My Hilarious Baby Girl Has Been Adapting to Her New Environment in the Cutest and Messiest Ways

 

There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child, and an instinct to make any child who needs her love her own.” — Robert Brault

 

During the last week spent in the forest where I was supposedly volunteering in an ‘ecological’ platform, I was feeling concerned about my beloved furry kid's integration in the new environment.

She lived as a wild tigress in mother nature. Watching her running in all directions, chasing butterflies or colored birds, playing with another cat going by the name of Cornelia, teasing the dog Simba, lying under the sunshine or the stars before deciding to join me in the tent — and the list goes on — was soul-soothing!

My baby hates all kinds of transportation means. Interestingly, there is an App in Brazil named BlaBlaCar. It’s a service close to Uber but intended for trips between cities.

The guy driving us from Sao Paulo to Ubatuba — the closest city to the forest — was not what I would call a good person. He charged extra fees for my Mimi which is not part of the contract. Given that I didn't have many options, I accepted reluctantly.

And that wasn’t everything… He forced me to keep her locked in her container for four long hours. My heart was bleeding for my baby who was terrified and insistently asking for being released.

Sadly enough, I couldn't predict his behavior. I was a stranger in a country where I didn’t speak the language. According to some locals, around 5% of the population fluently speaks English. My driver didn’t know a single word.

Fear, we know is a magnet that attracts what we fear. It was Barry Kaufman who said all fear is fear of death. However, to the awakened ones, most fears disappear because of non-attachment. They are aware that death is an inevitable part of life and know that the soul journeys on. Death is NOT the end. — Lanu Pitan

 

Even if this mesmerizing wisdom would have applied to me in such a situation, I couldn’t risk my kid’s life. When I adopted her from the street 7 months ago, I committed to protecting her till my last breath!

With a little hindsight, I am realizing the Universe has been sending numerous signs to warn me about how awful my first volunteering program would turn to be.

The driver was merely the first red flag. I didn’t tell you that he took me to his new place neighborhood since his carrier arrived with his furniture. He pretended it was the destination on which we agreed while I wasn’t seeing any bus station nearby.

Fortunately, I had some left battery and called the person with whom I interacted to discuss all the program details. He explained to me that he asked for my permission to stop for a while in Portuguese, which I surely didn’t understand!

Moreover, he said that he offered to take me to the platform — at a 30-min distance — should I be interested — at the same price as the 4-hour-trip! It felt so wrong, but I was tired and carrying a lot of luggage.

Most importantly, I wanted to stop my baby’s suffering as soon as possible; thus, I accepted his exploitative offer…

 

Appealingly, my BlaBlaCar experience from Ubatuba to Pao Paulo was anything alike. My heart was dancing out of witnessing how comfortable my baby was.

The driver didn’t say a word about setting her free. He was rather smiling. To my surprise, there was another English-fluent-speaker passenger who was sitting next to me.

If you've come this far, maybe you might enjoy my upcoming free eBook about the whole tale! I'll be honored if you decide to stop by!