Fortaleza

Sept 6

Stephanie is on her way out and I’m on my way to site one Fortaleza. So I have a better picture today of the city. Those ripple rings are actually 4 huge avenues that ring around the city dividing it into 1, 2, 3 and 4. I live on the second ring and Fortaleza is way out of the 4^th ring. It is quite far but also showed me how huge this city really is. On our way there we passed the factory sector and the oil distribution center or something like that (all I know is they deal with oil there) and hit the dirt roads. Just for reference dirt roads where it hasn’t rained and heavy winds don’t mix. I felt like I was in the wrong continent for a while. The good thing about Santa Cruz is that nothing last forever and there is many seasons or times of year with different climates. The wind dies down we will be fine and when it turns to mud for raining season as wellJ. The boys at the house were all different and interesting. I finally got a good picture of what it provides. Fortaleza is actually a place where they serve there sentence in community. They are forced to be there and they are gated in but it has a home affect with a large yard for games and basketball. Some are learning to make hammocks others to color and paint. Some have adapted well to there circumstance and others are still rebelling. I hope to help as many as possible. They already were gathering for help with math and social studies. They all want to learn English so I might be teaching soon! The children that live at Casa Nuevo Horizonte are great and are always asking questions and have the best pets. Luna the cat appears on occasion and Solo Vino is the dog. He’s always around and barking at the gate. His name means came alone :).