Your friendly update

Today was so exciting. We had 16 kids at VBS. Russ took his "joy van" out to the barrio where some of our kids live and picked up anyone who could come. It was so crazy but so much fun. I love how the kids are starting to get attached to us. They are at the point where they always hug me and want to sit with me as Heather tells the stories. Right now we have the 3 interns from Sao Paulo visiting us for about 12 days. It is great having them here even though having 7 and 1/2 people in this apartment is a tight fit. They flew in late Thursday night. Friday morning we got up and went to the beach. Heather and I got massages while Kelton, Paul, Brooke and Josh played around. After that we went and got lunch and began to walk back to the apartment. (It was a long walk..about 45 mins or so) As we were walking this car pulled out of the post office and it was Russ and Val. We got to get a lift home. That night after I met with Silas, we met up with Russ and Val and went out for Sushi. Watching Paul eat an entire chuck of Wasabi was hilarious!!! If someone ever bets you to eat a piece of Wasabi the size of half a ping pong ball JUST say No. He did survive though and we got a very very funny video. On Saturday morning Heather, Paul, Brooke, Josh and I caught a bus and went to the Mercado Modelo. It is about 40 min ride but it is beautiful. We drive along the ocean road. We got to get a good bit of our shopping done as well as talk to people. After the Mercado we went to Matt and Mary's house for small group. She looks like she is about to pop. The baby is due any day now. Small group was great. Lorena and Danille were there as well as the group of us. Rebeca my Portuguese teacher also came. I love her. Every time we have class we end up laughing so hard. We are always joking and picking on each other. Saturday night we all went out to eat. Sunday was normal. I am beginning to really love English class. Yesterday everyone including Mary's parents that are in town, went to Praia do Forte. It is a tourist town with a sea turtle reserve. It is about an hour drive north of Salvador. The day began really rainy but it slowly cleared up. The town is very pretty. There are alot of little stores and shops. It is all expense though due to the fact that it is a tourist town. The reserve was so cool. However yesterday was so so so windy that in all of our pictures everyone's hair is going crazy. :o) I can't believe that we leave two weeks from today. I really miss everyone at home and little things like being about to drink out of the tap but I am so close to some of the people here. It will be really hard not to be able to talk to them. Irla invited me to a theatrical production that she is in during October. She forgot I would not be here. I am excited to come home and start school and wedding planning. I hope that I can come back here some day.

Fumes, babies, laughs and firsts

We have officially started on the mural. It looks really cool. Heather and Alicia (one of the missionaries) and I have been working on it. I hope that it is finished before we leave. It is a painting that incorporates the major stories of the Old Testament and the story of the life of Jesus. We have finally fallen into a fairly stable routine. We each meet with readers throughout the week. We help them with their English while reading from the book of Luke. I have 4 readers right now. I also have been teaching part of the Beginner English class that meets twice a week. I was nervous when I started…well I am still nervous but I really enjoy it. Watching a group of about 20 adults sing Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and enjoy it is priceless. We are all currently participating in a Baby Pool. Mary is due in about two weeks. It is a team tradition that everyone tries to guess the time, day, weight, length and this time, the name. Heather and I both are in the running. Right now Heather and Kelton (the 3 year old) are playing hide and seek. It was so cute. Kelton came running in here and climbed in my lap. I put one of his dad’s shirts over him and that was his great hiding place. Heather came in and pretended not to see the large, red growth on my lap. She looked and looked and he jumped out screaming. That was so funny the first…….five times…we just finished time number 12ish. “So Heather, where could you find a Kelton?”
So I have accomplished some “Firsts” while I have been here in Brazil. I have seen people baptized in the ocean, I have eaten chicken hearts, I have sang in front of a church, I went to the beach in Brazil and it didn’t rain, I have ridden on the back of a motorcycle (not a dirt bike…one of the men from church took me for a ride), I went Body boarding with Randy and actually caught a wave, I have had a conversation in 3 languages and more. I think that I will take so much from this experience. Trying to work and function in another culture is harder then it appears. I will be happy to return home but I will miss the small home I have made here. The people that I have met, meus amigos, are wonderful. Irla is 13. She is into theatre and very involved with the church along with her mother and father (his motorcycle by the way). She is always so happy. Dianna is there for every VBS and every time we go to church. She has many nieces and nephews and she brings them every VBS day. She is very involved in the church along with her husband. They were the first ones married in the church. Daniele is in her twenties and she is a doctor. She is a member of our small group and an English speaker. She has a busy life but it is great when we can see and hang out with her. Alex is a goof. He is in the English class. He is in his late thirties and always talks about his family. He loves to joke around with people and always had this huge smile. Rebeka is my Portuguese teacher. We always end up laughing during every class. She is a very good teacher and I hope we get a chance to hang out. Francisco, Jefferson and Silas are three guys that are so much fun. Francisco is 26ish and knows English very well. He loves to sing, talk and learn. Silas is one of my readers. He is 16. He is doing so well but he doesn’t believe it. I pray that he finds his confidence. I met Jefferson not too long ago. He has this blinding white smile that makes him look like a little boy. He is just learning English and he tries so hard. Once, Francisco, Jefferson, Marcos, Jacaline, Robert and I walked down to a hotel where the Baptist missionary team was holding an English service. It was nice. The walk was hilarious. Jefferson had to the bathroom not long after we left the church building. Jacaline and I told him to use the ocean and he was soooooo embarrassed. It was so funny. I told him that in the states when my friends had to go we would tickle them. He did not understand tickle so I showed him. He jumped around and yelled. In another post I will tell about some of my other new friends. Tomorrow is VBS day and it is the story of the crucifixion and the resurrection. Pray it goes well.

Oil and Water

Today we got to start on a mural for the children's area at the church. We have been talking back and forth with Alicia since we got here. We have gathered ideas and I have been doing some sketches for the past few weeks. Alicia wanted to do a painting of the main Old Testament stories. Heather and I went and got the paint on Monday and we have been eagerly waiting to start. After a day that in the beginning was well bad, it was nice to get to paint. Today, a lot of little things went wrong and small tasks did not go as smoothly as they should have. In the end however it was great to let the creativity flow. I have missed having time to sit and create art so badly. Heather, Alicia and I had fun sketching in and painting parts of the first few stories. I will try and post pictures soon. Oh..yeah when we bought the paint we should have found a way to tell the difference between latex based and oil based paint. We bought indoor/outdoor paint (which most of the time is latex or acrilic right?) Well when we opened the cans we discovered that it was oil based. That means smelly, sticky, runny and does not wash off with water....at all!!! It was quite interested tring to wash our hands and brushes. However somthing that is such a pain did create a really pretty piece of art.
And just so you know.....Heather and I did get to make it to the beach on Thursday....with no rain. Hopefully we broke the beach curse...(for those of you who do not know....everytime we have tried to go to the beach it has rained....a lot) Our day off was wonderful and we really needed it. It is great to recharge and relax.

Breathe in and Breathe out

So I am sorry that I have not posted in a few days..or so. So things are going well. There are moments that I love being here, moments were I miss home and family and friends so much and then there are moments were I am just tring to figure out what to do next. The days seem to run together here. 5 weeks can feel like a short time and a life time all wrapped into one. To play catch up for a second. Heather and I went to a Karaoke bar with the LST team and some of our Brazilian friends. We sang and danced and laughed. I talked Heather into ordering a "Sexy on the Beach" It was just a fruity drank but hey now she can say she got sexy on the beach. It was funny. We left before things got wild. There was a Pirates of the Caribbean movie night at the church. I sang with Fransisco in front of the whole church. It was so cool to be singing in another language and looking out at people lifting their hands and praising God. Heather and I have been to the beach twice. (Flashback...two Fridays ago a man came into the church when I was there with Ian, Fransisco, Silas and Arnon. He said that he had a friend that was from England. She was living here with her new husband who is a Brazilian. She didn't speak Portuguese and he was looking for a church that spoke English. The three of them came to church the next Sunday) Heather and I went to the beach with Janine, her husband Rubens and 2 of their friends. Then last Wednesday Heather and I went to the beach by ourselves. Both times were alot of fun but we discovered that we have a beach curse. Every time we have gone it was rained. :o( We are going to try to go again this week. We also had a baby shower for Mary yesterday. She is one of the missionaries. She was on bed rest but she is doing better. We hope that the baby comes before we leave. One thing that I have learned about Brazilians is that at a party everyone participates. Even the most off the wall games becomes a competition. It was a blast. I will try and post details tomorrow. Anyways today Heather and I went with the LST team and some of our Brazilian friends to an English church service held in a local hotel. It was ran by some Baptist Missionaries here in Salvador. It was nice to introduce myself in English for a change. :o). I enjoy seeing all the little ways that God is working. There have been moments that I have really wanted to go home and God keep coming through to comfort me. There was a lady today at church that looked like my grandmother when she smiled and while we were walking to the English church Fransisco and I got to talk about God. He asked me if I knew how good what I was doing here was. I said no. He told me how important we were to all of them and how he wanted to do the same thing someday. We are making friends here. Oh yeah...today was the first day that I taught a section of the beginner English class. (I had to get some help) I love working with that class. It is kind of strange though to be teaching my friends from church. Oh I almost forgot. I had a break through last week. I went to do somethings for Randy. I went to the bank, paid bills, bought phone cards, went to the ATM, got coffee, got a gift for my mom, and solved a problem with my cell phone all alone. I communicated in Portuguese and did everything all by myself :o).oh well. Please continue to pray for us here in Salvador. I would also encourage all of you to look up some information on Salvador Brazil so that you can understand a little more about the city. I pray you all are going well.