In the Swing of the things

So I am finally starting to feel at home here. I have started language class. They are going well however after class my brain hurts. :o( On Monday I went with some of the LST team along with Matt and Travis to the Pelourinho. This is the downtown area of Bahia. It was the capital of the state for around 200 years. Everything there is very historic. The buildings reminded me of an old European town. I loved walking down the cobble stone streets that were lined with small shops. The views down the streets were picturesque. We went into the President’s Palace that overlooks the harbor. There were tankers outside the harbor and sailboats inside. This place is still used for transporting good. There is a building out in the water where slaves were kept and a larger building on the beach was where the slaves were held. This building is now a very large market. It is similar to the one that we went to in Honduras. Here you have to be ready to bargain. There is everything that you can imagine. We are defiantly coming back for souvenir shopping ;o). I met a woman named Anna Christine. She was one of the people that walked around and tried to sale necklaces. Travis and I were sitting in front of the Saint Francisco church waiting on the others. She came and sat with us to talk. She is about 5 months pregnant and she said that she worked with a program for street kids. I was able to talk with her a little in Portuguese. After we talked for a while, I ended up getting three necklaces from her. (After bargaining I got three for the original price of one). Later on we met another man that was selling his woodcarvings. They were paintings that he made by carving wood and taking an imprint. They were very unique and beautiful. He said that he normally sales them for about 90 to 100 reais He spoke very good English and Spanish. We talked with him for a while. Two of the LST girls came and join us. At one point he told Danielle and Caitlyn that if they could guess his age then he would give them a prize. He said that he is a man of his word. (I had heard his age earlier.) They went on and could not get it so I showed Caitlyn the answer. She was right and he said “here pick a painting”. She refused to take it and told him that she and I cheated. He thought it was very funny and told her to pick one anyway. It was all very funny. He joked around with us and soon it was time to move on. Danielle and I bought a painting from him and he gave them to us for 10 reais a piece. (Good deal!) When we got back to the church it was time for the baptism. It was great. We all walked down to the water after a time of singing and prayer. It really was fun and beautiful. Russ baptized her and Katherine was able to go out in to the water with them. I hope that we get the opportunity to see more. I gave her one of the necklaces that I bought from Anna Christina. It was a cross.
Tuesday VBS went great. Heather is really good at telling the stories and leading everything. There were less Brazilian kids but everyone was more hyper. Heather told the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 so for props we printed out 5000 smiley faces and bought 5 small loaves and since there were no fish at the market by the church we got a can of 2 sardines. Well we forgot the faces at home so before we started Heather, Alicia and I drew 5000 (about 5000) circles on card stock. I also went to get the basket of food ready and while trying to open the can of sardines I got fish juice on my hands and leg. I also had to pick up the fish to put them in the basket. It was gross!!! My hands smelled like fish the rest of the day. (I made one of the kids smell them…it was funny) Oh yeah and kids go crazy when you dump 2 trash bags of balloons on the floor.
Wednesday was alright. We were at the church from 9am till 4:40pm. We had the devo and then staff meeting. After that was our mentor time at Alicia’s house. Heather and I had our first LST readers today. Heather’s was at 2 and mine was at 3. It was some work but it was fun. The girl I read with has trouble with English but she really tries. After reading I was supposed to meet with Francisco to practice from 4 to 4:30, but he got held up at work. At 4:30 Heather and I had to leave to go and meet the Porters at the mall. We went and saw Shrek 3. I was so much fun. Kelton loved it. The mall however was PACKED. I will never complain about movie lines in Abilene again. We got in there about 2 previews before the movie began. Back at the apartment we watched CSI while playing a game of Outburst. It was interesting.
Today was our day off. Heather went and spent sometime with one of the missionary families that is leaving soon. I had language class and got to hang out this afternoon. We just got back from the LST party. Tonight was Bunko night. It was hilarious. Brazilians are very competitive. If they win a prize they will gladly share it but they will fight to the death to get it. Bunko is a dice game where you and your partner are trying to get the most points. You have 3 dice and every time you roll a 6 you get a point. If you roll 3 of a kind that is a Bunko. You get points for rolling a Bunko and you get points for grabbing the dice. If you roll a Bunko you get 6 points and if your team grabs all the dice you get 3 more points. Needless to say there were people on the floor chasing dice. We had some broken nails and bruised hands but it was great. Everyone had a great time.
Francisco and I along with a friend of his that might sing with us, got to practice some tonight and as of right now we are still singing on Sunday. This weekend is a HUGE holiday here so we have tomorrow off (other than the Youth Lock In tomorrow night). In the morning Heather and I are going with Jen and some of the LST girls to get massages on the beach. I can’t wait. We also may get to go to the beach on Saturday. We have not been able to go at all yet because of the rain…oh well I have enjoyed the rain. Today was rainy and gray almost all day. I thought it was nice…I was also inside almost all day. :o) Keep praying for us and the girl that was baptized. (Her name is hard so you can just call her Claire)Her family is having some problems with it from what I understand. Also pray for everyone that is traveling for the holiday. The holiday lasts all weekend. And this Sunday is the last Sunday for the Parker family. They are a part of the missionary team and they are moving back to the United States. Thank for your prayers and support. I am sorry some of the posts are long…. :o)
I love you all. Have a great weekend. I have posted pictures on Facebook. So if you are on Facebook you can log on and see them.