Moving Day

So, we have this really great new house. But it has no furniture. On Friday, my only objective was to buy a mattress. Everything else can wait a day or two, but I’m not really into sleeping on a tile floor without even a blanket. Lance’s main objective was to clean the house…because you don’t want to set a new mattress down on a dirty floor. I wish I could begin to express the type of dirty that this floor was. There was probably a quarter of an inch of just dust, and under that paint, and gout and who knows what else. But it’s all new, so it’s not old dirt. The tiles are new, the walls are newly painted. It is really a great house, just dirty. So Friday we were able to get mattresses and a really great dresser for Kelly, but, as I have said before, everything takes 3 times as long as expected, so we didn’t quit get to the house cleaning. We all settled down in our dust little houses (mine is right behind the Mroz’s with a little outside hallway between them) on our brand new mattresses, with no sheets, and no blankets and no furniture at all, for our first night in the new house. Unfortunately it wasn’t as quiet and peaceful as one might imagine. Children were playing in the park in front of our house until the wee hours of the morning and then the men from the bar on the corner sat in the park playing dominoes, smacking down their tiles and then at six am everyone was up starting laundry, and everything seems to be amplified here. We are in a little concrete house with a tin roof and when the neighbors are just whispering in their bedrooms in sounds like they are screaming and echoing into every corner of the house. At 7am the high school, which is just a block away, started some sporting competition. They kicked it off with fireworks (don’t ask me why anyone would set off fireworks at 7am, when it is clearly too light to see anything) and they have a loud announcer, announcing the plays and cheerleaders and a large noisy crowd. Again, what is everyone doing up at this time? On a Saturday? I would like to add, that it is now 7pm, twelve hours later, and whatever is going on in the high school still hasn’t stopped. Songs played over the loud speaker, and the announcer still announcing something. I hope this is some special Saturday, rather than the norm.
All things considered it is still pretty exciting.
Lance stayed home all day cleaning and Kelly and I went shopping. We went to the Faria, which is way bigger and better on the weekends. It is the big central market in Guará and even the people in Brasilia talk about it. So we found sheets and flatware and plates and hand towels and mirrors and mugs and all sorts of little things that we need for the kitchen. Unfortunately we don’t even have a shelf in the kitchen to put it on, but…one thing at a time. When we came back we were tired and Lance was still cleaning and there was no where to sit down (since we still don’t have any chairs) so Kelly and I left and got ice cream, just so that we could sit down in the ice cream store. But then we bought a fridge and a stove and a sofa. So before we know it we will have a nice little house here…and the sofa has a pull out bed, so there is plenty of room for visitors (hint hint.)

The Job

I started working for a company called InCompany last Thursday. Essentially what we do is go into businesses such as banks or hotels and give English classes. My first lesson is for every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30am to 9:30am in the Caixo bank downtown Brasilia. This was really convenient while we were living in the hotel in downtown Brasilia, but from way out here in Guará…it’s a little bit of a commute. Guará is about 15 minute subway ride from Brasilia, and our house in Guará is another 15 minute bus ride from the subway station. So nothing is super easy. Kelly works in Brasilia too…everyday, so we are both going to get used to the commute. InCompany promised me that I would have more classes soon, they are just waiting for other students/companies to sign up, and I can fill my schedule pretty quickly.
Also, on Monday I am starting at my other job, the Yes! School. Yes! idiomas is a new school for both English and Spanish. I interviewed with them last week and I had to take this long proficiency test and the results…uh, yes, I speak English. J So I had a follow up interview yesterday. The directors of three other Yes! schools came just to meet me. In the end I got the job. It is Monday through Friday 2pm – 8pm and Saturday’s as well. It is definitely going to fill my schedule. Bruno, the director of my school, also wanted to know if I am creative…because the only full time teachers are guys and he doesn’t think that any of the guys are any good at decorating classrooms or making the place look more friendly…so I am in charge of bulletin boards and posters too. I met most of the other teachers and they are all really great and a lot of fun. I am looking forward to getting to know them better.
Kelly is working for a man who is from England and whose wife is Brasilian/French. They moved here from England with their children and he has been working at the French school teaching English. Now he wants to start his own school and Kelly is his only teacher. They are going to start with young students…4 year olds and work from there. He wants to keep the classroom size small and they the teachers all native speakers. There are a lot of independent English schools in Brasilia. There are some big chains and some new ones. There are no Starbucks in the country…but the English schools are on every corner, where the Starbucks would be. (And to be honest we are not really sure why there are no Starbucks…Brasilian’s like their coffee…well I guess they like it a little different…but I will have to save that for another blog.) But especially in Guará, you walk down the street and its English school, English school, grocery store, English school. So clearly this is important…and really I shouldn’t be calling them English schools because most of them teach Spanish as well.
So I have been in Brasil for almost a month now and I have been asked twice this week where I studied Portuguese. The answer of course is “I haven’t, but thank you.” I haven’t decided if Spanish is helping or hurting at this point. It definitely helped at the beginning because I had something to start from, but now it is just getting in the way, and I am never sure if I am using a Portuguese word or a Spanish word. My school, Yes! teaches both English and Spanish, so some of the teachers speak Spanish and others speak English. On friend we had a little celebration for someone’s birthday and I met all the teachers…it was the worst combination of Protugol, Spanglish, and Ingleguese that I have ever heard/spoken. I really don’t think that I will ever figure out how to seperate the two languages.

The House

Yesterday Kelly had to work in the morning so Lance and I set out to find an apartment. I just want to preface this by saying that neither Lance nor I speak Portuguese, and generally you don’t find people who speak English. Occasionally there will be someone who has studied a little English. It’s like finding someone who speaks Spanish in Pittsburgh, many people have taken some Spanish classes in high school, but you can’t just walk into a store and expect to speak English with someone. So, we were really struggling. I called a bunch of different property managers and I had my questions all prepared. “Queria um apartamento com mobiles,” (I would like a furnished apartment) and “Voces podem fazer um contracto com estrangeiros?” (Do you have contracts with foreigners?) The problem was that I couldn’t understand the response. I mean, they never answer yes or no (sim o não), it’s always some long question…I think they are probably asking follow up questions like, how many rooms, for how many years, what is your price range? And I can get some of those, but not all of them, and on the phone gesturing doesn’t exactly work. Long story short we figured it out and then went to meet with one of the property managers in Asa Norte. She first showed us a really beautiful completely furnished apartment, down to forks and knifes and towels. It was great, but about R$1000 out of our price range. We then went to a different area to look at another apartment. We took the bus to meet her at the first place and then she drove us to the second place. I have never been so scared in my life. She was always doing three things at once. She was talking on her cell phone and talking to me (please, I am having a hard enough time communicating in Portuguese and now I have to guess whether that question was directed to me or the guy on the phone?!) and she was reaching in the back to get different papers or forms for me to look at, she was writing things down and making notes and driving…somewhere that she had apparently never been because we drove in circles a few times and doubled back and then went the wrong way down a one way street. At one point I asked her about the busses to this area, because I wanted to make sure that Kelly and I can get to work, so she stopped the car in the middle of a three lane highway and put it in reverse…meanwhile there was a huge truck behind her, who honked and flipped her off then drove around. She backed up (in the middle of the road) to a bus station then leaned out the window and asked the people waiting which bus goes to Brasíla. The whole experience was quite terrifying, but Lance and I agreed at the end that we liked her, she was a likable person, just totally crazy. And she was nice because she drove us right back to our hotel at the end.
We picked up Kelly and then all headed to Guara to look at some more apartments. It would be nice to live in Asa Norte because it is close to Kelly’s work, but it is part of Brasília (the north wing) and therefore pretty expensive. Guara is a nice suburb of Brasília and a lot of people who we know live there. Plus there is a good metro system that goes from Guara to Brasília. So we looked at some apartments…and by this time we are all just tired of looking. We have seen over 10 places and we just want to get settled. Kelly and I have both been sort of living out of suitcases for almost two months now, and we just want to get somewhere and stay. The property manager that we met in Guara is a really nice young man. In the end, there is no such thing as a furnished apartment…accept that one that fell through…perhaps it was imaginary anyway…so we decided that unfurnished would have to do, and the day before Lance and I looked at the cost of used stoves and refrigerators (foagos e geladrias) and they weren’t too expensive. Anyway, this guy Alexandre showed us a few apartments and then a small house that is around the same price. Turns out it is two full houses on the same lot. They are fenced in together but completely separate. The house is right in front of a little park in a quiet neighborhood…but still close to the main street where the busses pass and the stores are. The house in the front has two pretty large bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen. Outside there is a little patio for doing laundry and hanging it, then the house in the back had a living room, one bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen. It’s perfect. Lance wants to use one of the bedrooms in the front as a chapel for services, and then I get the whole house in the back to myself. It has a nice area in the front also…like a front porch…If my camera wasn’t stolen I would put up pictures…I will have to see what I can find…
Anyway, we went right then to sign, and we will be moving in tomorrow. Kelly explained how the other apartment fell through at the last minute and Alexandre said that wouldn’t happen…still Kelly and I have our doubts, but Lance is sure this is the real deal.
It is however completely unfurnished, so today we are working on getting mattresses, chairs, tables, a stove and a fridge… and sheets…you know, everything.
But I am just really excited about getting settled somewhere…even if it is only for three months.
The next thing is the job.

Kelly's Story

by Kelly:
Let me just start off with things are good :) We went to church with some friends on Sunday, and met a pastor who invited us over for lunchand who we became fast friends with. He was put off at first by ourhabits, but after we got talking about our church, and our mission,and our work in Brasil, it was like we were family. The friends thatbrought us to church are also awesome – the man and his wife are bothpastors, and they have been friends of ours for 4 years. They have been our biggest help since we've been here. We also talked about an area where we can possibly do some ministry, which is of course ourmain objective. So God is good and we are happy to be able to reportsome good news about that!
Now on to one of our secondary objectives – getting a job :). I've got a job! I am working for a man who is starting up his own English school… small classes, grouped by age and ability, and our target at the moment is 4 year olds :) No more than 6 kids per class. This week I am working for this guy helping research the competition and trying to help set up this program. So yesterday was my first day of work, and I decided to use Excel to present my research on the competition on a number of categories. So I load Microsoft Excel, butI don't recognize the language at all. Turns out, its in French. I tell my boss, and we can't figure out how to change the language. So I'm learning to cut and paste, insert rows and columns, and format cells all in French :) (on a British computer, by the way, because he is British, so instead of the # symbol over the 3 on the keyboard,there is the pound sign (£) which I just searched for for 3 min to find on this computer. So again, yesterday, I'm at my first day at work meeting with 2 reps from Oxford University Press looking over possible textbooks to buy to use for our classes, (for the meeting by the way, my boss didn't have enough chairs so we sat on the floor) and one of the reps gets a call that this high school that needs a sub for an English class. My boss says, "Hey, why don't you do it?" so before I know it, I'm getting up at 5:30am today to get ready to do my first paid subbing job EVER – in Brasilia. So I get there, and they let me in – no one checks my passport, no one checks my credentials, and no one seems to care that I am traveling on a tourist visa (nice school, by the way!). So before I know it, I am thrown into 4 classes, 4 different levels, with about 15 seconds preptime before each class. It was hilarious :) But it was a good day, after I happily returned to my French Microsoft Excel this afternoon and realized that I seriously just subbed in Brasil. Crazy. I'm scheduled to go back Thursday. So work is going ok, though definitely a little on the adventuresome side.

The City

Ok, so the really great, perfect apartment didn't work out. No big deal. We are sort of learning down here that everything is just slightly more difficult, takes more time and is less reliable. So we are back on the apartment hunt today. One thing at a time. Kelly started her job yesterday, and I have another interview today, so hopefully that will all work out. What's more is that I am pretty sure that between Sarah and I, we have found a renter for my house in Pittsburgh, so that's a huge relief.

We are starting to understand this city a little better. Brasilia is quite unique in that is we designed and planned out. Most cities just sort of developed through history, but this city was mapped out and planned. It is designed in the shape of an airplane, flying east. Everything is located either in the North Wing (Asa Norte) or in the South Wing (Asa Sul), and each block has a number, 102, 103, 104. Also, everything has a district.
We are currently living in the hotel district. All the hotels are located in one place. Across the street is the bank district. Down south there is a hospital district and a restaurant district. In the north there is a travel agent district, a furniture district and a pharmacy district. It take some time to get from one place to another, especially since we are used to going to the waterfront in Pittsburgh and having a Target and a Giant Eagle with everything that we could possible need. Here you can't buy clothes and cleaning supplies at the same place...well, that's not entirely true. We have been able to find some American Store (as they are called) that sell things like we do in the states, but generally everything has it's own place...and not just it's own store, but it's own district.
Anyway, my point is that it is taking up four times as long to do anything, not to mention the language barrier and that lack of a vehicle (public transportation is good, but it does take longer.)
Luckily we are making progress and little by little we are finding everything that we need.

Comments

BTW. I like comments. Otherwise I have no idea if anyone is reading this.
:)

Eating

We will be moving into our apartment tomorrow. It is fully furnished, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, living room and dining room. It is really perfect for what we need right now and even has a washing machine. We have been staying in the Brasilian Imperial Hotel for the last week as we searched for apartments and jobs and work visas and CPF (the Brazilian Social Security type card). But tomorrow, finally we get our own place. The hotel that we have been staying at is right across the street from the mall. We have eaten almost every meal at the mall food court. It’s a little expensive, especially for every meal. Occasionally we tried to explore for a cheaper dinner, but we usually just got lost, or tired of walking and ended up paying more for just rice and beans. There are both McDonalds and Burger Kings in the mall, but for just a burger, fries and a coke it costs around $10 (and that’s for the smallest burger on the menu.) Plus the service is so slow. We are just starting to get used to it, but speed is just not a priority in this country. It’s funny, because it’s not as though we have been super busy and we need our food immediately. But for some reason it just takes a lot of patience to watch someone carefully and leisurely scoop fries into the container, and then walk to the soda fountain and then oops, forgot the cup, slowly walk back to the other side of the counter hold the cup the whole time that it is filling, then walk all the way back to where they just got the cup and get the lid, come back, set it on the tray, then go all the way back and get the straw (which is sometime too big for the whole in the lid, so that’s a little funny too.) The other thing that is really popular in Brazil are these “self-service” restaurants. They are set up like all you can eat buffets, but they are not. They are weigh your plate places. After you go around helping yourself to everything that you want you have to go and put your plate on a scale and pay per kilogram. At first it is a little tricky because your head still thinks that you are in an all you can eat place so you fill your plate as full as possibly…but then your wallet isn’t too happy. By now I have figured out how to take just what I want. Also, it is a good idea to try to take the lightest food that is also the most filling. I had a really great sushi meal last night that would have cost the same as a plate of rice and beans. There is also a fabulous build-you-own-weigh-your-bowl ice cream place in the mall. Well tomorrow the adventure of cooking in Brazil begins.

Walking

Walking around Brasilia is quite a unique experience. Now remember, Brasilia is a pretty new city. It was founded only about 50 years ago and was designed to be the capital. It is very well planed in the shape of an airplane. It has the south wing and the north wing. It has the hotel district, where all the hotels are located, the bank district where all the banks are located, the federal district, the embassy district. It is all very organized and symmetrical, and the main bus/metro station is right in the middle of the “airplane.” Public transportation is obviously quite popular, but many people also own a car, much like anywhere in the world, and driving your own car is usually the preferred method of transportation. Then of course there are pedestrians everywhere. Whether they take the bus, the metro or their car, usually they have to walk as well.
Personally I prefer walking at this point, because I am not the familiar with the city and I feel that I have more control when I walk. Nothing important is more than a 40 minute walk away and I am still a little afraid of the busses because I think that I will end up 10 miles away without the appropriate change for a return ticket or something. Also, as of yet I have not been in any type of a hurry to get anywhere. So I walk.
The thing is…with as much planning as went into this city, I don’t think they thought too much about real pedestrians. I mean, there are really nice cross walks, and the lights tell you when to cross. Also, there are crosswalks with out lights and the rule is that if you stick your hand out the cars have to stop and let you cross, and they do. So it’s really quite convenient. The problem is that there never seems to be a crosswalk when you need it. Or at least the cross walks are there for only about 15% of the roads that I cross.
So, the way that you cross the road at a non-crosswalk, is to wait for a brief clearing in the traffic and then run with shear terror to the other side. This could be for a small one lane alley, or for a 6 lane highway. The same method is used. And, I would like to add, the running in shear terror is not just because we are foreigners, the locals do it to. In heels and skirts, or dress slacks and bags of groceries, when there is a clearing…RUN!!!
Sometimes you can plan it with the lights. You wait until the traffic coming in your direction has a red then you can cross with more peace…but even then, those darn right turners will get you. And let me say, they have no mercy. If you are not at a crosswalk they will just keep coming at you.
So in conclusion….Lance wants to buy a bike, but Kelly thinks it will be too expensive. We’ll see.

Getting Money

It has almost been a week and there is still no word on the purse. I am going to miss that camera and bible…oh and the cash and credit cards. I was finally successful at getting the western union money. This country is so funny...and maybe it's just because I am used to the way things are done in the states, but first of all, everything takes forever. I got to the bank (that is associated with western union) and it took me quite a while to find it. It is not the one who’s address is found online. I went to that one and they told me to go somewhere else, so I kept following these directions around in circles. Anyway, today I found it, and it's this huge bank, and I was able to find the one guy who handles the western union stuff, but his computer wasn't working. So I was told to have a seat and wait until it was fixed...which was only strange because every other computer in the building seemed to be fine, and this guy kept taking people who were in line. Some one would walk up to him, explain what they wanted and he would say that the computer wasn't working and to have a seat, then the next person in line would do the same thing...instead of just having a sign and getting everyone to take a seat, he had to hear each story first and then tell them to sit. Anyway, eventually it was working and I gave him the form that I was given to fill out and my passport. And he started typing away on the computer. He was entering my name, my passport number...all the information that I had just given him...then it appeared as if he started to enter it in again. Literally, I stood there, in silence while he typed, for 30 minutes. I am not exaggerating. There wasn't that much information on the sheet. My address in Pittsburgh, my Dad’s address in Houston, that's it. I have no idea what he was doing that whole time, but he never looked worried or puzzled. He just kept typing and then looking at my form then typing...I don't know. Eventually he gave me a thumbs-up, printed something and he had me sign three copies of it. Then I had to take that and go over to another line and give that man the paper that I had just signed. He got up and went back to the first man to get the other copy of it, then he came back and gave me my money. The whole process took over an hour. No matter what you do in this country, you have to deal with at least 2 people to do it. When you go to McDonalds to get a shake. You wait in one line to place your order, they give you a receipt the shows your order, then you go to another line, give that person the sheet with your order, and you pay, then they give you a receipt for payment, then you take that and wait for them to call your number for the food. In some pastry shops it's pretty funny, because first you wait and your tell them what you want and you pay, they give you the little sheet, then you wait in another line, you give them your receipt and then they ask you again what you want and give it to you....well I still can't figure out why they ask, because clearly it is on the receipt, and if you paid for something then you get to the next person you can just point to the bigger croissant and she will give it to you. It doesn't make sense, but Todo, we are not in Kansas anymore. :)

The Purse Snatching

On the last day, which was last Thursday we had a beach day, just north of Recife. (Recife is the shark attack capital of the world, so we didn't want to swim there, and I can't say that I was too comfortable in the water just an hour north either.) The church group was all going home on Friday, and my friend Kelly, her husband Lance and I are staying until December. Towards the end of the beach day people started to pack up the van. I stayed at the beach to watch the stuff. There were about 5 backpacks and piles of clothes and towels left. The beach was pretty deserted by this time and there was no one within 40 feet. I put my purse on a table and walked about 6 feet away to pick up and shake out a towel. By the time I turned around, (about 45 seconds later) my purse was gone. We searched for about 10 minutes, but I never heard or saw anyone, so I really didn't believe that it was stolen. After a while the restaurant manager (whose restaurant is right on the beach and we had eaten lunch at) came out to see what the problem was. I explained that my purse was missing and she had all of her employees split up and look. I still didn't really believe that it could have been stolen. I literally had my back turned for about 45 seconds....the time it takes to walk 6 feet, pick up a towel and shake it off. Anyway, long story short the crew was able to round up about 3 witnesses who saw the guy running and eventually they were able to identify him...but they could find him. Apparently he was one of the oyster sellers who walks up and down the beach. Eventually we found ourselves in the police station giving a detailed account of every item in my purse, (he wanted to know everything, down to the make and model of my chapstick.) So that was an interesting test of Kelly and my Portuguese. My wallet (with my credit cards and about $150 in cash), my camera, my cell phone, sunscreen, Portuguese phrase book, etc. etc. The next morning the whole group left for the states and Kelly and Lance and I headed back to Brasilia. The generosity of the group gave me enough money to eat and sleep for the next few days, but I still needed to get my credit card replacement sent to Brazil somehow. When we arrived in Brasilia on Friday morning and we found out that the house we were suppose to rent fell through. So here I am, in the middle of a foreign country, without the ability to communicate, with no means to get money, and no house. I know that sounds pretty hopeless, but to me, this is an amazing opportunity to overcome obstacles. I have already been overwhelmed by human generosity and the Lord continues to surprise me with new challenges daily.

The Mission Trip

I left for Brazil on August 4th with a group from church and we had two weeks of ministry planned in 3 different areas on the country. We started at an orphanage in Lar Betel, which is near the capital of Brasilia (about a 3 hour drive). It is really a well maintained orphanage. Everyone is clean, well dressed and well fed. Apparently they receive lots of support from international organizations. The children were all wonderful and clearly use to international visitors. They are out in the country and have plenty of space to play.
After that we went back to the city of Luziania, which is near Brasilia. We did a few half day Bible Schools in different locations. Churches, basketball courts, assemble halls etc. The local Church of Christ, under Pastor David Sanders set the visits up for us, and it was a very hectic 3 days going from one place to another.
Then we got on a plane and flew to Recife, which is on the north east coast. We visited what used to be an orphanage...over the last year they lost the funding to keep children there full time and now they are sort of an after school program for poor or homeless children. These children were my favorite though. They would sit me down and teach me Portuguese (I have been working on it, but I default to Spanish so often. I can't figure out whether Spanish is helping me or hurting me.)