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!