I was dressed early enough that I had time for breakfast. Today was the first day this week I wasn't running downstairs for the van at 8:02. It was HOOOOT here today so all of us were a bit sluggish. The younger kids at the orphanage got me going. The other volunteers spend hours each night putting presentations together and coming up with activities. I grabbed some UNO cards on my way out the door and practiced numeros with the youngsters. We had a good time and I learned the proper pronunciation of 0 - 9.
The teenagers and I picked our musical language lessons back up. I've been talking to the CCS program directors about making this a more structured activity that future volunteers can continue. They're going to talk to the directors of the orphanage tomorrow to see if they're on board. We translated "Hello" by: Adele and "Broken-Hearted Girl" by: Beyonce. Translating these songs is extremely challenging, especially since songs contain lyrics with slang and improper English such as "ain't." I feel like I'm playing Charades most of the time. But it's all worth it when I hear the teenagers sing the chorus in English after they understand the meaning of the song.
We had another history lesson with Professor Fred and our first Samba lesson with Maristela. After dinner we went out with Justin since tomorrow is his last day with CCS. He told us he had culture shock when he arrived 3 months ago and he's going to have culture shock again when he returns home. He's been sad and we wanted to cheer him up. I convinced everyone to ride the motorized animals in the mall.
Justin wanted to end the evening at the beach for a night swim and I joined him at the shore to feel the water between my toes. There was a group of guys playing soccer and group of ladies playing dodge ball on the beach. That moment made my think of friends at home...
Tomorrow afternoon we're going to be participating in a workshop at TV Pelourinho.

We all decided to go to Morro de Sao Paulo this weekend. I'm looking forward to relaxing long enough to truly take in the beauty surrounding me.
Here are more photos from this week compliments of my fellow volunteers...
I end each day blogging from my top bunk, in the dark, with headphones listening to the songs I translated with the teenagers (I stay up later than my roommates). Tonight, my friends and family are on my mind. Boa Noite loved ones!
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