the Rotary Meeting.

9:45

Picked up.

It is just Dean and I with Rotarians Djalma and Ronald. (I will write more later as it is getting late and I am falling asleep) Tcahu.