March 12, 2012
I wanted to say that I have been having a lot of fun in Brazil lately. I am getting used to the environment all around me…this blog I wrote earlier this month will explain…
March 2, 2012
The amazing things that cannot be spoken in words are feelings of joy that is beyond comprehension. Lately, things here in Brazil, especially here in Ananindeua, were rough at the start, but are starting to become more smooth. The analogy I have been using is that of a rose. You cannot enjoy the beauty of a rose without the thorns attached to it. For how can you appreciate joy unless you know heart ache. There is no greater joy than rising above that which brought you great pain. Usually the things in life that were the most challenging are the ones that end up being the most rewarding. There is a transforming affect upon one’s heart when it is opened like that of a rose. Sometimes we may want to force a heart to be open, but we forget the natural way of things. Just as a rose opens petal by petal, so also a heart must be opened in a similar manner—a slow process. If a rose is forced opened then petals fall and the scene left behind is a damaged irreparable sight. We cannot dream of forcing our hearts open, nor can we even try to do the same for another. Time and love are the keys to unlocking the doors to a heart. One step at a time that fall in sequential order. Time can be viewed differently by various people. Some try to race time, while others enjoy each moment as though it is a taste of life to savor and not waste. The moments we are experiencing now are the forever snapshots of our life that we keep in an eternal album of our mind and heart. I hope to cherish and keep these special memories forever. The changes of my heart have come as no surprise to Trent…but as I have said, “Life is a remarkable gift that I enjoy unwrapping every day, it is full of fun surprises!” You know how exciting it is as a little kid on Christmas Eve awaiting the morning to open up presents and find goodies with your name on them? The joy of presents or gifts swell one`s heart with pure delight. Can you imagine waking up each morning thinking that the day is a gift and you get to unwrap it? Can you feel the passion and excitement when you think about how life has a gift to give you today? And like that of the movie, “The Ultimate Gift”. There are a series of gifts. Some of the gifts we receive may not seem pleasant or we may misunderstand what the gift actually is or think it is rather a curse instead of a gift. The thing about gifts is that they vary in value depending upon the eye of the beholder. Today, what value do you place on the gifts you have been given? Are there disguised blessings awaiting to be discovered, all the while you think it is bad luck? Sometimes, we may need to switch our lenses to notice something we couldn’t see before. Today, I want you to look at your gifts, even the less fortunate ones and try to see how they could actually be the rose you have been waiting for. The shift of your focus away from the thorns may help you see the beauty that the rose is awaiting to give to you.
I have had many gifts given to me that at first glance definitely do not seem like nice gifts but gag gifts ( I think to myself, “this is a joke, right?”). But no, I have to say that I have been appreciating the not so fun gifts as beautiful gifts. I tell ya, shifting my focus was really really really difficult. Like I said, it didn’t happen overnight. It was a process that I had to go through in order to truly understand the divine gift being given to me.
Now, the adaptation to the environment happened a lot faster than I anticipated and I owe it to the actions I have done based off an impression I received…which was to learn the language and love the people. The help from God has been my saving grace through all of this and has been what has helped me grow faster than I would have on my own. Remember, I had a hard time. Well, it was because I was being stubborn and resisting what I needed to learn. Once, I let go and allowed a new way of seeing or doing something to occur I was able to see things more clearly. It is amazing what happens when you let God lead because he can see so much more than any of us. He knows the best for us and wants us to have the best if we but listen and follow. I am so grateful for His son Jesus Christ that allows me to learn the lessons in life, even if at first I make mistakes and do things wrong.
I love the people here and I have made a lot of friends. The beauty and the joy in this gift is everlasting, as is my love for all of you back home.
I love how this experience is reshaping me into a better me. It is fashioning my character.
Let’s recap a little bit…
My sister and bro in law, Kami and Brandon, sent us a package that we are awaiting for in the mail. We had them send us a few things because it is harder to get what we need for the business here. And the prices are really high for what we need. I am very grateful for their patience and kindness in helping us out.
The business is going well. We had a few Praca events to help promote the school. We had the first two classes of our school semester. We are doing well and we are always looking to improve what we are doing. We have found a house to live and run the school from which will help us save money and allow us to be more flexible in teaching our students more practical uses of the English language. I look forward to moving in, which may actually be this week. Yeah, us!!!
We have a group of married couples that we hang out with and go on group dates, which is way fun!!! We went to this place about a week or two ago…
Icoaraci…
We walked around awaiting the arrival of all our friends. We walked around and visited some little shops that have hand crafted items there, which I would like to bring back home. We had coconut water, took pictures, and found a place to eat at for a good deal. We ate rice, chicken, french-fries, fish, some soda, and more. So, I ate cooked fish, which wasn’t that bad. I was a bit surprised because I can’t stand the look of dead fish and the eyes looking up at me. But the fish cut up and cooked, etc. even breaded is good too, but I enjoyed it. We all hung around eating, chatting, and music from the band U2. They play their music a lot here. Durval and Trent were serenading us by singing along. It was a lot of fun.
Here are some pics:
Some weeks before we had a fun party for Talita’s birthday. We watched the movie Super 8, which is super freaky for those who have not seen it. It reminded me of 80’s goonies,etc. It was supposed to have taken place in the 80’s. They did really well with the environment and the clothes of the characters, as well as the interactions/entertainment during that time. I wasn’t surprised once credits ran and it showed that Steven Spielberg was producer or director. The food at Talita’s birthday was super yummy. Her mom is a great cook. She made us homemade popcorn so we could have it while we watched the movie. We also had a hot dog type snack, with little pizzas, and cake and brigaderra candy. Everything was delicious. We saw pictures of her birthday the previous year, for when she was 15. They celebrate 15th birthday like we celebrate girls sweet 16 birthdays in the USA. Their party is called Quinceanera. The pictures showed her dressed up in very fancy dresses, like appearance of a formal wedding dress, and some other dresses that looked like you would wear at prom or as a brides maid. She looked gorgeous. She had formal pictures taken there like you would at a wedding. She also had a dance prepared to present. She went to a Jazz school so she knew how to dance really well. She had like 15 guys be her escort for the night. 15 dates, that seems like a lot of fun for a girl. We then showed some of our wedding pictures and everyone liked them. The pix started making me teary eyed because I miss my family and friends back home. I tried to help myself get myself back together again. It was all good.
Here are some pics:
We also celebrated one of our employee’s birthday. Her name is Priscila. We had her birthday at Pizza Hut. Mmm…yummy! We had seven people there. We ate rodizio style which is like a buffet back home, but they come to your table. There was Priscila, us, Raphael, Keila, Igor, and Luan. I mostly ate pepperoni. Everyone else doesn’t like the pepperoni as much. Some don’t because it tasted too spicy. Trent and I got her a present of USA imported Hershey candies box along with Disney Pixar short films DVD. The little shows they show either before or after the actual movie. Like the old man playing chess in the park. Then the birds on the telephone wire line and more. She seemed excited. Pizza and discussion was fun. We were all goofy. Keila made a person out of a napkin and was playing with it like a puppet. It was so funny…
Here are some pix…
Trent, me, and Raphael went to a place where it is called “The Grove” essentially, in English. It was super fun. The pix are going to be fun to look at. There were a lot of animals, trees, and bugs. We walked around and took pictures, and video of what we saw. The videos are on our video camera, but we aren’t able to get them off. So we will just have pix to show you. We saw monkeys, alligators, parrots, turtles, more monkeys, etc. Here you go check it out…
Here are some pix…
Just so you know, the blue parrot that I have close-ups of was giving me a lot of attention. I was chatting up with it in English like it could understand me. I would tell it to move over more and it would, then I would bob my head side to side like I was dancing and it did it as well. So all the while I thought it was playing and dancing with me like we were having fun…come to find out it wanted to fight or hurt me according to Raphael. I suppose it was acting defensive, not passive.
Oh, and one more thing…
We saw this cute key rings that I wanted so bad because it was a cute couple set. Come to find out later that they are totally magnetic and the magnet is in the lips/hands. So when they come together the key chains kiss/hold hands. Can you say CUTE!! Wow, I was all giddy and Trent just laughs at me…
