10/7

WE got into the bus today having no idea where we were going, only knowing that we were going to visit a family which lived on the Sertao. Upon arriving, we met Ivan and Paulo, two brothers who ran the farm along with their 60+ year old father Jose(Portuguese for Joseph ;)  I observed Jose for just a couple minutes(how he moved, his attitude) and could literally see the menino(young boy) he was about 50 years ago. It was really interesting to see people who had been given so little be so happy and optimistic about their circumstances. The Sertao right now is going through one of the worst droughts within the last 30 years. When we asked Ivan about the drought, he said that concentrate on their work and use what they have to upkeep the farm. He told that sometimes they don’t even know that they’re in a drought because they’ve learned to adapt to it by using water sparingly and being resourceful. We visited another family which primarily made rapadura, or blocks of sugar. We got to eat a lot of fruit which they grew. Both families were  extremely happy and we learned a lot from them. What a great day in the Sertao!!!