Day 5 - A TEMPORARY LIFE IN 36 SQUARE METERS

Cats, chaos and raul: "Try Again"- as Brazilian rock legend Raul Seixas would say.

Neni Nenê and Fruki Mozão

We were living in 36 square meters. Two cats. One room serving as office, studio, storage, and bedroom.

In the effort to stay optimistic, living across from the local bar turned out to be strategic. We built relationships with people who had lived there long before the region became even remotely “trendy.”

Those connections brought construction advice and, more importantly, the chance to experience winter there.

Winter in Maraú is not about cold. It is humidity. Clothes that refuse to dry. Mold. Food sprouting unexpectedly.

We learned how to manage organic waste, plan departures before roads turned to mud, protect electronics, and stabilize internet during frequent power outages. We installed satellite internet, bought a small generator, added a modest solar panel. Because paradise is still Earth.

Living there reshaped the construction schedule. Structural work would need to start after the rainy season. Finishing phases could ideally happen during wetter months, when crews could work indoors.

On paper, it made sense.

Construction still had not begun.

And somewhere in the middle of all this, our feline population doubled.

We had arrived from São Paulo with Chico Lico and Neni Nenê. Then Neni adopted Fruki Mozão — his great love. Shortly after, Zezé arrived, our cangaceira (a rebellious woman from Brazil’s historic backlands movement) cat, and claimed her place immediately.

All of this happened inside 36 square meters.

Just in case you were wondering.

Fruki, Zezé Cangaceira and Chico Lico.