March 26
I saw a monkey today. I knew they were around somewhere, but I was sitting down and suddenly saw it jump from one palm tree to the next. Nice. That thing under my bed the other day was a water roach thing. Which is why I thought it was a cross of a roach and a lizard. Why it was under my bed and not in water is still to be determined.
Teaching went well this week. I was mature enough not to laugh when my class learned “Flag” and constantly left out the “l,” and I didn’t even make a face when one young student “shee-sheed” (didn’t make it to the restroom in time) all over my sandals. Perhaps because thank the Lord I wasn’t wearing the sandals at the time.
My adventures with buses continue. David and I were waiting for the bus and he decided that carrying the laptop was not safe, so we wrapped it in newspapers. It looked like a bunch of eggs or something. Then I decided to buy a coconut. The guy decided to be generous and gave me this HUGE thing right before I boarded the bus—seriously, it was as big a soccer ball! So David and I, with our “eggs” and mega-coconut get on the bus laughing while I accidentally hit this lady in the head with it. ahhgg. Blending in does not seem to be an option in my life.
Saturday I went to the ferias (open market) alone and just enjoyed it. yes Anna, probably with my mouth open. I noticed I was gapping like a fish a couple of times. And I did run into a tree branch I was so intent on people watching once. But people are just so interesting. From seeing the little girl curled up sleeping under a table on the cobblestone street to trying this meat cone thing and buying green lumpy stuff I think is fruit. I sat down in a restaurant and ordered bean soup (my favorite). The guy looked at me alittle crazy (Brasilians only eat soup for dinner for some reason) but was very nice. It was a small place and the tables were all taken, so a couple minutes later two old ladies sat down with me at the table. Sorta surprising. I did the whole smile and nod routine and we were all happy.
Concessao, an English teacher I’d met at English camp came and invited me to be a judge at a concert her school was doing. Each grade would perform a song in English and we’d grade it. We arrive and I am introduced as “my American friend” to everyone we pass and I feel special. I felt even special-er when this lady brought all the judges snacks (some interesting sweet things that I still have NO clue what they were. I’ve gotten used to not asking questions and just eating). I was wilting alittle after three hours and we still had the last two grades…and about three fans for a couple hundred people. Then I see Concessao beckoning me down. I knew it. it was like that dream where suddenly they call you to the front…except thank goodness it was not the dream where you realize you forgot your clothes. So she had me say some stuff in English and then try out my Portuguese for these people I’ve never met…and I am thinking “yeeshh this would never happen in the US.” It is amazing how many of these kind of situations have happened to me. When I left the stage I was instantly transformed into a superstar. People were introducing themselves to me and smiling and waving…and I am thinking, “I am the same person I was two minutes ago when no one looked me in the eye. Weird.” Life. What a trip.
Sunday must be the day people drink. Or something. Ivana, Neisse, Ricardo and I went to Laoga De Itaenga. Ricardo worked it out where he can go every other week (with gas money). Ivana is teaching the children’s class and yours truly is now in charge of sharing the verse and playing a game to memorize it. fun. There were too many of us to fit in the little house, so we set up the flannel board in the street and sat against the house facing it. by the end, about 20 kids and adults had gathered, as well as two drunks that kept passing and yelling things like “Oh, Jesus save me.” One time the whole story had to stop as a huge truck wanted to back into the street. Ivana bravely made her way through the story with the drunk guy sitting about two feet in front of her, but besides him, the children were very well-behaved. How does a person turn into a drunk? I just looked at him, wondering how someone could make the choices to become something like that. you just feel so sorry for the guy.
Afterward, we ate some Jaka (I don’t know how to spell it and I don’t know what it is in English) which is this huge green prickly thing. The fruit is around big seeds, so you stick a piece in your mouth and suck it off the seed—but it is so stringy that you swallow half with the other half still attached and in your mouth. An interesting sensation. Besides that fact, I would say it tastes like mushy bananas.
We had more people at the new church plant in the evening—about 30—including another drunk guy who spent the entire time walking around the front making various noises and saying various religious stuff. An American, Ron Beard, is here to teach an evangelism class at the seminary. He preached while Tele translated, so I understood the whole message…I almost understood it all twice.
“There is a way chosen for you. “Who then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him” (Ps. 25:12) God has a specific plan for you, and as you trust and follow Him, the plan unfolds. His will for you, His design for your life, fits you in every way. It is not a generic, off-the-rack plan that would fit just anyone. As you surrender to Him, you do not lose yourself, you find yourself. As you obey him step by step, a steadfast peace settles on you. Your heart cries, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me!” His will satisfies your deepest yearnings, nourishes your soul, strengthens you. His will is all you need and all you desire.” Jennifer Kennedy Dean
Recent Comments