A Day “Off”

Special Note: We are trying to pull off phone calls tonight using an unusual wifi situation. If you get a call from a strange number between about 2:00pm and 6:00pm California time, you might want to answer because it might be your DIRTy! They will be sitting on tree stumps outside when they talk to you, but we are excited that we think we have figured something out. They are having better luck on WhatsApp than cell phone calling, so if you have WhatsApp, watch for contact there.

 

January 11, 2026

It’s Sunday and our hosts don’t work on their community projects on Sundays (not counting “tourism,” as in the kitchen workers who are helping support us – and whom we are also helping support). So we kind of had a day off, but it really meant we had a chance to catch up on the many other chores that go half done or undone on other days. It was clear enough from the smell in our oca that laundry is one of the things that is not fully under control. 

We had arranged for a late breakfast because a lot of us hoped to sleep in since we didn’t need to hurry to work. You’ve probably already guessed just from the structure of that last sentence that we weren’t entirely successful at staying asleep. By the way, we mentioned that a few people were feeling the effects of our travel, our work, the heat, dehydration, and other forms of stress. Not to be too specific, but we are happy to announce that we are all pretty much back on solid ground after a few situations had turned a bit . . . fluid. We think you know what we mean. 

Our nocturnal oddity last night was that one of our sleeptalkers blasted out an announcement that started with something like “Ladies and Gentlemen!” and then called for something unknown. Someone decided that the need was for a barf bag, which we have, so we produced one. But no one needed a barf bag and everything was fine. We all just turned off our lights, stopped prairie dogging over the edges of our hammocks, and went back to sleep. No problem. And then at our normal-ish wakeup times (6:15 for Shawny, 6:30 for the kitchen crew, and 6:45 for the rest), we almost all just got up. 

That gave some of us time to go to the Catholic church down the riverbank. We went on our own because we forgot to arrange things with Dona Odila. We were welcomed warmly and we could tell that they were talking about us and our projects early in the service. After the homily, they invited us to speak, so Sofia spoke on our behalf and expressed our gratitude for the welcome we have felt in Anã. The churchgoers rejoined the others just as they were starting breakfast. 

After our breakfast (that included savory doughnuts – with ham in them), we started kicking in on cleaning up our camp/home. The dirtybirds did huge loads of laundry (by hand) and we even enlisted a local woman to come teach them how to do it well (but NOT to do it for them). We went through our “school bags” to see what extra items we brought along but are not using that might be helpful. We found some good ones. 

During some of our downtime today, we tried to get some clarity about why the local girls are losing their minds over Casey. He is a wonderful and appealing person to be sure, and we can all see that; still, we (most of us, anyway) are able to look at him without any threat of fainting from euphoria. As it turns out, Isabelle practically has the film K-Pop Demon Hunters memorized, which led to one of Shawny’s favorite time-killing activities: having students recount/spoil entire movies. She told us of long hikes on trips gone by that went by in a flash because of movie-spoiling conversations that took longer to recount than it takes for the actual movie to play (and generated hilariously spirited corrections and debates about the accuracy of the recounting). Isabelle began to tell the tale of the K-Pop Demon Hunters and one by one, different fans emerged from our group to offer insights and amendments to her very thorough account. At least one of us has the soundtrack at the ready on a cellphone, and it turns out that several of us know ALL of the words. While writing this, we can’t look up the runtime of the film, but it is likely that our conversation outlasted it. We had a blast listening to Isabelle’s gripping narration and now we need to plan a movie night to watch it together and figure out how accurate she really was. We suspect that she pretty much nailed it.  

We also spent a good long time in the river. It was nice to do so without work stints on either end (though it is also nice to do it between those as well). We got to just stand together and talk about things we wanted to talk about, which turns out to be something we really like to do. 

Shawny and Jesse made arrangements for our upcoming excursion by boat to visit other similar communities to Anã. We’ll tell you more about that plan later. 

Our group reflection tonight focused on the community agreements we established before we ever even got on a plane to head to Brazil. We spent the fall training for our experience through three overnight retreats and at each one we worked to develop our plans for what it would take for us to get along, succeed in our goals, and make the highest possible contributions to our hosts. We will list them below, even though they are not all self-explanatory. You’ll get the gist. 

 

DIRT 2026 Brazil Community Agreements (in progress)

 

Maintain a mindset of “Yes, we can. Let’s go!”

Give as much as you physically can every day

Realize that your 100% might change

Give honest effort

 

Be optimistic: the glass IS half full

Avoid focus on the negatives

Do consistent “vibe checks”

If you are feeling “downer vibes,” be aware of it

Offer affirmations before critiques

Say nice things; don’t be afraid to compliment

Enjoy “Type 2” fun (making the most of an otherwise cumbersome situation)

 

Be curious

Go out of your way to learn things 

Show humility

Step out of your comfort zone

Strive to do things that make you uncomfortable (but not unsafe)

Realize that you cannot grow without discomfort

 

Embrace problem solving; we will get stronger through opportunities to evolve

Practice accountability; If you caused a problem, own it

If you don’t know something (about the task, a person, our hosts . . .), ask

Ask for help if you need it

Especially “in the field,” find out how to do it

Jobs have no gender

If you have time to lean, you have time to clean

No one is done until everyone is done

 

Avoid unnecessary conflict

Practice empathy

Talk through conflict 

Separate project planning conflicts from the rest of the experience

Learn how to talk to each other meeting each person’s needs

Find out what modes work for which people

If someone is acting in a way you don’t understand, assume there’s a reason

 

Consider a buddy system for care/chores/etc.

Purposely reach out to the people you don’t usually talk to

Observe boundaries

Communicate clearly about boundaries

Recognize that people need safety to express their needs

Use “I statements” 

Avoid grudges

Let people walk away

When you apologize, avoid saying “if”

 

People in the community come first 

Think before you act

Say yes to everything our resources support (but no empty yeses)

Use the “fat maybe” instead of agreeing to something you can’t deliver

Avoid personal crashouts

Avoid bulldozing 

Support in a gentle manner

Ask if others want input

 

Awaken each other Gently

Respect the need for sleep; Respect the oca as a place for sleep

Attend to your personal hygiene

Manage your stinky laundry, shoes, etc.

Manage hydration for yourself and others

 

Know that mindfulness and awareness are important

Our group is small enough to talk things through together

Acknowledge that it’s us v. the challenge, not us v. us

Give imagination and creativity free rein

 

Look for beauty in the mundane

We lift as we climb

Don’t be right; do right

We discussed all of these again, trying to see which ones we have observed as we imagined, which ones we have violated, and whether there are things we should have included but didn’t. We could find some flaws in our own behavior, but honestly, not very many. We think that planning so carefully in advance served all of us well. We aren’t sure we would have landed in such a “natural” state of unity without really thinking about it a lot before we started. 

When we think of the unity of our group, it is hard not to think of tonight’s inductee into the Order of the Purple Bike: Sofia. We are extremely lucky to have her with us (and no one is happier about her presence than our constant translator, Jesse). Sofia is warm, kind, considerate, approachable, and imperturbable. She is part of the history of DIRT as well, because her sister Ana is a DIRTy from days gone by; Ana’s group actually shipped home the original purple bike as a gift to her many years ago. Both Sofia and Ana are able to make incredible contributions to our groups because of their fluency in Portuguese. We (and our hosts) are constantly calling for Sofia to help bridge the language barriers we are experiencing; she never hesitates, flinches, or declines. The level of commitment that it takes to think in two languages on a worksite is unfathomable to most of us, but for Sofia it seems effortless. In fact, she told us that she sees it as a special privilege to so closely experience so many people’s mutual connections. As she is speaking for us, she gets to “be” us for just a moment or two and she says that she really cherishes those opportunities. Someone who can put forth this level of effort and still see it as a privilege is a perfect example of the kind of person we all aspire to be. Many thanks, Sofia, and welcome to the OPB!

Picture of Gianni's açaí bowl, which we all got to enjoy after lunch today. The açaí was a bit tart but tasted really good with the tapioca!

View over the river showing a rainbow, we had a few light showers of rain today, which was nice.

Picture of a zoguezogue (monkey) butt that we saw from outside the oca.

Selfie of the guys after their soccer game this evening with some of the local kids (some of Luciano's friends).

Luciano was messing around with the phone so we opened it for him to take pictures. He took a selfie of himself, Isabelle, and Taylor together.

These striking black and yellow birds are a form of mockingbird that emulates the sounds of the other birds and animals around it. No one knows its individual sound. 

A zoguezogue is hanging around right outside the oca