March 30, 2007
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Disneyland
i was thinking about cutting and pasting something from Nate’s xanga. instead you can look at it if you want. it is about boys and girls and church and messed up relationships. dude. scariness. i don’t know how to do links, so go to www.xanga.com/debouch
I taught the kids the days of the week and months this week…unfortunately, i taught them all to spell “Saterday.” i woke up last night realizing that was wrong and it made me laugh. that is what happens when someone who can’t spell ends up teaching English in Brasil 50 hours a week…
i just got off the phone with Kathy. Kathy from Disneyworld, who was calling to interview me for Disneyland. Interesting. so…i decided to apply to work there. i will find out in a couple weeks if it will work out, and if it is really something i want to do, and if God is leading…if you wanna see what it is like, go to http://disney.go.com/disneycareers/disneycollegeprogram/
Please pray for my mum. i didn’t get the whole story–only the very exciting version from my sister, which included guts everywhere, and the very boring version from mom, which included playing an piccolo (spelling? that high little flute). But she may be having minor surgery as the result of all this. I got to see everyone on the webcam today. including my Aunt and Uncle and a sister with blue fingernail polish.
food. i am officially Brasilian. i today i had lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes mixed in with my rice, beans, mashed potatoes and macaroni. yes me, the girl who never let anything touch on her plate growing up. it is amazing how well food mixes here. i just end up piling it up in the middle of my plate…yum. in the US you put food on your plate by sections. in Brasil it is by layers.
The school is big on eating healthy. Today it became a rule that everyone needed to try alittle bit of everything…like at least one piece of vegetables…i didn’t think it would be such a big deal…but as i put ONE bean. ONE BEAN on Cecilia’s plate…the uproar begins. and roar it was. the girl started screaming like i’d killed her. and beans are pretty common here. really. i only eat them EVERYDAY. amazing. i guess the US does not have a monopoly on spoiling kids…
The door to my classroom won’t stay shut. it randomly opens itself. We (the fourth grade and i) have decided there is a ghost living in the English classroom and have named it Harry. So everytime the door squeaks open, the girls would stand and say “Welcome to the International School Harry!” (It is our thing that whenever a visitor comes in the classroom, they are officially greeted–it sounds really cool–you should come visit my classroom and get an official welcoming sometime.)
a frog the size of a football was found in the park during recess. it was the big news of the day after all the girls ran away screaming down the hall. i found one of the workers who got a shovel and scooped him out, but he kept hopping around…then us girls (Juliana and i) kept begging the guy not to kill it…
Another evening of studying. Grrr. Today was another good
day of school. God is really blessing me. it is just a nice thing to enjoy what
you are doing all the time. It really helps things out. So teaching all day and
then studying all evening. Some moments I sit back and say AHHH! What am I
doing? Working my life away? And yet…I like this life. Does that make it even
scarier? i think i am pretty sure that i won’t do this again–the whole working 50 hours a week and then being a full-time student…i can handle 30 hours a week while being in the US, but the whole Brasil factor is different…i feel like i can’t really live and get involved here because i have school…can’t do half the ministries i want, and can’t simply have the time i need. but it is hard to walk away from getting paid to go to school. yikes. only four more weeks to freedom–aka–the end of the semester.I find it funny and wonderful that I don’t know any cuss
words in Portuguese. It makes me feel…fresh and innocent in some ways. Other
times, it makes me laugh. Like when Adna came up to me and told me that someone
had said a “palavrao” and I looked at the offender and tried to figure out what
the heck he could have said. It was useless, and so I simply told Adna to tell
one of the other teachers about it later. (heh, the things I will do to avoid
responsibility. Shameless Rachel, shameless.) and yet, I still find it hard not
to grin when so often Brasilians mispronounce “beach” and “ship.””Take up your cross and follow me.” Is this
telling me to go to church more? To buck up and do my devotions like a good
girl? To stop the self-pity and give more time to others? Sometimes I think
wrong interpretations of this verse guilt people into Christianity. Guilt
people into church or ministry…up to a tremendous cost. The cost of their
personal relationship with Christ…or maybe the cost of their family (if they
are a pastor or something). How many pastor/missionary kids have been
sacrificed for the sake of lost souls or the “greater good.” (this is where
that line from the Incredibles hits me “Greater good? I am the greatest good
you’ll ever have!” or something like that…)Did you know that teen pregnancy has actually gone down since
1960? The only difference is, back then, they made you marry the guy and now
they don’t. My psychology book says so. It also says that people over 65 are
overall satisfied with their lives—and on average, happier than any other time
in their life over 25. Maslow’s hieracrchy of needs is interesting if you ever
have to study something in psychology.
