Saideira

Alright. Just as promised. The rest of this blog will be in Portuguese. This link might help all you non-Portuguese speakers out there.

Brasil é maravilhoso! Eu aprendi muitas coisas aqui e conheci muitas pessoas também. Essa experiência foi fantástica para mim. Para vocês que não sabem, eu fiquei no Brasil por dois meses e vou embora na proxima quarta-feira de noite. Eu trabalhei na Igreja em Itu e na Igreja em Niteroi. Eu fiz várias coisas e aprendi muito. Eu fiz um projeto em São Gonçalo com os outros estagiários e nós ajudamos com outros grupos que fizerem aulas de Inglês para 'Let's Start Talking.' Nós estudamos um pouco de Português também.

Nas últimas semanas, nós moramos com famílias brasileiras. Eu estou na casa de uma familia maravilhosa! Eles são muito bons. Na quarta passada, eu fui na Lapa com meu irmão brasileiro Pedro e minha irmã brasileira Fernanda para o concerto de samba. Foi muito legal! Nós dançamos e eu tentei sambar pela primera vez. Eu descobri que não sei sambar bem. Dayana falou para mim que eu preciso praticar todos os dias e eu vou tentar. É a mesma coisa com o meu Português.

De meu tempo aqui eu descobri que amo o Brasil e as pessoas daqui. Quero voltar quando eu posso, mas quero estudar e falar melhor Português antes eu voltar. Falarei e estudarei com meu amigo brasileiro Daniel Sancho na Abilene Christian University e estou animado para estudar e praticar mais a língua portuguesa com ele.

Então até logo galera! Eu voltarei em breve! Obrigado por tudo! Tchau.

- Quando joguei basquete com Brent e Ben toda terça-feira de noite eu aprendi a palavra "saideira." Eu aprendi outras palavras tambem, mas não vou falar aquelas. - 

Cidade de Deus

So it's been about a week and a half since my last post. My English is now worse than ever, so please don't judge the grammatical errors of this blog. But my Portuguese is really coming on pretty strong.  Here in a week or two when I am finally fluent, I think that in my next blog, I may attempt a completely Portuguese post (this is just a rumor though). This last week and a half, I've been to Itu and back. I went to Itu to see everyone for the last time, hang out with the group from San Angelo, watch the circus they put on (which was amazing!), and ask questions about camp. And from what I heard, Camp Roots was an awesome experience for Americans and Brazilians both, and there were many great things that happened.

These last few weeks I've also made a few trips to Rio de Janeiro as well, and one trip to Sao Goncalo (the cities neighboring Niteroi). The LST groups have now left Niteroi, and it is just us interns hanging out up at the church teaching English, studying Portuguese, and working on projects. But last Saturday, I had the opprotunity to go to Rio with the LST group to see the Christ Statue and go to the beach. We also checked out a few big Catholic churchs there in Rio as well. Which brings me to my title.. Cidade de Deus.

Rio de Janeiro is a Cidade de Deus. Literally translated "Cidade de Deus" means "City of God." When I have been to Rio, things have happened that have made me think about what it really means to be a "City of God."

First, on my way to the airport last Friday right after crossing the Niteroi-Rio Bridge, there were tons of grafitti and markings on by the road talking about God from some church there. Now that I can read most signs, and make sence of most writings, things like this stand out to me. One thing I remember it specifically saying was "acorda Brasil" translated "wake up Brazil." And these words were among rows and columns of writing of the same style and similar message. 

Next, the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooks the city of nearly 20 million people and is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Rio also claims to have the biggest favela (slum) in the nation. From multiple points in the city on the eastern side, you can see the Christ clearly. However, most of the favelas are not where the Christ is facing. It's interesting that it is that way, in a "Cidade de Deus," I would think that it would be the diffrerent.

Also today in Sao Goncalo, we rode on the bus for about an hour looking for the mall. The bus stopped and, like an American, I looked around at everything around me. I noticed on a garage door the writing "Deus e' fiel" or "God is faithful." This caught me off guard, because normally I will see signs that say "no parking" or "garagem." This was also odd because it is part of the title from the series Nathan is preaching here at the church in Niteroi. "Povo falho, mas Deus e' fiel" or "People fail, but God is faithful." Nathan teaches from Judges that despite how the Isrealites continue to fail, God is faithful to them.

Lastly, considering the damage the city of Rio de Janeiro has been through since the release of the children's movie "Rio," there are a lot of things to be done. The governor is running the drug dealers out of the favelas, and the city is getting ready for the World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016. But throughout everything the city of Rio de Janeiro continues to amaze me. I have not yet seen the Brazilian movie released a few years ago titled "Cidade de Deus," but I have already bought it and am looking forward to watching it when I have learned enought Portuguese.

In conclusion, all these things lead me to believe that their are ideas, people, and efforts out there in this city making a difference, and changing the culture of Rio de Janeiro and their surrounding areas. I have experienced things that I cannot describe here in this blog, and I wonder what the city would look like if it really were a complete city focused on living out God's commandments through the life of Jesus. I think the important thing to remember here when thinking about Rio is that.. even though people fail, God is faithful.



- In other news, I just checked the standings from the polls. And now it looks like I am a... Flantostian. There was a three way tie between Flanemgo, Santos, and Corintians (I counted the crazy amount of votes from Brent as one) -

I'm in Flamengo Nation Now

So this week in Niteroi has consisted of rain and sunshine, English and Portuguese, Bible classes, Portuguese classes, Let's Start Talking groups coming and going, a wedding, a birthday, a party, two small groups, two church services, two 2-hour naps, a lot of walking, pamphleting, planning, playing, and of course.. the Fourth of July! Wheeww.. after a week of all that, it was nice to sit down, have some hamburgers, and listen to American music for the Fourth of July. Even though it is about 65 degrees and raining here, it was nice to have a few hours deticated to 'The Land of the Free' and 'The Home of the Brave.' But it also got me thinking about something else.. stereotypes.

I have had some very interesting conversations here in the last month about what Americans think of Brazilians, and what Brazilians think about Americans. I have answered some crazy questions about culture, religion, and preferance. Apparently and sadly, a lot of what Brazilians think of Americans (and Texans for that matter) comes from what they see in American films and TV shows. And from what I know about Americans, most of them just think Brazil is one huge jungle with a beach everywhere where everyone dances and plays crazy amounts of soccer. While neither of these stereotypes hold true (in fact they are way different in reality) there is something oddly true about them. Although not all Texans wear cowboy hats, ride horses, and shoot guns, most peopleI know in Texas have guns and like to hunt. In the same way, although not all Brazilains play crazy amounts of soccer, dance, or live by a jungle or beach, they ALL have a team the yell for.

Just withen the month that I have been here, I have been bombarded with information about Brazilian soccer, and in some cases been forced to pick a team. I have somehow weasled my way out of those encounters teamless. But now is the time! Instead of just confidently picking a team myself, I am going to have you, the readers, (probably just you, mom and dad) pick a team for me. This is a big decision and it should NOT be taken lightly. That is why I am setting up an Google survey to decide which team I will devote my passion towards for the rest of my years. But first.. I am going to give just a quick overview of the eight teams around the areas I have been (Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo).

Flamengo: This team in Rio claims to have the most fans in the nation (over 30 million). A Flamengista told me this last week that if all the Flamengo fans left Brazil, they could start their own nation and have a bigger population than the countries of Peru and Venezuela! They have won the Brazilian Championship six times, and won their most recent two years ago. They just picked up Ronaldinho at the end of his career this year, and if there is a team like the Yankees, this is it.

Botafogo: This is another team from Rio that is in sixth place in the Brazilain soccer standings currently. Their mascot is a little boy peeing, and they have their own stadium, Enginhao (a great looking stadium at that). They have an older fan base because they were better a decade ago than they are now, but they are still doing pretty good these days as well.

Vasco: This is a team that has been on the rise lately. I've heard a rumor that a few years ago, they dropped down into the B League, but have been working up since then. They are in Rio as well, and have somewhat of a rival with Flamengo.

Fluminense: This team consists of an interesting fan base. They also have long traditional rival with
Flamengo, and they won the Brazilian Championship just last year. The only Fluminense that I know is Bryan Gibbs.

Sao Paulo: Sao Paulo, although not having a more followers than Corithians, are still a pretty rough crowd. They were number one in the rankings last night, but Flamengo beat them 1-0. Now they are third.

Corinthians: This team has the biggest fan base in Sao Paulo, and won the Championship 3 years ago. They take pride in having Ronaldo, even though he is retiring this year, and are in my opinion the craziest fans out of the bunch. I know a lot of Corinthians in Itu, and if they see this survey is open, they will definitely get on and vote for their team.

Palmeiras: The Palmeiras definitely have a smaller fan base than the other two Sao Paulo teams, and are often sort of considered to be the underdog that occasionally sneaks up in the standings. In the past, I have leaned more toward this team, but only because I like their colors.

Santos: The city of Sao Paulo does not claim this team, but Santos is only a few hours away.
They just won a big South American tournament about a month ago, and have a joung, up'n'coming star, Neymar (who is becomingpretty popular in Brazil). Historically, Pele played for this team before the U.S. bought him out, and he came there to play for a few years. Santos is a pretty respectable team, but is not doing great in the Brazil standings as of now.

So there it is. I have done all the research (probably most of it isn't credible), and all you need to do is click here to vote.

Bus Maps and Bathing Suits

I arrived in Niteroi Wednesday morning ready to go. I crossed the Rio-Niteroi Bridge, got the run down on the internship, a tour of the city, and a nice little room in an apartment close to the Sao Fransisco Beach. The apartment I am going to live in for three weeks with the missionaries Brent and Jill Nichols overlooks a small beach in the bay. However, the bay in between Rio de Janiero and Niteroi is somewhat polluted. Like Nathan Ashlocks's room, for over 200 years people have been dumping waste into it, and the locals advise not to swim in it. The ocean beaches on the southern side of Niteroi are safe for swimming. The apartment also overlooks the city of Rio de Janiero. When it isn't cloudy, I can see the Christ statue that is famous in Rio from my room. What a sight!

With all this being said, there were two things that really stood out to me after these few days in Niteroi. On Saturday, I was previledged enough to go to the Piratininga Beach on the ocean with Brent, Jill, and a campaign group that came down to see them. These two things were the bus maps and bathing suits, or lack there of.. 

Niteroi is city with a population of about 600 thousand inhabitants, and the bus transit system is very popular. There are a ton of buses that whiz by on just about every street it seems like. Already in my time here, I think I have ridden the bus around 20 times. However, after asking about, frantically searching for, and looking up online, I cannot find a Niteroi Bus Map! They just don't have them. You just have to hope and trust that the people here, and the missionaries really know where the buses go. By the grace of God, I was able to find the Piratininga Beach by myself from riding for about 40 minutes on bus number 39. When I finally got there, I was extremely releaved to see the crew sitting there on the beach. Speaking of the beach..

On Saturday, it seemed like just about every bathing suit, compared to American standards (men and women both) were A LOT smaller. Our group a few years ago experienced this at Copacabana Beach in Rio, but I had forgotten about it. I was quickly reminded on Saturday that Brazilians don't have the same bathing suit standards as Americans. If only Kevin Huddleston and Tyler Bethea were here with me now. We might all get to see a Brazilian/American culture swap in the bathing suit standard. Who knows.. maybe I'll make the switch one of these days too ;)

- In some cases, if Brazilians know that you are American, they are more likely to talk to you in English than Portuguese. - 

Just kidding about the swim suit standards. I prefer shorts to speedos. 

I Have a New Tecnologia

My last week in Itu was somewhat eventful. I continued making strides learning language, culture, and how to not look like a Gringo, but there were a few things that happened this week that really made it different. First of all, I was constantly bombared with reasons for why I should stay in Itu and not go on to my internship in Niteroi. Second, the interns in Itu (Kayli and Kim) arrived to Sao Paulo on Saturday. Third, I went to a high school to assist Eric in talking to kids about drugs. And finally, Josh and I got stopped running on the streets of Itu at midnight by a police officer pointing a gun at Josh and yelling in Portuguese. Crazy week right?!

Among many other things, Brazilians are notoriously known for their "good-bye's." Here they are cherrished like a precious gift. This Sunday I went to lunch with Bruno, and before we left, he asked if I had said my "good-bye's." I turned around, said "bye guys," and was ready to go. He looked at me like I was crazy. That is not how Brazilians do things. You take time to greet everyone coming in and leaving. This week, I had there were a lot of "good-bye"'s. I had to tell a lot of people that I might not see them for a while. It was sad. I will definitely miss those guys.

I woke up Saturday morning rushing out of bed to head to Sao Paulo at 5:30 in the morning to pick up Kayli and Kim. It was great to see them come out of customs at the airport in one piece. I got the low down on the in-flight catastophe that occured to them, and we navigated our way through Sao Paulo (the seventh biggest city in the world!) taking a few wrongs turns here and there, but making it out just fine.

On Monday this last week, I had the opprotunity to help Eric with his drug prevention talk to a group of high school students in Itu. This is how it worked. I (the Gringo/ Americano) stood in front of the class and talked about this "new technology" we have in the States that everyone uses. I talked about it for a while and Eric translated his own lesson. I tried my best to draw the kids in with my knowledge of good English and new things (like every American should be able to do). At the end, I asked the kids who wanted the "new technology." A few kids came to the front, and Eric arrested them with hand-cuffs. He used this as a metaphor for begining a life with drugs. Eric was a drug attidict for 10 years, but has now been free for 5 years. He goes around now talking to high school kids, and is now preparing to live in a half-way house in Itu. His idea was that someone can give you this "tecnologia nova," but after a while, you become bound to it and it is a very hard and difficult escape. If you think about it, it is like that for a lot of material things. His talk was amazing. And after, he sang a song about a man living with drugs giving his life to Jesus. Then he freestyled in Portuguese. I understood more of the Portuguese freestyle ( a language I hardly know), than one hour of freestyling with Nate. Eric is a truly gifted individual.

My last story is pretty strange. On my last night in Itu after watching the movie "Rio," we had to go home. The only problem was that there were 5 seats in Daniel's car, and 6 people. So being the brave and valient heroes that Josh Love and I are, we decided to run to the hotel and meet Daniel there because 3 of them had to go there anyway. So off we went. Running down the street around midnight. We were doing pretty good, and all of the sudden, I heard someone coming up behind us. I thought it was Daniel. Then, "Pare! Pare!" I turned to my right, and I see a Policia Federal car with a cop pointing a gun right at Josh. We stop, and the two cops get out yelling and tell us to put our hands up. At that moment, Daniel drove up and explained to the cops that we were Gringos and there was no room in the car and that was why we were running. They let us go, but we had to walk (not run) to the hotel.

Fact.

- Brazilian police do not have to have a reason to pull out, point, or shoot a gun. There is no such thing as profiling, justified cause, or collateral here. -

Lesson learned. Don't run at night in Brazil. They will probably think you are a thief.

Ever Considered Life Together?

Among many other things that went on this past week including cooking crepes for a French Dinner fundraiser, I finished reading "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The book was extremely inspiring, practical, and very useful. Bonhoeffer illustrates 'life together' with brothers in the church. He elaborates and gives extreme detail on a day spent with brothers, a day spent alone, fruitful ministry, and community derived from living in communion with others relying on the Word for direction. I would definitely recommend this book. It is very well written, and it is only like 120 pages.

To elaborate, from the two weeks that I have spent in Itu, Brazil there have been many things that I have noticed. Among others, the first of these is that Brazilians walk a lot. Second, things take time here. And lastly, Brazilians accept and embrace life together.

I have walked more here than I ever have in my entire life. Period. Even more than aimlessly walking around Disney World with my family while my Dad power strides a good 30 yards in front of everyone leading the way. More than that. Every day I walk around the streets. There is soo much life on the streets of Itu, especially in the morning. I see a hundred new faces every day.

Every meeting, every event, every encounter with a Brazilian, every trip to the grocery store takes time here. There is an estimated time to start something, which Brazilians are usually withen the 30 minute range, but there is no limit on how long meetings, events, or church will go. It ends when it ends. And if you are a gringo who speaks less than elementary Porgutuese, you just gotta keep smiling, nodding, holding hands, suck it up and listen really hard for words you think you might know (at one meeting I went to, I held hands with Josh Love and another Brazilian in a circle for a good solid 20 minutes and understood maybe 20 words during those 20 minutes). Out of a good hour of sitting and listening to Portuguese, I might follow around half of it.

And lastly, I think one of the most beneficial things that I can take away from these few weeks in Itu is learning from the way Brazilans accept 'life together'. And we're not talking about 'life together' in Drew's sense where someone just bums at your house the whole summer. No. We are talking about LIVING life together. I have been to Mark & Ali's house a lot these past few weeks, and it is really amazing to see everything happen. Approxamently six people live there, everything is taken care of, they hold multiple events/ church activities at their house, and everyone (although sometimes exhausted) is in a very good mood and loving every second of it. I can't imagine if there were multiple houses like this one in Itu how much the community, church, and people in general would benefit using each others strengths and talents for the benefit of others. Maybe if there were just a few more people committed to living 'life together' could a full community transformation take place. The homeless would have a home, drug addicts would have a purpose, the poor would  have food, the tired would have rest, the helpless would have help, and on and on.

Here in Brazil, there is such a sense of efficiency. There is minimal distance between what people need, and what they want. It's one of the biggest things to get used to, but one of the most interesting things about the culture, language and people. Yes. I even think most of their language is very efficient.

Another Brazilian fact.

- Mostly everything here is small compared to the US. Drinking cups, streets, cars, kitchens, and yards are noticeably smaller. And sometimes toilet paper. -

Who would have known?

The Life of a Gringo: Part 1

Well, for those of you who are reading this, I would like to say what an honor it is. The life of a Gringo in Brazil is kinda hard. The language they speak in Brazil is not English, and after a week of study, I can follow roughly half of the normal conversations. The life here is extremely fun, exhilirating, laid-back, spontanious, and even at times exhausting. It has definitely taken a week or so of getting used to.

I arrived in Itu, Brazil exactly a week ago after taking a few buses from the São Paulo Airport. The fact that I made it was a feat in and among itself. No one spoke Inglês except for one girl at the airport, and her role was a crucial one. She informed on where I needed to purchase the bus tickets to get to Barra Funda (which is a major bus station in São Paulo) from the Airport. I would not have made it here without her. I would also like to thank the lady who provided me with 24 minutes of Internet at the Barra Funda bus station. She did not speak English, but through my very broken Portuguese and somwhat coherant hand motions, we were able to communicate, and I was able to get a hold of Daniel´s phone number to call him and make plans to pick me up at the bus station in Itu.

Long story short, this week has been filled with business, studying, listening, reflecting and lots of walking on my part. I can now navigate the streets of Itu pretty effectively. I have been over to Mark & Ali´s house pretty much every day, and there is always something crazy going on there. Thursday nights they have a youth group meeting at the house called Kaiserês, which I got to sit in on, listen, and try to find words I understood. Friday for lunch, they have a homeless ministry at their house called Shiki-Shol (I don´t think I spelled that right, but that´s how it sounds), which was great to be a part of this week. Sunday after church, we helped Marcus move into his new house in Indaiatuba and did a lot of yard work (it reminded me some of the work my youth group would do in Mexico because the whole youth group came to help). And yesterday I spent the day at their house studying Português and reflecting on the week.

Yesturday, I also bought a bright yellow hat with a Brazilian soccer team logo on it in the market because it reminded me of my good friend Barton back home. The hat is made from really cheap material, it really stands out in a crowd, and it only cost me R$ 5 (about $3 American dollars). When I showed Daniel my new florescent hat, he said, "now you can look like even more of a Gringo." I´m not really sure what that means, but at least I will have something now to rival Barton´s "I <3 VBS" hat trend.

As for now, I will leave you with a smidgen of information that I have learned this week.

- Preservatives in Brazil are in fact nothing like preservatives in the USA. They actually have nothing to do with jelly or jam at all. -

Go figure.