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Next Wednesday will be my final day (for now) in Vale do Capão... I am feeling somewhat anxious to conclude the research that I have been trying to focus on typing these past days. At the same time, I realize that I have been introduced to so much throughout my weeks living in this community, in this valley. Naturism (not the nudist kind;) is a new topic that is really interesting me, and at that, one which I have begun practicing. Have you ever had a medical doctor read your irises to see what is going on inside your body and emotions? I experienced this last week and was something of astounded. Energy therapy is practiced a great deal here, also. The health is practiced and viewed as holistic, encompassing all dimensions of the person and her or his spirit... Every Tuesday, too, I have participated in the Grupo das Gravedas - a group of pregnant women who practice natural birthing methods for preparation for their own birthing processes. The wind here has been picking up, as winter really gets strong in August. With this has come the rain... not too much, but enough to make the skin feel cold. I had my first visit with a chiropractor today and am starting to see more the importance of knowing the body´s structure... my body´s specific structure...
ALright, here are my tid-bits for now while I can...
Fortaleza will be such a change but with this will come refreshed perspective.
Much love.

Getting out and in touch

When I have gone on walks here, I cant even believe that I´m in Brasil many times... For example, this afternoon I went walking and it was misting out... gently thick clouds fogged the surrounding mountains over... I came upon a smaller path to my left that was just big enough for a car to fit through... I knew I only had an hour or so before dark would come, and i didn´t have my lantern, so I decided to explore that unknown path which ended up bringing me closer and closer to Morro Branco, one of the famous mountain peaks here that easily forms cachoeiras (waterfalls) when it rains here... I spun around many times with my arms outspread and I breathed in deep more times than I could count... really I was so touched from nature, feeling something such as disbelief at how land is formed and powerful but graceful and calming all at the same time....
I just wanted to share this with you... I am trying to take pictures and videos here to bring back some pieces to share.

I just wrote down that film title (´The Business of Birth´) - I am getting more and more interested in natural birthing processes and preparations, especially on a cross-cultural bases. I have been here in Vale do Capão for a little over a week, and I will be here for a week and a half more. This is my research time, but in all reality I have been doing more self-focus and nature-integration time. What I have written down for this ´pesquisa´ (research) is very little. But I believe there are many things that come to us without awaiting them, and this time and these experiences have definitely served as examples of just that. This is my time... within this community... So throughout these vivencias, experiencias, that are becoming engrained in me--- through this I will try to make my research into something tangible and somewhat academic.
We shall see, ay....
But this is said with a positive (and a tid bit nervous) heart;)
Those 10 days in Salvador were some of my favorite. The ambiance is definitely unique, as well as the lifestyle in many ways. I did feel a more comfortable sense in Salvador. In many aspects to me, the life in Fortaleza seems very industrial and not as varied. But, I have found some great gems in Fortaleza, too, which cannot be dismissed.
So the focus now--- read about different caring-healing theories, shamanism, meditation, and to write down the different forms of healing I have witnessed and experienced here through the community´s (and valley´s) alternative/natural health options....
Maybe in the future I will be on my way to being a partera!
I am really hoping I can whip something quite good up...!!! It is so unknown right now, but I have got to embrace this wonder, no..?? I want what I write down and present to encompass the sacredness that exists in practice and community here... including spirituality, coexistence and participation with nature, transforming health and healing...

research and something like it

Vale do Capão is gorgeous and every morning I have woken up and been greeted by the presence of the large surrounding mountains... Lothlorien is a sacred place that has a rich history of people passionately dedicated to community, alternative/natural health and healing, spirituality, and community involvement/integration. It was started as a community in 1984 by two Brasilian couples enrooted in such lifestyles and now has grown, through the épocas, to be a community in spirit and a location of heath, healing, and spirituality. The history of this nucleus of people has formed the valley as a whole greatly and now today the valley is, although with a small population of approximately 1500 people, an area that offers and emphasizes alternative/natural health and healing (encompassing not only physical health, but furthermore emotional, mental, and spiritual health). Throughout my times traveling these past years and living specifically in Latin America, I honestly say that this open focus on and prioritizing of such elements of health is incredible for a small rural community. There are so many rural areas, and also of course urban areas, where mental, emotional, and spiritual health continue being plagued by tabus and/or people do not have access to such outlets. Now I do not disregard the vast and different sacred indigenous practices that take place in many (specifically rural) locations, but the problem of non-attention and non-access is widespread regarding such themes.
So this is a new emphasis that i think my research is going to take on...
The people living in Lothlorien are genuinely caring and they have a way of reaching different elements of people in sentimental and human ways.
My second day here I hiked with two new Brasilian friends to a waterfall called Rio Preto and we swam there among the water-encompassed rocks. The water felt so refreshing and just good --- a good that I couldn´t remember before feeling in water. ..
Mom--- Thank you for your selflessness and attention and care and help and on and onnnnn that you have specifically put into the OGC housing application. It was beautifully written and your voice sounded as I read the words...
Belleza you are. In all ways sem dúvida.
The internet actually isn´t so hard to get to here. So I will email again in a few days.
Much of the life here is so relaxed in such a way that I am even fully used to. This is a little ´dangerous´ for getting work done... for example, when I ask people when I could interview them, a set date and time is never set... ´ a gente se fala depois ... ´ (oh, we will see one another later and talk... maybe today... maybe tomorrow... maybe that would be better... we will see...;) seriously though! But there is soul in this, you know. I do not say this in a mocking way... It is just unique here... But I did have a good, uplifting talk with my advisor today. She has been at Lothlorien since the beginning and is the only remaining founder living here.