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alexxkayPart 2, covering their final bits of training in the U.S., and the early days in Brazil, with some final training in Rio.
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 13
First, an announcement. The Newsletter will continue coming to all of you from now on and I hope weekly for awhile but we just don't think there will be that much to say once we get settled, so please forgive us if we miss a week or two at a time - it's just because, nothing special is happening at the time.
Mail to Brazil is rather erratic and only airmail has any chance of reaching us. So please don't anyone send us packages or anything valuable through the mails --it is too expensive and may not reach us anyway. Air mail to Brazil is $.15 for 1/2 ounce which comes to about one airmail envelope and 3 sheets of air mail paper. Our address, as of September 25th, is:
Mr. and Mrs. H. Russell Kay
Peace Corps Volunteer
c/o American Embassy
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
9/7/64
A happy and healthy New Year to you all! We went to services in the morning and then packed the car, had lunch with the folks and said good-bye to them. Classes as usual today despite the fact that it is Labor Day, Rosh Hashonah and Brazilian Independence Day! We spent the evening at a local bar (a whole gang of us) and had a ball.
9/8/64
Tonight we went to see the Beatles' movie again - it is really keen. Afterwards we all went back to that bar again; deselection tension is really getting us down.
9/9/64
Being as how today is graduation, classes didn't start until 8:30 today. Then we packed books, did laundry and waited to see who would make it. At 11:00, 10 of the kids found out they are going to the northeast instead of Mato Grosso. At 12:30 the rest of us found out if and where. We lost 7 of us but as you all know by now, Russ and I made it and are going to Mato Grosso. We found out in a very odd and anticlimatical way. There was this meeting where they told us all of the things we would have to do in order to be able to go and we asked who was going. Mrs. Earnest said, ”Whv all of you who are here, of course,” so we counted noses and discovered we weren't all there afterall. It was rather a let down after all that tension.
At 2:30 we had another meeting to settle things and at 4:00 we graduated. It was a very short ceremony and took only an hour to graduate the 55 of us and the 60 in the India group. We each received a certificate in a fancy red holder (much more impressive than a diploma). It is really a lot different from a regular graduation because at least there you can do something about flunking.
This evening we had a dinner but it just sort of fizzled. The tension has been too great and we have lost too many--most everyone just wants to be alone. Russ and I caught a bus to Chicago.
9/10/64
Spent the whole day downtown shopping and the evening too. Perhaps someday we will sleep again!
9/11/64
Shopping again today. It will make you all very happy to know that we bought a small portable typewriter today so you should be able to read my letters from now on - that is, it if gets shipped in time.
This evening we had a reception at my house and said goodbye to everyone. We finally saw pictures of "our" kittens --they are very cute.
9/12/64
My brother loaned us his car today so we did a little visiting and some shipping and went out for a last look at the University. 55th Street is almost gone now and it is hard to find your way around.
9/13/64
We packed today and Art and Mar and the kids came over for brunch, at 9:00 we left for Niagara Falls --we are driving there.
9/14/64
Arrived in Niagara Falls at 8:10 this morning. We are pooped!
9/15/64
Today we had a reception again and said more goodbyes. It is really rather depressing.
9/16/64
Went to temple today and then to Anita's for dinner. While we were there her German shepard got hit by a car so we drove out to the Vet's. He thinks her leg is broken. Anita also has a beautiful grey cat and a 4 month old St. Bernard and now Russ wants one of the latter --good grief.
9/17/64
The above mentioned dog has a nice clean break in her left rear leg and will be fine. We finally finished our shopping today! We have been mostly resting up here and are enjoying being utterly spoiled. But we both are still sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Still got a little catching up to do.
NOTE: If any of you move, the Newsletter comes from Mrs. Robert Keller, 532 - 12th Street, Niagara Falls, New York. 14301. Please notify her.
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 14
9/18/64
We arrived in New York today. The lights of the city look beautiful at night from the air.
9/19/64
We bought some camera stuff today and then saw "Swan Lake" by the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet at the Met. It was very lovely. In the evening we saw "That Man in Rio" It is marvelously slapstick and has some wonderful shots of Rio and Brasilia.
9/20/64
We met Diane"s fiancee, Jimmy today and the four of us took a boat ride around Manhatten, ate at the Hip Bagel in the Village and saw the Art Show which is there now. I bought 2 small pendants.
9/21/64
Jimmy was supposed to come in today but he got sick. We spent the entire afternoon and evening at the Fair and enjoyed it tremendously.
9/22/64
We like it so much we spent another day at the Fair. We saw all the exhibits we wanted to. It is really great fun.
9/23/64
We saw "Hamlet" this afternoon. The technique is rather poor as stage lighting just isn't enough for movie cameras to pick up well. But the play itself was as good as everyone said it would be. It is long and exhausting and good. Several people left during the intermission - I think they came just to see Burton and were disappointed to find Hamlet there. We were supposed to eat dinner at Ina's but things got too fouled up so we relaxed a little and visited with everyone.
9/24/64
Today we packed up and said goodbye. We left JFK airport at 10:00 P.M. They served us so grandly I got green with every meal and we all arrived hungry.
9/25/64
We arrived in Rio about 9:30 A.M. (That is 8:30 N. Y. Daylight Saving Time). First stop was the American Embassy where we received quite a bundle of money. It would compare to getting 1 1/2 month's pay in $l's and $5's. We receive approximately $50.00 per month (in Cruzeiros) and they say this is about three times as much as the people in Mato Grosso make.
We are staying, of all places, in the Florida Hotel. Our rooms are lovely and everyone is very patient with our Portugese. The food is good but it tastes differently than the same thing at home.
A steak dinner costs less than $1.00 but is actually rather espensive in Cruceiros. This evening 6 of us went to a movie, "Knock On Any Door". Most of the movies here are American with Portugese subtitles and about half of the songs on the radio are in English by Americans. The city has some weird smells but actually is not all that strange. Many of the sidewalks are made of tiles in pretty designs. There are beggars but not many. Some people sleep on the sidewalks or in doorways. The slums here make Chicago and New York look like palaces. It is hard to remember not to drink water and to keep things out of your mouth but we are learning. We know enough Portugese so we have everything we need and can find our way around but we have a long way to go yet.
9/26/64 -
We walked up the local shopping street today, bought some things and found the postoffice. We must go there to mail all our letters. Then we went to see Copacobana Beach and window shopped among the shops - just like any other Saturday. In the afternoon we napped. By walking 2 blocks one way we can see Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado and the statue of Christ can also be seen. We will be here until Friday and then we leave for Cuiaba the capitol of Mato Grosso. I now keep my diary in Portugese - it will help me to remember it when we get back. Saw "From Russia With Love" in the evening - very good.
9/27/64
Went to the Island of Paqueta this afternoon. It is sort of a resort island except people liver there all year. No cars are allowed so people ride bicycles and carriages. The beaches are nice. Tonight we slept. Oh yes, it takes an hour's boat ride to get to Paqueta and costs almost 6¢, 1/2 price on weekdays.
Russ and Harriet
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 15
9/28/64
Peace Corps meeting today at the Embassy. Afterwards we loocked at portable radios at Mesbla, the Marshall Field's of Rio (and all over Brazil). We are deciding between a Philips' .....After dinner we and Judy saw "Love Cage," a very weird movie. We find the subtitles an excellent way to learn Portugese.
5/29/64
Another meeting. We have a new address as of 10/28/64
Mr. and Mrs. H. Russell Kay
Voluntaries da Paz
Caixa Postal 254
Cuiaba, Mato Grosso
Brazil
Today we applied for identity cards and a Brazilian driver's licenses. We met Roberto Compos, Minister of Planning, one of the most powerful men in the new Cabinet. He is from Mato Grosso and very interesting. After that we bought a radio, 4 band - 1 AM 3 Short wave, a Philips. It sounds real good and we managed to communicate quite well with the salesman. Then we had lunch in the courtyard of the Modern Art Museum and had another meeting, this time with our doctors. They are very young but seem quite competent and are very nice. We see them about every 6 months (if we don't get real sick) and will have a complete physical in a year. In the evening we saw "Man's Favorite Sport" - don't bother.
9/30/64
We mailed a package today - it was absolutely hysterical. We had to open it at the postoffice and what with the way Russ ties things, that was quite a job. Then, they don't have large denomination stamps so we covered the box in postage. Their stamps and envelopes have almost no glue on them so the post offices all have glue on the tables. In the evening we were treated to a "Churrasco" or Bar-b-que but the meat was served as a sausage-pork-beef shishkabab.
10/1/64
Happy October everyone! We packed (again!) this morning. Then we went up to Sugar Loaf and nearly got blown off. It was so windy up there I had to keep a real tight hold on my skirt or be indecent. They have a rather fantastic little playground up there - or rather the approaches to it are fantastic. There are the usual stairs for the timid, a narrow steep slide for people thinner than us, a little platform out to a rope ladder, and another platform to a tree with stakes stuck in it. We tried out the latter going up but took the stairs down. Perhaps I had better explain - after taking the cable car to the top, you can go down some ways on S-curving paths. On one side of Sugar Loaf is the Bay, the other side is the Atlantic. At the base is the University district - a very lovely one. The view from the top is lovely but you can see the city better from Corcovado. Unfortunately, that was covered in clouds by the time we were ready to go there. We decided to explore Sears and had a ball inspecting it from top to bottom. They carry American make-up and toiletries but most of the other stuff is Brazilian. We had an interesting experience at dinner - we translated for a German and some Japanese who all spoke English but very little Portugese. Another movie -"Running Man".
10/2/64
Today we left for Cuiaba, Mato Grosso. The plane left nearly two hours late because there was only one runway at this airport and a lot of traffic in and out. We landed at Belo Horizonte to pick up some agricultural volunteers and then continued. We were very worried about leaving so late because there are no lights at the Cuiaba airport - they use auto headlights in emergencies. The flight in was very rough and we were all queasy after it. We were met by a whole crown of people and then taken to our school. The single people live in long dormitories with no closets or dressers. The boy's washroom has squat latrines instead of the girl's sit down toilets. The married couples are going to stay in a motel. The school is a normal school for girls and we are using some of the rooms. After washing up, we had dinner in the school's fly infested dining room. After dinner the students put on a program for us and we sang some songs for them. They have really gone way out to be nice to us with posters in English and everything. The couple we sat next to during the program gave us their address and insisted we visit them - which we shall do later. Then we were assigned to our "families" and went off to spend the week-end in a Brazilian home. We are staying with Dr. Novantino and Ora Francesca Barba and their 2 children - a girl 14 and a boy 13. Their 15 year old boy is in Rio at school and we are staying in his room. We haven't slept in a double bed for so long we've forgotten what it's like. Maybe when we get our own house.. We managed to put up our mosquito nets only by stringing rope all over the room. It is difficult when there is no specific set up for it.
10/3/64
We were served breakfast in our room by the maid and then walked around town a bit. As in Rio, a good many things sold here are from the U.S. but that is mostly luxuries like Kleenex (which is rather expensive here). After lunch we drove out to our family's small farm. They have another, much bigger one way out. They raise oranges and chickens mainly. They have 3 chickens from Angola. A farmer looks after things for them and they have a summer home for themselves there. They are very proud that the latter has a flush toilet which is very rate out in the country (1/2 hour from town). Their house in town is really nice but they really don't live inside - just under a roof. There are open porches and patios with the bedrooms, etc in wings off of them. Windows are always open and the overhang keeps the rain off. In the evening they took us to one of the clubs in town for a game of Bingo. They were amazed to hear we had the same game at home. Now I am curious as to where it really started. We were going to go back for swimming in their lovely pool tomorrow but we don't have a little thing that says we don't have TB, so we can't go.
10/4/64
Today we saw the geographical center of South America - it is right by our family's home and is marked by a small monument. Then we went driving around town to see the sights. After lunch we saw a soccer game. They have a small stadium here plus the games are broadcast. It was a very exciting game and ended 3-3. We cheered like mad. Our family is very amazed by our refusal to drink tap water, even if it's filtered so they have begun serving us bottled mineral water. They are very kind. The meals here are just huge and we never can eat very much of them which is another thing they find amusing. After dinner we went to the movies and saw "Drums of Africa" with Frankie Avalon - no comment necessary. After that they ordered ice cream for us and there was no polite way to get out of it so we ate it. They they took us to our Motel, the Alvorado. Incidentally, they think motels are a new development of Brazil and that we wouldn't understand how they are different from hotels. Our rooms are small, not too dirty and rather few bugs for this part of the country.
10/5/64
Classes started today at 7:30. We married couples get picked up and taken out to school. We are getting basic biology and diseases in the A.M., like in Wisconsin but in Portugese. In the afternoon we go out to the model health post of the State and start learning how the health posts we will be working out of operate. The girls are like visiting public health workers working out of a clinic while the boys are mostly out consulting on privies, wells, garbage, etc. At the health post they care for pregnant women, babies up to 4 years 8 months, distribute powdered milk, give immunizations and other shots and have a rather nice lab for blood and other tests. There is 1 doctor here but most of the women are not trained nurses.
10/6/64
UNICEF sponsors our health post and today a team of them came out inspecting. While they were there I gave my first shot in Brazil - in a baby's rear end. The needles are terribly dull and hard to insert and the kids really scream!! I don't blame them! Things here are very clean and sterile, a really big job in this area but they are very good about it. Russ started building a well today that will serve a neighborhood near the health post.
(Oh yes, did I start to build a well! It was dug, about six feet deep, but was filled with water so we had to empty it with two buckets. About 700 gallons worth. Dirty and mudde!!!!
Oh well.....
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 16
10/7/54 to 10/12/64
Among other things doing at the Health Post this week,
we learned how to prepare a silver nitrate solution for babies' eves, how to weigh, take temperatures under the arm, hand out powdered milk. Pattie and I had a real long talk with Marie, the girl who gives out milk. She speaks very clearly and we are able to communicate real well. While we were talking, one of my contact lenses started to hurt so I took it out for awhile. Everyone came in to see if and find out what it was as they don't have them in Brazil yet, not even in Rio. Friday was a wild afternoon - Pattie and I measured out powdered milk for an hour, listened to a nutrition lecture one of the mothers was getting, had a 1/2 hour break, watched powdered milk being prepared and then we all sang folk songs for an hour. But that is typical - the well proceeds about three rows of bricks a day and is not yet half finished; the fellows probably could have finished it in 2 - 3 days by themselves. Another group of guys are making bricks for a privy and they average 7 - 10 per 4 hour afternoon. The discouraging part of it all is that this is the model health post of Mato Grosso, this is where the people we will be working with - our Brazilian counterparts - have been trained. If the teachers do so poorly, what can we expect from the pupils? But in spite of all the inefficiency, things do manage to get done and they are very sincere in their desire to improve their area. There is so much that needs to be done here that it is bewildering to try to figure where to begin. The people have worms, diarrhea, insects, all kinds of diseases, poor nutrition, impure water, etc. etc. and so forth. The most important thing is that they don't connect insects, dirty water, poor nutrition, hygiene, etc with poor health and therefore don't understand why they should do anything about these things. It is a big job and we will be lucky if we accomplish anything at all in 2 years. They just accept death and illness - 50% of the children die before they are 5, mainly from diarrhea and Smallpox - which is just another cold there is so much of it. There are Brazilians who know this doesn't have to be and maybe we can help them to make a start.
There are 65 PCV's in Mato Grosso now - 50 in Public Health and 15 in Agriculture. In January 50 more will arrive and another 50 in June. We are the largest P.C. program in Brazil, both in numbers of people and area covered. We are still upset at our new surroundings but is getting easier and 4 inch moths and oockroahces no longer scare us. We can get into our mosquito nets at night without pulling more than 1-2 muscles. It will seem strange to seep without them soon. When it rains, the weather cools off and it is lovely but it is still early in the rainy season and doesn't rain much. Consequently, it is HOT. And this is only early Spring here!
We have both had on and off bouts of "travelers' diarrhea" (nothing serious) and between that, the heat and the good but strange food, we have both lost a few pounds. Quite frankly, I feel better lighter and so does Russ. We have had a few cases of flu and dyssentary in the group but it seems if you are careful it can be avoided pretty much - so we are careful. Sometimes the whole thing gets very discouraging and overwhelming, especially at night when your net cuts you off from the world, but we all share it and laugh about it and it goes away. This is all much easier to take with a whole bunch of friends around - it will be harder when we are along in our site but by then we should be more used to things.
Saturday we went downtown shopping and for about $12.00 bought Russ a pair of boots, me a stick of solid perfume, 6 plastic hangers 2 notebooks, 15 airmail envelopes, 2 decks of cards, 3 handkerchiefs and a dictionary. Ridiculous! We went home for lunch and siested until dinner. Then a bunch of us went downtown to see "Mutiny on the Bounty" (Portugese subtitles here too). Then we had icecream at a place where they boil their milk. We all had orange and it was luscious - it's made from real oranges, not just artificial flavoring, and you have to watch out for seeds - but it's worth it.
Sunday we slept late and played Spite and Malice in bed until lunchtime. Then we all fooled around at at 2:30 took the Motel bus into town for the 3:00 show of "El Cid". It turned out not to start till 4:00 so we had cokes and walked around and talked. When we got back, the lobby was packed, waiting for the 1:00 show to let out. Well, none of the 1:00 audience left the theatre and everyone else literally stampeded in. Kids pushed us all over the place and we just left and got passes to come back again. This is the first time we have had such an experience and seen people behave this way in Brazil and we were sort of shocked and annoyed. I wonder if all those people stood to see a 3 hour movie because few Brazilians were leaving when we were there. We all went home and had dinner. Janet and I played Gin while Bob and Russ played Chess. Pedie and Larry went back downtown to try "El Cid" again but it was the same thing all over again but worse. We decided to try during the week when it was calmer.
A very happy Columbus Day to you all. The prime feeling of the day is that we shall return the best citizens the U.S. has ever seen. Never again will we take our home for granted or all the advantages we have there. No matter how much you hear about it, you must really see and live in these conditions to believe them. No Susan, Hyde Park is not a slum - it is a beautiful, clean, wonderful place full of palaces with drinkable water and toilets that work.
Harriet and Russ
KAY'S PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL. 1. No. 17
10/12/64-10/18/64
We got a bunch of books in Portugese this week - Public Health, Dr. Spock, etc. We found out our assignments on Friday. We will be going to Aparecida do Taboado, a town of about 7500 people in the south eastern part of the state. It is four hours by bus from Tres Lagoas, where Jeff and Janice Glenn will be, and which is on the railroad to Sao Paulo. In Aparecida we will have electricty from the State of Sao Paulo. The Health Post there is effectively closed for the doctor is gone and all that the vistadora ever seems to do is collect her monthly paycheck.
Training (for want of a better word) is pretty bad - pure repetition of what we had in Milwaukee. The fieldwork is a little better, but not much. The girls are learning how to make up their "maletas", the bags they will use in their home visits. The fellows are learning such esoteric things as hole-digging, well-building, concrete-mixing, and brick-making. (This last should really come in handy in case I need bricks - Aparecida has 150 brick factories).
Saturday night we went to the movies expecting a Tab Hunter, Arabian Nights spectacular. Well, that didn't arrive in time so they showed a Mexican movie instead. We were, it should be noted, able to understand it. Of course, it wasn't really worth it. The next night we went back, and this time it was a Vincent Price, Peter Lorre - Basil Rathbone (Edgar Allen Poe) thing called Tales of Terror. Afterwards both times, we went for ice cream at a little place next to the theater - the only place in town that boils their milk. Ice cream - milkshakes - real luxury.
Sunday afternoon we had a baseball game against a local Japanese team. Three of us couples started to drive out in a jeep, which we had because Pedie and Larry Lynch went on a reconnaissance trip to their town the night before. Well, it seems there wasn't even enough gas to start it with. After considerable delay we got started (the girls having already left on the bus) and then, of course, got lost. After about half an hour driving one of the most recalcitrant jeeps I've ever seen, we found our way there - with a flat tire. Anyway we beat the scrub team 14 - 13 and the game with the regulars was rained out.
The weather for the last day or two has been really cool and wet - except around noon, when the sun is out full strength.
One last word, last week the girls were taught to take blood pressures. One of them asked Loretta Hanner, our nurse (and Dean of the Airzona State University School of Nursing) to explain it in English, and Loretta, bless her heart, said that she did not know how.
P.S. from Harriet - We had a few exciting evenings this week when the electricity went out for a few hours. This usually happens at least once during the day but we hardly notice it them. The Hotel lit some lanterns and put out candles and we all went into town for ice cream. We ate by lantern light and shortly after we got back, the lights came back on.
Saturday night, after the movie, we met one of the men who lives in our hotel. He had his car and asked if we wanted a ride but we said we wanted some ice cream first. We looked up while we were in the ice cream parlor and found him just standing there, waiting for us to finish. We had to work hard to convince him it wasn't necessary to wait. That is typical of the kindness of Brazilians.
Not many people have cars around here and most of the poor people get around by bus or hitchhiking. After class Saturday morning, we hitched a ride into town from school. There were about 15 of us in the back of a huge high truck and the boys declared we needed a crane before we do it again. But we bounced into town all right and really had fun. Actually, most of our traveling is done like this and we really get to meet a lot of people that way.
Saturday we sat in the center of South American, listening to Mexican music on Radio New York, watching some P.C.V's play baseball with a Japanese team. How international can you get?
We are getting desperate for lack of things to do so we are currently making a Monopoly game with paper and colored pencils. Next we are going to try a Parchesi game.
Harriet and Russ
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1 No. 18
October 19, 1964 to October 25, 1964
Well, our Monopoly game is progressing nicely but we are sort of stymied at one point. Would someone please send us a list of property costs, rents, etc. We would be most grateful.
Classes continue as usual - Monday we spent 4 hours watching a baby-bathing demonstration and Tuesday we spent 4 hours practicing ourselves on dolls. But for the rest of the week things picked up - we finally got around to making home visits. Thursday 2 other girls and I accompanied a nurse on a home visit to a 6 day old boy and his mother. We watched while she taught the mother how to bathe him and care for the umbilical cord. The baby has 2 older sisters, both with long blonde beautiful curls. The girls were fascinated by us and the whole time we were there, hugged us and gave us little gifts, string, cotton, etc. I guess Brazilians start learning early to be generous with their things. The house was very nice by Brazilian standards. There was a tile floor all through, a bench, table and 3 chairs in the living room, 2 beds in the bedroom and a kitchen. The rooms are airy and light enough and also big enough for the family. Everything was pretty clean. The baby's clothes were clean and pressed and decorated with lovely, delicate embroidery and lace. The girls were rather clean for young children and the house was neat.
Some of the other girls were less fortunate in their home visits. One home was dark, dirty and smelly and while they were there 4 chickens, 3 guinea pigs, 1 dog, a cat and a rat were seen to come out from under the mother's bed. Another house was made of sticks stuck into the ground and covered with a thatched roof. The 2 rooms were about 5' x 5 1/2' and 5 1/2' high. In spite of the fact that the wind could blow right through the walls, the stench inside was horrible. The baby's umbilical cord had been covered with some kind of junk and the nurse thought he probably already had umbilical tetanus, a common thing here. The mother had a vaginal infection and had a 103° temperature. The nurse said we would never see any thing worse in all of Brazil and I am glad I did not have to see it in the first place.
Friday I made another home visit and was lucky again. This house had a wood floor (incidentally, dirt floors are not uncommon) and was most light and airy and clean. We were visiting a mother and a 4 day old girl for the first time and while we were there the midwife who had delivered the baby came for a visit. We had a real nice time there. The baby was beautifully clean and sweet smelling and didn't even yelp while the nurse showed the mother how to bathe her. The midwife had dressed the umbilical cord well and everything was fine. We got to feel the mother's uterus to see if it was contracting all right and when we were all done, we were served coffee. The midwife was interesting - she looked like a witch straight out of Walt Disney and none too clean but she is very jolly and the older children love her. Also, judging from the state of mother and baby, she is probably very clean and careful at a delivery. Again, the 2 older children tried to give us presents. I think a Brazilian would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you wanted it.
This week was another movie week. Tuesday I finally got to see "One Eyed Jacks” with Marlon Brando. I had wanted to see it at home but missed it. The theater is pretty miserable - it is where we had that awful experience with "El Cid". They turn the sound down real low since no one understands the English and you have to sit in the first row to hear anything. With Brando's mumbling that can be quite a thing but what we couldn't hear, we read in Portugese. But I enjoyed it and I'm glad we got to see it.
Thursday the movie with Tab Hunter, that was supposed to be here the week-end before arrived so we went to see it. "The Golden Arrow" It is a low budget Italian thing which was filmed at least in part (I think) in Egypt. It was so terrible it was funny and we really enjoyed it. Friday we played stay-at-home and read and wrote letters until the bugs drove us under our nets.
Friday we also treated ourselves to a dinner downtown. Russ had chateaubriand for 65¢ and I had fried fish. The meal was wonderful and they served so much (as usual) that we couldn't finish it.
Saturday morning we had an appointment with Dr. Jorge Nasser, the head of the Mato Grosso State Health Department and our boss. Our appointment was for 10:25 but we didn't get in until 12:45. He had wanted to finish early, by 10:00, but he started an hour late and kept everyone longer than they were scheduled for. He is a very wonderful man and has been giving us our classes on Epidemiology. He speaks slow and clearly and never goes on until he is sure we all understand him. Anyhow, he gave us a letter of introduction to the doctor in charge of our health post and told us that Aparecida is a small but nice town. It has a good hotel which serves good food. This remains to be seen. We will, in effect, be in charge of our health subpost. The doctor lives in a town 2 hours away by bus and never comes down, though he is supposed to. The man and woman who work there now don't work at all and are completely untrained. We really have a big job ahead of us.
Saturday evening we saw "The V.I.P's" or "Gente Muito Importante"
It was horrible.
Sunday we sat on the terrace and listened to the Cleveland Brown's game on the radio, accompanied by 2 mooing cows nearby. It was a very hot and very boring day. I think we will be very happy to leave here when Thursday comes around.
Now for some answers to some questions. Cuiaba has 60,000 people, more or less. It is about 50 years behind the times in most things. There are new cars and electricity, but that is the extent of it. There are some shops that specialize in one thing - drug stores, material shops - but most stores are more or less general stores, one right after the other, all sizes. You have to go from one to the other to find what you want and then dicker the price down to something reasonable. They all think that we are rich Americans and charge us higher prices but we are wiser now and rarely pay the first price asked. The people dress much the same as we do. The fashions aren't quite so fashionable, nor the materials so modern but the skirts are as short and just about like ours. Most clothes are handmade as they don't have much ready-to- wear stuff and to get a dress made costs about $1.25 above the price of the material.
We will stay in the Hotel in Cuiaba. In Aparecida we'll stay in a hotel until we can find a house to rent. Right now we eat at the hotel with the other married couples and we'll eat at the hotel in Aparecida too. But once we get a house, we'll do our own cooking.
There are about 45 of us here now, all public health people, and 15 agricultural people already at their sites. We're getting 50 more in December or January who are training at University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee right now to be agricultural workers and another 50 in June. After that we'll be the largest P.C. project in Brazil and one of the biggest in the world. But Mato Grosso is about the size of Texas and 150 people just isn't very many.
We will be alone in Aparecida but another couple will be 4 hours south of us by bus and 2 others 2 hours north so we will be doing plenty of visiting on the weekends. Also, we are near the railroad and can visit friends in the souther part of the state rather easily. So we won't be very lonely.
PLEASE WRITE!!!!!!!!!!!
HARRIET AND RUSS.
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 13
First, an announcement. The Newsletter will continue coming to all of you from now on and I hope weekly for awhile but we just don't think there will be that much to say once we get settled, so please forgive us if we miss a week or two at a time - it's just because, nothing special is happening at the time.
Mail to Brazil is rather erratic and only airmail has any chance of reaching us. So please don't anyone send us packages or anything valuable through the mails --it is too expensive and may not reach us anyway. Air mail to Brazil is $.15 for 1/2 ounce which comes to about one airmail envelope and 3 sheets of air mail paper. Our address, as of September 25th, is:
Mr. and Mrs. H. Russell Kay
Peace Corps Volunteer
c/o American Embassy
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
9/7/64
A happy and healthy New Year to you all! We went to services in the morning and then packed the car, had lunch with the folks and said good-bye to them. Classes as usual today despite the fact that it is Labor Day, Rosh Hashonah and Brazilian Independence Day! We spent the evening at a local bar (a whole gang of us) and had a ball.
9/8/64
Tonight we went to see the Beatles' movie again - it is really keen. Afterwards we all went back to that bar again; deselection tension is really getting us down.
9/9/64
Being as how today is graduation, classes didn't start until 8:30 today. Then we packed books, did laundry and waited to see who would make it. At 11:00, 10 of the kids found out they are going to the northeast instead of Mato Grosso. At 12:30 the rest of us found out if and where. We lost 7 of us but as you all know by now, Russ and I made it and are going to Mato Grosso. We found out in a very odd and anticlimatical way. There was this meeting where they told us all of the things we would have to do in order to be able to go and we asked who was going. Mrs. Earnest said, ”Whv all of you who are here, of course,” so we counted noses and discovered we weren't all there afterall. It was rather a let down after all that tension.
At 2:30 we had another meeting to settle things and at 4:00 we graduated. It was a very short ceremony and took only an hour to graduate the 55 of us and the 60 in the India group. We each received a certificate in a fancy red holder (much more impressive than a diploma). It is really a lot different from a regular graduation because at least there you can do something about flunking.
This evening we had a dinner but it just sort of fizzled. The tension has been too great and we have lost too many--most everyone just wants to be alone. Russ and I caught a bus to Chicago.
9/10/64
Spent the whole day downtown shopping and the evening too. Perhaps someday we will sleep again!
9/11/64
Shopping again today. It will make you all very happy to know that we bought a small portable typewriter today so you should be able to read my letters from now on - that is, it if gets shipped in time.
This evening we had a reception at my house and said goodbye to everyone. We finally saw pictures of "our" kittens --they are very cute.
9/12/64
My brother loaned us his car today so we did a little visiting and some shipping and went out for a last look at the University. 55th Street is almost gone now and it is hard to find your way around.
9/13/64
We packed today and Art and Mar and the kids came over for brunch, at 9:00 we left for Niagara Falls --we are driving there.
9/14/64
Arrived in Niagara Falls at 8:10 this morning. We are pooped!
9/15/64
Today we had a reception again and said more goodbyes. It is really rather depressing.
9/16/64
Went to temple today and then to Anita's for dinner. While we were there her German shepard got hit by a car so we drove out to the Vet's. He thinks her leg is broken. Anita also has a beautiful grey cat and a 4 month old St. Bernard and now Russ wants one of the latter --good grief.
9/17/64
The above mentioned dog has a nice clean break in her left rear leg and will be fine. We finally finished our shopping today! We have been mostly resting up here and are enjoying being utterly spoiled. But we both are still sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Still got a little catching up to do.
NOTE: If any of you move, the Newsletter comes from Mrs. Robert Keller, 532 - 12th Street, Niagara Falls, New York. 14301. Please notify her.
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 14
9/18/64
We arrived in New York today. The lights of the city look beautiful at night from the air.
9/19/64
We bought some camera stuff today and then saw "Swan Lake" by the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet at the Met. It was very lovely. In the evening we saw "That Man in Rio" It is marvelously slapstick and has some wonderful shots of Rio and Brasilia.
9/20/64
We met Diane"s fiancee, Jimmy today and the four of us took a boat ride around Manhatten, ate at the Hip Bagel in the Village and saw the Art Show which is there now. I bought 2 small pendants.
9/21/64
Jimmy was supposed to come in today but he got sick. We spent the entire afternoon and evening at the Fair and enjoyed it tremendously.
9/22/64
We like it so much we spent another day at the Fair. We saw all the exhibits we wanted to. It is really great fun.
9/23/64
We saw "Hamlet" this afternoon. The technique is rather poor as stage lighting just isn't enough for movie cameras to pick up well. But the play itself was as good as everyone said it would be. It is long and exhausting and good. Several people left during the intermission - I think they came just to see Burton and were disappointed to find Hamlet there. We were supposed to eat dinner at Ina's but things got too fouled up so we relaxed a little and visited with everyone.
9/24/64
Today we packed up and said goodbye. We left JFK airport at 10:00 P.M. They served us so grandly I got green with every meal and we all arrived hungry.
9/25/64
We arrived in Rio about 9:30 A.M. (That is 8:30 N. Y. Daylight Saving Time). First stop was the American Embassy where we received quite a bundle of money. It would compare to getting 1 1/2 month's pay in $l's and $5's. We receive approximately $50.00 per month (in Cruzeiros) and they say this is about three times as much as the people in Mato Grosso make.
We are staying, of all places, in the Florida Hotel. Our rooms are lovely and everyone is very patient with our Portugese. The food is good but it tastes differently than the same thing at home.
A steak dinner costs less than $1.00 but is actually rather espensive in Cruceiros. This evening 6 of us went to a movie, "Knock On Any Door". Most of the movies here are American with Portugese subtitles and about half of the songs on the radio are in English by Americans. The city has some weird smells but actually is not all that strange. Many of the sidewalks are made of tiles in pretty designs. There are beggars but not many. Some people sleep on the sidewalks or in doorways. The slums here make Chicago and New York look like palaces. It is hard to remember not to drink water and to keep things out of your mouth but we are learning. We know enough Portugese so we have everything we need and can find our way around but we have a long way to go yet.
9/26/64 -
We walked up the local shopping street today, bought some things and found the postoffice. We must go there to mail all our letters. Then we went to see Copacobana Beach and window shopped among the shops - just like any other Saturday. In the afternoon we napped. By walking 2 blocks one way we can see Sugar Loaf Mountain and Corcovado and the statue of Christ can also be seen. We will be here until Friday and then we leave for Cuiaba the capitol of Mato Grosso. I now keep my diary in Portugese - it will help me to remember it when we get back. Saw "From Russia With Love" in the evening - very good.
9/27/64
Went to the Island of Paqueta this afternoon. It is sort of a resort island except people liver there all year. No cars are allowed so people ride bicycles and carriages. The beaches are nice. Tonight we slept. Oh yes, it takes an hour's boat ride to get to Paqueta and costs almost 6¢, 1/2 price on weekdays.
Russ and Harriet
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 15
9/28/64
Peace Corps meeting today at the Embassy. Afterwards we loocked at portable radios at Mesbla, the Marshall Field's of Rio (and all over Brazil). We are deciding between a Philips' .....After dinner we and Judy saw "Love Cage," a very weird movie. We find the subtitles an excellent way to learn Portugese.
5/29/64
Another meeting. We have a new address as of 10/28/64
Mr. and Mrs. H. Russell Kay
Voluntaries da Paz
Caixa Postal 254
Cuiaba, Mato Grosso
Brazil
Today we applied for identity cards and a Brazilian driver's licenses. We met Roberto Compos, Minister of Planning, one of the most powerful men in the new Cabinet. He is from Mato Grosso and very interesting. After that we bought a radio, 4 band - 1 AM 3 Short wave, a Philips. It sounds real good and we managed to communicate quite well with the salesman. Then we had lunch in the courtyard of the Modern Art Museum and had another meeting, this time with our doctors. They are very young but seem quite competent and are very nice. We see them about every 6 months (if we don't get real sick) and will have a complete physical in a year. In the evening we saw "Man's Favorite Sport" - don't bother.
9/30/64
We mailed a package today - it was absolutely hysterical. We had to open it at the postoffice and what with the way Russ ties things, that was quite a job. Then, they don't have large denomination stamps so we covered the box in postage. Their stamps and envelopes have almost no glue on them so the post offices all have glue on the tables. In the evening we were treated to a "Churrasco" or Bar-b-que but the meat was served as a sausage-pork-beef shishkabab.
10/1/64
Happy October everyone! We packed (again!) this morning. Then we went up to Sugar Loaf and nearly got blown off. It was so windy up there I had to keep a real tight hold on my skirt or be indecent. They have a rather fantastic little playground up there - or rather the approaches to it are fantastic. There are the usual stairs for the timid, a narrow steep slide for people thinner than us, a little platform out to a rope ladder, and another platform to a tree with stakes stuck in it. We tried out the latter going up but took the stairs down. Perhaps I had better explain - after taking the cable car to the top, you can go down some ways on S-curving paths. On one side of Sugar Loaf is the Bay, the other side is the Atlantic. At the base is the University district - a very lovely one. The view from the top is lovely but you can see the city better from Corcovado. Unfortunately, that was covered in clouds by the time we were ready to go there. We decided to explore Sears and had a ball inspecting it from top to bottom. They carry American make-up and toiletries but most of the other stuff is Brazilian. We had an interesting experience at dinner - we translated for a German and some Japanese who all spoke English but very little Portugese. Another movie -"Running Man".
10/2/64
Today we left for Cuiaba, Mato Grosso. The plane left nearly two hours late because there was only one runway at this airport and a lot of traffic in and out. We landed at Belo Horizonte to pick up some agricultural volunteers and then continued. We were very worried about leaving so late because there are no lights at the Cuiaba airport - they use auto headlights in emergencies. The flight in was very rough and we were all queasy after it. We were met by a whole crown of people and then taken to our school. The single people live in long dormitories with no closets or dressers. The boy's washroom has squat latrines instead of the girl's sit down toilets. The married couples are going to stay in a motel. The school is a normal school for girls and we are using some of the rooms. After washing up, we had dinner in the school's fly infested dining room. After dinner the students put on a program for us and we sang some songs for them. They have really gone way out to be nice to us with posters in English and everything. The couple we sat next to during the program gave us their address and insisted we visit them - which we shall do later. Then we were assigned to our "families" and went off to spend the week-end in a Brazilian home. We are staying with Dr. Novantino and Ora Francesca Barba and their 2 children - a girl 14 and a boy 13. Their 15 year old boy is in Rio at school and we are staying in his room. We haven't slept in a double bed for so long we've forgotten what it's like. Maybe when we get our own house.. We managed to put up our mosquito nets only by stringing rope all over the room. It is difficult when there is no specific set up for it.
10/3/64
We were served breakfast in our room by the maid and then walked around town a bit. As in Rio, a good many things sold here are from the U.S. but that is mostly luxuries like Kleenex (which is rather expensive here). After lunch we drove out to our family's small farm. They have another, much bigger one way out. They raise oranges and chickens mainly. They have 3 chickens from Angola. A farmer looks after things for them and they have a summer home for themselves there. They are very proud that the latter has a flush toilet which is very rate out in the country (1/2 hour from town). Their house in town is really nice but they really don't live inside - just under a roof. There are open porches and patios with the bedrooms, etc in wings off of them. Windows are always open and the overhang keeps the rain off. In the evening they took us to one of the clubs in town for a game of Bingo. They were amazed to hear we had the same game at home. Now I am curious as to where it really started. We were going to go back for swimming in their lovely pool tomorrow but we don't have a little thing that says we don't have TB, so we can't go.
10/4/64
Today we saw the geographical center of South America - it is right by our family's home and is marked by a small monument. Then we went driving around town to see the sights. After lunch we saw a soccer game. They have a small stadium here plus the games are broadcast. It was a very exciting game and ended 3-3. We cheered like mad. Our family is very amazed by our refusal to drink tap water, even if it's filtered so they have begun serving us bottled mineral water. They are very kind. The meals here are just huge and we never can eat very much of them which is another thing they find amusing. After dinner we went to the movies and saw "Drums of Africa" with Frankie Avalon - no comment necessary. After that they ordered ice cream for us and there was no polite way to get out of it so we ate it. They they took us to our Motel, the Alvorado. Incidentally, they think motels are a new development of Brazil and that we wouldn't understand how they are different from hotels. Our rooms are small, not too dirty and rather few bugs for this part of the country.
10/5/64
Classes started today at 7:30. We married couples get picked up and taken out to school. We are getting basic biology and diseases in the A.M., like in Wisconsin but in Portugese. In the afternoon we go out to the model health post of the State and start learning how the health posts we will be working out of operate. The girls are like visiting public health workers working out of a clinic while the boys are mostly out consulting on privies, wells, garbage, etc. At the health post they care for pregnant women, babies up to 4 years 8 months, distribute powdered milk, give immunizations and other shots and have a rather nice lab for blood and other tests. There is 1 doctor here but most of the women are not trained nurses.
10/6/64
UNICEF sponsors our health post and today a team of them came out inspecting. While they were there I gave my first shot in Brazil - in a baby's rear end. The needles are terribly dull and hard to insert and the kids really scream!! I don't blame them! Things here are very clean and sterile, a really big job in this area but they are very good about it. Russ started building a well today that will serve a neighborhood near the health post.
(Oh yes, did I start to build a well! It was dug, about six feet deep, but was filled with water so we had to empty it with two buckets. About 700 gallons worth. Dirty and mudde!!!!
Oh well.....
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL 1. NO. 16
10/7/54 to 10/12/64
Among other things doing at the Health Post this week,
we learned how to prepare a silver nitrate solution for babies' eves, how to weigh, take temperatures under the arm, hand out powdered milk. Pattie and I had a real long talk with Marie, the girl who gives out milk. She speaks very clearly and we are able to communicate real well. While we were talking, one of my contact lenses started to hurt so I took it out for awhile. Everyone came in to see if and find out what it was as they don't have them in Brazil yet, not even in Rio. Friday was a wild afternoon - Pattie and I measured out powdered milk for an hour, listened to a nutrition lecture one of the mothers was getting, had a 1/2 hour break, watched powdered milk being prepared and then we all sang folk songs for an hour. But that is typical - the well proceeds about three rows of bricks a day and is not yet half finished; the fellows probably could have finished it in 2 - 3 days by themselves. Another group of guys are making bricks for a privy and they average 7 - 10 per 4 hour afternoon. The discouraging part of it all is that this is the model health post of Mato Grosso, this is where the people we will be working with - our Brazilian counterparts - have been trained. If the teachers do so poorly, what can we expect from the pupils? But in spite of all the inefficiency, things do manage to get done and they are very sincere in their desire to improve their area. There is so much that needs to be done here that it is bewildering to try to figure where to begin. The people have worms, diarrhea, insects, all kinds of diseases, poor nutrition, impure water, etc. etc. and so forth. The most important thing is that they don't connect insects, dirty water, poor nutrition, hygiene, etc with poor health and therefore don't understand why they should do anything about these things. It is a big job and we will be lucky if we accomplish anything at all in 2 years. They just accept death and illness - 50% of the children die before they are 5, mainly from diarrhea and Smallpox - which is just another cold there is so much of it. There are Brazilians who know this doesn't have to be and maybe we can help them to make a start.
There are 65 PCV's in Mato Grosso now - 50 in Public Health and 15 in Agriculture. In January 50 more will arrive and another 50 in June. We are the largest P.C. program in Brazil, both in numbers of people and area covered. We are still upset at our new surroundings but is getting easier and 4 inch moths and oockroahces no longer scare us. We can get into our mosquito nets at night without pulling more than 1-2 muscles. It will seem strange to seep without them soon. When it rains, the weather cools off and it is lovely but it is still early in the rainy season and doesn't rain much. Consequently, it is HOT. And this is only early Spring here!
We have both had on and off bouts of "travelers' diarrhea" (nothing serious) and between that, the heat and the good but strange food, we have both lost a few pounds. Quite frankly, I feel better lighter and so does Russ. We have had a few cases of flu and dyssentary in the group but it seems if you are careful it can be avoided pretty much - so we are careful. Sometimes the whole thing gets very discouraging and overwhelming, especially at night when your net cuts you off from the world, but we all share it and laugh about it and it goes away. This is all much easier to take with a whole bunch of friends around - it will be harder when we are along in our site but by then we should be more used to things.
Saturday we went downtown shopping and for about $12.00 bought Russ a pair of boots, me a stick of solid perfume, 6 plastic hangers 2 notebooks, 15 airmail envelopes, 2 decks of cards, 3 handkerchiefs and a dictionary. Ridiculous! We went home for lunch and siested until dinner. Then a bunch of us went downtown to see "Mutiny on the Bounty" (Portugese subtitles here too). Then we had icecream at a place where they boil their milk. We all had orange and it was luscious - it's made from real oranges, not just artificial flavoring, and you have to watch out for seeds - but it's worth it.
Sunday we slept late and played Spite and Malice in bed until lunchtime. Then we all fooled around at at 2:30 took the Motel bus into town for the 3:00 show of "El Cid". It turned out not to start till 4:00 so we had cokes and walked around and talked. When we got back, the lobby was packed, waiting for the 1:00 show to let out. Well, none of the 1:00 audience left the theatre and everyone else literally stampeded in. Kids pushed us all over the place and we just left and got passes to come back again. This is the first time we have had such an experience and seen people behave this way in Brazil and we were sort of shocked and annoyed. I wonder if all those people stood to see a 3 hour movie because few Brazilians were leaving when we were there. We all went home and had dinner. Janet and I played Gin while Bob and Russ played Chess. Pedie and Larry went back downtown to try "El Cid" again but it was the same thing all over again but worse. We decided to try during the week when it was calmer.
A very happy Columbus Day to you all. The prime feeling of the day is that we shall return the best citizens the U.S. has ever seen. Never again will we take our home for granted or all the advantages we have there. No matter how much you hear about it, you must really see and live in these conditions to believe them. No Susan, Hyde Park is not a slum - it is a beautiful, clean, wonderful place full of palaces with drinkable water and toilets that work.
Harriet and Russ
KAY'S PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
VOL. 1. No. 17
10/12/64-10/18/64
We got a bunch of books in Portugese this week - Public Health, Dr. Spock, etc. We found out our assignments on Friday. We will be going to Aparecida do Taboado, a town of about 7500 people in the south eastern part of the state. It is four hours by bus from Tres Lagoas, where Jeff and Janice Glenn will be, and which is on the railroad to Sao Paulo. In Aparecida we will have electricty from the State of Sao Paulo. The Health Post there is effectively closed for the doctor is gone and all that the vistadora ever seems to do is collect her monthly paycheck.
Training (for want of a better word) is pretty bad - pure repetition of what we had in Milwaukee. The fieldwork is a little better, but not much. The girls are learning how to make up their "maletas", the bags they will use in their home visits. The fellows are learning such esoteric things as hole-digging, well-building, concrete-mixing, and brick-making. (This last should really come in handy in case I need bricks - Aparecida has 150 brick factories).
Saturday night we went to the movies expecting a Tab Hunter, Arabian Nights spectacular. Well, that didn't arrive in time so they showed a Mexican movie instead. We were, it should be noted, able to understand it. Of course, it wasn't really worth it. The next night we went back, and this time it was a Vincent Price, Peter Lorre - Basil Rathbone (Edgar Allen Poe) thing called Tales of Terror. Afterwards both times, we went for ice cream at a little place next to the theater - the only place in town that boils their milk. Ice cream - milkshakes - real luxury.
Sunday afternoon we had a baseball game against a local Japanese team. Three of us couples started to drive out in a jeep, which we had because Pedie and Larry Lynch went on a reconnaissance trip to their town the night before. Well, it seems there wasn't even enough gas to start it with. After considerable delay we got started (the girls having already left on the bus) and then, of course, got lost. After about half an hour driving one of the most recalcitrant jeeps I've ever seen, we found our way there - with a flat tire. Anyway we beat the scrub team 14 - 13 and the game with the regulars was rained out.
The weather for the last day or two has been really cool and wet - except around noon, when the sun is out full strength.
One last word, last week the girls were taught to take blood pressures. One of them asked Loretta Hanner, our nurse (and Dean of the Airzona State University School of Nursing) to explain it in English, and Loretta, bless her heart, said that she did not know how.
P.S. from Harriet - We had a few exciting evenings this week when the electricity went out for a few hours. This usually happens at least once during the day but we hardly notice it them. The Hotel lit some lanterns and put out candles and we all went into town for ice cream. We ate by lantern light and shortly after we got back, the lights came back on.
Saturday night, after the movie, we met one of the men who lives in our hotel. He had his car and asked if we wanted a ride but we said we wanted some ice cream first. We looked up while we were in the ice cream parlor and found him just standing there, waiting for us to finish. We had to work hard to convince him it wasn't necessary to wait. That is typical of the kindness of Brazilians.
Not many people have cars around here and most of the poor people get around by bus or hitchhiking. After class Saturday morning, we hitched a ride into town from school. There were about 15 of us in the back of a huge high truck and the boys declared we needed a crane before we do it again. But we bounced into town all right and really had fun. Actually, most of our traveling is done like this and we really get to meet a lot of people that way.
Saturday we sat in the center of South American, listening to Mexican music on Radio New York, watching some P.C.V's play baseball with a Japanese team. How international can you get?
We are getting desperate for lack of things to do so we are currently making a Monopoly game with paper and colored pencils. Next we are going to try a Parchesi game.
Harriet and Russ
KAY'S WEEKLY PEACE CORPS NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1 No. 18
October 19, 1964 to October 25, 1964
Well, our Monopoly game is progressing nicely but we are sort of stymied at one point. Would someone please send us a list of property costs, rents, etc. We would be most grateful.
Classes continue as usual - Monday we spent 4 hours watching a baby-bathing demonstration and Tuesday we spent 4 hours practicing ourselves on dolls. But for the rest of the week things picked up - we finally got around to making home visits. Thursday 2 other girls and I accompanied a nurse on a home visit to a 6 day old boy and his mother. We watched while she taught the mother how to bathe him and care for the umbilical cord. The baby has 2 older sisters, both with long blonde beautiful curls. The girls were fascinated by us and the whole time we were there, hugged us and gave us little gifts, string, cotton, etc. I guess Brazilians start learning early to be generous with their things. The house was very nice by Brazilian standards. There was a tile floor all through, a bench, table and 3 chairs in the living room, 2 beds in the bedroom and a kitchen. The rooms are airy and light enough and also big enough for the family. Everything was pretty clean. The baby's clothes were clean and pressed and decorated with lovely, delicate embroidery and lace. The girls were rather clean for young children and the house was neat.
Some of the other girls were less fortunate in their home visits. One home was dark, dirty and smelly and while they were there 4 chickens, 3 guinea pigs, 1 dog, a cat and a rat were seen to come out from under the mother's bed. Another house was made of sticks stuck into the ground and covered with a thatched roof. The 2 rooms were about 5' x 5 1/2' and 5 1/2' high. In spite of the fact that the wind could blow right through the walls, the stench inside was horrible. The baby's umbilical cord had been covered with some kind of junk and the nurse thought he probably already had umbilical tetanus, a common thing here. The mother had a vaginal infection and had a 103° temperature. The nurse said we would never see any thing worse in all of Brazil and I am glad I did not have to see it in the first place.
Friday I made another home visit and was lucky again. This house had a wood floor (incidentally, dirt floors are not uncommon) and was most light and airy and clean. We were visiting a mother and a 4 day old girl for the first time and while we were there the midwife who had delivered the baby came for a visit. We had a real nice time there. The baby was beautifully clean and sweet smelling and didn't even yelp while the nurse showed the mother how to bathe her. The midwife had dressed the umbilical cord well and everything was fine. We got to feel the mother's uterus to see if it was contracting all right and when we were all done, we were served coffee. The midwife was interesting - she looked like a witch straight out of Walt Disney and none too clean but she is very jolly and the older children love her. Also, judging from the state of mother and baby, she is probably very clean and careful at a delivery. Again, the 2 older children tried to give us presents. I think a Brazilian would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you wanted it.
This week was another movie week. Tuesday I finally got to see "One Eyed Jacks” with Marlon Brando. I had wanted to see it at home but missed it. The theater is pretty miserable - it is where we had that awful experience with "El Cid". They turn the sound down real low since no one understands the English and you have to sit in the first row to hear anything. With Brando's mumbling that can be quite a thing but what we couldn't hear, we read in Portugese. But I enjoyed it and I'm glad we got to see it.
Thursday the movie with Tab Hunter, that was supposed to be here the week-end before arrived so we went to see it. "The Golden Arrow" It is a low budget Italian thing which was filmed at least in part (I think) in Egypt. It was so terrible it was funny and we really enjoyed it. Friday we played stay-at-home and read and wrote letters until the bugs drove us under our nets.
Friday we also treated ourselves to a dinner downtown. Russ had chateaubriand for 65¢ and I had fried fish. The meal was wonderful and they served so much (as usual) that we couldn't finish it.
Saturday morning we had an appointment with Dr. Jorge Nasser, the head of the Mato Grosso State Health Department and our boss. Our appointment was for 10:25 but we didn't get in until 12:45. He had wanted to finish early, by 10:00, but he started an hour late and kept everyone longer than they were scheduled for. He is a very wonderful man and has been giving us our classes on Epidemiology. He speaks slow and clearly and never goes on until he is sure we all understand him. Anyhow, he gave us a letter of introduction to the doctor in charge of our health post and told us that Aparecida is a small but nice town. It has a good hotel which serves good food. This remains to be seen. We will, in effect, be in charge of our health subpost. The doctor lives in a town 2 hours away by bus and never comes down, though he is supposed to. The man and woman who work there now don't work at all and are completely untrained. We really have a big job ahead of us.
Saturday evening we saw "The V.I.P's" or "Gente Muito Importante"
It was horrible.
Sunday we sat on the terrace and listened to the Cleveland Brown's game on the radio, accompanied by 2 mooing cows nearby. It was a very hot and very boring day. I think we will be very happy to leave here when Thursday comes around.
Now for some answers to some questions. Cuiaba has 60,000 people, more or less. It is about 50 years behind the times in most things. There are new cars and electricity, but that is the extent of it. There are some shops that specialize in one thing - drug stores, material shops - but most stores are more or less general stores, one right after the other, all sizes. You have to go from one to the other to find what you want and then dicker the price down to something reasonable. They all think that we are rich Americans and charge us higher prices but we are wiser now and rarely pay the first price asked. The people dress much the same as we do. The fashions aren't quite so fashionable, nor the materials so modern but the skirts are as short and just about like ours. Most clothes are handmade as they don't have much ready-to- wear stuff and to get a dress made costs about $1.25 above the price of the material.
We will stay in the Hotel in Cuiaba. In Aparecida we'll stay in a hotel until we can find a house to rent. Right now we eat at the hotel with the other married couples and we'll eat at the hotel in Aparecida too. But once we get a house, we'll do our own cooking.
There are about 45 of us here now, all public health people, and 15 agricultural people already at their sites. We're getting 50 more in December or January who are training at University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee right now to be agricultural workers and another 50 in June. After that we'll be the largest P.C. project in Brazil and one of the biggest in the world. But Mato Grosso is about the size of Texas and 150 people just isn't very many.
We will be alone in Aparecida but another couple will be 4 hours south of us by bus and 2 others 2 hours north so we will be doing plenty of visiting on the weekends. Also, we are near the railroad and can visit friends in the souther part of the state rather easily. So we won't be very lonely.
PLEASE WRITE!!!!!!!!!!!
HARRIET AND RUSS.