on my average weekday at lua nova

out my door by 6:45am, arrive after a very circuitous route to lua nova by 8am.

kisses and greetings and meetings of any new girls.

at 9am the ambulance has arrived to take one of the new girls to the hospital, currently passed out from detoxing hard after her crack addiction.

i spend most of the morning in conversation with fabiana, who at 29 is the oldest resident at lua nova and is super with it. we discuss the advantages of living here in the country, where sao paulo to her as an ex-crack-addict simply represents drugs. she helps me refine my ideas for upcoming therapy sessions and my ongoing project of writing didactic materials for the girls based on what they actually need. she's wonderful and i give her a big kiss and hug of thanks for her help.

10am and a group of last year nursing students arrive and begin doing medical consultations. i tag along.

by 11am one girl's pregnancy test comes back negative (thank heaven, already with 2 other children), while another comes back positive (heavens, she's only 14 and just last week nearly died from blood loss as she feverishly cut herself to relieve the horrific itching and mania caused by cocaine-detox).

at noon a hip-hop dance class begins for the girls. they are learning a choreographed dance to 'rude boy' by rhianna. oh my goodness i'm so happy none of them understand english and those lyrics.

at 2 we have cake and lively singing to celebrate the birthday of angela, one of the coordinators at lua nova. no one sings happy birthday like brazilians! love.it.

i then proceed to hold a 6-day old baby for the next hour. oh heavens he's so perfect and pure. one of the girls just gave birth to him last week, and is still quite out of it from the pain and shock of the birth. it's her second baby, and she's 16. we chat about her feelings, problems, pains, fears.

i take a break and walk around the countryside of aracoiaba for a bit, reading some henry james along the way. (my ultimate escape.)

come back to help tend to a three-month old baby as her mom takes a break to eat a late lunch. again, talk to her about her feelings, problems, pains, fears. i can't understand her too well because she speaks almost entirely in slang. sigh.

it's almost 5pm and i hitch a ride back to downtown sorocaba. i then board a bus to take me home. at home i eat yummy lentils and drink glorious peach juice with soy.

and there you have it. so happy to be home. but also so happy i can spend the days with the girls. as tough as it is to see all these issues play out in reality, there is nowhere else i'd rather be. truly.

much love love love to you all,
joojie.