seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi! Tudo bem?

There are days that I know that God is looking out for me in such a loud capacity, I would have to be deaf to ignore it. This past Wednesday was one of those days. We had no school for All Saints Day, and I decided that Kya and I would have an adventure. While Brazil is dog friendly, there are not a lot of hiking and natural areas I can bring Kya because they want to “preserve their nature.” If I read between the lines that is because some dummy had to ruin it for everyone. In Virginia, Kya and I would hike almost every weekend if I could help it. She didn’t have a choice in moving to Brazil, so I’m trying to be a good dog mommy and help her have fun too.

There’s a couple of background details to get out of the way before this story truly begins. We are now in the rainy season in Brazil, and it has been raining a bit. When it rains, it really rains. Also, Brazil has great roads! However, usually as soon as you turn off those roads, you are on a dirt road. When it has been raining, sometimes those dirt roads turn muddy.

So, on this Wednesday, I decided I was going to rent a car and take Kya somewhere to go hiking. I found a waterfall/park called Pezquizeiros about an hour outside of Brasilia, and pegged that as where we would go. I got us all ready, I made banana pancakes in the morning. It was raining, but I was like, well we are going an hour away, it might be done by the time we arrive. Kya loves riding in the car, and she didn’t care it was raining, she still wanted the window down so she could stick her head out. She is so cute.

We are approaching the park destination, and I turn onto a dirt road. The rain has lessened, and the sky is clearing. Everything is going just fine, I pass a sign for the park we are going to, but there is no entrance, no other cars, no where to park, just some trees. We keep going down the road and then my Google Maps says, “You have arrived.” Uhh, nope. I have not arrived, we are in the middle of the forrest. I keep moving down the road a little bit and then I start to worry.

I decided to turn around because a little ways back I saw a fork in the road and thought back to my trip in Pirenopolis when we went to brunch and just took the wrong part of the fork. As I am driving back, I pass a woman running. I get to the fork, make the turn, and immediately get stuck in the mud. About 30 seconds later, before panic truly sets in, the woman passes me and asks if I need help (in Portuguese). I nod and say yes, please. She whistles, and two dogs and eventually her husband comes down the road. They help me get my rental car out of the mud with a little effort. I am wearing a shirt that says “Hiking and Dogs kind of Day.” The husband speaks to me in Portuguese and I blink a couple times and say- sorry can you repeat that, I don’t speak very well. The wife asks in perfect English, “Where were you trying to go?”

[English is not widely spoken in Brazil. Let alone an hour outside of the nearest city, in the middle of the forrest.]

I breathe a sigh of relief and tell her about the waterfall. She says something to her husband and then tells me they own the farm that’s right here. There is a shortcut to the waterfall at the back of their property, and would I like them to take me there? Uhhhh…. YES! This day really just turned around!

Kya and I follow them to their property, we park the car and start heading towards the waterfall with Ana Carolina and Gabriel as our guides. They have 8 puppies on this property (a street dog who felt safe and had her babies there, and now they are trying to find homes for them). The puppies were so cute, and came right up to us, and Kya was terrified. They just want to play silly girl. As we are making our way, this is not a “trail” but more of a “path.” That is to say, we are bushwacking our way to the waterfall, in knee high grass, and stepping in big puddles. Adventure = onwards.

We arrive! The husband, Gabriel, offers to take my picture with Kya in front of the waterfalls (there are 3), Ana Carolina helps me with her on the rocks so I don’t fall. They are being my tour guides in the full sense of the word.

Kya and I, plus one of the 2 border collie dogs Ana Carolina and Gabriel were running with.

This couple is in better physical shape than I am. I did catch them at the tail end of their daily 10k run… On the way back from the waterfalls, it is all uphill. I’m doing my best not to trip and also make casual conversation. They get to know me a little bit, and where I work. I learn about them and their farm. Ana Carolina lives and works in Brasilia for 4 days a week and spends the weekends out there.

As we approach the top of the climb and back to my car, Ana Carolina asks me if I would like to come over for lunch. “My goodness, thank you so much, but you have already been so kind to me, I don’t need to impose.” At this point, they have already been walking with me and Kya for an hour if not more. Ana Carolina says it really is no problem. They have food already made and are just going to heat it up. So, I try to listen for the cultural polite thing to do… and accept. Kya and I go over to their house for lunch, and I am fed by strangers.

Gabriel has two nieces that attend the school I work at. As he shows me a picture of them, the world becomes a little bit smaller. One of them is on my caseload at EAB. Ana Carolina tells me that it was very odd for them to be running at that time of day. It’s a holiday, so they slept in and then were trying to wait out the rain. If they had followed their usual routine, they would not have been there at the time I got my car stuck. She said, “We were destined to meet today.”

In all of this wackiness, I know that God put them there for me that day. He wanted me to be safe in the middle of the woods, and more than that, I was taken care of completely. The kindness of strangers wrapped me in love and safety and ultimately led to an amazing day.

As I was leaving, Gabriel had me look at the directions on my phone to make sure the road it was leading me on would be safe and not muddy to get stuck in again. Ana Carolina and I exchanged WhatsApp information, and she asked me to text them when I made it home safely.

What a wonderful, wacky adventure. I know who’s I am, and in who’s hands I am in, and I am so thankful for that!

The second of the waterfalls. It was bustin’ because of all the rain.

At the top of the waterfall, looking out over the beautiful country.

And finally- this post is dedicated to Ana Carolina and Gabriel, my angels of the waterfall.

Tchau gente!