Maria Rezende

SHARING LIFE STORIES

The story I´m going to tell you is not about my grandfather´s life. It´s a story he used to tell. But first, I´m going to say a little of what I know about him  he’s dead, and I’ve never has the opportunity to get to know him).

His name was Ismael (not a very common name, isn´t it?). From what I know, he was born in my great-grandfather’s farm, in Minas Gerais. He married once, Sonja Maria, my grandmother; and had 4 kids : my uncle, my father and my two aunts. Of course that’s a sum up, but as his life is not my focus, I’m not going to tell many things.

Well, let´s get to the point: his famous story. My  father was the one who told me, and used to tell like this:

On this farm, once happened  something  really  unusual.

There was one guy ( the manager of the farm) who saw something. One night, after everyone was in bed, he decided to sleep outside, in a net because it was too hot and he couldn’t sleep. When he was almost falling asleep he heard a noise. He thought it was a wolf, it sounded like one, but they weren’t from that region, so it couldn’t be. That’s when he saw the monster. It was half wolf and half jaguar.

He didn’t know what to do, so he stood still. And meanwhile, the wolf-jaguar (lobonça in Portuguese) attacked one cow. He just watched. And stayed there until the Thing had gone far, far away.

He didn’t tell anyone because they’d think he was crazy. But the attacks continued, so he decided to tell my grandfather what he had seen.

Usually no one would believe such story (like a wolf-jaguar is not possible right?! It is just insane) but my grandfather was a very superstitious man.

He prepared a trap. One night he took a sheep with him and tied it to a tree. After that he climbed another tree and waited. When he was almost  falling asleep he heard a noise, of a branch breaking. The  sheep started to “bahh!”

The animal came and started to eat the sheep, that was when my father shot. The animal screamed but he didn’t die. It ran away and never came back to my grandfather’s lands.

ABOUT ME:

Hello, my name is Maria Rezende. I´m 13 years old. I´m not very tall but I´m not very short, I´m medium height. I have brown eyes and long, straight, brown hair. I think I´m a very happy person and I´m lively, at least that is what some people tell me.

         I live with my brother (João), my sister (Julia), my mother (Fernanda) and my father (José). I have 2 dogs called Chico and Chanel. I love them all!

         I like doing sports, sleeping a lot and using my computer. I love playing tennis and listening to music. Actually I don´t mind reading school books and going to the dentist. But I hate fish and lines! And I can´t stand fake people. I´m really interested in learning new recipes. My favorite football team is Corinthians, just like my dad.

         I can play handball, but actually I´m not good at it at all! And I can´t sing at all, although I like it very much. I´m just good at cooking and some sports.

         At home I don´t have to do much housework, just on weekends. When it´s weekend I have to: make my bed, tidy up my room and help my parents preparing lunch and dinner. But I have to do homework, a lot of it! I usually spend 10 hours doing sports every week. And about 6 hours in homework and studies, and 2-3 hours in housework. And the rest of the time is free.

        

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE:

         Actually, I´m not sure what I want to be or to do, but I would love if I lived abroad in London or New Zeland/Australia. I think I will study something related to law. And I would love to be CISV leader and JC.

         But as I don´t know about my future, right now I´m just hoping for the best!!!