Friday was kill the lice day at the PETI program.

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

(Some of the kids, waving their bar of lice-killing soap and instructions for their parents to wash everyone in the family, and linens, with the stuff)

…for giving…we were able to wash all the kid’s hair and then sit around and style it.

i think there is something very…community about doing hair together.

Cathy got to come with me, and this is what she wrote about our time together:

I have made a new friend in Rachel Winezeler. She is a 26 year old Indiana gal who teaches English, leads opening assembly, and does lots of other stuff at our school. She also studies philosophy IN PORTUGUESE at a local university three nights a week. In addition to all that, on Friday afternoons and all weekend she goes to Pauldaho and works with poor kids in the Living Stones program, formerly known as Growing Kids. If these kids didn’t have the Living Stones program they would not go to school because they would be begging in the streets for money for food for themselves and their families. The program pays their parents some amount of money weekly to allow their kids to participate. This money is to compensate for lost income from their children not begging. It is really sad. Yesterday I went with Rachel to Pauldaho. When we got there, the three workers were
washing all the kids hair with lice soap. They were doing this on the “lawn” in front of the building using a bucket and a hose. The kids were happy to have their hair washed. After the shampoo, everybody got their hair “styled”. The workers were really looking to make sure that all the lice had been washed away, but the kids were excited
because the boys were getting gel spikes, and the girls were getting braids or ponytails with lots of fun bands and clips. The workers were telling everybody how beautiful they looked, and you could just see the kids puff up with the compliments. Now THAT is turning a bad situation into something good! Living Stones also feeds the kids a
hot meal. But yesterday there wasn’t enough food, so the workers had brought food from home to prepare so the kids wouldn’t go hungry. These are remarkable women. I don’t know how much money they make, but I’m sure not much. They are earning eternal treasures.

and my favorite picture:

how long to you cook sweet potatoes?
nothing comes with instructions here.
i grew up where everything you needed to know was on the side of the box or bag.
now it is buy it with the dirt still on it.

so i stuck the sweet potatoes in a pot of water. the water turned green. is the water suppose to turn green? i took them out after awhile, when they were soft. sweet potatoes are purple, with white insides. but they taste the same as our orange ones. i just wish i could put marshmallows on top like my grandma used to.

a bit of brown sugar and butter later…and they are still a little green, but yummy enough.

this is why i cook for me. i make me happy very easily.

i read “Tuesdays with Morrie”

i have figured out i need “light” books to read regularly. you know…like “Anne of Green Gables”–things that make you feel happy and simple and light afterwards. like…pretty. movies like “Stardust” or “Princess Bride”…yeah. Like “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

Morrie had lots to say before he died…because he was dying. there. i gave away the whole book. don’t you hate me now? not really.

“…The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

(When asked if he could go back–before the sickness began killing him) “No way i could go back. i am a different self now. i’m different in my attitudes. different appriciating my body, which i didn’t do fully before. i’m different in terms of trying to grapple with the big questions, the ones that won’t go away. That’s the important thing, you see. once you get your fingers on the important questions, you can’t turn away from them.” (and what are they?) “As i see it, they have to do with love, responsibility, spirituality, awareness. and if i were healthy today, those would still be my issues. they should have been all along. “

(when asked what he would do if he were healthy, just for one day) “I’d get up in the morning, do my exercises, have a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls and tea, go for a swim, then have my friends come over for a nice lunch. i’d have them come one or two at a time so we could talk about their families, their issues, talk about how much we mean to each other. Then i’d go for a walk, in a garden with some trees, watch their colors, watch the birds, and take in the nature i haven’t seen in so long now. In the evening, we’d all go together to a restaurant with some great pasta, maybe some duck–i love duck–and then we’d dance the rest of the night. i’d dance with all the wonderful dance partners out there, until i was exhausted. and then i’d go home and have a deep, wonderful sleep.” (that’s it? it was so simple. i was actually a little disappointed. i figured he’d fly to Italy or have lunch with the president…after all these months, lying there, unable to move–how could he find perfection in such an average day? then i realized this was the whole point.)

“In buisness, people negotiate to win. they negotiate to get what they want. maybe you’re used to that. love is different. love is when you are as concerned about someone else’s situation as you are about your own.”

“Love each other or die.”

Then the author closes with this: “Have you ever really had a teacher? one who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine? if you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find your way back.”

Elections in Brasil are
AN EVENT.

the people i wanted to win in Paudalho won.
meaning…i think the Living Stones program can continue.
Praise God.

Voting is manditory here, so EVERYONE is out and about.
watching everyone else wearing the different color canditate.
once the poles close at 5, everyone holds their breath…
until one group pours into the streets and yells and jumps around in a big mass that resembles a blob…and the other group goes to bed early. or changes their colors and joins the party.

you can’t buy or sell or drink (supposedly) alcohol until midnight, so the parties start at 12:01 am Monday morning. all the schools were closed…except our school. the parties continued through the day, and at college last night, only 4 of my 30 classmates showed up.

we ended sitting in a circle and talking most of the time. the teacher had thought i was Brasilian…just living in the USA for awhile..so she started off “i don’t really like NORTH Americans…”

but it was good. i got to share about coming to Brasil, wanting to help, teaching, finally getting a VISA to stay…and in the end, my teacher commented “well, maybe not ALL of them are bad…”

I did a little English class for the Living stones children again…here are some stories of three of my students…please pray for them:

Alexandria–her mother is a prositute in a town about half an hour away, her father is a drunk living in another neighborhood. She and her brother live alone. She is a 12 year old prostitute. When Alexandria started coming to the Living stone’s program, three families removed their children from the program…because they felt that she was a bad influence.

Bruna–very intelegent, she is the only one who can read and is always the first to remember the words. her three older brothers have been convicted for murder.

Concessao–she is very malnurished. she is not getting enough food at home. Her father recently took her sister and sexually abused her. Then he came home drunk and told everyone about it. The sister was so embarrassed that she ran away to her aunt’s house. Patricia filed an anonomous report on it–but nothing has been done. Concessao is 8.

…that every woman should be made to feel beautiful.

…that my love affair with philosophy should only be once every other week. otherwise it gets too heavy.

…that there is so much to learn! it is overwhelming. and i am just not going to get to all of it. I’ll have to pick and choose what gets me and what doesn’t. but even learning things i like…gets tiring after awhile.

Little seed
should i pull you out
while you are little
and can’t hurt me
Little seed
i like you as you are
but maybe not as a plant
maybe i don’t have room
maybe you will grow to big
and then were would i be
little seed

there are two guys in my college classes. two. and one is nice to look at and the other is not. and the one that isn’t knows that he isn’t and so he hides in the back left corner. the one who is, knows that he is and thinks it means he doesn’t need to show up for class because someone else will copy the work for him. one of the girls that likes to look at him.

the problem is, he is right.
and i am a snob and don’t talk to either one of them.
bleh.

TOLERANCE.
you know why the world in general has resorted to tolerance? because us Christians (known as the church) didn’t love. Don’t love. tolerance is the world’s substitute. we said “love the sinner, hate the sin” and then did neither–just ended up ignoring the sin and the sinner altogether (too busy in our own little worlds to mess with it). and so the world took up for us–they tolerated.

if you love the sinner, you don’t treat them any differently because of the sin. the love’s too big. sin is not THEM. notice one time–just once–that God ever treated you differently when you were in big piles of crud.

if we really loved…how would we ever come up with questions like “How do you treat someone gay who comes to church?”

um…love them?

i have a big urge to make a fort and go hide in it. i haven’t made a fort in ever so long…
i want to hide in it and say “God, i am not leaving this fort until you fix my life. for me. FOR ME. i don’t want to do it.

so that’s how it is.

i have found the big secret to teaching (actually…i regularly find it and then lose it again…):
REST. simply be calm. be collected. controlled. If we do all the work planned, we do. if not, we don’t. and always start by going over the rules. remind them what they gain if they listen, what they lose if they don’t. Mix in a little conversation and say over and over again “What? Say that again…in ENGLISH. we speak English in English class…THANK you for raising your hand…no, you may not stand on the chair…”