August 17, 2009
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yesterday
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Monday I bought my bike, at the entrance of Paudalho, and I rode it home, discovering that cobblestones are not so friendly. Tuesday I was voted the shyest person in our 100 plus college class. Wednesday I fell and twisted my ankle. Thursday I finished all my lesson plans for next week and felt very accomplished. Friday I taught music class and helped some students sing the proper note for the first time in their lives. Saturday I washed the dishes and then washed them over again because it is not about doing great things, but doing little things with great love…as Mother Teresa said much better than I.
Sunday I went for a bike ride through town and then through the middle of nowhere. I passed the man walking his goat, and the girl walking her dog. It was the first time I had seen someone walking their dog, and it was the first time I had seen a happy dog. The rest of the straggly mutts I see don’t look at you. They are more like cats. i followed roads that ended and some that curved and went straight up. Riding a bike in Brasil is not the same as in the US. My old fashioned red bike with the basket on the front bounces over the cobblestones and leaves blisters on my hands. Some of the lombadas (speed bumps) are so disfigured that even at my slow pace my book bounces out of my basket and I reach out to catch it. I stop for a coconut, for the 9:20am sun is as hot as noon and I am glad I remembered sunscreen. The man wipes off his machete and chops the top of the coconut for me, juice splashing over as I put a straw in, and sit on the curb. Full and refreshed, I found a dirt road that offers smoother sailing, and winds me through sugar cane fields and railroad tracks. Uphill is hard work, but downhill is frightening. My old fashioned breaks only diminish the speed slightly, and as the road turns muddy, I hope to God I can keep in the rut made by the previous bike and not fall into the sloshing mud pits on either side of me. The sky is blue blue above me, and the dirt/mud red red below me. The wind pushes me forward, and I am sure this day is wonderful.
