September Update from Goiana

The churches and festival in downtown Goiana

From Yuri

Hello, fellow readers!

Lately I have been absent and silent. Don't think that it's solely my fault, but depression has really affected me these last two weeks. I try to stay well by taking my medications (important to get rid of bad thoughts) and I find myself in a paradox created by the worry that when they run out I won't have any more money to buy them.

But let's get to what really matters here, which is the news about our non-routine everyday life. We are in Goiana, Pernambuco. A small city in the most extreme northwest of Pernambuco. Goiana has around 82 thousand inhabitants, a historic city that is 453 years old and is marked by the gigantic cultivation of sugar cane and the installation of some car assembly plants.

It has beautiful churches from the Brazilian colonial period. I read in an article that, as the city hall does not have enough funds, the residents themselves mobilized and raised money that is being allocated to repairing these churches. Street commerce here is also very important for the city's economic development. This is the first city I've seen where the street market is open 6 days a week and I think it's incredible.