R & R

I spent the entire day on my porch with my neighbors reading, playing cards, talking, listening to music, and just sitting. My neighbor Suma comes over often to practice English, learn new words, and give me new music he’s found, so today we spent the majority of the day trading said words and music. He’s also, slowly, trying to teach me Changana, but really I’m not getting too far there. I’ve got the introductions ok, but beyond that it’s starting to all sound like vowels and whistling pushed together. Anyways, it was another big day on the friend front for me today because I feel like I actually have a friend now, not just an acquaintance- I have someone who I can have a legit conversation with (in a mix of English and Portuguese) and who I actually enjoying spending time with, rather than feeling obligated and uncomfortable. Plus, since he’s younger, I don’t have to take myself so seriously or have to watch what I say and how I act, like I do when I’m around colleagues. One word to describe today would be Relief.