January 17, 2011
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Amazing how captivating a straight line can be, when that straight line is the ocean horizon. Blue is always my favorite color at the beach.
Red. Is the color of my nose. First trip to the beach=SPF 15. Second trip to the beach=SPF 40. Still red. My freckles have freckles. I am going to have the best tan of my life next week, after I peel off another 5 layers of skin. Rachel with a tan doesn’t even get noticed in Brazil. Oh well.
Good Hair. Karine has good taste in movies—errr—Documentaries. With Chris Rock, this documentary called “Good Hair” really makes you think about the stereotypes we generate without knowing it. Did you know that in Brazil, a person is considered black or white not by skin color, but by type of hair. In Brazil, I am considered “blond.” Thou shalt not laugh. Some of the points brought up in “Good Hair:”
1. Don’t touch a black woman’s hair. Ever.
2. Relaxers are addicting like Meth
3. Relaxers/perms are dangerous chemicals
4. Blacks are 18% of the population, but use 80% of the hair products
5. Less than 10% of black hair products are made by blacks. Most all that money is pumped into the Korean economy
6. India’s 3rd largest export is human hair. They have a ritual to shave their heads and give the hair to the temple. The temple makes big bucks off this hair.
Over 600 are confirmed dead in the mudslides in Rio. If anyone is worried about me, Rio is like Indiana to Florida. Not close to me. Please pray for those people and their families.
I saw a lizard as long as I am tall. And it was a baby one. Meh. Crawling outside my window. Good thing we are three stories up.
Apparently, waiting 30 minutes to digest before swimming is only applicable to the United States. I was smiled at and patted on the head when I told everyone they couldn’t go swimming after we ate. In Brazil, you go swimming after you eat (at least at the beach). So I did. No adverse affects. Hmmm.
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The deaf man is there to greet me at the door as always. I still do not know his name, but he is always at the church, and always with a smile. I make the motion of a plane with my fingers, and smile and give a thumbs up. He is glad I am back.
I have missed church in Brazil. Two windows have been added, helping the six fans keep us cool during the hot summer. I get there early and listen to the band practice. The band is made up of whoever can—even me—who sang last Sunday. People slowly trickle in: there are new babies born, new people married, and new people in general.
The pastor calls us in as the last instrument is tuned and ready, and we calm our hearts in prayer. It is another world, another group of people, but this is my church, just as Horizon Central is in the United States. There are problems and secrets and meetings to try to straighten everyone out, but I love this group of people.
Worship in Brazil seems to require singing at the top of your lungs and swaying from one foot to the other—stationary is impossible. My favorite is the song where we go and hug people. I am sure there is an official name for it “meet and greet” or something, but in my head, in English and Portuguese, it is called “the song where we go and hug people.” I never managed to get to everyone, but I try, going up one isle and down the other. The one lady in the back always gives me a big hug that goes side to side like a metronome. Hmmm. I’ve missed this place.
“God’s covenant is always this: give all and take all.” –Andrew Murray
I think I have worked so long on the “give all” part, having that engrained in me from day one in church…I have forgotten the “take all” part.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr day! Which seems very far away at the moment.
Still working on Living Stone’s plans…running through plans with all the different people involved, getting their ideas and dreams, and working around all the road blocks…you will hear more about it soon. Two more weeks to plan and get things together before everything starts up.
