This morning I slept thru breakfast, my roommates showering and anything else that occurred prior to 9 AM. Shirley and Kimberly went to church as planned. Everyone else went to the beach with the exception of Mimi. I used the quiet time to get acclimated with my home the next two weeks.
Shadi, the last of the Lilly volunteers arrived this morning. He's a native of Lebanon currently residing in Dubai. Shadi and Marc have a few mutual friends but hadn't met prior to today. We were all asked to get to know each other, and to attend orientation at 3 PM today. Mimi, a retired nurse helped me to decipher my meds prescribed by the Turner travel clinic while I unpacked since I "declined" counseling from the pharmacist. Shortly after the beach crew returned, I chatted with them and persistently stalked Carol our Sunday cook as she prepared lunch in the kitchen. Kimberly saved me from using a zero calorie condiment as hand sanitizer. She laughed until she cried and warned me my mishap was going to make her blog. Marc, Tony and Luis joined the gym we each committed to attending the next two weeks. They checked out the classes I expressed interest in so I'll be signing up and working out with them tomorrow evening. Shirley, Kimberly, Ilona and I made a trip to the mall since a couple of them needed to exchange money. I'm not sure how this happened but I somehow wound up in a massive sporting store and returned home with Nike apparel.
Orientation began with history lessons about slavery in brazil, the Brazilian flag and the reason CCS is present in Salvador rather than Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo. The second half of orientation was spent reviewing each work assignment and preparing us for what we'll see tomorrow. My work assignment is at a Daycare for families that can't afford to pay for it. There are 50 children between 2 and 13. I was told there's very little structure in place and volunteers are the sole caretakers at this establishment. I was shown documentation that suggested we have 2-3 activities planned in advance. I'm hoping I dream up some ideas the way I solved computer algorithms in college during REM sleep. The next two weeks I'll spend 50% of my time at my work assignment, 25% on cultural activities and 25% free time.
I concluded the day walking along the beachfront with Ilona, Helene, Mimi, Sherri, and Xiao Feng. There were hundreds, maybe more than a thousand teenagers hanging out, skate boarding, roller blading and even saw a small group Krumping to explicit American hip hop. I walked too far so ended the evening icing and nursing an injury.
On our way to the beach we saw four teenagers being arrested with military grade weapons pointed at them while their hands were raised above their heads in the middle of a busy street. I made eye contact with one of them for a few seconds. I believe I saw regret in his eyes and he probably saw sadness in mine. I kept walking and didn't want to look back. I saw hundreds of smiling teenagers after but the look in his eyes is my most vivid memory from today.
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