Today was a great beach day - the weather was beautiful! About 12 of us went to the beach at Porto de Barra. It's pretty funny here what happens when you get on the beach. We were practically mobbed by people wanting to rent us umbrellas, sell us beach towels or sarongs, get us drinks, sell us food or jewelry or just about anything else you might want at the beach. Anyway, it was nice to spend time in the sun...
Things at my volunteer placement are going well. It seems like we learn something new every time we go. Today we spend time with a women’s' group making pillows that they sell. Have I mentioned that I am not that great at sewing by hand? I'm sure it was amusing... after that we taught English to two teenagers and two ladies from the women’s group. It was fun. We weren't sure what to teach them because they have already learned some English... they need to practice it more though.... I mentioned to the girl I teach English with that it is hard to imagine that the people there that we work with live in the conditions they do. We have to drive through their neighborhood to get to the community center and the conditions are not that great. I’ve seen pictures of favelas before but it is different to really drive through them and meet people who live there everyday.
Tomorrow we will be working with children ages 8-12 helping to teach English and computer classes… another day and lots to learn…..