At the bar tonight, a child of no more than 8 years walked up to us and sat down. I asked him in Portuguese and Changana if he understood me and several basic questions, to which he didn't respond. I asked him if he could speak and he nodded. He alternated between passing out on my leg, getting up and dancing, and drinking the water we gave him. He said to us at one point that he had drunk alcohol here, and didn't seem to be lying or asking for anything. He was generally disoriented and only half-assedly trying to follow us home.
We've been talking a lot lately about why we came here and how hard our lives are at site in different ways - and seeing this drunk kid did not help settle our confusions.
Peace
John
