Bible School in Brazil

We have had two weeks of Bible Schools now. We started out with the story of creation, and we put it to a puppet show. Two of our Brasilian, Leo and Sandra helped with everything, and after the craft and the Kool-Aid (from the states... thanks Mum), the kids skipped off to their homes.

This week we focused on the creation of Adam and Eve.  It was especially exciting because we had enought Brasilian helpers that none of us needed to act in the play, which meant that it could be all in Portuguese. Leo as God, his friend Junior played Adam, and Sandra another friend who we met in Lar Betel played Eve.  God created the whole world.             He even created all the animals.  But God was lonely.        So He decided to create man in His image, to be a reflection of His love. Adam had dominion over the animals, and named them all. But none of them were a good mate for him.  So God created Eve, and they all lived happily ever after.... or at least until next week when the snake has a conversation with Eve. 

Brasilia's Anniversary

We live in Brasilia, which is the capital city of Brasil, but it hasn't always been. Around the middle of the 1900's it was decided that the capital would be moved to a new city right in the middle of the country. So plans were started to design this perfect country capital. The city is designed in the shape of an airplane and everything has been planned. There is a specific area for the government ministries, for the embassies, for the hotels, for the banks... there is even a specific area of resturants and drug stores. The roads are all numbered very logically from 101 to 715. The hundreds being blocks from east to west and the tens from north to south. Yesterday, April 21, 2009 was the 49th anniversary of the grand opening of Brasilia. 

They shut down the entire Esplanada area... which is where all the minitries, and the congress building are, and had a huge street fair/party. There were different live bands playing on various stages... One that had many very famous popular Brasilian artist, and another that had bands playing only gospel music. 

Children had stripped down to their underwear and were jumping and splashing in the fountain. Street venders were selling ever type of ham and cheese pastry, fresh fruit juices, coconut milk, beer, sodas, sovienuers and DVDs. There were all sorts of activities from basketball championships, to dance competitions. There were thousands and thousand of people

, and the space was really very crowded. 

The festivities started at 7am 

and were scheduled until midnight... 

but in true Brazilian fashion everything was running a little late, so the bands played well into the night, and the fireworks started at 11:30pm. The bus ride home was a bit overwhelming and I felt that I was going to colapse from standing for so long during the wait, but luckily I was able to get a seat on the bus, and I arrived home safely at 3am! 

Sorry about the long delay. I have been discouraged knowing that I have so much to catch up on... so instead, I have decided to just start from now... and return to fill in the blanks later when I have time.

Bahia Carnaval 2009

23 Hour Bus Ride

So I decided to take the bus to Salvador instead of flying to save around R$600. The bus ride is 23 hours long... but I was looking forward to seeing some of the countryside. I have been living in Brasil for about 6 months now and have really seen very little of the country. The bus stops about every 3 hours for 15-30 minute meal breaks, depending on the time of day.

During the ride there were very few times in which I had any idea where we were... I didn't have a good road map to follow... and the little villages that we went through didn't have good signage. This picture was taking at one of our first stops... in a tiny little village... somewhere between Brasilia and Salvador. All the buildings were painted with bright colors. I was actually pretty surprised at the landscape. It was very deserty. Towards the end of the drive there was even a lot of cacti and dry shrubs. At one point during the night I woke up and looked up into the sky. I was completely amazed at the stars. The whole sky was full of them... millions and millions of stars... I thought that I had seen a lot of stars during camping trips and such, but here... in the middle of Bahia, with no moon, no street lights, no city for miles and miles... the stars really came out.... I layed there (in the surprisingly comfortable seats that recline pretty far back) looking into the infinately stared sky, just happy to be there.

(more to come)

The Rain

It is still rainy season here in Brazil, and that is quite apparent every afternoon. It is really amazing, the amount of water that comes from the sky. Everyday I am just as amazed as the privous day. I wish these videos had sound because I don't think that the picture really does it justice.

But more than the amount of rain, the speed at which it comes and goes also amazes me. You should never, under any circumstances ever leave your house without an umbrella, no matter how beautiful and sunny the day appears to be. After work one day, I was walking out of the Caxia building fumbling through my purse to find my MP3 player, I found it under my umbrella and breifly thought to myself as I turned on a song, what a waste it was carrying the umbrella today, because I was heading home and it was a beautiful day, sunny, bright, blue skies with big puffy white clouds. I specifically remember this fleeting thought as I walked towards the bus, because that song, had not even finished when the skies became grey and the downpour began. I laughed to myself as I pulled out the umbrella, thankful again to have had it with me.

Another day however, I was getting off the bus, headed home for the day and it started to rain. It's not a long walk from the bus stop to our house, but this time the rain was coming in sideways... or from all sides... I didn't know which way to hold my umbrella. I hadn't even made the first turn went I was drenched. From my knees down it looked and felt like I had been wadeing in a river... and my socks were begining to mush under me with each step. I thought for a second and realized, that it would be a lot easier, more comforitable, and faster if I just put the umbrella down and ran. So that's what I did. It was the end of the day and there was nothing else I could do about it. I looked like a wet poodle when I finally did arrive home and I laughed as I stood in the rain trying to open our gate. Those clothes were hanging for three days before they were dry.

Dominos

The past several weeks have been relatively uneventful. I have been slowly picking up my old tutoring jobs, and aquiring a few new ones. I no longer work at Yes, so my afternoons are free, but I am hoping to fill them up with more private lessons.

On Saturday Leo's mom invited me over to a party she was hosting. She invited mostly her friends from work and all of her family. When I arrived I quickly became a point of interest for nearly everyone there, being that I am American and therefore interesting. Before I knew it I had in one hand a delicious plate of rice and beans and chicken caserole, and different barbecued meats and in the other hand a local Brasilian beer, telling the story of my life and what I was doing in Brasil in my best Portuguese to a small crowd of interested listeners. I actually aquired another student by the end of the party. At some point during the afternoon I was ushered to a table as the dominos were poured out. This version of dominos is quite popular here. I always see old men sitting at tables in the park playing. It is a partner game and my partner tried to explain it to me... but it just didn't make sense... (really, my portuguese isn't that good, not to mention the blaring samba music that made it difficult to hear anyway) but I obviously understood that you were suppose to match a six with a six. So I played the best I could, and either out of my dumb luck or my partners flauless skills... we swept the competition.

The Return Flight

So, after a month in the US, visiting family and friends and getting things in order it was time to head back south...and out of the snow.
This time I decided to pack a little more so that I wouldn't be forced to buy so much once I was in Brazil... things like my printer, a fan and a lot of teaching materials. These are things that are actually very expensive in Brasil, but that I think I will be able to sell before leaving. Kelly convinced me that it would be cheaper to check them as an extra bag, then to ship them down later. So, I have never flewn with more than I could carry before, but I figured that I would figure it out. After an 8 hour drive from Pittsburgh to JFK I pulled up to curbside check-in... something that I am not completely familiar with. The very nice man helped me as much as possibly until we both figured out that the extra checked suitcase was not $25... but $200!!! I thought for a minute about how I could rearrange things... but I still had two bins, two suitcases a briefcase and a purse... Because I was here with plenty of time I decided to go back to a Target that I had passed along the way and try to buy a bigger bin. So I spent the next hour in the Target parking lot trying to fit the contents of a small bin and a small suitcase into a large bin without exceeding the weight limit of 50lbs.
This was not easy and when I returned to the airport I was only sad because I would have to leave my small empty suitcase behind. It was the perfect size for weekend trips. I checked both bins... they were both almost exactly 50lbs and then drove around to the long term parking, (a friend of mine was going to pick up the car in a few days). Once I was in the parking lot I got an idea... my briefcase fits nicely into the small suitcase...I know you are only allowed to bring one suitcase and a small personal item... but I wondered if they would notice... two suitcases and a purse? I still had plenty of time, so I could always bring it back to the car if need be. I made it though security without even a second glance, and to the gate, where surprisingly they were already starting to board. My zone was called and I got in line. Once I got past the passport check at the gate a man pulled me aside and said that I would have to check my bigger suitcase... I asked, gate check or check check? Of course I had no problem either way, but I was afriad if I had to really check it he would notice that I already checked two and then I would be changed.. dispite all my efforts... But he said gate check and took away my bag... ok, I thought to myself...what a stupid system. When I arrived in Sao Paulo I found that my bag was not gate checked, but really checked... Wow, I thought again... I really did get around this $200. How did that happen? I don't even know why I bothered with the re-packing at all. Anyway, I was still expecting some sort of fee at the next airline. I got in line at Gol to check in for my flight from Sao Paulo to Brasilia. The agent was very nice but told me that I would not be able to carry on my bigger suitcase... just what I feared... and the fee was R$180... which is around US $78... I figured that this was a small price to pay after all the trouble in New York... plus I was too tired to argue. She asked if I needed a reciept and I said no... and that I would be paying cash... so I got a special cash/no reciept/wink wink discount... which ended up being around US $60.
So, in the end, me and all my stuff made it safely to Brasilia where my friend Alex met me to take me home. I have since spent the last day and a half recovering from lack of sleep, and plan on starting the adverture part II tomorrow. :)
































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Paraguay

We got an early start today and headed to Paraguay for some shopping. This Paraguayan city is something like Tijuana. It was filled with great deals on everything from socks and purses to digital cameras and iphones, with street venders approaching from every angle. It definitely couldn’t keep my languages straight here, and people would speak Portuguese, Spanish or English, and almost any currency was accepted. The prices were almost always posted in US dollars, which I thought was pretty interesting. I’ve gotten so use to Reais that it was strange to see things in dollars again. Not to mention that my income is in Reais, so I was actually converting the prices back, to know what they would be in Reais. Paraguay has a completely open border, both ways, so I didn’t even get a stamp in my passport to prove I was there.

Iguaçu

On Sunday we headed to the Brasil side of the Iguaçu falls. While waiting for our bus we wondered around a little museum display that showed how the falls were formed. Apparently they are the results of mayor volcanic activity that settled in layers, which is why the falls have two tiers. The display that caught both my and Enrique’s attention was this giant ball showing pictures of the falls and other scenery. It looks like a giant ball, but really it is just a small screen with four mirrors on each side. Even when I knew what it was I couldn’t quite understand it, but it was pretty neat. We caught the air conditioned bus to the first trail station. I swear today was even hotter than yesterday, and both days I could have easily melted into a puddle of sweat if I stayed in the direct sunlight for more that 2 minutes. From Brasil the falls were still absolutely magnificent. Most of the falls are actually on the Argentine side of the river, so while we walked among them yesterday, today we had a beautiful sweeping view of all the falls at once, from across the river. It was truly breathtaking. I just couldn’t stop taking pictures. We made our way along the river until we finally came upon Garganta del Diablo, the Devil’s Throat. This is the start of the falls, and the water force is unbelievably powerful. We stood for a while on the little platform nearly surrounded by the rushing waters.
After an ice cream cone we headed back to the Villalobus’ for a Sunday afternoon churrasco. Just how you might imagine a Brasilian Barbeque, an assortment of meats, a beautiful salad, rice, beans and of course capirina… a special Brasilian drink made from sugar cane liquor. It was truly one of the highlights of my weekend. I like to boost that I am a traveler, not a tourist, and this is an example of that. A tourist visits the falls then returns to the five star hotel for a “Brasilian” buffet. A traveler sits in the backyard of a Brasilian family trying her best Portuguese while sampling meats, drinks and music. The Villalobus’ are a really amazing family. They all have so much energy and are so hospitable. I really enjoyed getting to know all of them. I am really lucky that one of my students was from Iguaçu, and a student who I really enjoy the company of. My best Brasilian tour guide was able to be my Iguaçu tour guide as well.

Itapu

The Itapu damn is one of the seven modern wonders of the world and is located in a neutral area between Brasil and Paraguay. The Parana river divides Brasil and Paraguay and meets up with the Iguaçu river further down street, past the falls. On Friday and Saturday nights they have an illumination display where they light up the damn. Enrique’s mom joined Enrique and I for the tour. The illumination itself was pretty unimpressive…it only lasted about 2 minutes, after we had waited for probably close to 45. But the tour was interesting. The damn produces an enormous amount of energy for both Paraguay and Brasil.

Iguazu

The Iguazu river divides Brasil and Argentina. Both Brasil and Argentina have national parks on their side of the falls and you can visit each side. On Saturday we decided to head to the Argentina side. I was excited because I had never been to Argentina and this was an opportunity for be to check one more country off my map. Unfortunately I quickly discovered that my Spanish has suffered greatly by being suppressed for 5 months. I was ever difficult to say “gracias” to the people working at the park. Enrique and I made our way through the paths and walkways. We met some friendly animals along the way. Finally, we began to hear the sound of rushing waters. Unlike Niagra Fall, Iguazu is a large area with many different falls. Some are much larger than others, and some more spectacular. As we can into the clearing….I was absolutely speechless. I hope this I hope these pictures can do it justice because I don’t think that my words will be able to. There was water flowing everywhere….not to mention the sky was absolutely perfect, bright blue with a few puffy clouds and the mist from the falls created rainbows everywhere we looked. The paths led us right along the top of may of the cataratas so we could actually look down to see where the water was falling to. It was truly amazing.After walking across the top we made our way down to the bottom to stand in the spray of the falls. It was so unbelievably hot that we couldn’t wait to feel some mist. (By hot, I mean really hot!! I can hardly remember a time in my life when I felt they kind of heat… I think it was 43˚C… and there was just no escape from the sun, besides of course in the shade of the trees… aka the shadow). Standing below the fall was really impressive as well. The sunlight was coming over the top somewhat like a cloud with a silver lighting. The force of the water was pretty powerful, and we walk away with a health dose of it. It truly was an awe inspiring day. Afterwards we caught the train back to the central station in the park and then caught the last bus into town, Puerto de Iguazu. However we missed the last bus from Puerto de Iguazu back to Foz de Iguaçu… in Brasil. We walked back and forth a few times looking for an alleged phone, that we had heard about, but couldn’t find. Enrique politely waited until the cashier was available before approaching to ask for directions to the phone. Then he pointed up back in the direction from which we just came…toward the other store that he had just asked at. Enrique just rolled his eyes and said, “Welcome to Argentina.” Brasil and Argentina have a bit of a friendly rivalry and Enrique like to find any opportunity possibly to point out how awful the country was. We finally found the phone… it was a regular house phone in the back of tiny convenient stand. We both tried to make sense of the price chart, unsuccessfully. Between us we had about 70 pesos left after exchanging our money in Brasil, and we were hoping that a quick international call wouldn’t be more than that. (70 pesos is about US$25). He called his mom to see if she could pick us up. He didn’t know the street name, but was in such a hurry to get off the phone, not knowing what it was costing, that he nearly knocked over a customer to reach the cashier to ask. It was really quite funny because Enrique is usually very corgial and polite. Of course I am exaggerating, but when we went up to pay the total came to 15…cents… Really?! 15 pesos cents…so that’s… I don’t know, not very much. We joked that we should call all our friends, and later we were both nearly crying because we were laughing so hard about how he had shoved the customer aside to save half a cent. Anyway, all is well and we arrived home safely.