One of the things I love about Brasil is its seemingly endless supply of fruit. We got up early this morning and went to the CADEG (I found out what it stands for but it's a really long, boring name to translate so I'll spare you). I bought strawberries and peaches. Being a Georgia girl myself, I couldn't pass the peaches without at least trying one. And let me tell you, it tasted just like a peach should taste.
I also tried a type of fruit I've never heard of before, called sapoti. It was kind of a cross between an apple and a pear with a strange taste (my co-workers said it was like a fig; I'll have to take their word for it).
Pineapple I might have bought; however, it is a pain to cut up. People actually use the word for pineapple when they are talking about a situation that isn't going to be worth it in the long run to get into (because the work is going to be much more than the outcome).

I can't seem to get my mind set to get anything done that I feel needs to be done -- diligent language study, diligent prayer and reading. I can accomplish things very well while I am moving, but when I stop is when I feel useless. I can always find something that needs to be done. Take today, for example. I need to go get a key made and call people and wash my strawberries and sweep the floor and make up my bed and wash dishes. But here I am in front of my computer, trying (and failing, I might add) not to be distracted while I write.

Preparing for a miracle

My friend JAX sent me a wonderful recipe for hummus yesterday. This weekend, I found a place to buy garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and sesame seeds and I tried to make some hummus. It turned out okay -- passable, edible, but not great. Here was the problem: most recipes that I've seen call for a 400-gram can of chickpeas (cooked). I BOUGHT 500 GRAMS OF DRY BEANS. Needless to say, they expanded very much when I soaked and cooked them. So, I ended up multiplying my intended amount of hummus and have tons left over.
Also, I saw a 500-gram can of tahini paste in the grocery store (that's 1 pound, folks!). WHO IN THE WORLD is going to use a pound of tahini paste? I didn't check to see how long it lasts once the can is opened. It was R$15 (about U$7). Next time I make hummus it just might be worth it.

Cultural Girl

Since I'm here on a cultural visa (they wouldn't give me a work visa, which doesn't bother me in the least, because I don't plan to get a paying job here), my friend and I have been taking advantage of all the cultural things here in Rio. One of them is the Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil (Cultural Center of the Bank of Brasil). They are currently having an exhibition of several artists from Minas Gerais, but specifically, Antônio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho. One of his best-known series is "Os Doze Profetas" (The 12 Prophets) which are on the exterior of Santuário Senhor Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, Congonhas do Campo, Minas Gerais. There were 16 prophets (not counting Baruch in the Catholic Canon) and only 12 places on the church to put them. Our guide told us that Aleijadinho chose the 12 he thought were the nicest. That struck me as funny, because none of the prophets brought great news. But I learned a lot more than that, like the fact that 50% of the gold ever mined in the world came from the state of Minas Gerais here in Brasil. And Brasil lost its gold (which was, in that time, Portugal's gold, since Brazil was a lowly colony in the 18th century) to England. If there ever was a paradise that was stripped, it is this one.

I'm in heaven. I have 2 new websites to surf with mounds and mounds of uncharted material.
They are (drum roll). . .Public Domain of Brasilian works (provided by the Brasilian government and in Portuguese only) and The Gutenberg Project. Books and more books. Heaven, I tell you.

Why is it

that all the drunk guys in movies fall into the nearest horse trough?

Back to work (sort of)

We're having a clinic today and tomorrow with 2 Brazilian doctors. Today ran pretty smoothly, considering that we're working in the pharmacy out of footlockers and the balcony of the church is the pharmacy! Tomorrow there will certainly be more people in line to be seen, but compared to our teams that start in May (with 5 or more doctors), this is cake!
Tomorrow should give us a lot more chance for evangelism, too -- we'll have a few more of our team here so we can spread out a little bit more. I must say, this pace is quite good, though I am tired.

Marshmallowy goodness

I decided to have hot chocolate this morning, since it's 20 degrees (heh. Celsius for all you metric people, 70 degrees Fahrenheit for all you Americans) outside. We're having a very unusual summer. Usually it's at least 80 at night and at least 100-110 during the day this time of year. By the way, when you're used to 110 degrees, 70 really is cold! Anyway, as I was waiting patiently for it to cool (why does that take FOREVER?!), I had a striking thought. I HAVE MARSHMALLOWS IN MY APARTMENT. My friend Amy sent them to me to make s'mores in my oven (along with the graham crackers and Hershey bars, but that's not important right now). And so, I am experiencing the wonderful winter treat of hot chocolate with marshmallows. In the middle of summer.

Strange sounds on the bus

So this isn't a personal story, but I thought it was funny. A friend of mine was riding with an American (who didn't speak any Portuguese) on one of the public buses. Every time they stopped, there was a small explosion of hissing. The American asked, "Why is it that every time the bus stops we hear all this 'sss...sss...sss'?"
I laughed when I found out that it was a sound that I hear all the time but don't pay that much attention to: people saying "Com licença" (which means "excuse me") when they were making their way to the back of the bus to get off. Brazilans don't say very many full words; they tend to cut a lot of letters off, which makes listening a chore some days. What this American was hearing was "cença" (pronounced sen-suh), but her ears weren't picking up the vowels, just the s-sounds, much like what we hear when someone is whispering.

Wedding Crashers

A friend called me this afternoon to talk about what time we were going to meet tonight for pizza and a movie (some things don't change, though we did actually make the pizza) and the conversation went a little like this (translated, of course):
"Did you call earlier?" (her)
"Yeah, I did." (me)
"What's up?"
"How about 6:30 tonight?"
"That sounds great! Hey, do you know Paula?"
"Yeah, I know her."
"Her wedding is at 5:30 and I wanted to go. Want to go too?"
"Sure, why not?"
And so we went. I saw tons of people I knew and no one seemed to care that I wasn't invited.
Coming out of all that, we were singing "How Great Thou Art" during the ceremony (Brazilian weddings are somewhat different than American weddings) and I just kept thinking about how great God is. He has brought me back to the country and culture I love and brought me out of my shell (for those of you who know me, I know that would seem a hard thing to do, but with people I don't know I'm a little different.) and is allowing me to do what I love to do every day, all so that the people here might know Him.

Not-too-foreign Language

Yet another reason to live overseas....

Me, me, me

I have been reading The Gospel According to America by David Dark, and I agree with him when he says that we have individualized our faith, taken it out of community, and say that it will have no bearing on decisions that we make in "other parts" of our lives. We run into problems with all three points. The problem with the first two is that faith is lived out in community in the Bible and we have taken the somewhat "isolated" giants of the faith (isolated because they were leaders) as our example to be isolated in faith. And I must confess that I myself have so often seen the bad in the Israelites -- their faults, that I have forgotten that they were on a journey too, and that they were passed over in Egypt because they did as the Lord said and put the blood of the slain Passover lamb on the doorposts of their homes, that they saw Him do miracles, that they wandered in the wilderness -- all as a community.
An interesting thing that I see in some communities today is that we tend to think that someone within the community that needs our help is an aberration, someone who may deserve what has come to them. But are we not all these people?
The problem with the third (that faith will have no bearing on the rest of our lives) is that it is simply impossible. Our decisions are always influenced (one way or another) by our background, our upbringing, and our story. May our lives and decisions be based more on Jesus's story than the wounds of our own.

Update for a new year

Hello friends and family!
Much has happened since I last wrote. Not in the way of teams, but in the way of Brazilian culture and fun!
I was blessed to be able to spend Christmas with Louise (a friend of mine) and her whole family. Brazilian Christmas is not much different than my own family’s Christmas, except for the hours. Dinner is at midnight, the beginning of Christmas day, followed by presents. Bedtime is not before 4 or 5 am, followed by a wake-up time late on Christmas day.
It’s been unseasonably cool here, but even though it hasn’t been hot (very often), it didn’t feel like Christmas. When you’re used to Christmas temperatures that are below 50 degrees F, a warm Christmas is weird!
I have been doing some language study and am enjoying learning the ins and outs of Portuguese and being forced to communicate in a different language. I love learning to be a part of the culture here, because it’s allowing me to grow and change and depend on God to do His work in my life. Getting used to a new way of life and a new way of doing things is a challenge that I can’t conquer on my own.
We have our schedule of teams set but don’t know yet where everyone is going. Sunday we started visiting churches (we visited 3!) and will visit 2 more this week. It’s pretty amazing to be on the preparation side of things, because the preparation is work that goes into the clinic long before the clinic ever happens. It’s the behind-the-scenes work that I missed by only being down here while the clinics were actually happening.
We’ll be having 2 all-Brazilian clinics this year, one at the end of this month and one in March. Next month we will be having English classes for our interpreters to improve their English. My hope is that through these classes they will become much better in evangelism, and that we would be able to encourage them in their walk with God.
One of my new jobs (aside from the pharmacy responsibilities) is working with our interpreters – deciding who will work which clinics, depending on how many volunteers we have and what kind of work we are doing.
Prayer requests:
-That my study of the language would be fruitful and that I would be able to communicate better every day
-That God would grant Ray & Sharon wisdom as they decide what areas to work in this year
-That even our Brazilian doctors would see the need to share the good news of Jesus with the patients we see in the all-Brazilian clinics
-That I would be able to work well with our interpreters, and that I would truly get to know them
-That we would be able to encourage our interpreters in their walk with God over this year
Thank you all so much for your prayers!
For He alone is worthy.

Resolutions? Nah.

JAX used the dirtiest of all dirty words in one of her posts the other day: resolution. I don't generally make New Year's resolutions, usually because I forget. But I also hate the thought of trying, in my own strength, with only my will to back my effort, to do something I haven't been able to accomplish before.
However, I have come up with a few goals for this new year and would love to hear about some of yours!
1. Get out of just reading Psalms and Proverbs (Read the New Testament once every 2 months and the Old Testament once every 6 months -- that's 5 chapters a day of each).
2. Journal daily -- from readings especially, and also from life.
3. Read some in at least one of the current books I'm reading daily.
4. Take time to be still (in silence, simply listening to the world around me and the God who loves me).
5. Pray specifically for others (I am pretty good at praying for myself).

A clean slate

I am excited about this new year and all that is coming with it.
Here's a list of things I am looking forward to:
1. Another year of doing my dream job, and being more involved in it than I have been in the past (since I live here full time now and can actually speak the language).
2. Family coming to visit (maybe we'll get my brothers down here!)
3. Friends coming to visit (you know who you are and that you do need to come)
4. Really immersing myself in the Brasilian culture and falling more in love with it every day (including getting what Amy calls a "holiday tan" since it's summer here)
5. More volunteer teams starting up in April