I don't like to be alone

Usually in Brazil people don't like to be alone. For me it was difficult to be alone with big family that I have. After my brothers and sisters married I was living alone with my mother, and I got used to having fewer people around. I also got used to having less noise around me. For instance, I turned the TV down because I didn't need to drawn out the noise made by my brothers and sisters. Now when more than three or four people come over I don't like the noise and distraction. Since I came to the United States I have become even more solitary. As a result, when I go back to Brazil I need some time to get used to so many people again. Although I have gotten used to being alone, I still like it when friends come. In fact, I still like to be around other people.

Dreams and Fears

I have a dream to open a studio to teach quilting in Brazil. I never quilted before I came to the US, but I learned here. My church was making quilts for poor children and I volunteered to help. Working with the women at church I started to learn how to quilt. I made about 20 quilts for the children and I hope to make another twenty this year. I enjoyed making the quilts and so I made some more to take to my friends and relatives in Brazil. Quilting is rare in Brazil and they liked my quilts very much. Some people wanted me to teach them how to make quilts in Brazil. That gave me the idea of having my own studio a teaching quilting classes in Brazil. I think it would be a fun and therapeutic way of sharing my talents.

I don't have any big fears about this project, but there are some challenges. Sewing machines for quilting in Brazil are not very common and are expensive. Some of the materials used here are hard to get in Brazil. I am also kind of shy so teaching big classes could be scary. Still I think it would be fun, and we could develop tropical quilt designs that American quilters would not think of.