Day 7: Art for Art's Sake

Day 7: Art for Art’s Sake

Cristina and I did a fantastic job at catching the bus; we only were 1 stop away from the actual place we were supposed to stop. That was a win for us.

We did not do much this day in class; we spoke about the jeitinho again, which is the Brazilian way of cutting through corners.

The best thing ever happened. We went to one of the poorer communities, named Peixinhos, which means little fish in Portuguese, which is outside the city of Recife itself. We met up with a guy named CCJ, who is an amazing leader in his community. He runs an organization where he takes children and adults who have an interest in the arts and helps them develop their talents in order to keep children off the streets, and educate them in the importance of recycling.

The people were humble, and sweet, and amazing, and their stories were so sad. One boy, about the age of 21, said that he was so poor, that he used to borrow his neighbors left over materials, to make homemade kits in his house. He would then sell them on the beach to support him and his wife, because all their family lives in Sao Paulo. Because of the program, he does not have to sell kits anymore because his interests have now turned to the arts.

There was a boy with beautiful curly hair, who told me that the reason why he partakes of the program is to help his community and help get his friends out of crime. It is amazing the things these people do with so little resources.

We later went to the ruins of an old slaughterhouse, where the artists have graphitized interesting paintings on the wall. They also have art installations dealing with recycling in the community. The sad part is that no one knew how old the ruins where, who owned them, why were they so big, nothing. Its like a big chunk of their history is missing.

The best part was that the children they take care of where there and we playing with them and they were adorable. Black kids with green eyes are my new favorite thing ever.

It was an exhausting day, but I love every minute of it.