I missed homecoming.
Last weekend was homecoming at Oklahoma Christian. I think I've managed to make it every year until now. I went when I was in college because I had to- we always had a club alumni breakfast where the new Beta girls, who had to go, would sit and pretend like they knew the old Beta girls, who weren't there to see anyone but each other. And that was fine, as the years passed and friends graduated, I did know some of the older girls.
After I graduated, I stayed in Oklahoma City for a couple of years but didn't see many of my college friends on a regular basis. No reason in particular, we just went to different churches and became part of different social circles. But I looked forward to homecoming as a change to see those friends, who were ususally coming for the same reason. Plus it was an excuse for Jenny to visit. And because of our work with the college ministry, I actually knew many of the younger girls, so I had lots of people to see.
We moved to Abliene for training but came back for homecoming. That time it was more important to see those friends, because they weren't just across town. At the time, I thought it would be my last one because we were originally going to arrive here in October 2004. But we moved the date to March and we got to go one last time.
And now here we are again. I've read on several friends' blogs that they were planning on going. To you, I say, "I'm jealous!" And then there's the rest of you, flung out around the world, for whom the weekend trip just isn't a possibility. To you, I say, "I'm sorry." But regardless of which category you fit in, if you're a college friend of mine and read this blog (and chances are I read yours too), then I guess homecoming would have been just a formality! We know what's going on in each others' lives! But somehow, it's not the same. If anyone figures out how to post a hug in the comments section, let me know.
There's an obvious spiritual application to be made here. I could talk about the longing we should feel for our real homecoming. I could remind all of you (and myself) that even if I never make it to another OC homecoming, I will be reunited with these friends and so many more one day. I'll hopefully get to introduce them to Brazilians who are there because we're here. And all that is true. But I'm still a little sad.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Day of the Dead
If I say "Day of the Dead," you may instantly think of the Mexican celebration with the little skeleton guys. I know I do.
But in Brazil it's different. It's just like Memorial Day. But bigger. Much bigger.
Jaci recommended a field trip to the cemetery to see the goings-on. We all jumped at the chance. I was especially excited when I found out we were going to a cemetery that I have noticed several times and have been longing to visit. (Earlier today, I said I was dying to check it out--poor choice of words!)
This morning, Russ and I met Jaci, the Maberys, the Sasses and Keith to head down to the cemetery. After a good twenty minute wait for the bus, we hopped on. Because it's a holiday, traffic was pretty light. And then we got near the cemetery. It's in a pretty hilly part of town--the roads go up and up. The traffic got heavier and heavier the closer we got. Finally it was stop and go. And on one of the big hills the bus stopped and didn't go. We stalled out. The driver waited a second, restarted, lurched forward and stalled. A little roll, a slam of the brakes--no problem. He tried several times to get going again but the hill was just too big. We all got off the bus and walked the rest of the way (it was only a fews stops away).
Outside the cemetery were vendors of all descriptions. You could buy fresh flowers, artificial flowers, candles, water, hot dogs- anything you might possibly need for your day at the cemetery. The next wave of people came as we entered the gates: the evangelicals. Since this is a Catholic holiday, most conservative evangelicals do not celebrate it. Instead, they apparently use this opportunity to hand out tracts! We received several tracts, all quite interesting, and some actually had some good things to say. But I don't know when they're mourning is the best time to tell people they're wrong. After the evangelicals was a row of nuns and finally we entered the main part of the cemetery.
I had never been to a cemetery outside of anglo-North America. I had never walked among large above-ground tombs and crypts. At the entrance are the most expensive monuments. Some had obviously cost millions to construct. There were little chapels, amazing sculptures and beautiful flowers. There were large trees providing shade. These had been rich and powerful families.
Turning a corner, we got to the next level down. Still large above-ground crypts, but they were a little more subdued. Around the outer edges were walls of vaults.
Winding a little more and heading down some stairs, we ended up in aisle after aisle of vaults. They were not as nice as the ones upstairs but were much more recent (within the past five years).
There was another section where there were in-ground graves but I didn't make it there. The cemetery was so immense. Many people were walking around, looking for their loved one's grave. Jaci told us her father is buried there but doesn't know where he is. She says she doesn't see a point in going once a year to wash the marker or put out flowers and then ignoring him the rest of the year. (I think there's more to the relationship than we know about).
In all, it was quite an interesting morning. I would like to go back to the cemetery when there are less people there. I enjoy walking and reading the markers, taking in the scuptures and just experiencing the peace. I don't find cemeteries scary or eerie (though I made a few zombie jokes today) because death isn't something for God's children to fear! I'm so thankful that God is life! He is the giver of life, sustainer of life and He has given us the road to eternal life with Him. The graves we saw today were full of people who had lost to death. We don't have to! Praise God!
But in Brazil it's different. It's just like Memorial Day. But bigger. Much bigger.
Jaci recommended a field trip to the cemetery to see the goings-on. We all jumped at the chance. I was especially excited when I found out we were going to a cemetery that I have noticed several times and have been longing to visit. (Earlier today, I said I was dying to check it out--poor choice of words!)
This morning, Russ and I met Jaci, the Maberys, the Sasses and Keith to head down to the cemetery. After a good twenty minute wait for the bus, we hopped on. Because it's a holiday, traffic was pretty light. And then we got near the cemetery. It's in a pretty hilly part of town--the roads go up and up. The traffic got heavier and heavier the closer we got. Finally it was stop and go. And on one of the big hills the bus stopped and didn't go. We stalled out. The driver waited a second, restarted, lurched forward and stalled. A little roll, a slam of the brakes--no problem. He tried several times to get going again but the hill was just too big. We all got off the bus and walked the rest of the way (it was only a fews stops away).
Outside the cemetery were vendors of all descriptions. You could buy fresh flowers, artificial flowers, candles, water, hot dogs- anything you might possibly need for your day at the cemetery. The next wave of people came as we entered the gates: the evangelicals. Since this is a Catholic holiday, most conservative evangelicals do not celebrate it. Instead, they apparently use this opportunity to hand out tracts! We received several tracts, all quite interesting, and some actually had some good things to say. But I don't know when they're mourning is the best time to tell people they're wrong. After the evangelicals was a row of nuns and finally we entered the main part of the cemetery.
I had never been to a cemetery outside of anglo-North America. I had never walked among large above-ground tombs and crypts. At the entrance are the most expensive monuments. Some had obviously cost millions to construct. There were little chapels, amazing sculptures and beautiful flowers. There were large trees providing shade. These had been rich and powerful families.
Turning a corner, we got to the next level down. Still large above-ground crypts, but they were a little more subdued. Around the outer edges were walls of vaults.
Winding a little more and heading down some stairs, we ended up in aisle after aisle of vaults. They were not as nice as the ones upstairs but were much more recent (within the past five years).
There was another section where there were in-ground graves but I didn't make it there. The cemetery was so immense. Many people were walking around, looking for their loved one's grave. Jaci told us her father is buried there but doesn't know where he is. She says she doesn't see a point in going once a year to wash the marker or put out flowers and then ignoring him the rest of the year. (I think there's more to the relationship than we know about).
In all, it was quite an interesting morning. I would like to go back to the cemetery when there are less people there. I enjoy walking and reading the markers, taking in the scuptures and just experiencing the peace. I don't find cemeteries scary or eerie (though I made a few zombie jokes today) because death isn't something for God's children to fear! I'm so thankful that God is life! He is the giver of life, sustainer of life and He has given us the road to eternal life with Him. The graves we saw today were full of people who had lost to death. We don't have to! Praise God!
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Hooray!
Yesterday Russ and I hopped a bus after class to go to the mall. There's a great mall in our part of town but sometimes a change is nice. And Shopping Barra (shopping means mall) is near the hotel we stayed at for our first month here so we miss it occasionally. It's only a 20 minute ride via the nice bus, which costs twice as much at the regular bus (yet is still under US$ 2) and is air-conditioned, has comfortable seats and barely stops.
The bus drops us off on the other side of the street, so we had to walk over the road on the passarela (pedestrian overpass), which weaves its way over to the mall. As we started our decent toward the mall, we saw a large banner that brought tears to my eyes. On the side of Shopping Barra, in full color, was the huge announcement, "Coming Soon: Burger King". Actually, I'm paraphrasing. I don't really remember what the banner said but I got the message loud and clear! Sure enough, in the food court there was an area under construction with promises of Whoppers to come.
Yes, I'm admitting that made me cry. The closest fast food restaurant to my house growing up was Burger King, making it easy to swing through the drive thru on our way home from church. In junior high my friends and I would go almost every week after shops class. For a while my grandparents were in love with BK, and we had many a Sunday lunch of Whoppers. I like McDonalds, but Burger King holds a special place in my heart.
I guess we're going to be going to Shopping Barra a little more often once it opens; which is fine because it is a great mall with some stores that our mall, Shopping Iguatemi, doesn't have. But I am holding my breath. A couple blocks away from Iguatemi, a huge construction project is going on. Shopping Salvador promises to be bigger and better than all the other malls in town. If that's really true, they'll have a Burger King.
The bus drops us off on the other side of the street, so we had to walk over the road on the passarela (pedestrian overpass), which weaves its way over to the mall. As we started our decent toward the mall, we saw a large banner that brought tears to my eyes. On the side of Shopping Barra, in full color, was the huge announcement, "Coming Soon: Burger King". Actually, I'm paraphrasing. I don't really remember what the banner said but I got the message loud and clear! Sure enough, in the food court there was an area under construction with promises of Whoppers to come.
Yes, I'm admitting that made me cry. The closest fast food restaurant to my house growing up was Burger King, making it easy to swing through the drive thru on our way home from church. In junior high my friends and I would go almost every week after shops class. For a while my grandparents were in love with BK, and we had many a Sunday lunch of Whoppers. I like McDonalds, but Burger King holds a special place in my heart.
I guess we're going to be going to Shopping Barra a little more often once it opens; which is fine because it is a great mall with some stores that our mall, Shopping Iguatemi, doesn't have. But I am holding my breath. A couple blocks away from Iguatemi, a huge construction project is going on. Shopping Salvador promises to be bigger and better than all the other malls in town. If that's really true, they'll have a Burger King.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Retreat ! ! !
What I Did Last Week
by Valerie Q.
Last week I went with my friends to Guarajuba beach. We rented a beach house. It was a lot of fun. We swam in the pool, went to the beach and ate a lot. I'm glad I got to go to Guarajuba beach.
**********************************************
Sorry, just felt like writing that up like I was a little kid. So yes, the team retreat was awesome. Unlike other retreats we take (which are for getting work done) this one was for relaxing and spending time with each other. Here's a rundown for those of you who had to spend last week working or going to school:
Tuesday:
Russ and I met Travis and Alicia at the bus stop to head out there. The bus ride was a little over an hour. Not bad, considering. The seats were comfy and the bus wasn't too full. (We think we saw some gypsies on the bus; either that or women with very unusual taste in fashion.) Matt and Mary rode out with Nestor, the owner of the house. We arrived almost an hour before them, but the weather was great so we just hung out in a little plaza, eating ice cream and visiting with some boys who were selling cocada, a yummy coconut patty.
When the Maberys arrived, we headed to the house only to see Nestor's car pulling away. I was disappointed because I had wanted to meet him. However, Mary explained that he was missing a key and had gone to try to track it down. We started exploring the house only to discover that most of the doors were locked. If he had to go back to the city to get the key, things could get interesting. But thankfully Nestor returned in just a few minutes. The key had been there the whole time. He used that key to get to a small white box. He dumped the contents of the box on the kitchen table. It was about 25 keys of every size and description. All were tagged and labelled. There was a key for every bedroom and one for every bathroom. Every outside door had its own key and most windows did too. I've never seen that many keys for a single house. Mary jokingly asked if he had that many keys for his apartment in the city and we got an earful about security and how if someone breaks in through a window they wouldn't be able to get to the rest of the house. Which is true, but you could lock all those doors with a single key! (For the record, security in that area is great, but it's in a beach community that is largely abandoned during the week providing excellent opportunities for "curious" people.)
The house was perfect. There was room enough for the whole team to sleep and hang out without getting on each others' nerves (no more than usual anyway!). I never thought we would find a place like this for such a great price. There was a beautiful yard with grass for the kids and a big pool. The landscaping was incredible--we had bananas, coconuts and pineapples growing in the yard--and the smell of the flowers was stunning.
That night we all headed into town to a restaurant that Nestor had recommended. It was set on a lagoon and we watched the full moon rise over the water. The food was incredible and the restaurant was completely empty. (Again, beach town during the week.) After dinner we went back home for a swim, followed by a game of Rook.
Wednesday:
We all slept in Wednesday morning. I padded downstairs at around ten, expecting to see everyone else up and ready to go (this happens to me quite often) but was the only one up. Everyone else emerged soon after and we decided to go to the beach. The beach was a couple hundred yards away. Our stretch of beach was perfect- no barracas, no vendors, no trash, no people. Russ and I walked along the beach and found four whole sand dollars (and one five-centavo piece!). The boys headed off to explore and the girls kicked around the beach for a little bit longer before heading back to greet the rest of our team who were due to arrive soon. We waited in the pool.
When the Parkers and the Porters arrived, the tone changed. It wasn't a bad change, it was just different. We had been six adults hanging out. Now there were four more adults and four kids. It wasn't long before the kids were in the pool with us; Brock and Brandon in their new sungas (speedos). Lauren started the week able to tread water in spurts but by Saturday she was doing cannonballs and diving to retrieve things off the bottom of the pool. She seems to be a natural swimmer.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out: we visited, swam and played games. I should probably use this opportunity to tell you that I spent every waking hour of the past few days in my bathing suit. That's the life for me. I swam morning, noon and night. It doesn't get much better than that.
Thursday:
Thursday morning, Russ, Alicia and I headed down to the beach. We played in the waves, letting ourselves be thrown around by the surf. We went back to the house for a swim in the pool and lunch and then later Russ and I returned to the beach. This time, though, we stayed in the sand, taunting the crabs and seeing if we really could dig holes to China. (We couldn't, though mine was the length of my arm to my shoulder.) Thursday night we all headed to the beach once more to praise God in the awesomeness of His creation. The stars were bright and we could barely hear each other over the pounding of the waves but I know we were heard.
Friday:
Friday morning we started with some prayer time. Matt led us in prayers of thanksgiving. Afterwards, we played some team building games, which evolved into a game of Red Rover, one of my favorite games. (Okay, so maybe it was my suggestion, but still, everyone played.) I thought I might play Red Rover differently now that I'm a grownup, maybe a little more gingerly, but I seemed to be less concerned about getting hurt than ever before. (It might have something to do with having played rugby...just maybe.) We then all sat out on the patio and played the ever-popular yet nameless game where you make a web with yarn. You know the game, you played it at church camp and in youth group. For some reason, I always end up crying. I did my best to conceal it this time; I don't know if it worked. Even though all of us had done it before, we had never done it with two-year-olds around. Brandon and Kelton quickly discovered how fun it was to crawl under, over and through the web. They were hysterical.
Friday afternoon was a flurry of activity. Our team (the adults) is made up of seven Americans, two Canadians and one half-breed (me). Canadian Thanksgiving was earlier in October. American Thanksgiving is coming up. Stacey and Mary had the brilliant idea of creating a new holiday, celebrated between the two. (It doesn't have a special name, we just called it Thanksgiving, though I suggested Food Day might be appropriate.) So Friday we cooked. And cooked. Jenn had done a great job of planning out all the meals for the week and we had everything at our Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, and the mandatory desserts: pumpkin, apple and lemon meringue pie (and some yellow cake for the non-pie eaters). The house had two tables pushed together on the patio that held the 14 of us perfectly. We ate together, sharing stories of Thanksgivings past, and joked about watching football later and getting up the next morning to hit the sales. After we finished eating, we shared a time of worship, expressing our real thanksgiving. Travis and Alicia did an excellent job of planning that time.
After dinner, the cooks jumped in the pool while everyone else cleaned up the kitchen. That was fun- going swimming after Thanksgiving dinnner. (And no, no one got a cramp and drowned!)
Unfortunately, shortly after dinner a stomach bug hit several of us. I seem to have been the worst hit, my symptoms carried on until after we got home yesterday, but there were several mad dashes to the bathroom. We still had fun though, playing more Rook and cribbage and getting more swims.
Saturday:
Russ and I got up Saturday morning to make breakfast. Everyone was kind of slow getting moving, so we left breakfast on the table and got back in bed. Because I was feeling so sick, that's pretty much where I stayed until it was time to pack up. I'm not really sure what everyone else did on Saturday morning. Russ and I went back to the beach quickly to take a few pictures and then it was time to head out. The van company that came to get us had misunderstood our request and sent a much smaller van than needed but we somehow got the 14 of us and all our stuff loaded up.
I can't even begin to explain how badly I needed last week. I feel a level of relaxation that I haven't felt for months (probably since before arriving in Brazil). I'm ready now to really get things going. I'm ready to hit the ground running and do all that I have to get done. It was also a great blessing to get to spend that time with my teammates. So often our relationships get confined to working relationships because of the amount of stuff to get done. It's wonderful when we get to let our hair down and just hang out together, laughing about stupid things. It makes everything go more smoothly when we can take time out to see each other as people, and not just as people but as people we like. Times like this retreat are absolutely necessary to our sanity, health and relationships as a team. I'm thankful we were all able to make the trip.
(As usual, pics are up on Flickr.)
by Valerie Q.
Last week I went with my friends to Guarajuba beach. We rented a beach house. It was a lot of fun. We swam in the pool, went to the beach and ate a lot. I'm glad I got to go to Guarajuba beach.
**********************************************
Sorry, just felt like writing that up like I was a little kid. So yes, the team retreat was awesome. Unlike other retreats we take (which are for getting work done) this one was for relaxing and spending time with each other. Here's a rundown for those of you who had to spend last week working or going to school:
Tuesday:
Russ and I met Travis and Alicia at the bus stop to head out there. The bus ride was a little over an hour. Not bad, considering. The seats were comfy and the bus wasn't too full. (We think we saw some gypsies on the bus; either that or women with very unusual taste in fashion.) Matt and Mary rode out with Nestor, the owner of the house. We arrived almost an hour before them, but the weather was great so we just hung out in a little plaza, eating ice cream and visiting with some boys who were selling cocada, a yummy coconut patty.
When the Maberys arrived, we headed to the house only to see Nestor's car pulling away. I was disappointed because I had wanted to meet him. However, Mary explained that he was missing a key and had gone to try to track it down. We started exploring the house only to discover that most of the doors were locked. If he had to go back to the city to get the key, things could get interesting. But thankfully Nestor returned in just a few minutes. The key had been there the whole time. He used that key to get to a small white box. He dumped the contents of the box on the kitchen table. It was about 25 keys of every size and description. All were tagged and labelled. There was a key for every bedroom and one for every bathroom. Every outside door had its own key and most windows did too. I've never seen that many keys for a single house. Mary jokingly asked if he had that many keys for his apartment in the city and we got an earful about security and how if someone breaks in through a window they wouldn't be able to get to the rest of the house. Which is true, but you could lock all those doors with a single key! (For the record, security in that area is great, but it's in a beach community that is largely abandoned during the week providing excellent opportunities for "curious" people.)
The house was perfect. There was room enough for the whole team to sleep and hang out without getting on each others' nerves (no more than usual anyway!). I never thought we would find a place like this for such a great price. There was a beautiful yard with grass for the kids and a big pool. The landscaping was incredible--we had bananas, coconuts and pineapples growing in the yard--and the smell of the flowers was stunning.
That night we all headed into town to a restaurant that Nestor had recommended. It was set on a lagoon and we watched the full moon rise over the water. The food was incredible and the restaurant was completely empty. (Again, beach town during the week.) After dinner we went back home for a swim, followed by a game of Rook.
Wednesday:
We all slept in Wednesday morning. I padded downstairs at around ten, expecting to see everyone else up and ready to go (this happens to me quite often) but was the only one up. Everyone else emerged soon after and we decided to go to the beach. The beach was a couple hundred yards away. Our stretch of beach was perfect- no barracas, no vendors, no trash, no people. Russ and I walked along the beach and found four whole sand dollars (and one five-centavo piece!). The boys headed off to explore and the girls kicked around the beach for a little bit longer before heading back to greet the rest of our team who were due to arrive soon. We waited in the pool.
When the Parkers and the Porters arrived, the tone changed. It wasn't a bad change, it was just different. We had been six adults hanging out. Now there were four more adults and four kids. It wasn't long before the kids were in the pool with us; Brock and Brandon in their new sungas (speedos). Lauren started the week able to tread water in spurts but by Saturday she was doing cannonballs and diving to retrieve things off the bottom of the pool. She seems to be a natural swimmer.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out: we visited, swam and played games. I should probably use this opportunity to tell you that I spent every waking hour of the past few days in my bathing suit. That's the life for me. I swam morning, noon and night. It doesn't get much better than that.
Thursday:
Thursday morning, Russ, Alicia and I headed down to the beach. We played in the waves, letting ourselves be thrown around by the surf. We went back to the house for a swim in the pool and lunch and then later Russ and I returned to the beach. This time, though, we stayed in the sand, taunting the crabs and seeing if we really could dig holes to China. (We couldn't, though mine was the length of my arm to my shoulder.) Thursday night we all headed to the beach once more to praise God in the awesomeness of His creation. The stars were bright and we could barely hear each other over the pounding of the waves but I know we were heard.
Friday:
Friday morning we started with some prayer time. Matt led us in prayers of thanksgiving. Afterwards, we played some team building games, which evolved into a game of Red Rover, one of my favorite games. (Okay, so maybe it was my suggestion, but still, everyone played.) I thought I might play Red Rover differently now that I'm a grownup, maybe a little more gingerly, but I seemed to be less concerned about getting hurt than ever before. (It might have something to do with having played rugby...just maybe.) We then all sat out on the patio and played the ever-popular yet nameless game where you make a web with yarn. You know the game, you played it at church camp and in youth group. For some reason, I always end up crying. I did my best to conceal it this time; I don't know if it worked. Even though all of us had done it before, we had never done it with two-year-olds around. Brandon and Kelton quickly discovered how fun it was to crawl under, over and through the web. They were hysterical.
Friday afternoon was a flurry of activity. Our team (the adults) is made up of seven Americans, two Canadians and one half-breed (me). Canadian Thanksgiving was earlier in October. American Thanksgiving is coming up. Stacey and Mary had the brilliant idea of creating a new holiday, celebrated between the two. (It doesn't have a special name, we just called it Thanksgiving, though I suggested Food Day might be appropriate.) So Friday we cooked. And cooked. Jenn had done a great job of planning out all the meals for the week and we had everything at our Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, Yorkshire pudding, gravy, and the mandatory desserts: pumpkin, apple and lemon meringue pie (and some yellow cake for the non-pie eaters). The house had two tables pushed together on the patio that held the 14 of us perfectly. We ate together, sharing stories of Thanksgivings past, and joked about watching football later and getting up the next morning to hit the sales. After we finished eating, we shared a time of worship, expressing our real thanksgiving. Travis and Alicia did an excellent job of planning that time.
After dinner, the cooks jumped in the pool while everyone else cleaned up the kitchen. That was fun- going swimming after Thanksgiving dinnner. (And no, no one got a cramp and drowned!)
Unfortunately, shortly after dinner a stomach bug hit several of us. I seem to have been the worst hit, my symptoms carried on until after we got home yesterday, but there were several mad dashes to the bathroom. We still had fun though, playing more Rook and cribbage and getting more swims.
Saturday:
Russ and I got up Saturday morning to make breakfast. Everyone was kind of slow getting moving, so we left breakfast on the table and got back in bed. Because I was feeling so sick, that's pretty much where I stayed until it was time to pack up. I'm not really sure what everyone else did on Saturday morning. Russ and I went back to the beach quickly to take a few pictures and then it was time to head out. The van company that came to get us had misunderstood our request and sent a much smaller van than needed but we somehow got the 14 of us and all our stuff loaded up.
I can't even begin to explain how badly I needed last week. I feel a level of relaxation that I haven't felt for months (probably since before arriving in Brazil). I'm ready now to really get things going. I'm ready to hit the ground running and do all that I have to get done. It was also a great blessing to get to spend that time with my teammates. So often our relationships get confined to working relationships because of the amount of stuff to get done. It's wonderful when we get to let our hair down and just hang out together, laughing about stupid things. It makes everything go more smoothly when we can take time out to see each other as people, and not just as people but as people we like. Times like this retreat are absolutely necessary to our sanity, health and relationships as a team. I'm thankful we were all able to make the trip.
(As usual, pics are up on Flickr.)
Monday, October 17, 2005
Again
We're headed out of town tomorrow. The team will be having a retreat at a beach house later this week and we're headed out there a couple days early to just relax. Russ and I are the only ones on the team who haven't taken any vacation time. The plan for today: go to Portuguese class, go to the mall and/or grocery store to buy last minute things for the trip, go to team meeting, come home and frantically pack, go to bed. But as has happened so many times since we've been here, our schedule changed.
I noticed the bus was much emptier this morning as we headed to class; I figured it was because we were a little later than normal. I noticed a grocery store was closed; I guessed it might have gone out of business. It wasn't until our teacher, Jaci, arrived that we found out what was going on: it's a holiday! Again.
Last Wednesday was a holiday. It was Dia das Crianças (Children's Day) and Dia da Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Day of Our Lady of Apparition). Technically the holiday is for Nossa Senhora but everyone uses it to celebrate Dia das Crianças. The stores and banks were closed. The movie theater was open but used this opportunity to charge us an arm and a leg. It was nice to have a day to relax when we knew we didn't have to be running around town because running around town would get us nowhere since everything was closed.
But today...today we needed to get stuff done. Apparently it's Dia dos Comerciantes- if you look at the beginning of the word, you can kind of guess what it means. Today is the day that people who work in stores take off. No commerce today! This is the kind of holiday it would have been nice to know about beforehand. The mall? Closed. Grocery stores? Closed. Our plan for today? Out the window.
So now we're at home. It's good--there were plenty of things we needed to do at home--but we really needed to get some shopping done as well. We'll have to try to go tomorrow before we leave town. Unless there's some other holiday we don't know about.
I noticed the bus was much emptier this morning as we headed to class; I figured it was because we were a little later than normal. I noticed a grocery store was closed; I guessed it might have gone out of business. It wasn't until our teacher, Jaci, arrived that we found out what was going on: it's a holiday! Again.
Last Wednesday was a holiday. It was Dia das Crianças (Children's Day) and Dia da Nossa Senhora Aparecida (Day of Our Lady of Apparition). Technically the holiday is for Nossa Senhora but everyone uses it to celebrate Dia das Crianças. The stores and banks were closed. The movie theater was open but used this opportunity to charge us an arm and a leg. It was nice to have a day to relax when we knew we didn't have to be running around town because running around town would get us nowhere since everything was closed.
But today...today we needed to get stuff done. Apparently it's Dia dos Comerciantes- if you look at the beginning of the word, you can kind of guess what it means. Today is the day that people who work in stores take off. No commerce today! This is the kind of holiday it would have been nice to know about beforehand. The mall? Closed. Grocery stores? Closed. Our plan for today? Out the window.
So now we're at home. It's good--there were plenty of things we needed to do at home--but we really needed to get some shopping done as well. We'll have to try to go tomorrow before we leave town. Unless there's some other holiday we don't know about.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
The Worst of Times
This weekend we, along with Travis and Alicia, have been watching the Parkers' boys while they took a weekend away. (Lauren stayed with the Maberys). It's been a great weekend, full of trips down to the pool, to the park and, this afternoon, to McDonalds.
This morning I slept in. (We were up pretty late last night). I looked at my watch: 10:30. I walked out to the living room and started talking to Russ and Alicia. Russ mentioned something about the computers changing times. I figured that North America must have ended daylight savings time and the computers must have not been set for our part of Brazil. I say "our part of Brazil" because not all of Brazil observes DST. Eleven states do. Our state, Bahia, is not one of them. This is what I knew before I started trying to figure out what time it is.
We had two computers with two different times- 10:30 and 11:30. The TV satelite said 11:30. Watches and clocks all said 10:30. Still not sure.
I looked up what time it is in my "home" time zone, central. If we hadn't changed but they had, it would mean that there would be a difference of three hours. It was 8:30 so, I reasoned, it must be 11:30 here. One computer and the satelite were right. But as I kept looking, I discovered that DST had not yet ended in North America--there's still two weeks left (which I'm sure most of you already knew). So that meant it should be two hours difference still, making it 10:30. But then why did some things have other times?
With my new hypothesis about the current time, I started looking online. Every site I went to did not show the time. Weather.com said the statistics were for 11:00. Great. That helps. The average of the two.
I did a little more research about Brazil and DST. Yes, some states observe it but the list, and the dates that determine the beginning and end of it, changes every year. So maybe some years Bahia observes DST, I don't really know. But for this year, we don't. And this really is the day the clocks change, just not for us. I guess the satelite is just on some general time, so we'll just have to mentally convert it for the next few months. I think I've figured out the right time. Of course now, since I've taken the time to write this and stop the boys from crying, it's an hour later.
(If you're confused, we're still two hours ahead of central time. For the next two weeks, anyway. Then you guys "fall back" and it'll be three hours difference, like it was when we first got here.)
This morning I slept in. (We were up pretty late last night). I looked at my watch: 10:30. I walked out to the living room and started talking to Russ and Alicia. Russ mentioned something about the computers changing times. I figured that North America must have ended daylight savings time and the computers must have not been set for our part of Brazil. I say "our part of Brazil" because not all of Brazil observes DST. Eleven states do. Our state, Bahia, is not one of them. This is what I knew before I started trying to figure out what time it is.
We had two computers with two different times- 10:30 and 11:30. The TV satelite said 11:30. Watches and clocks all said 10:30. Still not sure.
I looked up what time it is in my "home" time zone, central. If we hadn't changed but they had, it would mean that there would be a difference of three hours. It was 8:30 so, I reasoned, it must be 11:30 here. One computer and the satelite were right. But as I kept looking, I discovered that DST had not yet ended in North America--there's still two weeks left (which I'm sure most of you already knew). So that meant it should be two hours difference still, making it 10:30. But then why did some things have other times?
With my new hypothesis about the current time, I started looking online. Every site I went to did not show the time. Weather.com said the statistics were for 11:00. Great. That helps. The average of the two.
I did a little more research about Brazil and DST. Yes, some states observe it but the list, and the dates that determine the beginning and end of it, changes every year. So maybe some years Bahia observes DST, I don't really know. But for this year, we don't. And this really is the day the clocks change, just not for us. I guess the satelite is just on some general time, so we'll just have to mentally convert it for the next few months. I think I've figured out the right time. Of course now, since I've taken the time to write this and stop the boys from crying, it's an hour later.
(If you're confused, we're still two hours ahead of central time. For the next two weeks, anyway. Then you guys "fall back" and it'll be three hours difference, like it was when we first got here.)
Sunday, October 09, 2005
More things we can count on
Last night, after helping the Maberys unpack their shipment from the US (yay! it only took seven months), we visited our local art feira (market). Now that we are heading into summer, the park across the street from us hosts them ever two weeks. It's become common enough to us now that we know the regular vendors. We also know who was not there. My favorite new display was a group of indiginous men dressed in traditional paint and beautiful feather headdresses. We knew is was for show, but hey, you still don' t get to see people dressed like that every day. We didn't find things that we couldn't live without, except of course for some yummy churros (think tube-shaped dounts).
This weekend is our turn to plan the evening worship with the team. I have been thinking about getting comfortable enough start moving the service into a language we are much less comfortable with. We sing a few songs in Portuguese, pray, and sometimes read scripture. We are preparing to make something that was very different into our normal way to worship. Please pray that we will soon find a feeling of familiarity with the words we are using to praise God. I wish that everyone would take the chance to rediscover the language of praising Him all over again.
This weekend is our turn to plan the evening worship with the team. I have been thinking about getting comfortable enough start moving the service into a language we are much less comfortable with. We sing a few songs in Portuguese, pray, and sometimes read scripture. We are preparing to make something that was very different into our normal way to worship. Please pray that we will soon find a feeling of familiarity with the words we are using to praise God. I wish that everyone would take the chance to rediscover the language of praising Him all over again.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
It Has Begun
Strange as it may seem, something has just begun today for me. We visited the Pan American school today as part of a field day. There was a good mix of Brazilian and American parents there, playing and eating. But the strange thing was that the English speakers gave me sensory overload. I didn't feel comfortable with them like I thought I might. The language my ears gravitated toward was Portuguese! It was kind of a weird moment; I don't know if things will be different here now. Don't get me wrong, I want to show as many people as possible the work we are trying to do here. But I feel like I am an actual part of the culture now; not just another visitor. For that I am very grateful. Enjoy your week!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Smile
A man was sitting in a cafeteria next to a blonde woman
who was engrossed in her newspaper.
The bold headline read "12 Brazilian Soldiers Killed."
She shook her head at the sad news.
Then turning to the man she asked, "How many is a Brazilian?"
Sorry, guys, I just had to share that one. Thanks to Jeff for passing it on!
---------------------
Did you notice who wrote the previous post? Russell! We've finally drawn him out. Now we just need to encourage him to write more!
who was engrossed in her newspaper.
The bold headline read "12 Brazilian Soldiers Killed."
She shook her head at the sad news.
Then turning to the man she asked, "How many is a Brazilian?"
Sorry, guys, I just had to share that one. Thanks to Jeff for passing it on!
---------------------
Did you notice who wrote the previous post? Russell! We've finally drawn him out. Now we just need to encourage him to write more!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Life Is Good
I had a great moment at church today. We visited the oldest Church of Christ in the city, and after the service, the oldest member in the city (I am relatively certain) pulled me aside. He asked, "Do you have a video camera? Because you guys are so encouraging to us, and I just want your supporters back in the states to feel as good as we do about your work." I just love that guy. He reminds me of a friend from my hometown- Marvin -who gave me my first job. I just wanted to pass that warm fuzzy on. We are loved, even though we are far from home. God bless.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Dinner
Tonight we met Matt and Mary Virginia at Matsuri, a restaurant a few blocks away from our house that we'd been dying to try. The first thing of note was that we decided to go at 6:15 and made plans to meet at 7:00. It was a few minutes after 7 when we arrived and the place was completely empty. We contrasted that with our experience in our "old lives" in the US, having to meet at 5:00 for dinner or have a two hour wait. There were no other diners until 7:50. This is a pretty common occurance for us, but we're still used to our North American meal schedules and besides, we can have the whole restaurant to ourselves!
The restaurant is located on the edge of a little park, in a building with two other restaurants. I could never figure out what the other restaurants were, maybe Italian or something. Matsuri, on the other hand, is a Japanese/Chinese/Vietnamese/Indian/Sri Lankan/Thai restaurant. How's that for diverse? The majority of the menu was Japanese food but the front page had appetizers and entrees from all the other countries. Tonight we had Thai, our first sample of Brazilian Thai food. It was pretty good- just hot enough to make your nose run. The rest of the menu looked really good as well and I'm looking forward to go back and tackling another country's food.
Salvador seems to be just starting to discover international cuisine. The current trend is Chinese and Japanese. We pass at least six Chinese/Japanese restaurants on our way to class in the morning and there are several more nearby. Most places offer a combination of both Chinese and Japanese. Though Russell and I have been to Japan, I can't say we're in love with Japanese food, so we usually opt for Chinese. There are several more "ethnic" restaurants around: Spanish, Mexican, Italian and we've heard rumors of a couple German ones. It's always fun when you're in another country to eat food that isn't from that country. It helps you realize how colored food is by culture- American Chinese food is different than Brazilian Chinese food, which is drastically different than Chinese Chinese food. (We have yet to be satisfied by Brazilian Mexican, though as our last TexMex meals fade into our memories the food seems better and better!) We look forward to seeing what new restaurants will open in the future, bringing us tastes from around the world, Brazilian-style!
(We do eat at Brazilian restaurants too!)
The restaurant is located on the edge of a little park, in a building with two other restaurants. I could never figure out what the other restaurants were, maybe Italian or something. Matsuri, on the other hand, is a Japanese/Chinese/Vietnamese/Indian/Sri Lankan/Thai restaurant. How's that for diverse? The majority of the menu was Japanese food but the front page had appetizers and entrees from all the other countries. Tonight we had Thai, our first sample of Brazilian Thai food. It was pretty good- just hot enough to make your nose run. The rest of the menu looked really good as well and I'm looking forward to go back and tackling another country's food.
Salvador seems to be just starting to discover international cuisine. The current trend is Chinese and Japanese. We pass at least six Chinese/Japanese restaurants on our way to class in the morning and there are several more nearby. Most places offer a combination of both Chinese and Japanese. Though Russell and I have been to Japan, I can't say we're in love with Japanese food, so we usually opt for Chinese. There are several more "ethnic" restaurants around: Spanish, Mexican, Italian and we've heard rumors of a couple German ones. It's always fun when you're in another country to eat food that isn't from that country. It helps you realize how colored food is by culture- American Chinese food is different than Brazilian Chinese food, which is drastically different than Chinese Chinese food. (We have yet to be satisfied by Brazilian Mexican, though as our last TexMex meals fade into our memories the food seems better and better!) We look forward to seeing what new restaurants will open in the future, bringing us tastes from around the world, Brazilian-style!
(We do eat at Brazilian restaurants too!)
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
A Quick Update
I'm tired and am headed for bed but I figured I was due for an update (especially since I know some of you faithfully check every day!). So here's what's new:
-The six-month anniversary of our arrival here was yesterday. Hard to believe we're halfway through our first year. So much done and yet even more to do.
-We have a Portuguese teacher once again! We've hired my old teacher to teach our little study group. Our first class was this morning. We're meeting at 8:00 AM, which explains why I'm eager to get to bed.
-Everything else is progressing. We're having to have big conversations now about church names, locations and budgets. Gone are the days of dreaming. It's time to make the dreams reality and get to work. Unfortunately that means more meetings, but they'll be the kind that create concrete plans. I much prefer those.
-Culture shock is still there but seems to be not as bad as it was. Slowly we're emerging from our funks (though it may be temporary). Everyone is much more agreeable and we all seem to have more patience with each other. Everyone is making leaps and bounds with Portuguese- I'm so proud of all the hard work that's being put in.
-I cut my hair off. It's much nicer in the heat and definitely easier to take care of. Russell is also happy that I'm no longer shedding two-foot hairs on our white floors! I'll try to put a picture on Flickr in the next day or two for those who want to see it. My hairdresser brought up church stuff the other day. I've only been to her twice but I will be going back, especially because she really wanted to talk about it. Please pray for Rosi.
-The six-month anniversary of our arrival here was yesterday. Hard to believe we're halfway through our first year. So much done and yet even more to do.
-We have a Portuguese teacher once again! We've hired my old teacher to teach our little study group. Our first class was this morning. We're meeting at 8:00 AM, which explains why I'm eager to get to bed.
-Everything else is progressing. We're having to have big conversations now about church names, locations and budgets. Gone are the days of dreaming. It's time to make the dreams reality and get to work. Unfortunately that means more meetings, but they'll be the kind that create concrete plans. I much prefer those.
-Culture shock is still there but seems to be not as bad as it was. Slowly we're emerging from our funks (though it may be temporary). Everyone is much more agreeable and we all seem to have more patience with each other. Everyone is making leaps and bounds with Portuguese- I'm so proud of all the hard work that's being put in.
-I cut my hair off. It's much nicer in the heat and definitely easier to take care of. Russell is also happy that I'm no longer shedding two-foot hairs on our white floors! I'll try to put a picture on Flickr in the next day or two for those who want to see it. My hairdresser brought up church stuff the other day. I've only been to her twice but I will be going back, especially because she really wanted to talk about it. Please pray for Rosi.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Family
Part of the joy of being here as a team is getting to be family for each other. We make a point to celebrate everyone's birthday and we try to do it to suite the person. (Except poor Alicia, whose last two birthday were while we were in hotels, but we're going to make that up to her!) Last Friday was Travis' birthday so we celebrated it Sunday night at our after worship meal. Travis is not a dessert guy. He is frequently seen finishing off the leftover salad instead of devouring whatever gooey sweet monstrosity someone has concocted (that's just not right in my book!). So as we talked about what to do for his birthday, an idea emerged...the birthday salad. Stacey filled her cake pan with salad, added a "32" out of cherry tomatoes and candles were put into more cherry tomatoes. Needless to say, he was suprised when we brought the lit cake out. Can't say I've ever seen a birthday salad before, or that I ever will again, but we all got a kick out of it and so did Travis' vegetarian dad when he saw the picture!
(Don't worry, we did have real dessert later on!)
(Don't worry, we did have real dessert later on!)
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Where Do Babies Come From?
I had to share this picture of Russ and Brandon. I just think it is hysterical, plus I love the colors. I took it while we were at Praia do Forte a couple of weeks ago.
This week, we've got Ron and Georgia Frietas here. Those of you who have been following us for a while will remember that Ron and Georgia came to help settle us in six months ago. Six months. Absolutely incredible. I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. Anyway, they came to do a little team check-up- making sure we're all still speaking to each other (we are), that no one's gone off the deep end (no one has) and that all our newly acquired tattoos can be covered by shirt sleeves (little do they know that we don't believe in shirt sleeves anymore!). Also, Ron had some wisdom and insight to share as we start looking for our facilities. Since we've been here for six months, that means our inaugural service is about six months away, too! Scary and thrilling thought!
It's good to have Ron and Georgia here because we've known them since our very first recruiting dinner. They became great friends during our internship in Abilene, came with us to check out Salvador for the first time and call periodically to check up on us. (It also didn't hurt that they came bearing Mike & Ike's and marshmellows!) Familiar faces are always great and we look forward to having more come down!
Friday, September 02, 2005
Paying Bills
When we lived in the US, I hated paying bills. Somehow it seemed too much trouble to write the checks, put them in envelopes and actually mail them. Even once I had online banking, it took a lot for me to remember to actually log in and take the ten seconds required to pay a bill.
My life has changed a lot.
This morning Russ and I had to go pay some bills. I say some bills because we can't pay all our bills in one place. Russ paid our insurance bill last week at one bank. We paid our phone bill yesterday at a lottery kiosk. Today, we paid the bills due at Bradesco, one of the major Brazilian banks. We'll pay the power bill next week at the grocery store. (If we had waited until next Monday to pay the bills we paid today, we would have had to pay one of them at another bank.)
To pay our bills today, we had to first go to the ATM to pull out enough cash to pay it. We were paying our rent, property tax and condominium fee, so we have to make more than one ATM trip to get enough cash. Then we headed over to Bradesco. To get into the main part of the bank, you have to go through a revolving door/metal detector. It usually takes me a couple of tries to get through it--each time I remove any offending items from my purse and put them in the pass-through box. I've even shoved my whole purse in there before. (It doesn't seem like the most effective system to me; I could have almost anything in my purse!) Anyway, after two or three tries and a handful of "desperate" facial expressions, the security guards will usually take pity on me and let me through anyway.
Once inside, we head to the cashier's counter. There are lots of different banks here, but they all share one characteristic: you can't see the line at the counter until you are well inside the bank. Why? Because if you could, you wouldn't even try. Some days, the line is thirty or forty people long with only one or two cashiers working. Every so often we luck out and there's no line and we're left trying to figure out what to do with our suddenly free day. Today was a good day; there were probably only twenty people in front of us and there were three cashiers working. We only stood in line for about fifteen minutes. Once you get to the front, it takes about thirty seconds. Yes, all that for thirty seconds. Then, we get to freely walk back out through the revolving door, shooting pitying glances at the people stuck in line.
There have been adventures while standing in line. We've seen fights (just verbal). One day while standing in line with Stacey, I started bleeding profusely from a couple of spots on my ankle. That wasn't much fun, but it meant I got to experience first aid! There always seems to be some story to tell after bill paying.
It's funny--back when paying bills was simple, I hated it. I'm not saying I love it now, but I really don't mind it, especially not if I've got someone with me to talk to. And I have the consolation of knowing that one day I'll be pregnant and get to stand in the express line. Then I'll be paying bills every month. However, there are many things I've put off getting (monthly cell phone plans, satellite television) partly because it will mean more bills!
Time, lines, extra-sensitive metal detectors...these aren't that bad. The worst part about bill paying is that it occupies a two week period of time each month, meaning that once we're done, it's only two and a half more weeks until it's time to pay bills again!
My life has changed a lot.
This morning Russ and I had to go pay some bills. I say some bills because we can't pay all our bills in one place. Russ paid our insurance bill last week at one bank. We paid our phone bill yesterday at a lottery kiosk. Today, we paid the bills due at Bradesco, one of the major Brazilian banks. We'll pay the power bill next week at the grocery store. (If we had waited until next Monday to pay the bills we paid today, we would have had to pay one of them at another bank.)
To pay our bills today, we had to first go to the ATM to pull out enough cash to pay it. We were paying our rent, property tax and condominium fee, so we have to make more than one ATM trip to get enough cash. Then we headed over to Bradesco. To get into the main part of the bank, you have to go through a revolving door/metal detector. It usually takes me a couple of tries to get through it--each time I remove any offending items from my purse and put them in the pass-through box. I've even shoved my whole purse in there before. (It doesn't seem like the most effective system to me; I could have almost anything in my purse!) Anyway, after two or three tries and a handful of "desperate" facial expressions, the security guards will usually take pity on me and let me through anyway.
Once inside, we head to the cashier's counter. There are lots of different banks here, but they all share one characteristic: you can't see the line at the counter until you are well inside the bank. Why? Because if you could, you wouldn't even try. Some days, the line is thirty or forty people long with only one or two cashiers working. Every so often we luck out and there's no line and we're left trying to figure out what to do with our suddenly free day. Today was a good day; there were probably only twenty people in front of us and there were three cashiers working. We only stood in line for about fifteen minutes. Once you get to the front, it takes about thirty seconds. Yes, all that for thirty seconds. Then, we get to freely walk back out through the revolving door, shooting pitying glances at the people stuck in line.
There have been adventures while standing in line. We've seen fights (just verbal). One day while standing in line with Stacey, I started bleeding profusely from a couple of spots on my ankle. That wasn't much fun, but it meant I got to experience first aid! There always seems to be some story to tell after bill paying.
It's funny--back when paying bills was simple, I hated it. I'm not saying I love it now, but I really don't mind it, especially not if I've got someone with me to talk to. And I have the consolation of knowing that one day I'll be pregnant and get to stand in the express line. Then I'll be paying bills every month. However, there are many things I've put off getting (monthly cell phone plans, satellite television) partly because it will mean more bills!
Time, lines, extra-sensitive metal detectors...these aren't that bad. The worst part about bill paying is that it occupies a two week period of time each month, meaning that once we're done, it's only two and a half more weeks until it's time to pay bills again!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
And Another Thing
Isn't it funny how once you start thinking about something spiritual, God seems to send several other things related to it your way in the next few days? The women of our team meet every Wednesday afternoon for lunch, prayer and study. We've been working through the Beth Moore series Believing God, which has videos online for us to watch and homework during the week. (Let me just take this moment to plug this bible study- it is amazing!) In our homework for the past week, part of the study took us into the book of Joshua, reading about Rahab and the "battle" of Jericho. Looking at the beginning of Joshua 2, Beth writes:
That's what I'm talking about- we're freaks! We stick out even when we're trying not to! It's been a good week having these thoughts in the forefront of my mind.
Another treasure from this week's discussion of Rahab was her proximity in terms of lineage to King David. No one much talks about it, but Rahab was the mother of Boaz. Is it any wonder that Boaz was so kind and open? His mother had experienced the kind of redemption that only the Lord can bring! Rahab had a bad start, but went on to become the great-great grandmother of a man after God's own heart. How awesome it is to think about the legacy of transformed lives!
We've been told (and have seen enough to suspect it's true) that "whole" families are fairly uncommon in Salvador. It's the result of the people living far from God. Sin has run rampant and has torn apart their lives. But the story of Rahab encourages me. I can only imagine what God will do through the lives He changes here!
Sorry for yet another sermon. Soon I'll go back to reporting on the mundane details of our lives. It's just silly to write about our trip to the grocery store today when such wonderful things are running through my head!
"...I like the fact that the king of Jericho knew the spies were there. God intentionally made the Israelites, like the body of Christ, a peculiar people. Ordinarily, the devout of the Lord stick out like a June bug in January. After wandering in the desert for 40 years wearing the same old clothes, conspicuous tassels on their garments, and their hair in certain ordained styles, they didn't exactly fit in. Their disguises didn't work. (Mine didn't work, either, no matter how good they were.)"
That's what I'm talking about- we're freaks! We stick out even when we're trying not to! It's been a good week having these thoughts in the forefront of my mind.
Another treasure from this week's discussion of Rahab was her proximity in terms of lineage to King David. No one much talks about it, but Rahab was the mother of Boaz. Is it any wonder that Boaz was so kind and open? His mother had experienced the kind of redemption that only the Lord can bring! Rahab had a bad start, but went on to become the great-great grandmother of a man after God's own heart. How awesome it is to think about the legacy of transformed lives!
We've been told (and have seen enough to suspect it's true) that "whole" families are fairly uncommon in Salvador. It's the result of the people living far from God. Sin has run rampant and has torn apart their lives. But the story of Rahab encourages me. I can only imagine what God will do through the lives He changes here!
Sorry for yet another sermon. Soon I'll go back to reporting on the mundane details of our lives. It's just silly to write about our trip to the grocery store today when such wonderful things are running through my head!
Monday, August 29, 2005
Reminder
Part of what we're doing right now is creating contacts. We try to befriend everyone we come into contact with. We don't do it in an overwhelming do-you-have-a-close-personal-relationship-with-Jesus kind of way, we just try to show interest in them and in their lives and try to give them glimpses of our life. (There will be a time for Serious Evangelism; right now we're just trying to figure out how to say, "Do you have a close, personal relationship with Jesus?") Anyway, sometimes it's hard. And sometimes by the end of the day, we're tired. Many nights we get into a taxi to head home and we're just in auto-pilot. We're tired and, if we talk, it's to each other. Some nights we recognize our taxi drivers and other nights we don't. If we remember them, we try to step up the conversation a little. But many nights, because I'm sitting behind the driver and don't really get to see his face, unless he has a big Virgin Mary sticker on the dashboard, I don't remember if I've ridden with him or not. But they remember us.
So tonight I didn't think it was a familiar driver. He didn't know where we live, there were no large foil stickers, he had no distinguishing physical characteristics. It was a long day--we'd been out shopping and we'd had a team meeting--so I mostly just zoned out on the way home. When we pulled up in front of our apartment, Russ pulled out a R$10 bill to pay him. The driver offered back double the amount of change. At first, I thought he was just offering us two different ways to take our change. But when we asked him, he responded, "The last time I drove you, I didn't have change for you. You let it go, so here's your change now."
My mind flashed back to that night several weeks ago. He was short on change and offered us a R$5 instead of the R$2 he owed us. That was just silly to us, to take extra back, extra that meant a whole lot more to him than it did to us (R$2 is less than $1 US). It was really no big deal at the time.
But tonight it drove an important message home. We are remembered. Our actions are significant, whether we are trying or not. So when we're not trying, when we're in auto-pilot and just doing whatever comes naturally, what are we saying to people? Are we truly being ambassadors for Christ? For Russ and I, our actions bear a lot of weight because we're "those crazy gringos", but it applies to everyone. If people know you're a Christian, you are always a Christian. When you are not making a conscious effort to communicate Christ, you are still communicating something. The only question is- what?
I'm not saying that tonight was some watershed evangelistic experience with the taxi driver. We may never see him again. But it was a vivid reminder for me that I am always working and that people notice what we do. My prayer is that we always act in a way that represents the beauty of our message.
So tonight I didn't think it was a familiar driver. He didn't know where we live, there were no large foil stickers, he had no distinguishing physical characteristics. It was a long day--we'd been out shopping and we'd had a team meeting--so I mostly just zoned out on the way home. When we pulled up in front of our apartment, Russ pulled out a R$10 bill to pay him. The driver offered back double the amount of change. At first, I thought he was just offering us two different ways to take our change. But when we asked him, he responded, "The last time I drove you, I didn't have change for you. You let it go, so here's your change now."
My mind flashed back to that night several weeks ago. He was short on change and offered us a R$5 instead of the R$2 he owed us. That was just silly to us, to take extra back, extra that meant a whole lot more to him than it did to us (R$2 is less than $1 US). It was really no big deal at the time.
But tonight it drove an important message home. We are remembered. Our actions are significant, whether we are trying or not. So when we're not trying, when we're in auto-pilot and just doing whatever comes naturally, what are we saying to people? Are we truly being ambassadors for Christ? For Russ and I, our actions bear a lot of weight because we're "those crazy gringos", but it applies to everyone. If people know you're a Christian, you are always a Christian. When you are not making a conscious effort to communicate Christ, you are still communicating something. The only question is- what?
I'm not saying that tonight was some watershed evangelistic experience with the taxi driver. We may never see him again. But it was a vivid reminder for me that I am always working and that people notice what we do. My prayer is that we always act in a way that represents the beauty of our message.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Pick-Me-Up
I said I was going to continue telling you about our trip to the beach but there's just not much to tell. We went to the beach. It was fun.
I'm pretty unenthusiatic right now- I've caught a nasty headcold. Alicia has one, too, and there's reports of a few sore throats among the team. Oh, the dangers of team missions! I did go to the pharmacy to find medicine for it. What they gave me isn't as good as my trusty Dayquil/Nyquil combo but seems to be getting the job done.
On our way home for supper this afternoon, we stopped in our corner market. We were just going to pick up some potatoes, which are kept along with the other vegetables outside the main part of the store (you have to carry your vegetables the wrong direction through the checkout stand to get to fruit, bread and anything else you might need). Anyway, we wandered into the main part of the store. There is a glass case in the middle that usually has a variety of sweets in it. Russ glanced in the case, which, usually, is full of cakes with prunes and other unidentifiable fillings. But today he discovered...doughnuts!!!
You have to understand, doughnuts are a rare find here. Dunkin' Donuts once opened a shop here in the city but it quickly closed, apparently due to lack of interest. (Sidenote- one day when we were out shopping, I noticed the old Dunkin' Donuts sign and insisted we had to go check it out just on the off chance that it wasn't an old sign at all. It was an old sign.) But whether you eat them American style (for breakfast) or Canadian style (for dessert), doughnuts have been a big part of our lives. Until now, of course.
So imagine our shock and delight upon finding a tray of doughnuts in a small corner store in the middle of Salvador. We immediately bought some then raced home to eat dinner so we could eat them for dessert. (I know, we could have just eaten them outright, but I'm sick and I just figured I needed something a little better on my stomach before that!)
As we bought the doughnuts we briefly acknowledged that these might not taste like North American doughnuts. They might be horrible. They might be like the packaged brownies we bought or like the fake cheddar cheese. But we quickly pushed those thoughts to the backs of our minds and took the chance.
The verdict? Definitely doughnuts. As Russ said, "They tasted like a very fresh Wal-Mart doughnut." I prefer Tim Horton's to Wal-Mart, but I'll take what I can get! That's not to say there wasn't a Brazilian spin on them- they had been sliced open and filled with chocolate (the one with chocolate sprinkles) and doce de leite. But actually, the modification was quite good!
So yes, this is a Val-getting-very-excited-about-nothing post, but I'm on decongestants! What do you expect?
In other news, today we paid our deposit to attend the missionary conference in January. We'll share more about it as it gets closer, but I'm already looking forward to it!
I'm pretty unenthusiatic right now- I've caught a nasty headcold. Alicia has one, too, and there's reports of a few sore throats among the team. Oh, the dangers of team missions! I did go to the pharmacy to find medicine for it. What they gave me isn't as good as my trusty Dayquil/Nyquil combo but seems to be getting the job done.
On our way home for supper this afternoon, we stopped in our corner market. We were just going to pick up some potatoes, which are kept along with the other vegetables outside the main part of the store (you have to carry your vegetables the wrong direction through the checkout stand to get to fruit, bread and anything else you might need). Anyway, we wandered into the main part of the store. There is a glass case in the middle that usually has a variety of sweets in it. Russ glanced in the case, which, usually, is full of cakes with prunes and other unidentifiable fillings. But today he discovered...doughnuts!!!
You have to understand, doughnuts are a rare find here. Dunkin' Donuts once opened a shop here in the city but it quickly closed, apparently due to lack of interest. (Sidenote- one day when we were out shopping, I noticed the old Dunkin' Donuts sign and insisted we had to go check it out just on the off chance that it wasn't an old sign at all. It was an old sign.) But whether you eat them American style (for breakfast) or Canadian style (for dessert), doughnuts have been a big part of our lives. Until now, of course.
So imagine our shock and delight upon finding a tray of doughnuts in a small corner store in the middle of Salvador. We immediately bought some then raced home to eat dinner so we could eat them for dessert. (I know, we could have just eaten them outright, but I'm sick and I just figured I needed something a little better on my stomach before that!)
As we bought the doughnuts we briefly acknowledged that these might not taste like North American doughnuts. They might be horrible. They might be like the packaged brownies we bought or like the fake cheddar cheese. But we quickly pushed those thoughts to the backs of our minds and took the chance.
The verdict? Definitely doughnuts. As Russ said, "They tasted like a very fresh Wal-Mart doughnut." I prefer Tim Horton's to Wal-Mart, but I'll take what I can get! That's not to say there wasn't a Brazilian spin on them- they had been sliced open and filled with chocolate (the one with chocolate sprinkles) and doce de leite. But actually, the modification was quite good!
So yes, this is a Val-getting-very-excited-about-nothing post, but I'm on decongestants! What do you expect?
In other news, today we paid our deposit to attend the missionary conference in January. We'll share more about it as it gets closer, but I'm already looking forward to it!
Monday, August 22, 2005
Fun Day
We're so glad to have more visitors, Mary Virginia's mom, Cindy and MV's cousin, Ashley. They arrived last night bearing Splenda, hand sanitizer and pancake and muffin mix, among other things.
This morning we all went on a day tour, heading out north of town. We did a similar tour with the Parkers right after we got to town but it was fun to go again with the whole gang. It was also great because there were enough of us that we filled the mini-bus and received group rates.
The day started out quite rainy so we didn't get to make the same first stop as we did on our other tour. Instead we went to Arembepe, an old hippie village. Apparently hundreds of people used to live there. Now there's just a few dozen, but there's several huts around- a school, a restaurant, a couple of hotels and some houses. The hippies do crafts and have a big open hut in the middle where they sell them to anyone who wanders in. I can't say I'll be checking out the hotels any time soon, it was all a little rustic for me. But it's an excellent place to visit!
Our next stop was Praia do Forte, where Projeto Tamar is located. It's a huge sea turtle preservation effort. Projeto Tamar is a great place, with touch tanks (not for the turtles though, just starfish and snails and such) and lots and lots of, well, turtles. It's located in the town of Praia do Forte, which is the neatest little (very commercial) village. There's a lot of great shopping (we had to drag Cindy out kicking and screaming) and a wonderful ice cream place. Since we'd already been there, Russ and I skipped the shopping (I can't believe I'm saying those words!) and had some ice cream. The ice cream store is by quilo, so you load your bowl up with whatever of the fifty or so flavors you would like and then have it weighed. I had mango, graviola, coconut and papaya ice creams- all were delicious.
From there we went to the beach; I'll blog about that tomorrow. The picture above was taken at Praia do Forte. You can see many more of our pictures on Flickr.
This morning we all went on a day tour, heading out north of town. We did a similar tour with the Parkers right after we got to town but it was fun to go again with the whole gang. It was also great because there were enough of us that we filled the mini-bus and received group rates.
The day started out quite rainy so we didn't get to make the same first stop as we did on our other tour. Instead we went to Arembepe, an old hippie village. Apparently hundreds of people used to live there. Now there's just a few dozen, but there's several huts around- a school, a restaurant, a couple of hotels and some houses. The hippies do crafts and have a big open hut in the middle where they sell them to anyone who wanders in. I can't say I'll be checking out the hotels any time soon, it was all a little rustic for me. But it's an excellent place to visit!
Our next stop was Praia do Forte, where Projeto Tamar is located. It's a huge sea turtle preservation effort. Projeto Tamar is a great place, with touch tanks (not for the turtles though, just starfish and snails and such) and lots and lots of, well, turtles. It's located in the town of Praia do Forte, which is the neatest little (very commercial) village. There's a lot of great shopping (we had to drag Cindy out kicking and screaming) and a wonderful ice cream place. Since we'd already been there, Russ and I skipped the shopping (I can't believe I'm saying those words!) and had some ice cream. The ice cream store is by quilo, so you load your bowl up with whatever of the fifty or so flavors you would like and then have it weighed. I had mango, graviola, coconut and papaya ice creams- all were delicious.
From there we went to the beach; I'll blog about that tomorrow. The picture above was taken at Praia do Forte. You can see many more of our pictures on Flickr.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Longing
Have I mentioned yet that I miss having a bathtub? In light of yesterday's depressing yet necessary ramble, I bring you something much less serious:
This morning I woke up with the makings of a monster headache. My headaches usually come from tension in my neck muscles. I make a point to use a special pillow and try to keep my neck in good shape. But this morning it kept building and building. I wanted more than anything to relax in a nice hot bath.
But, unfortunately, this is what we have. Showers. We don't have hot water in our building, instead the showerhead electrically heats the water. The cord running into the wall provides the juice. The water will get nice and hot, but something is lacking. I wish that we had a place to sit down and soak. I used to love taking long baths, sometimes reading, other times just zoning out for close to an hour.
It's funny to me that you can find bath salts and bubble bath in most stores but very few people actually have tubs. What do people do with them?!?
One of these days, when I'm really tired and stressed out, I'm going to go get a hotel room for a night and sit in the bathtub for hours. My fingers and toes will be completely pruney when I am done, but it will have been well worth it. And if we stay with you when we are on furlough, you'd better have the bathtub ready- I will be using it!
This morning I woke up with the makings of a monster headache. My headaches usually come from tension in my neck muscles. I make a point to use a special pillow and try to keep my neck in good shape. But this morning it kept building and building. I wanted more than anything to relax in a nice hot bath.
But, unfortunately, this is what we have. Showers. We don't have hot water in our building, instead the showerhead electrically heats the water. The cord running into the wall provides the juice. The water will get nice and hot, but something is lacking. I wish that we had a place to sit down and soak. I used to love taking long baths, sometimes reading, other times just zoning out for close to an hour.
It's funny to me that you can find bath salts and bubble bath in most stores but very few people actually have tubs. What do people do with them?!?
One of these days, when I'm really tired and stressed out, I'm going to go get a hotel room for a night and sit in the bathtub for hours. My fingers and toes will be completely pruney when I am done, but it will have been well worth it. And if we stay with you when we are on furlough, you'd better have the bathtub ready- I will be using it!
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