Peanut Butter and Hot Sauce

January 9, 2026              

First, we need to apologize to Isabelle for misspelling her name yesterday! She gets called “Isabela” here and trying to avoid that final “a” led to forgetting there were supposed to be a couple of other letters in its place. Oops. 

We’re sure you want to know how sleeping went last night. We can certainly say “better.” First, our two most aggressive snorers proposed that they join the camp workers in a secondary sleeping area down by the dining area that we call the “pousada.” Even though we pride ourselves on our togetherness, after some discussion, we all agreed to their proposal. As the last few people in the oca arrived to sleep, it was clear that the absence of those two sleepers did not mean an absence of snoring. A quick distribution of nasal strips (including one on a sleeper who did not wake up to cooperate) seems to have gotten people enough under control that lots of sleep actually happened. Probably still not enough, but some. We’ll take it. 

The morning brought another wonderful breakfast and our reunion with our missing snorers, who said they loved their new arrangement. We headed off for two job sites, one of which was a continuation from yesterday and the other of which was new. As for the continued project, it focused on the chicken coop, cleaning the area and getting it ready to rebuild. A few studs needed to be removed, as well as a surprising number of vines and some other debris. We had hoped that some materials would arrive to help us re-roof the space, but the boat came and the roof materials did not. Oh, well: pivot. 

The new job was the beginning of construction of the playspace and toy storage area at the health clinic. They have a room inside the space that has been used for children’s play but the new space will provide much more opportunity for fun and a space to store toys that will free up room inside the clinic itself for other forms of patient care. Our small crew joined the mason there laying the structure of these areas. They loaded bricks and learned how meticulous one has to be to build a straight wall, even a small one. 

We all worked pretty hard this morning, so lunch was a welcome break. Many of our community partners joined us at the pousada to eat and we tried harder than usual to have conversations with them across the language barrier. Lunch included a wonderful Amazon fish called pirarucú, which seemed almost like poultry in its meatiness. We also tried tambaquí, which is the primary fish in the community fish farm. It, too, was surprisingly “meaty” as far as fish are concerned. 

Even though the food was perfect, we continued to bring out some of our own food from back home, including crackers, hot sauce and peanut butter. The DIRT team always carries around these back up foods, in case someone is not connecting with the local foods. (This result has not occurred!). We brought these things out onto the table and were a little surprised to learn that Ava likes to eat them all at the same time. She started offering little cracker/peanut butter/hot sauce sandwiches to some of us and we were mostly surprised to learn that we liked it. 

We were even more surprised to see the interest that our local hosts showed in the combo. The people of Anã have always been particularly fascinated by peanut butter, which is not a common product here for some reason. They have always liked the hot sauce that we bring as well, with particular interest in Cholula brand hot sauce, perhaps due to its little wooden lids. Like us, they hadn’t pursued those things in combination. But when they did, they LOVED it! The table was bursting with laughter, curiosity, and abundant joy. These little moments are the center of what we are hoping will happen for us and for our hosts. 

We took a sesta with a clear deadline on it: a boat was to arrive at 3pm and we were to be there to meet it and unload materials for our projects. The boat actually DID arrive at the appointed time, but our materials were not on it. Time for another pivot. 

We pivoted toward the fish food factory, with the hope of creating a batch of fish food that will help support the 50 family-owned fish cages in the lagoon. The new DIRTies were surprised to see the huge building that had been largely constructed by their DIRT “ancestors” a few years ago. (A few of you readers remember those days in the sun very well!) Like our earlier plan, though, all of the pieces didn’t quite click together. A water pipe got hit by one of the few motorized vehicles in the community, messing up the processes inside the space. Also, the machine that grinds the materials turned out to be gummed up and in need of cleaning. Dona Odila was HORRIFIED that we were not able to complete the task we had planned. We didn’t mind at all. 

In fact, as we walked away from the fish food production building, we found that a community soccer game was unfolding. Several of us stopped by to watch and possibly scope out our competition for our upcoming match against the local team. As we watched, though, we found that they invited us to join the game. Some of us (Oscar, Guido, Taylor, and Casey) did. We obviously got a little bit of intel about our future opponents, but we also got to connect with our host community in a different way. It was a blast to play and to watch our friends (whether U.S. American or Brazilian) play. And we learned that our teammate Guido is a total wild card on the soccer field; we think that quality is going to work to our advantage whenever the U.S. v. Brazil game happens here. We can’t wait. 

Off the soccer field, some of the kids who were around for the game got really interested in us and Sofia helped us connect with them and play with them on the side of the field. It was glorious. 

At the same time, Jesse, Shawny, Marlina, and Thomas stopped by the community radio station and got interviewed by the person on air at that moment. They blast the programming out into the community over a loud PA system and broadcast it to neighboring areas (we think?). The interviewees talked about our positive impressions of Anã and how impressed they are with all of the work our hosts have done. Thomas did a particularly great job, saying that we feel privileged to work alongside them as they continue to improve their flourishing community. Marlina got to express her admiration for their continuing work on projects whose beginnings she saw ten years ago. All of our interviewees expressed our collective gratitude for the warm welcome we have received. After they walked away and started for our camp/home, they were stopped by people along the street who expressed appreciation for what they had said. 

Thus, what could have seemed like a bust of an afternoon became some of our fondest memories and happiest connections here. How wonderful. 

Speaking of wonderful, we have inducted a new member into the Order of the Purple Bike (or, in Portuguese, O Ordem da Bicicleta Violeta): Oscar! We are all hard workers here, but Oscar might have to be recognized as the hardest worker of us all. His contributions and skills are impressive and valuable, and he shares them freely and unselfishly. He has taught many of us new techniques for using tools and for streamlining our work so that we are maximizing productivity. He did most of the pre-departure prep of our tool supply, including making the excruciating decisions about what to leave behind. Perhaps most importantly, despite his clear expertise regarding a lot of the work we are doing, he is open and flexible in listening to suggestions and adapting to the needs of those around him. He could get away with being very bossy, but he doesn’t choose that path. Each of us has benefited from Oscar’s leadership; all of us are doing better work here because of him. We honor Oscar today by inducting him into the Order of the Purple Bike!