oops!

Time here at Lar Batista seems to evaporate like water under the hot summer sun. I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I left Londrina, and that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Never in my life have I experienced a green Christmas, and it is green indeed. Green and hot.

My time the last two weeks has been spent in many ways...relaxing, catching up via email with friends in the Northern hemisphere, carting around my newfound friend Veridiana (a precious three year old girl here at Lar), doing some last minute Christmas shopping, ordering packages on Amazon.com, receiving packages with homebaked Christmas cookies...spritz, my favorite, washing sidewalks, unpacking everything into my room in the guest house, and of course spending time with Joaquim. Every day has a relaxed pace to it that fits well with the almost constant heat. Thank goodness for cool nights, and for the occasional rain.

The last two times I was here felt like whirlwind visits where Joaquim and I just wanted to store up time together. I was still terribly unconfident about my Portuguese, and it was too stressful to try to meet and get to know EVERYONE here and in town in 2 weeks or less. When I arrived this time, Pai introduced my visit in church, saying that I will be here for 2 months which will allow all of us to get to know each other in a calmer, more relaxed way. Amen to that. With that in mind, things have been wonderful. Calm and relaxed seems to sum everything up, though sometimes things are busy...

Friday night was a nice calm time of Christmas shopping in town. Joaquim drove the big fan stuffed with people and then we split off, but Diego stayed with us. He's a cool kid, and took his unofficial role as chaperone very seriously. ; ) After the shopping and before we collected everyone else, we grabbed some ice cream. It was delicious, sort of a hidden place off the main avenue, so it was quiet, the owners were sweet, and one of them had even known Diego's mom before she died, and gave him some free candy, heh. We enjoyed our ice cream, and then...all regretted it. Apparently something in all that ice cream didn't agree with any of our stomachs and we each had a rather sleepless night. Yikes.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which should be a nice time. There will be a church service at 8, with a cantata that people have been practicing for months, and other Christmas festivities until late at night. Christmas day begins with lunch, as everyone sleeps in from the late night the day before. Apparently Santa Clause comes here later. ; ) At 1pm here, I'll be logging on to skype to talk with my family who will be opening presents early in the morning in Palatine...where it is currently -15f....and here I am melting.

All this to say...my apologies for not updating much, especially to my grandma who sent me a nice grandmotherly reminder email. : ) I'll do my best to try and write more, because there is certainly no shortage of interesting stories when surrounded by so many kids, and such disagreeable ice cream. Ai ai ai...

The time has come, the walrus said...

Well the day is here that I am leaving Londrina. At first I didn't know my place in this city, and I felt like a nuisance and an imposter, to put it simply...after a while, and after learning Portuguese, I was able to jump in and get involved in areas that not only blessed my life through the friendships I made, but I know allowed me to be a blessing.

I didn't end up working in the seminary office much at all. I was probably there for a collective 7 or 8 mornings during this whole time. Gwen, with whom I lived, needed the help, but happened to be more overcommitted than she could handle and therefore has spent the entire time that I have been here, running around. She rarely went to the office as well. While I was able to help with little tasks here and there, I was anxious to get more involved with people.

My month spent helping at WEBB was a nice experience, and my 6 weeks studying Portuguese there were incredibly helpful. I am amazed at the amount God allowed me to learn while being in this country and studying the language at the same time. It's the best combination, if you ask me.

The last month, I have been busy. I didn't know at first what I would be doing, but I invested a lot more in friendships and in people and in being involved at the church. There was rarely a dull or bored moment as a result.

Saturday night and Sunday night were wonderful for me, at church. On Saturday, Nice, a dear friend, sang me a song and they had a party for me to say goodbye. On Sunday, Pastor Jhonatas asked me to come up and sing Shout to the Lord with the congregation, in English. That was such a blessing. I was able to sing 3 times in the last month, at church, and wow...it was incredible. I just started to sing that song, and didn't want to give the microphone back to the pastor, ha...So I kept worshipping, in English, harmonizing and just basking in the sound of all of our voices praising the Lord.

The entry below has pictures of me singing and of people and of the party...also including some pictures of me that Pastor Jhonatas had used to make a slideshow of embarrassing Christine pictures for my goodbye party...that was lovely of course.
Enjoy. : )

miscellanious and in no particular order...

When Days Fly...

I am still in disbelief at how quickly the last few weeks of my time in Londrina are going. I have really been enjoying spending time with lots of different people and talking more and more with friends, before my impending departure. A lot of people don't realize I'm leaving so soon, nor that I'm not coming back. And when they find out, my schedule quickly becomes full of going here, doing that there...and I love it.

This weekend was full in that way. On Friday night I went to Talita's house to watch a movie. It's a Brazilian film and I didn't get to finish it because we started it late after talking too much. So that was a fun evening. Saturday was incredibly busy, with a lunch in the afternoon with another missionary who is visiting, and his Brazilian brother-in-law. Then I ran out for some ice cream with one of the directors of WEBB, and then she dropped me off at church for the adolescents meeting, where I attempted to teach some more English to very non-attentive teenagers. Not my forte, let me tell you, haha. Then I came home for a quick snack and ran off to hop on a bus out to Micah and Marla's neighborhood to go to their church for their Saturday night Bible study. Interestingly, Marla was telling me that like a participatory Bible study is a very foreign concept for Brazilians. When they introduced it to their church, it was a real hit because people weren't used to being able to give their own insight into a passage. Even on Saturday nights, at prayer meetings and during regular church services, it's always the same schedule of praise, preaching, and praise to close. So for there to be a time for everyone to read the same text and have the same opportunity to talk about it is really a unique thing and has been very popular too. I think that's great, and it was fun to sit in on one of them. Anyway...Sunday was thankfully a very lazy day and I think I actually stayed in my pajamas until about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was marvelous. Then church in the evening, and we had some people over to the apartment for pizza and Dutch Blitz afterwards. Always a pleasure.

This week I have a Thanksgiving party at WEBB, tonight. They offered to give me a free Portuguese grammar lesson in thanks for my help, which really I am very grateful for. I was starting to think more and more about how much I've done and how much I've paid to do what I have done. And that didn't really make too much sense in my head, but I just wanted to let it go. Shortly after I decided to not say anything, Adriana invited me out for ice cream and then said, "well, your Portuguese is great, you don't need anything else huh?" And I answered truthfully, "no, I need to learn more." Haha. I have found myself stumbling over the 'conditional' tense. Like "I would go" or "I would have done," etc. I have no idea how to do that. So we marked a time for me to meet with my dear teacher Jemima on Monday morning to learn about the conditional tense. Phew.

I can't imagine how people just drop into a country and learn a language with no formal training included. I hear the future tense all the time, and I understand that it's future, but I can't remember it later when I want to use it. I really need to learn it in an organized format, and after I do, it totally sticks. But for now, I've been digging around for ways to say things, and I would rather just get that verb tense out of the way. I'm sure there are many more anyway. Ai ai ai...

I'm really looking forward to this weekend as well. Joaquim is coming one last time to Londrina, and we are going to help at the camp together. The McKee's are having their pastor from their home church in Ireland visit with his son, and Priscila had mentioned to me a few weeks ago that they will need some extra help while he is here just so they have a tiny bit more time freed up to spend with them. There isn't much that I can do except a few little things that Priscila and Nigel have to juggle, like working at the canteen or watching their 3-year-old son, Dillan, that I can easily take over. I of course was looking for a time that Joaquim could come and knew that he would love to help at the camp as well. Plus there's that added bonus of getting to swim in their olympic sized pool during free times. That's never hard to agree to. So, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be lots of fun with that. Then on Sunday night I'm singing at church with my friend Nice.

I have a little bit of a cold, and if it gets any worse or doesn't let up by Sunday night (both of which are possible) my singing voice will be less than lovely, to say the least. Plus, working at the camp always requires more energy for longer days, so I would appreciate your prayers that I would be back to normal soon!

How long do you wait to swim after Thanksgiving dinner?

I have never had to ask myself that question before, but today it was valid.

Thanksgiving was different this year, and very warm. To be honest, I was dreading thinking about my family gathering together and me being with people who aren't my family, though they be Americans and though there be turkey. But today was a lovely day and I really enjoyed it.

All the OMS Missionaries met at the camp around noon to celebrate an early "dinner." We had the traditional American-style meal with lots of turkey, potatoes, beans, pecan pie, cranberry sauce, stuffing...it was delicious. We shared what we were thankful for, and we just had a nice meal together. It didn't feel much like Thanksgiving aside from the food, because it was about 85 degrees out, and while eating my stuffing and mashed potatoes, I was a little warm.

After lunch/dinner, most people went home, but I stuck around with Micah and Marla. We all went swimming with the McKee's for a couple hours, got some sun, and then returned for some more food, some ice cream, and a few rounds of UNO. It was really a lovely day and a lot of fun. I was truly grateful for so many things, just being able to be here being a big one. In the last few days I have seen even more clearly how God has ordained my time here in Londrina. And even though Thanksgiving was different this year, I have just as much, if not more, to be thankful for.

This evening I sat at my computer, munching on some chex mix that my mom made and sent to me, waiting for my family to "call" on skype. When they did, I was greeted by lots of curious faces surrounding my dining room table at home. Though most of them were a little weirded-out by the computer screen and webcam, it was nice to see some familiar faces in my familiar home. Including hearing Tim ask me if I speak Brazilian. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without that.

It was a great day to remember why I am so grateful, and while it was a bit warmer than I am used to, I wouldn't trade this year for the world.
Besides, tomorrow may be the first time in my life that I am brave enough to go Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving. : )

"Pronto para ser quebrado"

On the 10th, I will be done with OMS.

So, what am I doing until then? I'm trying to focus more on people. Thanks only to some ridiculous miracle, I am able to talk well enough with people to get to know them better. I am just trying to be involved in as much as I can to give God as many opportunities as possible to use me. Of course He can do whatever He wants, but I'm learning how to make myself more available to that.

Last week I went to the camp to work for 2 days and it was nice to get to know the McKee family better. They are in charge of things at the camp for about a year and a half. They're Irish and Brazilian, but have lived in Ireland for about 15 years or so, so all the kids have these adorable little accents. It was really nice to get to know them and to feel like I was helpful for a couple days. Because they have been here for just under a year as well, they really understood what it was like to be new and to be considered short term. They're leaving in July, so because they're not career missionaries, they were able to offer some insight, and just some "I know how you feel" about the struggles of knowing that everyone knows you won't be here for very long.

Coming back downtown was a little hard, because although I feel comfortable here after living here for 3 months, but even though I pay rent and for my share of food, etc. I still just feel like a guest, and that can sometimes be hard. I can understand the other perspective too, but I am learning now that I really need to step up and make my presence known sometimes. I am easily looked over and forgotten because I'm the small short-termer, and for the first couple months that would leave me just sad and confused. Now, it's really not a big deal, I just open my mouth and no one means anything personally, it's just natural to forget the bottom rung on the totem pole.

Last night I had the pleasure to go to a different missionary church, Jardim Veneza. That church had a picnic at the camp while I was there, so I had met most of the people just a few days before, which made it the perfect time to go. Marcli and Marcos picked me up in their VW bug, which I had heard about, but didn't realize that it was 40 years old. No joke, it was made in 1967. I felt slightly like I would die if we got in an accident, and I am still sure that would be true, but it was certainly an adventure. I went out to dinner afterwards with a very sweet family and Marcli and Marcos and Adriana, who I've run into on the bus a few times. It was wonderful to talk with them and get to know them better, and enjoy the evening with them. I'm sort of sad that I only have 3 sunday nights left, because I would love to go back to that church. Hopefully I can go one more time. When I got home, Pastor Jhonatas, Vanda and Anderson were at the apartment eating some dinner, and Jhonatas asked me if I made sure to tell everyone at Jardim Veneza that I belonged to the Central church, and was just visiting. Ha. I really feel like I belong in the churches and with the Brazilians. But with the Americans, I can't say the same thing. You know what? That doesn't matter at all.

This morning I only worked at the office for an hour, because busy work is done quickly and hard to come by...and Marcli was supposed to come cut my hair at 2, but I finally called her and 3:30 and I think I understood that she'll be leaving soon to come here. However, phone calls are terribly difficult to understand, and she talked very fast. So...whoops.

I'm starting to realize that I have no idea what I want to do when I get home. I'd be looking for something permanent and stable and like "a real job"...but what? Any ideas/guidance is always welcome. ; )

Acampamento Jovens

This weekend was another crazy one, but it was a great time. The Central church had a youth camp from Friday night to Sunday afternoon...the youth here is not the same as in the US. "youth" actually refers to anyone between 15 years old until whenever they feel like stopping...there were married couples there who were in their early thirties, and everyone in between.

When we left on Friday, it was absolutely pouring. No joke, the street was flowing with water. The drive there was slow and really dark and then as we got closer to the camp, which was an hour away, on back country roads, the fog settled down on top of us, and we couldn't see a THING. It was kind of nerve-wrecking, but we arrived safe and sound, and started off a fun weekend. We got there around 10pm and had dinner, and the festivities didn't end until about 2am, and I didn't get to sleep until 3 or 3:30...then the wake up call sounded at 7. Ai ai ai. Saturday was pretty sleepy, that's for sure.

We had a costume dinner on Saturday night, and I was a Care Bear, along with Gwen and 4 other girls. "Ursinhos Carinhosos." It was funny and just goofy...we did a dance that was ridiculous and my mask's eye-holes were too close together, so I was nearly blind. But I suppose it was endearing, and it was fun. Easy, too, because Vanda did all the thinking and the work, and I just wore the costume, haha. The perfect plan.

The first night was really a blessing. I was sitting with Maria and Nice outside the dining hall, and they were singing some songs while Maria was playing the guitar. Apparently Nice had heard me singing "Shout to the Lord" one night, so she begged me to sing it, and I did...then they sang it in Portuguese, while I harmonized in English. I was closing my eyes and singing when I heard whispering and shushing close by. I opened my eyes to see about 15 people standing by, telling each other to "be quiet while Christine sang." The next day, this funny guy Erivelton begged me to sing again, and he jokingly put on sunglasses so no one would see him cry while I did, and then on Sunday morning he asked Pastor Jhonatas if I could sing before the chapel. So I did, and while everyone was yelling "one more, one more!" he said "you can hear one more at church tonight, at 7:30." They were planning on arriving at church at 6 and have a snack, and they wanted everyone to stay for the service. So, many more times on Sunday it was announced that I was going to sing, as an incentive for them to stay. It was kind of funny, and I'm still not sure how that happened, but I know a few people stayed just to hear me last night, so I'm glad my song was able to be used that way. All thanks to my mom who sent me the playback track. ; )

This week will be...interesting. Tomorrow I'm going back to the office again, to work with Gwen. I guess I'll be rooting through their archives and organizing things and doing a lot of busy/dirty work. After having a month at WEBB, this sort of feels like...back to the drawing board, to be honest. But this is something that needs to be done, and I am the measely short-termer who gets to do it. I will also talk with Gwen tomorrow about my schedule for the rest of my time here. I want to be as productive as possible, and be doing as little following around as possible. Because following around is not productive. I think that makes sense. At least to me it seems fairly logical. So I'm praying for some good direction tomorrow, so I can use my time here as best as possible, and figure out a good cut-off date. I'm still not sure exactly when I will leave and go to Assis...it depends on when/if my family comes, and other factors that I feel like considering, such as if I get bored because my schedule never actually gets figured out. We're hoping that is just a worst-case scenario.

Here's my story...

Well, 2 days ago I went to Cascavel to renew my visa...It seemed a pretty self-explanatory process. Joaquim was supposed to call Milton at 9am, he did, and Milton said he would be there that morning. So, we left for Cascavel and drove an hour to get there, we found the delegacy pretty easily, thanks to his mom, and went in to chat with good old Milton.

During said talk, it was discovered that I was missing a necessary document. My entry card, which I filled out and had stamped by customs in Sao Paulo. In fact, I'm pretty certain I threw that away a couple months ago. Bad idea, really. So I nearly had a heart attack because I needed that for the renewal, and...I really really really don't have it.

Milton said to go pay the fee at the closest bank, to make some photocopies of my passport, visa, and flight itinerary, and come back before 12 or 12:30, when he was leaving for lunch.

It was about 11...so Joaquim and I left quickly to find a bank and a xerox place. We waited in line at the bank for almost 30 minutes, and between driving around looking for a place to make copies and a parking spot near said copy place, we made it back to the delegacy at about 12:20. Cutting it close, if you ask me. We were literally running through oncoming traffic in order to get there by that time. So we met with Milton again, gave him the copies and the form I had to fill out, and he and Joaquim made some necessary small talk. Milton apparently used to live in Assis Chateaubriand, on the same street as their church is, and said that he used to see Joaquim's dad driving the kids from Lar to church.

Let's just say it was a definite miracle that Milton "knew" Joaquim, or at least was connected with him a little bit, because, although I was missing that one document, he then reached for a stamp...pressed the rubber onto the ink, and as we waited, holding our breath, he pounded it onto a blank page of my passport. Then he signed it, dated it for February 14th, 2008 (10 days longer than I actually deserve...YES!!!) and placed another sticker on it to guarantee, signed that sticker, half on the sticker and half on the passport, and handed it back over to me, telling me to look for the paper I'm missing, and if I can't find it just let him know and he will "dar um jeito." Meaning, it won't matter that I don't have that paper, because he is still approving (or rather, HAS APPROVED) my visa renewal anyway.

It was a STRESSFUL morning, with not a little worrying and wondering, but God was really taking care of that...and He even gave me a gift of 10 extra days. Because I renewed the visa 10 days before it expired, I would have lost 10 of the 180 days I'm allowed to be in Brazil...so the Lord graciously softened Milton's heart to extend it for 100 more days so I can stay the full time I am able. Nothing less than a miraculous gift.

Now I'm back in Londrina for about a month. Today I've been working on power points...I'm not sure what the rest of my time will hold, but I am going to a youth camp this weekend with church, which will be fun. And I hope to spend some time with some of the other missionaries during the next month to see what they do as well. This week I will sit down with Gwen to kind of plot out what the next month will look like. Then in mid-December (the date to be determined...) I will go back to Assis Chateaubriand and stay there until Valentine's Day. (If that's not ironic, please tell me what is...ha.)

Stamped

I GOT MY VISA RENEWED!!

It was definitely a blessing and a miracle, and I will tell the story later. But I wanted to at least let the news out, for everyone who was praying for me this weekend...your prayers were appreciated, heard, and ANSWERED!!

Photoblog

Here are a few pictures of friends at church, and of my Portuguese class today...I made "cheese bread" with my teacher. Very Brazilian, and very tasty.

Melting

Today is HOT here in Londrina. My goodness. It's only about 90 degrees, says the thermometer, but there's no breeze, which is really just a recipe for baked Christine, if you ask me. It's a bit unpleasant at the moment.

Well, it seems I have discovered the cheap world of Brazilian comfort. That is, I got my nails and my toenails painted on Friday. In the US this could easily cost me $40...I paid the equivalent of about $6 for both. I couldn't believe it. In a way I could tell why it was cheaper, because it wasn't an actual "manicure and pedicure" where they moisturize, exfoliate, etc, just painting, and I had never had my toenails painted before and thought I was going to run out of the store. Since I broke my pinky toe when I was 10 and the doctor pulled on it to see if it was broken, I can't stant people touching my toes. And this woman was filing away, I swear, on my skin and she didn't realize it. Not the most gentle touch. But she was funny, and no actual harm was done. Lesson learned. It felt great to treat myself to a little something, especially knowing it wasn't even much of a "treat."

The weekend has been pretty relaxing. Friday night some people came over to play games. Gwen usually leaves an open invitation on Friday nights, so sometimes people come, sometimes they don't. This weekend was definitely heavier on the "lots of people in one small apartment" side. It was fun. Two of the pastors and one of their wives, another couple from the church, and 2 other American missionaries who used to work with OMS and are now with another organization here in Londrina. It was a fun time, playing Dutch Blitz with that many people, that's for sure.

I get a lot of people asking me, "so, how is your Portuguese?" I don't really know how to answer that question, so I will try to offer a few examples...I've had multiple people tell me that I have great pronunciation and that after a few more months here I will be speaking almost without an accent. Of course I have a lot more to learn until then, but that's definitely an encouragement. Also, the other day I saw a commercial that I have seen countless times, but was never able to understand it. It seemed like the people's mouths didn't even match up with what they were saying, and it barely sounded like Portuguese to me. The other day I was passing by the TV and saw that commercial, and realized "wait, this is making sense to me..." So I stopped and watched the commerical, and understood every word. How that works, I don't know, but it really has been not too much shy of a miracle, how much I'm learning and understanding. Especially understanding. I'm starting to gain a little more respect in that people try and have conversations with me, instead of just smiling in my general direction every once in a while. On Friday night, Gwen made ice cream, which she often does, and someone made a joke about how I must be starving, living with her. Then Pastor Bianco said "oh no, she's already gained 5 kilos since she arrived in Brazil." Playing along, I just said "cuidado, pastor" because that's clearly not true, and everyone seemed shocked, like it was "baby's first words" or something. They got a good laugh out of it, and Vanda told me today that I'm speaking very well. She said I said that "certinho"...meaning, like totally correctly. I also think that my good pronounciation fools people into thinking that I know more than I actually do. So there is a dangerous side to all of the ego boosts. But we'll just take things one step at a time, shall we?

This afternoon I was really feeling "saudade" for Taylor. I heard the song "Unwritten" and, though cheesy, it reminded me of a time in the car with friends, flying down Devil's Backbone on our way to Wal-Mart or something. Funny how those days seem so much more romanticized now, when then I probably would have been able to give you a litany of things I'd rather be doing...the top of the list being "living in Brazil." So I can't complain, that's for sure. But still, I had a little moment walking down the sidewalks of Rua Espirito Santo, my skin melting away in the heat (and yet somehow not tanning...come on, I need some more melonin here...)

Antsy

Now that I know I'm only going to be at WEBB for 1 more week, I'm starting to get impatient. What am I going to do when I'm no longer there for 20 hours a week, not to mention all the hours I spend on the bus every day? I have no idea.

A semi-answer may have come yesterday afternoon when I ran into 2 friends on the bus. One was Adriana, who I see sometimes on the bus in the mornings when she is going to work and I'm going to WEBB. But the other was Marcli, who I met at camp a month and a half ago, and have only seen once since then. Our schedules are basically totally opposite and we were never able to find a time to get together. She cuts hair and I wanted her to cut mine, but we couldn't even find a time for her to do that, let alone just spend some time hanging out. She gave me her new phone number, and I definitely think that was providential, because not only had I sort of forgotten about her, but I also would have had no way of getting in touch with her if I had not run into her on the bus. She doesn't even take that bus, she just got on with Adriana so she could talk with her more, and she was going to ride it through its whole route and get off again at the terminal. Crazy, hilarious, and very convenient for little Christine.

So maybe I'll have more time next month to get to know people, to practice my Portuguese. I now have two "friends" who know a little English, enough to help me with my Portuguese if I get stuck, which I very often do (as evidenced by the story at the end of my last post.) I'm sure Gwen will be coming up with more things for me to do as well, and at this point I feel like I will just be happy having a routine and having something to do. We'll see if I still agree in a couple weeks. I would appreciate your prayers for that transition, because I am not looking forward to having so much more time and not feeling very useful if I can't fill it. I am praying that I can find some sort of real responsibility, something that I can work on every day and sort of handle on my own instead of having to ask Gwen every time I have a free moment, "is there anything I can do?" I think that would be better for both of our sanity, haha. But we'll see what happens.

One week from today I'm getting on a bus, at 10pm, to go to Assis Chateabriand. Friday November 2nd is a holiday in Brazil, and Thursdays before holidays can often turn into holidays as well, as is my case. So I will spend the long weekend at Lar with Joaquim and then we're going to Cascavel on Monday morning to get that visa of mine renewed. Keep praying for that, that there are no surprises or problems at the last minute. And then, Lord-willing, I will be free and clear to stay in Brazil until February. So great! I'm really looking forward to getting out of Londrina for a weekend, having a break from everything, and just getting some fresh air. It's been 2 months that I've been here and everything is great, but everybody needs a change of scenery and a change of pace sometimes. Mine seems to be perfectly timed, and also can't come soon enough!

Butter my door.

For most people in occupational ministry, weekends are not days of rest. For me, I'm not sure when my "day" of rest is, but I can assure you that I do get a compilation of 24 hours to kick back every week. Often, Sundays are quite peaceful until the evenings, but for this reason they are also often chosen for events at church. This Sunday was the "Happy Day" at my church. Yes, happy day, in English, and I have no idea why. Last Friday, the 12th, was Children's Day in Brazil and the church was originally going to celebrate by throwing a party for the local kids last weekend, but this Sunday was a better day. So, because they lacked other parties to go to due to the fact that the actual holiday was a week and 1/2 ago, over 200 local kids came to my church yesterday afternoon, and it was craaaazy.

I found myself remembering the mind of a child. Remembering myself when cotton candy was the coolest thing ever and my parents never let me have any. Remembering when the ball pit at McDonald's was unbelievable fun (though alwasy slightly painful, and let's be honest...smelly.) Puppets are always hysterical (and yesterday I was laughing out loud at one as well, so some things never change. Man that little Pati was a trip) and ideally, face paint should be permanent and cover as much skin as possible. With these things in mind, yesterday was so cool for those kids. The church really went all-out, in a way that in the US would have been banned, due to waivers the parents would have had to sign to let their kids on a very rickety trampoline and a slightly deflating climbing wall. They had 2 trampolines, one inside just for little kids, and one outside. They had cotton candy, tons of ice cream, popcorn, hot dogs, all for free. What?? That's an AWESOME party. The kids were just running wild basically, covered in chocolate cake and wet from the rain that kept coming and going. It was totally crazy, but so cool.


Needless to say, however, spending one day decorating for that, and then another 8 hours the next day monitoring small children as they tried to jump off a small slide (I actually caught one girl mid-flight...sheesh) the weekend felt like it was sucked up into a vortex of "Happy Day" and I'm sad to report that I will never be able to listen to that song again.

I'm trying to make the most of my last week and 1/2 of Portuguese lessons...and my Portuguese is really just laughable. I can talk, but I make a fool of myself every .02 seconds. Last night someone asked me, "you don't have gates in the houses in the US, right?" and I said no...then I went on to say that we had wooden doors too...but instead I said that we had doors made out of butter. BUTTER DOORS. Can you imagine?? I was wondering why the girls looked confused. Finally I found some wood and demonstrated, and one calmly said, "wood?" Yes. Wood. Yeesh.
Humbling.

Sowing...

Apparently I'm very bad at updating lately...whoops. My apologies.

Let's see...life is pretty good. I'm really enjoying teaching at WEBB and am finding myself saddened to think that I only have 3 more classes to give before their real teacher gets back from England. I love my class, they're all so sweet. Studying is going well for me too, though I will have to cut back on my classes a LOT in November. I might only be able to take a couple hours a week of grammar. Such a big bummer because I really enjoy learning at this pace and in this amount, and now I can't imagine how much harder I'll have to work on my own time. But oh well.

The story behind that is a confusion between WEBB and OMS. They raised their prices for lessons by R$15/hour, and I was only told to raise $16 a day by OMS, so basically both people were wrong and I didn't raise enough money. I've talked some with the directors of the school about finding a way to maybe make some trades because they want me to stick around just to be a nice American accent basically. I don't mind that they use me if I can get some classes out of it, so I think we're going to work something out for November. Not sure how it will fit yet, but I'm glad that I will at least still be involved with WEBB. I was dreading losing those 20 hours a week that I'm there, because it is the only thing I have here that I really feel is worthwhile, and I love feeling independent, taking the bus and just taking care of myself for a few hours every day. I feel like I'm accomplishing something when I am studying Portuguese and teaching English. If I'm not there, I'm just going to church and having very simple and seemingly pointless conversations. I guess I will acquire some different responsibilities in the month of November, because I will have much more free time.

Last night was a really hard night for me because I just reached a point of such exhaustion about being in such a different country and culture. At first it was hard to not be able to understand or speak, because you feel totally alone. Then it was hard to be able to understand but say nothing. Now it's hard to be able to understand and say simple things that make me seem like a 5 year old. Knowing that no one actually knows me at all, and there is no way for them to get to know me because I can't express myself in the way that I want to is incredibly hard and really quite tiring. Gwen's car has been in the shop for a week, so last night we had to wait at church to get a ride home. After the prayer service they practiced for their Christmas cantata (starting at 10pm...can you imagine that happening in the US? Never, ha.) Then after the practice, which was only about 30 minutes, they had a snack of cheese bread and coffee. By the time we left it was 11:15pm. And the service was over at 9:30, but I needed to wait because there was no way for me to get home if I can't walk by myself after dark. I'm not involved in the cantata because I won't be in Londrina for Christmas, so I was wandering around for that whole time and it just became too much. Normally, I would find someone and talk with them a little bit, just to interact with people and have fun. But last night I couldn't bring myself to have one more silly chat. I am so ridiculously relational that all I want to do is have some deep, personal conversation with someone, anyone. I'm not too shy to strike up a conversation with someone and guide it to deeper waters. But I was unable. I completely lack the ability to do that in Portuguese, and it basically feels like someone has cut off my arms and legs or something.

The bright spot in this is that it could be much worse. I have been encouraged by my teachers telling me that I am learning Portuguese very well and very quickly. Language acquisition is something that simply takes time, and I'm blessed that for me it takes less time. Just slightly less. Also, I had a little chat with a woman at the bus stop yesterday, and after a minute or two, when I told her I was "studying Portuguese at that school on the corner," she looked at me with confusion and said, "you're not Brazilian?" Ha. No, no I am not. But thank you, that made my day.

Every bit of exhaustion that I was feeling last night basically centered around being so far from home, in such a strange situation. At this point, I'm working hard to understand lots of things, and I have to learn much more than just the language. It's tiring. But, though it is hard now, this is an investment. Settling into any new place is difficult and at time depressing. But in the end, it always works out. I hope. Ha.

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to my family coming here. To have a taste of my life in the US in Brazil will be a dream come true!!

v-i-c-t-o-r-y!!

Let me never ever forget that God is good! It looks like I will definitely be able to renew my visa to stay until February. Not through February, but until...and that's amazing.

I was talking with Gwen a few days ago about a possible trip to Assis Chateaubriand in early November, and she came up with a brilliant idea. She suggested that I just try and get my visa renewed while I'm there, because apparently they know of OMS too well here in Londrina. She was explaining that they don't like to renew a tourist visa for someone they know is doing more than touring. And since Gwen would be with me, and they know she works with OMS, they would be less likely to grant it for me. So I presented this idea to Joaquim, and he thought about some possibilities, a time and a place we could go, etc. I felt better about the idea that I could really say I was touring, my family wanted to visit, I was going to spend Christmas with friends, and I knew I would be able to avoid questions like what I've been doing with Gwen so far.

Then yesterday afternoon I talked with Joaquim and he said "Well, I talked to Milton at the Policia Federal today." Umm, who is Milton? Apparently Milton used to live in Assis, but now lives in Cascavel, the closest city with a Federal Police (where I need to go) and Joaquim explained my situation to him, and he said he would gladly sign for my visa renewal. So we're going in on November 5th, he gave Joaquim 3 different numbers to reach him so he could definitely be there to sign for me, and voila...my renewal will be granted for another 90 days.

HELLO, this is such an answer to prayer! I'm amazed at the wonderful turn of events and can clearly see God's hand in it. I would never have thought to try in Cascavel...I would never have thought to call ahead and get a definite answer. I've heard many times that in such beaurocracy cases, it really pays to know someone but I thought I didn't know someone. As it turns out, Milton is my new best friend. God has some great ideas, that's for sure, and it is all going to be great.

So, the Allen family will be traveling to Brazil for Christmas, and we are going to have a marvelous time in the incredible heat...bring your bathing suits. And a snowball.

Água de coco

Today has, in a word, been awesome. The only hindrance at the moment is that I feel a little homesick because it's currently sort of dark and rainy, which only makes me want to be cozy at home. So I'm trying to be cozy here. It has been semi-successful.

I woke up this morning nice and late, took my time getting ready to go meet up with some youth from church. I had talked with a friend, Mariele, on Friday about getting together this weekend, so we made plans last night to go to the park today and maybe walk around the lake a little, just get out and do something. Last night after the youth service, Mariele announced to the whole world that we were meeting at ISBL at 2pm to go to Lake Igapó...and so we did.

It was nice, about 10 people showed up, but it was so hot. When I was leaving my apartment this afternoon it was almost 100 degrees and the last thing I wanted to do was be outside, mid-day, walking or playing soccer or something. Blah. But I went, bought some water on the way, and it was a nice afternoon. We walked to a big park here in town, and we just hung out. Some people played soccer, we played a little volleyball, swang on the swings...I had a near-disaster on a teeter-totter with no handles. Those things are dangerous, especially when someone else jumps on the other side. We just goofed off, and eventually people started to get hot and tired. So, what would you do in that situation? Naturally, you would walk up the hill to the little vendor selling coconut water. Yes, it's true, for about $1.25 you can have your own coconut and a straw. Just ask the guy with the machete, and he would chop off the bottom, so you could hold it or set it down, then chop off the other side and spear the top, and some water would squirt out. He then hands it to you, and, drink away. It was kind of hilarious for me when I really thought about what I was doing. So refreshing though. I didn't drink the whole thing, but it was delicious on such a hot day.

After that, I was sitting on a blanket with Flávia and Nice and it started to rain a little. It had looked like it was going to, but it does so rarely here that no one really was concerned. Well, it rained...and rained...and rained. The girls and I ran to a giant cement tube for cover, and we brought our snacks and continued our conversation about favorite movies, but then the wind was blowing the rain, and eventual hail, into our cement shelter, so we decided to just accept our fate. Well, after roasting earlier in the afternoon, we were shivering, and I had pieces of hail in my hair. It was hilarious. The three of us headed back and I arrived home totally soaked. There is nothing better than putting on dry clothes and making some coffee after such an event. It just started storming again, and is now about 70 degrees. Thank the LORD.

Though slightly unorthodox, "um domingo bem diferente," it was a fun day, always a pleasure to get to know people better and speak more and more Portuguese...and now I'm going to take a shower and make myself presentable for church in an hour and a half. What a day...

COMMENT!!!!!! : )

Back to normal...

After a strange and crazy 72 hours of an allergic reaction, I'm glad to say that whatever it is/was isn't bothering me anymore. I guess I just ate something weird Saturday afternoon, and I have no idea what it could be, but I probably won't go to that buffet again. It's a shame, because it really was delicious.

I had to miss my first English class at WEBB yesterday, which really was frustrating. But tomorrow morning I'll be there, bright and early. October will be much busier for me, that's for sure. Even in the busyness, when I take a step back and look at what I'm actually doing here, sometimes I'm not exactly sure. But My Utmost for His Highest had some interesting things to say about that today. Oswald Chambers was talking about the importance of knowing Jesus, and how nothing we do matters at all if we don't know Him.

"We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him. When you are brought face to face with a difficult situations and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself."

I can say that my foremost concentration hasn't been on Jesus Christ. I am easily getting bogged down by all the church services and events and things to DO that I don't spend enough time at home, just focusing on spending time with the Lord. The problem with that is that if I did just take more time to spend in my own private devotions, everything that I do would be so much more fruitful. It's hard to learn these priorities when you're actually experiencing them. I have known them intellectually for a long time, but to know them in practice is something very different. Interesting things to think about...

Despite my hives, the weekend was very nice. It was pretty busy, especially Saturday because Joaquim arrived here at 6:30am and we were busy all day until the prayer vigil at church ended at 1:30am. That was a long day, and then Sunday morning I woke up very very itchy. But all in all, life here in Brazil is still great. Please continue to keep me in prayer as at the end of this month I'm going to be renewing my visa. I really have a peace about either outcome, though I wish terribly that I could just get it renewed and stay, I'm not totally hopeless if I need to go home in November. Because then I'll just come back. : ) God knows what He is doing, and either way, I trust Him. I was encouraged yesterday and on Monday by my own testimonies about what God has done in my life. I forget sometimes how miraculously He led me here to Londrina, and how He placed the call on my life to serve Him in another country. He's not kidding about all of that, so He will make it possible. Amen!

Comedy or Tragedy?

UPDATE
Well the doctor gave me some allegra, and told me to buy new detergent and just pay attention to things. Basically he just said "it's easy to treat, but hard to diagnose." Wonderful. So, I bought some detergent for babies. Yes, baby laundry detergent. The lady at the checkout register was joking about it and then Celia was seizing the opportunity as well. At least some laughter was had at my expense. I must admit, my life felt like a bad comedy yesterday. Joaquim and I walked to a nice park, we were sitting on a bench talking, and then half of my upper lip decides to explode. What is THAT? I don't know, but I haven't had any more hives since this morning, and it all seems to be coming under control.

As for now, I'm off to Portuguese lessons. The fun never stops...
--


I'm afraid I'm not here for a very substantial update, but I wanted to ask for all of your prayers...I've been getting terrible hives for the last 48 hours or so, and this morning when I woke up, whatever this allergic reaction is had caused my lips to swell up like balloons. While this is hilarious, it's also rather serious. I was supposed to teach my first English class at WEBB this morning, but I really didn't feel comfortable going out by myself in case something else should happen, heaven forbid. Unfortunately I had to cancel that, which really is terrible, but I just really need to see a doctor asap, basically. So as soon as they open, Gwen is going to give them a call, and we'll see what we can do. I also took 2 benadryl, which I'm pretty sure is 1 more than the recommended dose, so now I'm off to take a nap...

I'll write more after the doctor's visit...at the moment, I wouldn't care what they told me was wrong with me, as long as I can KNOW.

Frio!

Believe it or not, the last few days have actually been chilly here. It's in the 60's this morning, which is a little frigid when you don't have a coat, as is my situation. But I have enjoyed the nights, as it is wonderful to actually use blankets and wake up warm and cozy, not sweltering. But I really hope it warms up at least a little in the next couple days...

In other news, I just saw a little ant floating in my coffee, because the sugar was a bit infested this morning. I'm not so sure that I have a problem with this little insect. Maybe I should, but I really want that coffee. Oh well.

I've been feeling a bit more homesick lately, as has been evidenced by dreaming about being at home, and the fact that I swear I heard Samson barking last night. So I have moments where I feel far from everything that is really comfortable to me, but other times, and perhaps more often, I feel like I never, ever want to leave here. I had a moment on the bus yesterday as I was coming home from WEBB, and I saw a painted advertisement on a cement wall on the side of the road. I realized that in the US, I would never see Portuguese...I worry a lot that all that I'm learning is going to fall right out of my head the moment I go back. And it just breaks my heart to think about being out of this culture. I really love Chicagoland, and sometimes I wish I could teleport just so I could go back for an hour or two every once in a while. It would be wonderful to just pop up there to say hi, to satisfy a craving for some random thing that I can't have here, to enjoy being home...
When I'm here, I miss home. I think about it, sometimes cry about it. But when I think about being home, for a LONG period of time, my heart aches to be back here.

I've been reading a book with my teacher Emilia, at the end of our lessons twice a week. It's called "Because God Answers Prayers" and is the testimony of a woman who was a missionary from Canada in China for 30 or 40 years. She asked God for even the smallest things, and He answered her in all of them. I need to learn a lot from that, because I have trouble trusting God with small things, let alone big things. I see more and more every day that I don't go to Him enough. Last night, I was looking through my journal from the months before I left and saw page after page of truly seeking God, spending time with Him, delighting in Him. I haven't done that enough since I've been here, and I'm starting to feel it. It's almost like when you go running on a regular basis, you feel great. If you stop for a couple days, or even a week, you may miss it, but you won't see too drastic of a change in your energy or in your body. But after a month, things may start to go down the tubes.

In slightly less philosophical news, I decided to accept the offer to teach 2 days a week at WEBB. So Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I will be an English teacher. Never saw that one coming. My Portuguese is coming very well, which is only by the grace of God, quite frankly. Yesterday I had an entire conversation with someone, and realized later that I had actually done that. It sort of blows my mind. How am I understanding these words which were so foreign to me only a few weeks ago?

This week is (thankfully) flying by, and yet I'm realizing that I have a LOT to do this weekend. The first round of Portuguese tests is coming my way, I know I have at least one on Tuesday. I need to plan again for teaching English to the teens at church on Saturday, which this week will include baking some chocolate chip cookies, I need to prepare to lead the OMS Missionary prayer meeting on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday morning I am hoping to see my fairy godmother, so she can turn me into a teacher.

You is

Tragedy:
In the month that I have been in Londrina, I have only received one piece of mail, from miss Alexandra Elizabeth Fillmore. Just in case you all need my address, here it is once again. ; )

c/o ISBL
Rua Senador Sousa Naves, 880
Londrina, PR 86010-160
Brazil


Anyway...Today was my first try at teaching English to the adolescents at church. It was interesting, that's for sure. I think it was a good introduction and now I have some more ideas for next time. I decided to make an American dessert or snack or something for every class. Maybe I'll get tired of it after next week, but my guess would be no. Today I tried making toffee. I'd never done it before, so I just looked up a recipe on the internet and gave it a shot. It turns out, that's the easiest thing in the world and you would never know it by how good it tastes! Just butter, sugar and a little vanilla, melt some chocolate on top and enjoy a couple hours later. It was a hit with the kids at church too. My kitchen sort of smelles like Morkes Chocolates now, which is nothing to complain about, that's for sure.

During the English lesson, I just talked a little bit about myself and wrote down some vocabulary words for them to understand what I was saying. We talked briefly about the verb "to be" and as we were going over the different conjugations, Juliana raised her hand and said "my teacher told me it was 'you is'." Yikes.

Today has been nice and relaxing, with some baking, sleeping until 10, and not needing to be anywhere until 3:30. Tonight there is an anniversary service at another church, but as 3 churches are all going to be packed into 1 small church and it is probably going to be a late party, I have gladly accepted Gwen's offer to just stay home tonight. All in all, it was a wonderful Saturday.

The Glamorous Life

My deepest apologies for not updating for so long. The truth is, I haven't had much to write about. It's possible that I am becoming so comfortable here and used to this routine that nothing seems worthy of updating. But I will do my best to think of a few things...

Gwen didn't go into the office all week because she needed to catch up on some accounting things at home. I had some things to do, thankfully, because we were making some invitations for an event at the church next Saturday. These involved lots of hearts, glitter, and cutting card stock with fancy patterned scissors. 400 times. So, I had a lot of slow, no-pressure mornings. After such mornings, I went to my Portuguese classes, which are still going very well.

WEBB, the language school, is going to be without one of their English teachers for the month of October, and they've asked me to help with at least some of the higher level conversation classes. It's up to me, and would be good because they could discount some of my lessons, but I'm still deciding on that. Especially because it takes me an hour and 1/2 round trip to commute there and back on the bus, I'm a little overwhelmed with the prospect of going there twice a day. Currently, I'm thinking about taking on a Tuesday and Thursday morning class of higher level students, so it would be more conversational. But we'll see.

I'm also just a little worried about teaching English. Believe me, I am no teacher. I have had no training in anything like TESOL, nothing. I'm going to be teaching the adolescents at the church too, starting tomorrow, but that should be a little easier and less pressure because they're not paying for my knowledge and expertise. Still, it's all very out of my league and comfort zone.

Today I have my second "situations" class at home. Last week, I was a little unsure of how things would go with this teacher. She's very sweet, but seemed the least prepared and also speaks the least English. So there would be times when I would ask what a word meant in English, and she didn't know either. Now, I'm not really sure how that is supposed to help, but thank goodness for dictionaries. The situations class is supposed to involve walking, shopping, talking with people, getting into situations. For example, yesterday in my grammer class, I had to go talk to the secretary at WEBB and ask her questions using interrogative pronouns like "who, what, when, where" etc. Well that was slightly embarrassing, but thankfully Bruna is very nice. I also now know where she is, how old she is and where she's from. So today maybe Denise and I can go buy a piece of fruit or something. SOMETHING.

To tell the truth, I'm doing very well on my own. Yesterday, to assist my craft habit, I needed to go buy some more red glittery glue. So I walked a couple blocks to a paper store, went in and found some puffpaint-y looking things. Then someone asked me if I needed help, and I asked her if she had red glittery glue. She found it for me, asked me if I wanted anything else, I said no, and she rang me up. Simple, but I don't take those sorts of conversations for granted anymore. I'm glad that I can handle myself in a store, unless I needed to ask some terribly complicated question. But let's be honest, I don't ask salespeople complicated questions in English, so why would I in Portuguese?

All in all, this was a calm and nice week. However, it will be followed by a busy weekend. Tomorrow is the anniversary of another missionary church in Londrina, the daughter church of the one I attend, so everyone is going to this party there at 8pm, and I have "English class" at 4:30, then there is a lunch on Sunday at my apartment for the leaders of the camp a couple weeks ago, and church on Sunday night. Thankfully though, next week will be equally as tranquil, and the weekend to follow will be faaaaaabulous.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday marked one month that I have been in Brazil. It's hard to believe that number. 1 month. 31 days. Wasn't it longer? No, it must have been less because I hardly noticed the time flying by. Yes, one month can mean different things to different people. To some, it is just another opportunity to flip the page on the calendar. For me, it was full of innumerable new experiences and has given me a moment to think back on what God has been teaching me.

Before I left, especially in my frustration over why in the world I wasn't given a 5 year visa, the Lord kept impressing obedience upon my heart. "Just go." He pointed me here to Londrina, and was waiting when I arrived, there is no question about that. So He is using me, somehow. And as I thought about it, I have no doubt of that fact now. Although I am still getting to know people, and have found myself involved in more crafts than when I was in kindergarten, I feel a certain peace about the fact that I am just...supposed to be here. I have also learned that nothing compares to really being where you're supposed to be. Plus, it has only been a month. I'm here until the end of December, so who knows what could happen by then? I know, and have been told by many people, that God has some serious plans, so I'm just hanging out while He is working them out.

Well, enough philosophizing, how about an update?

I know I said on Thursday that I would relax Friday morning...well, that turned into waking up at 6:30 to go to a local school with two new friends, Scott and Gustavo. Scott is from Ohio and Gustavo is from Londrina and they have been working together for 6 years, presenting the gospel to high schoolers - in their schools. It's really an incredible opportunity, and they begin by sharing about differences between the American and Brazilian cultures, teach a quick and funny English lesson, and then eventually share the gospel. They capitalized on such things as "what do you do with trash in the US?" and Scott throws it in the garbage. Then Gustavo tosses it on the floor. "How do people greet each other in America?" They shake hands, talk about the weather, maintain a nice distance of personal space, and then wave goodbye. As Brazilians, they hugged, and talked at the same time, loudly. Very exaggerated, but funny, and with some truth to it. It was cool to see what they did, and nice of them to go out of their way to invite me there with them.

Friday afternoon I met my third Portuguese teacher, and that was nice. Our lesson was a bit more repetitive than the other ones, and I think I was tired by the end of a full week, but it was good and challenging near the end. Each teacher has needed to see where I stand, so they begin with things like "good morning" and when they see my brain falling asleep, ask me to tell them about a recent trip I took, in Portuguese, for example. Slightly more challenging, to say the least.

The weekend was relaxing and enjoyable. Tonight is church...soon I'm going to sing "Shout to the Lord" because that's a song that the pianist for the worship team definitely knows. We had an impromptu rehearsal last night about 5 minutes before the youth service, and to be honest I might even be singing it tonight. Funny. Well, I'm always ready...

So this is life...

I have officially gotten into a "routine" here. My schedule is set, clear, and very busy. I'm tired, but really, what else am I going to do? So, here is a glimpse at what my week looks like:

Segunda-Feira (Monday)
7:30am - Leave for the bus
8:30am - Portuguese
12pm - Wait again for the bus
1pm - Lunch
1:30pm - OMS missionary prayer meeting
3pm - Free time (aka: nap)

Terca-Feira (Tuesday)
8am - Seminary office with Gwen (ISBL)
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Leave for the bus
2pm - Portuguese
6:30pm - Arrive home
8pm - Verdades Basicas (class)

Quarta-Feira (Wednesday)
8am - ISBL
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Bus
2pm - Portuguese
6:30pm - Home
8pm - Prayer Service

Quinta-Feira (Thursday)
8am - ISBL
12pm - Lunch
3pm - Bus
4pm - Portuguese
6:30pm - Home for FREE TIME

Sexta-Feira (Friday)
(?)am - Prepare lessons for English class for teens
12pm - Lunch
2pm - Portuguese at home
5pm - Freeeeeee

Sabado (Saturday)
am - Free (aka: sleep in)
12pm - Lunch
2:30pm - English class/conversation with church teens
3:30pm - Adolescents meet
6pm - Dinner
8pm - Youth service

Domingo (Sunday)
DAY - Free (I'm not a heathen, there's just no church in the morning!)
7:30pm - Church

So basically I have 3 free evenings a week and 2 free days. There will certainly be no time for me to be bored, especially as I'm learning a new language and constantly meeting new people!

Last night after the prayer service, I really had a good time with some of the youth. They were asking me names of American movies, and that entertained them for a while. They kept asking me to pronounce "Arnold Schwarzenegger." Apparently it's a thrill to hear. I felt like I got to spend some quality time with them on my own. I don't always like to have Gwen around to translate too much for me or constantly be asking me if I understood things. It's helpful in the times I don't, but those are becoming fewer and farther between. So I had to stand on my own two wobbly Portuguese-speaking legs, and it was good for me and fun too. This Saturday I'll start a little English with the youth, just talking simply about my family, etc. It will be interesting considering my weak grasp on their language, and their even simpler knowledge of mine. But they're excited to learn a little bit and it will be helpful for me to need to translate some things, etc. I think I'll enjoy it too. : )

My Portuguese lessons have been going well...yesterday I took the bus for the first time, which was quite the event. It's also very exhausting and time consuming. Also, dangerous. Only in that I nearly fall into every single person sitting down when I'm stumbling in trying to pay and push through the turnstyle and grabbing frantically for the poles that do nothing to save me from the stick-shift's desperation in trying to go up a hill. Today I saw one woman walking steadily up the aisle as the bus was moving and I couldn't help but think that I wanted to be just like her.

Tomorrow a new teacher that I don't know is coming to my apartment to teach "situations." So maybe we'll go out a little bit, which would be fun. We'll see what happens. Gwen will be gone for the day so I'll take the morning to "plan" my little English lesson and try to relax after 2 exhausting days of bussing. That will really be something to get used to.

And now, thanks to the miracle of satellite television, I'm going to watch [Scrubs]. Thank you for the comments on my last entry, I always enjoy hearing from people!

Bênções no Português

Blessings in Portuguese...
Today was my second class, and wow. It was fabulous. Absolutely fantastic. It's still a lot of time, but thankfully not too much homework. Today was vocabulary and pronounciation, and some integration with Christianity, learning about Christianity in Brazil and I'll memorize one Bible verse in Portuguese every week. Well, that's more than I do in English, so that's good. This week is John 3:16, which is always a good one to have covered. We also sang a worship song in Portuguese, and it was one that I had heard before and really liked, so that was fun. In less exciting news, we also talked about how to pronounce the alphabet and about when to use certain greetings that I already knew, but it's good to know more about the culture and what is appropriate when, etc. We learned about countries and nationalities, etc. While this is all very basic, it is so wonderful to move at my own pace and fly through that material. At one point she asked if she was going too fast, but that's exactly how I like things to go when I'm learning. My brain turns off if the material starts to move behind my mind, and today it was great to be challenged for a full 3 hours.

My teacher for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when we'll cover these subjects, is Emilia. I just loved her. She lived for over 20 years in northern Brazil with different indian tribes and is currently studying an indian (not from India) language so she will be able to know the basics of the structure, etc. in case the Lord calls their family back to the jungle. Her husband is a Baptist minister, and she has a daughter my age and a 13 year old son. She almost made me cry at the end of the class...she was telling me that my pronounciation is really very good and with a little more time it will be nearly perfect. She said that she could tell that the ease with which I'm learning is a blessing from God and is an indication of how He is going to use me here in Brasil.
Wow.
I was just so blessed by her honesty and real passion for God that she was so willing to talk about. She asked me if there were any Psalms that I liked in particular, so I could try and read it outloud in Portuguese, and I told her Psalm 86. Then she told me that last month God really spoke to her through that Psalm, and how at the beginning, the writer is complaining and asking God to help him, etc...but then he just starts praising God for who He is, and she was saying that whatever our circumstances, we still need to praise praise praise God. So true.

Anyway, the pronounciation thing was great to hear for obvious reasons, but more superficially, I'm terrified of having an ugly ugly ugly American accent, so that was encouraging as well. Some (not all) Americans I've heard talking just sound...blah. Like they have marbles in their mouths. Then I hear a Brazilian speak and it's like music. I would prefer the latter, for me. It's a lot to do with inflection too, and it's sort of embarrassing to make yourself change the way you would normally "sing" a sentence, but well worth it. Hopefully I can get the hang of that.

Today was really a good day...I got a phone call last night from Becky Abel saying they would be passing through Londrina this morning, so they stopped by my apartment for an hour or so. It was good to "meet" them, though technically we've met before. Cross and Crown, the church I grew up in, has been invested in their ministry for years and my parents have kept in contact with them and been getting their newsletters, etc. It was wonderful to get to know them a little bit and hopefully we'll have a chance to meet again, maybe in Curitiba next time, where they live. Or at the beach after Christmas. : )

The Long Weekend

6:30pm Sunday September 9th

Well, we have returned from the long weekend. Gwen and I got home a little over an hour ago after 3 days at camp. It was definitely a different experience than I expected. First of all, I am currently writing this in a Word document and will paste it in blogger later, because our internet is down. I will admit to feeling incredible disconnected from the world, considering that is basically the ONLY way I can communicate with people, but I’m trying to pretend everything will be fine by tomorrow and I’m telling myself I don’t need to go online. Let’s just say that if it’s not back up by tomorrow afternoon, I will have exploded.

So, back to camp. We got there around 9 on Thursday evening, and it was quite possibly the last place I wanted to be. I was already tired thinking about all we were going to have to do, and I knew I would have absolutely no fun because I wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone. Well, I was wrong. Thursday night I was quiet, maybe brooding a little bit, but we were working on putting together all these nametags and cutting and glueing and seemingly endless piles of crafts until about 1am. Yes, it was probably 4 solid hours of crafting. Then we slept to prepare for the arrival of the campers the next morning. Although it has been hot here during the day, at the camp (about 20 minutes outside Londrina, in the countryside) it got coooold at night. I only brought a sheet and a throw blanket, thinking I would maybe only use one, because in my room at the apartment I’m always hot. So I was afraid I would freeze. Before I went to bed, I took some time to pray for my attitude for the next day, and for my comfort sleeping. (Sleep is very important to Christine Rachel Allen…) I woke up on Friday morning, feeling refreshed, and wrapped up like a burrito in my bedsheet, with the warmer of the two blankets on the inside. I was the perfect temperature and had slept like a baby. Miraculous, to say the least.

Friday morning came and the campers did with it. It was total chaos, but it all worked out. I managed to find my nooks and crannies where I could help out, since it definitely wasn’t going to be part of my job description to just hang out with kids and get to know them. Gladly, I was able to do a good amount of that. I was one of the leaders, so I got to know some of them well and it was so great to meet people closer to my age. After lunch I saw a girl wearing a white sox hat. She looked friendly, so I took a few minutes in my head to prepare how I would tell her that I’m from the city where the white sox play, and sat down at her table. She ended up being such a sweet girl, and she and her husband Marcos spoke a tiny bit of English.

::edit::

Ok now I'm writing in real time, Monday afternoon. Internet is back up and running (praise the Lord. When I told Joaquim it wasn't working, he said "I would feel like I was in jail." Truer words were never spoken.)

Anyway, it was great to talk with Marcli and Marcos and I spent a lot of time with Marcli over the weekend. She lives in Londrina as well and I hope to see her more. She cuts hair, so I'll be giving her a call for that in a week or two. That's great, I was wondering what to do about that. She was kind of fascinated by my hair, because it's so fine and I'm so white, so she kept asking me how I dried it, etc. and then said "You have English hair. In my school, we learned about this." Hmm, interesting.

Friday and Saturday were both crazy camp days. The kids played lots of games involving lots of mud, etc. Saturday I helped Marcli work in the canteen (pronounced "can-CHEE-nee" in Portuguese) which was good for my Portuguese. All I needed to know were the names of drinks, the word for ice cream, and my numbers, all of which I have covered, so it was fun. We also spent some time with another leader named Taciane (Ta-see-AH-nee) and went swimming for a little on Saturday. I didn't do much with the campers, I just stayed in a room with Gwen, so I just sort of wandered around looking for opportunities to talk to people or at least smile at some awkward teenagers.

One thing I noticed on Saturday was that it was so refreshing having people address me when they talked to/about me. I got so sick of hearing "ela" this and "ela" that. ("her") and knowing that people were talking about me, but only sort of understanding what they were saying. Now people can talk to me, for the most part, and I feel a little bit more human again. There were a couple weeks where I just felt like a sad little fly on the wall. One girl, Flávia, who goes to Igreja Central, my church, was great about talking to me, speaking slowly and explaining things in goofy ways with lots of gestures. Funny, but sometimes necessary. So I got to actually have some "conversations" this weekend. Refreshing.

I also got to know some of the kids from Igreja Central a little more. It was fun just to sit down at a random table during meals and at least be able to laugh at jokes and let them try some funny English phrases with me. One girl only knew how to say "you wanna mate?" That was...interesting. We played some UNO, ate some popcorn, and overall I enjoyed it and feel a lot more comfortable at the church now that I know people a little better and can talk a little more.

Pastor Jhonatas, one of the pastors of Igreja Central has been asking me when I'm going to sing on some Sunday, and finally talked with Enrique, the worship team's pianist. So hopefully this week I can come up with something to sing maybe this Sunday, and can work with Enrique on that on Saturday.

I started Portuguese lessons today, and I'm realizing that my weeks are going to be BUSY now that those will be taking up 15 hours. I'll do that one morning and 4 afternoons every week, work with Gwen 4 mornings, and then almost every evening has something. Saturdays are booked too working with the youth, and I'll probably start helping them with some English conversation opportunities on Saturday afternoons. Ai ai ai...busy is good though. My first class today was great, I have private lessons, so I can really go at my own pace. It's a strange pace, because I know a lot but don't know a lot of grammar basics. So we could skip a lot of the vocabulary today and just focus on grammar things, which helped move everything along. I think with this program I'm going to learn very quickly. They have great teachers, and it is so well-structured. 2 days of grammar, 2 days of vocabulary and pronounciation, and 1 day of "situations" where a woman will come to my apartment and then we'll go out into town and get into said situations. Interesting, perhaps embarrassing, but effective I'm sure.

It's been good to hear from some of you in the last few days, as I wasn't able to update. Please always feel free to email me, I try my best to respond! But, well...it's Monday and it looks like these afternoons will be good times to sit back and relax. I'm still tired from the weekend, so I'm off to take a little nap...goodness knows I love little naps...

Camp?

Tomorrow afternoon we leave for the camp, which starts on Friday. It looks like I'll just be a "gofer" as I have gotten good at being, and will also take pictures and video. So that will be fine, and it should be fun, with lots of games and some time in the pool. Bring on the Brazilian "winter" sun, is what I say!

I've been feeling much better today...thank you for your prayers. I have been able to rest a lot the last few days, I took Tylenol PM last night and got a great night's sleep, and then took a long nap today. I think, despite my wishes to be well and energetic, I really need to take it slow. That won't be possible at the camp, but I'm glad I got to spend some time saving energy beforehand.

The great news of the day is that I will definitely be beginning Portuguese classes on Monday morning. Monday - Friday, 3 hours a day. That's 15 hours of Portuguese every week. That's like an entire semester courseload, all in this delicious language that I am surrounded by every day. Will I be speaking soon? Yes, yes I will. I could NOT be more excited about that.

Right after I wrote my tale of woe about my visa on Monday, someone called Gwen's apartment, and ended up talking to me for a few minutes. He is also a missionary here, he lives a few blocks away, and when he asked how long I would be here, and I explained my situation, he immediately told me that Gwen is great at getting visas renewed, and she "knows everyone." I'm still not sure what that means, and she didn't seem to really understand my situation, because I think most people were assuming I had a 5 year visa, not ONLY a 90 day visa...but all I can do is trust that God knows what He's doing.

I have read Psalm 145 and 146 in the last 2 days, and they have been so encouraging. Oh, how much God deserves our praise! Psalm 145 talks about how He gives everything on earth their food at the proper time. 146 says how He even feeds the ravens when they cry out to Him. How much more does he care for us? The biggest point there is "at the proper time."......of course I don't always want to accept that, but He really knows what He is doing.

For now, I need to go to sleep and prepare for a weekend where anything could happen...but I'm glad that I'm feeling better and that we serve the God we do...He is SO good.