Road less Travelled By

There was a road in the center of Terra Vermelha that led to a world of question. When I began this blog, I was thinking of writing of fantastical things that never occurred, magical things that the beauty of Brazil would inspire me to create in my mind. But Brazil did not require my creativity. I took that road, man. I rode the bicycle in the rain on it, I climbed it up a mountain I walked into a waterfall, took fruits from the Jabichucaba tree, told vulgar jokes and never got tired of caipirinhas. And it was magical. I want to ask you because I do not yet know the answer, who will I be when I get back? What will I do with all of the love that I have grown? The truth is that the road is in my mind, I do not only take it-I made it. I got my chucks filthy with the red dirt of the earth and I breathed new life into me. I do not see the world the same, but does it see me the same?

I am on the plane. The next ten days I will be in Santarem, the Amazon, with Caleb finishing off our course in the one place I have wanted to be since I was literally 8 years old. I never slept during naptime in P.S. 87, mommy. I’d crawl into our little play area with the bookshelf and look through all the books until I found Brazil. The city girl had never seen anything greener. My eyes were bright with desire. I am here, 12 years older. Dreams do come true. It was not a dream and it was not magic. I am here. By the shores of the Amazon, I will be remembering the best time I have had in my life. Ten days to bridge the gap in between here and there. In my heart is my family in Brazil and on the other side there is staying up late with you daddy and watching family guy. There was boating across the port to class with my little political activist, Tiago and there is driving listening to Jack Johnson with Chris. There’s apple picking in the fall with the people I love most and there’s singing old school Reggae with Jardel in the condominium. Night and Day, Day and Night have been redefined. I am in a different skin and my heart has been stretched across the atlantic. It isn’t fair to them, to you guys or to me that I cannot be in all of these places at the same time. I always joke with Fernando about how funny it is I can’t really express deep things in Portuguese cause of the limit of the language. The last thing I told him before I left was that my heart was hurting. I am a child again.

Paulo, I have been born again in the Amazon singing 5 million different languages.