A simple smile

by Alpa Patel (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Brazil

A simple smile We were laying in the sun watching Darlison help his young friend keep his balance and walk on the slack line. Later on, when we were messing about on the slack line ourselves, Darlison approached us with some friendly guidance. He had such an intriguing and yet gentle aura and thereafter he warmly invited us to see his artwork which he made and displayed right on the beach. The majority of his pieces were carved out of wood and others included the most awesome hats which he weaved from palm leaves. We managed to communicate in our own way starting with a smile. At the time he had been living higher up in the verges of the beach for around nine years, having to overcome many obstacles in order to remain where his heart was at. Darlison is very socially conscious and thrives on living at one with nature. He is also extremely talented and we were both honoured and privileged to be shown around his self-made eco home. We were then able to learn a few skills from him which enabled the two of us to leave a little piece of our hearts behind at the beautiful beach he called his home. A few days later Sol and I were at the beach again with some friends and so I went to see Darlison offering him one of my sandwiches. We both sat eating together, looking out at the ocean in silence. It was sheer bliss and in that moment we connected without words and it all started with a simple smile.