with the librarys in Miami. South Beach to be exact.

they just gave me a 12 month library card. free internet for 2 hours a day. at least 2 hours today. cuz i am leaving tomorrow.

lots to say. too bad they have a timer on this computer…it is annoying. not as annoying as the stalkerish guy on the plane. shivers. one seat up and over, he leaned back the whole time with this stare thing. must have hurt his neck. i felt like staring back all bug-eyed, but i think he would have liked that. i think he stopped after i started drooling in my sleep.

***

Thursday morning i got up and finished packing. Raquel came into my room and we both teared up. not good, considering i had 42 more good-byes to go. by the time i had gotten down the stairs to opening assembly, i’d lost it and everyone was wiping away tears. i kept telling myself how rediculous this was and i would be back in 3 and a half months…but the tears didn’t stop until half way through “i like Apples and Bananas” i went from class to class giving out “bejios” and trying to explain to Anna in 5 minutes how to do my job…

5th grade was the hang up. all the other kids were dutifully sad…but Gabriel took one look at me and BAWLED. i mean…howling kind of bawling. i thought he was trying to be funny until everyone else in the classroom joined him. by this time i was out of tears and made a quick exit.

we ended up getting lost on the way to the mall to pick up my tickets…only to find out that they had been canceled again. ok. warning–never trust COPA airlines. two weeks ago i went online and bought my tickets–all clear. then we found out they had canceled them, so Tele and Heather spend all of Wednesday trying to buy new ones. they found the same tickets (almost) for the same price and paid cash right there and then. they came back the next morning to find they had been canceled again. freakish. so i flew TAM. TAM has really nice food (and the little old lady next to me kept giving me all her food). too bad the movie thing wasn’t working right–i finally ended up watching “Night at the Museum” in French with Portuguese subtitles.

so my new tickets worked much better. instead of spending 12 hours in Sao Paulo and then 16 hours in Miami, i got to eat a nice lunch with Tele and Heather (when i say nice, i mean CHURRASCO–be very, very, jealous), have a quick connection in Sao Paulo, then arrive in Miami at 5am. and stay here until 8am tomorrow. Hello South Beach.

i ended up being illigal in Brasil for 4 days. not really as impressive as Anna’s 24 days, but enough to make my heart beat and be very, very grateful for the nice guy who stamped my passport anyways. and..tada…i got through customs with my BOLO DE ROLO.

i’d forgotten to get the address for the hostel i want to stay at here in Miami, and i refused to pay a gazillion dollars a minute to use the internet at the airport. so i went off on my quest for a library. at the beach (i mean, why not?). the poor bus driver…first i asked him if the bus went to the Art Deco place. turns out, it is the name of this whole area. then i asked for a library…and the only one he could remember had been torn down. oh well, he gave me a free transfer and let me off. after asking a hotel manager, a recreations officer, and two store clerks, i arrived at the library…only to find that the guy who had been sitting across from me on the bus works here. me and my backpack are really bonding in all this walking…

so hello from Miami, i am safe and happy, and enjoying eating Bolo de rolo on the library front steps.

Anna got here safe and sound, managing everything perfectly.

unfortunately, when i was there, we found out my tickets had been canceled for some reason.

Tele was able to buy some new ones…last minute…but it means for alot of changes…

please pray…

i leave 1:00pm for Sao Paulo. i hang out there until 3:00am the next morning and go to Panama and then Miami, getting there by 4:00pm. Go find a hostel in Miami and then get back to the airport and fly out to Indy at 9:00am…finally arriving in Indy…after various other stops…at 4:00pm.

eta bichinho!

The verse this week is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” it normally comes out “blessed are the weak, for they shall inmerit the merth.” or my personal favorite: “Blessed are the meat, for they shall hair-it the ert.”

i always ask the kids if they used soap when the washed their hands…to prove it, they instantly stick their hands under my nose to smell. not always the funnest thing.

i couldn’t remember how to spell “Matthew” or “Motorcycle” today. my mind goes blank with English because it has been awhile since i have read things in English.

I put lots of stuff on my walls with tape. in the tropical weather, they are constantly falling off. last week, something wandered into my room (English classroom) and got stuck to the tape and died. my student looked down at the tape and started screaming. it was a baby scorpion. the part that bothered me is that when there are babies, there are mommy and daddy ones too. so we named it Sam. Sam the scorpion was about an inch long, but before i could take a picture…someone stole him. bye-bye Sam.

i talked to my parents. i am getting excited about whatever all God has planned for me during this time home. Dad said i could paint a mural on the garage (painting murals with spray paint is my next big project. i am going to make the world beautiful one wall at a time. please tell me spray paint isn’t expensive.). I don’t know if a job is going to work out since i am only home for 3 and a half months…still praying about that. Dad said i could make money butchering chickens…i am not sure if the money compensates for the mental anguish. We are also going to build a fort for Johnny. and i think i will bike ride everywhere…GAS IS $3.19 a gallon? WHAT THE HECK? WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING IN THE US?

Anna is at the airport right NOW. please pray for her trip…this is her first time flying alone internationally. go girl. She arrives tomorrow, 4:15pm. i leave Thursday at Midnight, but since it is all red-eye flights, don’t end up arriving in Indianapolis until Saturday, May 12, at 4:09pm.

Reading the Bible at Laoga De Itanga…

We got caught in the rain on our last picnic to the lake…gosh it was perfect.

Yesterday was Labor day (or something like that) in Brasil, so we had a nice long weekend where i did nothing except forget to look at the clock. Tuesday night they had a gospel fest–number 2. i got to go to the first one last year and it was amazing. This is the mime team from Paudalho performing…caught the guy in action about to kill Aniha, the most amazing woman ever…

am i really leaving? do i have to? sorry to say goodbye…

Just finished my last test/quiz/exam. osnvoinrininbnzxkcn. relief.

my seminary class threw a party for me today. with bolo de rolo and Coke. i was made to drink the Coke…and enjoyed the bolo de rolo…even though i already had 4 pieces today. everyone lately is showing me love through bolo de rolo. while pleasurable, i think i’d like other ways better…

last week we learned about food. too bad the word for “cherry” is just like “beer.” i randomly accidentally switch them on the kids and get some very interesting replies from them. a couple weeks before was the weather theme…where the word for “winter” resembles (only one letter different) from “hell.” somehow, i find these things amusing and…ironic.

Saturday night i judged presentations at a school done in English. it is a honor to do it…even if i endure jr. high girls trying to sing “my hips don’t lie” in English while doing the appropriate movements…er…inappropriate rather. The English teacher at the school (the very big, old, and well known school) was my student at English camp:). funny how these things work out. So she introduced me and then asked me to sing a song in English…didn’t have time to practice, and the playback cd died on me half way through…but overall, it was a very entertaining evening.

i painted my pinky red. it is scary. i keep moving my hands and seeing a flash of red, thinking i am bleeding somewhere…

i got to visit Laoga De Itanga. They have a building now! This cutie in front was sound asleep after two songs .