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...)