#1 Home sweet home - by Blenda Araujo

I came from Pedra Azul, a small city in the middle of Jequitinhonha, a valley very well known in Brazil. The Jequitinhonha Valley is known for its variety of gemstones, colonial-era towns, unique handicraft, beautiful landscapes and also because it is one of the poorest and remotest parts of Brazil. Pedra Azul has approximately 30,000 people and has a colonial-era aspect in housing. 

Colonial-era aspects in housing.  Pedra Azul, MG - Brazil.

My house is a small colonial house that had 14 rooms (including 3 basements) and one big back yard that went from a street to another in the original project. But it suffered some modifications during the years, now it has 13 rooms and half of the back yard (because it was too big that could fit another house, then we sold it). 

The good thing about growing up in a house like that is the many possibilities that it gave to me as a child. I used to play in the back yard with my brother and cousins, climbing the trees, running around and getting dirty of mud. My cousins used to tell me stories about the old basements to scare me during the night, and also about the weird noises that the dinner room's floor made. The dinner room's floor was made of wooden planks and especially during the night the noises from the wood planks started, I never knew if it was wind or something else.

My cousin and my brother sitting by the front door, 1989. The front door of my house nowadays.

This house mean so much to me that I could talk about it forever. It has been in my family for 3 generations and I hope that this house will stay for many other generations that will come.