Hotter than blazes!

Whew!

Bone weary. Dogs barking and cats meowing outdoors, people shuffling in and out last night, read too late and got up late (7:45am) Dario came into the room to use the phone. He called out “Paula, tem alguem na telephone pra ti” (I thought that is what he was saying) so I got up and went into the kitchen, asking “Cade o telephone?” he came into the bedroom to show me the cell plugged-in on the dresser…I was so confused! What he was asking me was “Can I come into the room to make a phone call?” Gads! It was 6:30am and he called the client to tell him he couldn’t catch the chickens this morning and could he wait until tonight when they were sleeping? Guess they are selling 150 chickens to reduce their stock. He and Tom went ‘round and ‘round the cages trying to capture all of them. I suppose they weren’t cooperating. Yes, probably being hauled away to be killed and eaten. Yikes!

I tore the plastic off of nearly four rows of squash, eggplant and other plants vines I didn’t recognize. The edges were tucked under the tall grass, weeds and dirt. Luckily I had my trusty big rubber boots from my friend, Nettie and some gardening gloves since it was tough-going. As Dario and Tom were leaving for town, he called over his shoulder “Are you going to be alright alone? There may be snakes in the grasses between the rows..if you need anything, the neighbor has a truck and can take you to the hospital!” So funny…sure I’m alright. The only thing I encountered was a pile of army ants that I left alone and worked on the opposite end of the row. Could only work for 3.5 hours in the intense sun. Sweating pra carrumba! Drank about a gallon of water and sat in the shade a few times to get relief. Of course, I put on gobs of sunscreen. Tomorrow I will wake up and “get to it” earlier. I joked with Dario “I am sweating so I have to quit, I am a weak woman and cannot take the toil.” I am able to joke a bit in Portuguese now so that is fun.

Have some great pics but cannot figure out how to sync this Ipod with my laptop…ugh!

The four boys on the farm are one cuter than the next. They squealed when they got their Vikings/Badger/US Soccer Championship t-shirts. The Twix candy I bought was a bit warped from the heat of the cargo area but still edible. The mom cares for the four hundred plus chickens and I will shadow her so she can take a week off when I figure out how to wrestle the eggs from the “girls.” They get special feed with vitamins and corn, looks like millet and sand mixture…the stolen eggs get washed, sorted and packaged with a sticker on the top of a plastic container. Most customers recycle the box…yeah! They get between R$2.50-R$4.50 per dozen depending upon who is buying the organic eggs. The dollar is about half of that in value.

Marco just showed me a HUGE toad they found on the verandah. Preta, the scruffy black dog came to the office with me. I so love the companionship of the dogs.

Washed my t-shirts, etc in the scrubbing tub out back this morning and hung them on the line. My bright colors are unusual here, I forgot in my haste to pack. My underwear is also much bigger than the other women here…oh well.

Until tomorrow!