The good and the interesting

The bench I use at the park next to the Itaú buildings and the leaning tree from my earlier post, except that this is the real tree the post was based on.
Life is immeasurably good! Sure, my finances are a challenge and Jurgis is eating me out of house and home *laugh* But... Life is so good!

As I sit here back in the little park outside Itaú, I look at the cool damp of mossy tree trunks and wet soil. A half-inch long ant passes my foot on its way somewhere important. A light breeze stirs the palm fronds to the beat of the song playing in my ears.

A random stranger just walked up and asked me where I live. I answered that I live on the other end of the city. "Are you American?" he asked. Apparently, I look foreign : )

......
The song that's been playing in my head for the past few days.
It's impossible Not to grin and want to dance in dizzy circles while listening to it.

Every day, without consciously looking for it, my faith in humanity is being reaffirmed. Wow! There are awesome people out there! Even bureaucrats! Yes, I was dumbstruck too. It's an entirely new experience for me to have a South African official  be kind and accommodating to an expat and to process a document on a same day basis. If that wasn't enough, the document has more info than I originally expected! That a friend bent over backwards to make it work comes as no surprise. I choose my friends well. Even so, I'm so, so grateful!! Thanks Marianne. Have I told you you're a star? : )  I'm now, once again, the proud owner of a drivers licence!! *huge grins*

I finally finished the project for el scrawny one. I'm fairly chuffed with the way it's turned out. Now to finish my other projects for other random scrawnies (and even not-so-scrawnies *laugh*). We packed up two large boxes for donation and burned a box-full of old paperwork. The clearing out process is slow, but we're getting there.

The rain continues. Daily storms and lots of water. We discovered that the water is coming *through* the front door. No, not because it's open, but through it! That is aside from the various other leaks and seepages. (Today is Saturday and the sun shone for a while. Everyone is on their rooftops attempting drastic repairs. The neighbour is complaining that the plaster has fallen off their soggy walls.) Brazilian houses aren't known for their water-tightness.

Then along comes the neighbour with a reality check. He's the guy living in the other house on this property. 11pm the phone rings. Jurgis has been in the land of nod for the past two hours, but the neighbour urgently needs to speak to him. I woke the bear up... The emergency that required an 11pm call from his door no more than 10 metres away? "Could I borrow some milk please?" Eish!

I win!

Today I won the lottery. Can you see it?


Actually, it was just that the weather was good - slightly overcast, but still clear, with a promise of rain. Then finding myself a patch of actual real live GRASS to sit on! Most places here don't allow you near the grass, but I saw someone sitting on the grass and rushed over to grab my share.

I got a call from an old student this morning. "Teacher, I'd like to have class again." I got the feeling he had spent some time practising the request. When I last taught him, I was ill-equipped to teach someone that basic. It'll go better this time.

The wind is picking up now. The two old duckies have gotten up, not stopping their deep discussion. The girl sitting on her towel at the other end of my green patch is still reciting. At first, I thought she was talking to herself, but it seems she's reciting lines of some sort. Maybe she's a famous actress I don't know about? Or maybe she is just talking to herself. There are less baby walkers now. The last lot was when they wheeled grandpa and junior side by side - two very different chairs. There's a pretty little black bird hovering. He won't tell me his name. And yes, I did ask.


Speaking of birds, they have a tree here with 'birds' hanging in it. Stands to wonder that this was the only tree without any real birds. What were they thinking?

Ok, clouds are pulling over in earnest now. I'll leave the grass to the birds and ants and head into the overpriced shopping centre. Dang little hooligan... we have close to 100% humidity today and he felt the need to activate the humidifier - a gadget that pumps out mist for when São Paulo goes into dry mode.

Later... (the above was copied from my notebook I carry around)

Before leaving, I walked around the park a little. Some people's idea of art truly makes me scratch my head. I found this furniture 'graveyard' - at least, that's what I assume it was meant to be. There were no helpful signs.


A somewhat more 'artistic' display (though still head-scratch worthy), was the one with the books in the water. Odd indeed!




A close-up of the books... an art book, a music book and a hand-written book.
Some friendly dinosaur came along and left some art too....



At the shopping centre, a woman collects her beribboned pom-pom. As they leave, little froufrou is 'watering' the pavement. 'Mom' froufrou blew me away when she bent down each time to wipe little froufrou's bum. Now I love dogs and babies and baby dogs, but...


Photo shamelessly pilfered from the net
Pampered has new meaning here. I mean, in the pet shop and pooch parlour inside, they sold things like Chownel No. 5 - a fluffy toy for pampered pooch in question - Cost? R$154!! That's about US$90. They had some other big names there too, like Yves St Laurent. A canopied bed? Diamond-studded collars (praying those were just glass... didn't have the courage to check the price tag).

Further along into my day found me at another end of the same neighbourhood with a different type of 'art'. This bus never moves from there and the girl making and selling jewellery is also a fixture.


I went home in heavy rain just a couple of hours after this last photo. The water in our street was up over my ankles and it smelled really bad. I think the sewer, that the people here call a river, had overflowed. It was a case of 'strip off at the door and walk straight into the shower'. All clothes and shoes went straight off to be washed.

The next night's class had me walking along a stretch that had some new artwork, graffiti of a more pleasing sort...


It was a good excuse to see what the cell phone could do after dark : )

Good morning sunshine

The little girl climbs the stairs, her dark curls spilling from under the hood of her jacket, her fluffy teddy clutched up to her chubby little cheek. Memories gripped my heart... and squeezed.

In the park, the sun's first rays filter through the trees and mist, lightly warming my shoulders. I greet the trees and smile at the fragrant blossoms, their heady scent obliterating the smell of the nearby road. The two old blue gums stand like sentinals on my path. The sun radiates off their white trunks turning them into majestic pillars of light in the cool dark of the park.

The old man comes along and has his usual cheerful unintelligible conversation with me. I nod, smile, agree and eventually he moves on to the fallen tree to do his morning stretches.

A bird flies down among the filtered rays of the sun. I feel as though I've received some sort of sacred blessing. Someone stops to take a photo. I'm not in the least surprised.

Time to go, to start my day ~ renewed, refreshed at the end of the week.

The leaning tree

Fallen,
yet strong

Needing support,
yet giving wisdom

Injured,
yet giving life

Careworn,
yet giving peace


On Friday mornings I teach at a renowned bank. Next to the bank is a little park with some old trees, perhaps not ancient, but old enough to have seen a thing or two of this life. I like to get to my student early, so that I can sit for a few minutes just drinking in the peace and coolness of the park. The very air feels and smells different in there. It's quite with just a few folk walking with their partners, their dogs, or just enjoying the place alone the way I do. I walk up to the old tree and touch it just to feel the peaceful energy. It seems to tell me to relax and breathe. I see the tiny shoot growing out of its thick trunk. There is always hope.

I leave the park renewed, ready for another day where little can get me down.