I've arrived at a new volunteering place, CWB Hostel, located in the city of Curitiba. I'm liking this switching between rural places surrounded by Nature and then diving into new cities.
My welcome was great, the host is super nice and has a great disposition. She immediately offered me coffee and something to eat, which included home made peanut butter and a preserve of eggplant.
The hostel is currently in remodeling so this room is looking a bet messy. It'll probably be within my tasks to help out with it.
Later some former volunteers arrived and they were also pleasant company. We are pizza, drank wine, and had a fun talk where I felt I knew enough Portuguese to participate fluidly (at least more than my first weeks in Brasil 😂). Turns out they had been volunteering in the same place I was last! One of them has been volunteering for 9 years already and I get it because once you start getting more experience it becomes increasingly fun.
Something nice about CWB Hostel is how colorful and tidy it is. I don't think I've ever inhabited a place with these two qualities together. Either it was tidy or colorful, never both. So it's very refreshing to experience this, which is what the host told me about her approach to receiving people: it's not just a place to sleep, it's an experience".
Most of the art you can see on the walls was painted by Deyse (the hostess) herself. She has lively spirit and a charming personality. She even wrote a book about the many stories she's lived while interacting with the abundance people that stay here.
The book is in Portuguese but I know there are a couple around here that speak the language, so it might be a good read if you like diverse stories from traveles from all over the world.
From the synopsis:
"This book isn't just about hosting people; it's about stories of lives, determination, learning, courage, suffering, anguish, pain, overcoming, loss and a lot of faith.
Hosting more than a thousand people in my home has been an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience. Each of these individuals has left a little bit of themselves in me, and I believe that I have also left a piece of myself with them. To share these stories with you, the reader, is to relive each of these moments and human experiences."
You can get it here
I've been slow at reading because there's a TV with Netflix access and I must admit it tempted me to catch up with The Walking Dead. I should write about that, probably for the next post, or when I finish it so that I can finally move one with my life 🤭.
Anyway, loving this new experience. Feeling quite at home, and learning a lot. It is a calm neighborhood and it doesn't feel like your in a large city with over 2 million inhabitants. Having a nice place to practice music too, so I'm grateful for that.
Thanks for tuning in 🌴