Fortaleza!

Our last few days in Rio were beautiful. Although kinda hazy, we still managed to get two days of sun and went up to sugar loaf at sunset to catch the views. It was just as wonderful as I remember it.

Now we are in Fortaleza. We got here on Saturday and have just been bumming around the beach today, which has been both good and bad now that our bodies are badly burnt and we have only had a taste of what we want so much more of. The hope is that we keep our skin well moisturized and it doesn´t peel, which I have more luck of doing than ryan... the concierge when we came into the hotel even said he looks like a shrimp (red like one...)

Tonight, we are going to a cultural center for dinner and then afterwards we are going to bum around there longer and watch some of the dancing they do around here called forró (maybe even do it some ourselves!) and then call it a night hopefully early-ish because a tour bus of some sort is picking us up at 8am to take us to two beaches to spend half days at that are supposedly beautiful. Hopefully I´ll have time to document this all better and put some pictures in the mix.

abraços!
Ana

(bug bites: ~10, Temperature 29C)

in Rio...

Well, it looks like we made it into Rio just in time for monsoon season.

Yesterday morning we got up, and while having breakfast, looking at the overcast skies, Ryan suggests we go to Corcovado to see the statue of Christ. Great idea I tell him, we catch a cab and on the way there, its starts sprinkling lightly. Us, being from seattle, don´t really think much of it, buy tickets to go up to the top via the cog-train and as we are going up, the rain just gets heavier and heavier. Before we know it, we are in a cloud of rain and fog, by the time we get to the top, it is a thorough down pour. We buy an umbrella, thinking that will prevent the pelting rain from getting us, but unfortunately, with the wind, the rain is coming at us, not only from above, but horizontally as well. We braved going up the steps to the statue, walking to different view points, recognize a few landmarks down below through all of the fog. A quick picture with my camera of the statue, just to say that we were there and its back under cover. By this time I´m thinking that it would have been wiser to wear a swimsuit today than regular clothes, as I can easily wring out portions of the skirt i´m wearing with an easy clench of the fist. We get on the next cog train back down the mountain, and happily come across a group of people from Winnipeg, they tell us that they have some museums on the itinerary and share with us their plans, since really we were just hoping to lay on the beach all week.

As we leave the cog train, we follow the canadians to their first museum stop, just across the street from where we were at. I don´t remember the name of the museum, but it has national artwork from all over brazil and a mural that spans across two walls, with 18 panels, explaining the history of brazil. It was very beautiful. After the museum, we catch a cab back to our hotel to change clothes, our cab driver, Marcelo, tells us about some places to go out to eat and drink, good places to spend time indoors, and also informs us of a soccer game at Maracaná stadium tomorrow night. He offers to take us to a churrasceria, called Porcão, for lunch. We take him up on his offer, making him wait for us outside as we change and he drops us off at the restaurant. It was fantastic. Seafood, sushi, salads, and, of course, large quantities of meat. Ryan was very impressed, and we both ate like crazy.

After lunch we took off to the main cathedral in Rio. It looks almost space-agey, this huge pyramid shaped building which, when you go inside, is dim with HUGE stain glass windows on each wall, spaning from the floor to the ceiling. After the Cathedral, another church just a few blocks away, and from there we just started walking... after some time, realizing that there weren´t nearly as many cariocas in the neighborhood we were walking through, we decided it was better to take a cab to a known location than to get lost in a shady part of town. We took a cab to a shopping center in Botafogo to look around and find shelter from the rain. After wandering around for some time... it was getting later so back to the hotel to find out where to go next and somewhat plan for tomorrow. We check in with the front desk about getting tickets to the game... $40 per person, with rides, an escort to your seat, and the tickets. We decide this is a rip off. we would rather brave it than pay $80 for something that could cost us as little as $40 total.

So that´s the plan for today, soccer game, Flumenese vs. Santos starting at 9:45pm. it should be a crazy wild time, we are going to try to get ahold of my quase cousin, Alessandra and see if she´s going too, or if she would like to go with us. and other than that, hoping the weather clears up so we can actually do what we came here for.... lay on the beach and get tan. Because of the soccer game, we are having to opt out of going to Ouro Preto, but I think its a fair trade as soccer here is far more a passion than an interesting town 7 hours away from here. I´ll be sure to post again to tell you how everything goes.

abraços!
Ana

Que azar!

Well, my trip is off to a lousy start. I had to switch my ticket to an earlier flight to Rio and the guy that helped me over the phone didn´t know his stuff and booked me on a flight that my airpass couldn´t cover. I´m stuck in Porto Belo until 6:30 and don´t get into Rio until 9:30. What a pain.

On a happier note, I went to a birthday party with Marcos on Saturday night and had a ball. No, I didn´t have any crazy brazilians trying to make out with me, and really only fell in love with an 11 year old down syndrome boy named Gustav who was at the party (neighbor of the birthday girl). Although I couldn´t understand really anything he said, I did get in on a joke when he was telling our friend Gian´s girlfriend that she was ugly and fat. I just happened to be standing next to her and after he points to her and calls her feia e gorda, he points at me and says "mas ela é bonita e magra" (pretty and skinny). It was pretty funny. Later on, he changed his opinion of me to bonita and gorda, but at least i´m not feia. It was fun to spend time with a disabled kid for an evening, and it definitely reminded me of a lot of fun i´ve had at camp with them. Yesterday there was a telethon on TV for a downs syndrome association... they had famous people come on and sing for an audience of downs kids and would have some of them come and sing with their favorite artists. It was really funny/cute/entertaining and reminded me of Zach King (my camp bro...also downs) singing at Kareoke night, and making up raps about how he GAVE ME my personal space in the field at camp long. I suppose this isn´t really that entertaining for anyone other than people i´ve talked to about camp, but really, this blog is about my memories far more than only informing you of things you want to know or would even understand.

até logo,
Ana

(0 bug bites, craving: Rio de Janeiro, Temperature: 57F, rainy, and i´m really cold!)

memories...

Saturday morning we embarked on what turned out to be a very memorable, and completely contrary to what I expected week. The drive out commenced at 6am, and, although sleepy, I enjoyed watching the scenery fly by. It was beautiful farmland for the majority of the drive... much like the drive from Seattle to Spokane, but far more intriguing as the land consists of undulating hills and brightly colored crops blanketing the hillside.

We arrived in Ijui at 4:00pm, to find my wonderful Tia Ana and her dog, bolinha, welcoming our arrival. We found out that unfortunately, the bathroom won´t be finished until wednesday, so rather than staying with her, its onto Santa Rosa for me. It was good to see Tia, she is just as I always remember her, although you can tell that she´s getting older, her hair a little grayer, her skin a little more wrinkled, but still just as sweet, caring and hospitable. We stayed for an early dinner, and then took of for the remaining hour and a half to Santa Rosa.

We spent most of our time with Valdir, Jorge´s step brother, wife, and their children, Leticia (25) and Francione (21). Tia Natalia and Ceasar (Valdir´s dad, Jorge´s step dad) came over for Churrasco Saturday night, as well as some other members of Valdir´s family. It was fun to spend time with new people, and get to know more family. I found out from Jorge that my Tia Natalia had a thing for Ceasar when they were young, and wanted to marry him but her parents had other plans. After Ceasar found out that Natalia´s husband passed away 20ish years ago, he called up Natalia and they became friends and eventually got married 16 years ago. I think its really sweet, and interesting to see how life works out.

Leticia and I hit it off completely. She was excited to take me around with her since most of her friends are married (she is too but her husband lives near brasilia most of the time for his work) and can´t go out at night. She invited me to stay with her at her apartment for the night and it was really fun to spend time one on one with someone my age, who I can actually converse with. Saturday night we stayed up late talking about the difference between Brazil and the US, music we like to listen to, dating in both countries, etc. How exciting that I can have a few hour long conversation with someone in portugese without a lot of guesswork? I wish it was this easy with everyone.

Sunday morning, Valdir came and picked us up to go to his brother´s family´s house for more churrasco with the family. Valdir has 3 other siblings, all of which have at least 2 children, and grandkids are coming along as well. It was quite a party, I really hit it off with Valdir´s neice who is a 1st grade teacher here. We talked about Josh and Danny (the two boys I watch in seattle) as she sang songs and danced with her nephew in portuguese. It was really fun to see their interaction and made me miss my boys that much more.

After lunch, Leticia took me out on her motorcycle (yippee!) to the house Xuxa grew up in as a child. She told me all about how she met Xuxa once and how it was by far the greatest moment of her life. For those that don´t know, Xuxa is considered the "Reina do Baixinhos" (queen of the little people: ie: children) here... she had a hit TV show in the 80´s and is basically about as big of a celebrity as you can get here. After seeing Xuxa, we went to her place, made Chimarrão and took off to the town square to chat more, go window shopping and hang out. Apparently there are only things to really do there on Friday night, and so when all else fails, everyone takes to the streets, drinking Chimarrão and playing music really loud from their cars. It was fun and interesting to see how "small town" life works over there. It felt really safe and had a really laid back atmosphere... which really is true of all of brazil. For dinner we went and had brazilian style X-burger at her friend, Milton´s restaurant. Their burgers are crazy big, and full of toppings that we wouldn´t imagine putting on a burger: corn, green beans, a slice of ham, white cheese... I know there were more interesting things than that, but its all I can think of at this moment and the story must go on!

I spent the night at Tia Natalia´s since Leticia had to work in the morning and had breakfast with them. It was fun watching Tia bustle around the kitchen preparing a monster of a lunch we were to have in a few more hours, chatting with her about how we were going to the River for a few days and what we were going to do there, what i´m doing with my life, her reminicing about things in the past. Nothing really sticks out to share with you of what we talked about, but it was nevertheless enjoyable to chat with my tia that I love so much.

After lunch we were off on the hour and a half ride to `Costas´ which, as it turns out just refers to the coast, and really their house is in neither a town nor a development of any sort: just a spot on the river. The house is super rustic, named the `Rancho Bagual´ and is basically a museum of memories and set up for real life as a gaucho. As you enter the one room building, light shines through the planks of wood that make up the walls, and you notice a firepit on the floor, which, I found out, is a gaucho´s "fogo do chao" (literally, floor fire), that they open up a hole in the roof to let the smoke out and make all of their food on. It was quite an experience to be exposed to how they used to do it way back when. Jorge points out to me that they could easily do anything to make their Ranch nicer, but you can tell that Valdir loves it the way it is. He is an ultra-patriot... standing up for president Lula, and almost every article of clothing he has (including the camoflauge that he put on the moment he got there and didnt take off until we were leaving) had both the brazilian and rio grande do sul flag on them somewhere. He is a true gaucho and just loves it. I was also put up to the "do this if you are a true gaucha" test. Luckily, I passed. I had to drink beer and cashasa, get baptized in the river, which I did accidentally when I went wading in the water, slipped on a rock and fell in, and pick up a monsoon (a slimey snake like animal that we used as bait... about 3 feet long... really gross) when it escaped from the bucket and stick it back in. Luckily, they didn´t force me into taking a cold shower and then shots of cashasa to warm me up, that was their last competition for themselves. Valdir was really impressed and I ended up ranking pretty high on his scale, I think.

I also SHOT A GUN for the first time ever! Valdir, Jorge and I were walking up from the boat, and Valdir hands me the gun and says, see that black thing in the tree? try to hit it. Ok, so I do my best to aim, pull the trigger, and my ears are ringing and the black thing is still in the tree. I give the gun back, Valdir loads it, and then gives the gun to Jorge for a turn. He aims, fires, and misses as well. The Valdir takes the gun, loads it again, for what appears to be his turn and says "see that house over there?" BANG! yep, he hit the house all right. So Jorge and I can´t hit the little black thing, but he can hit a house. totally no expertise required. Even I could do that.

The whole week was like this. Random bits of competition, always joking, and laughter throughout. Wednesday night, we sat around the table after dinner talking and I realized that my portuguese at this point is a lot like being 13 again. Sitting at the dinner table with a bunch of my parents friends, wanting to be an adult, so I choose to sit quitely and listen instead of going and playing with the "kids". I can understand some things, but when I´m sitting at a table with a bunch of people who speak portuguese better than me, the conversation goes way over my head. If I pay close attention I can understand and even add to the conversation. But if I space out, my ability to understand completely goes and I have to concentrate really hard to pick the conversation up again. I know, however, that I learn new things daily, and daily I am able to pick up the conversation more and more. Some day (hopefully before I leave) I´ll be able to converse with anyone about basically anything.

Thursday, the day we leave for Santa Rosa, and keep our fingers crossed that Tia Ana´s bathroom is ready enough for us to stop by for the day and spend the night. I get up, pack my bag, and go down to have cafe da manha. Everyone else has eatten, so I sit, listening to musica gauchesa and drinking my coffee, eating some fruit and bread with jam, looking around at the relics of times past that hang on the walls. I take in the scene, realizing that these are my roots. Not that long ago, I´m sure my great grandfather sat making coffee or chimarrao over a fogo do chao just like Valdir did that morning. It is fun to think that this is where my heritage lies.

We get back to Santa Rosa by 11am, and call up Tia. She says the bathroom is almost done and we can come. So after eatting lunch, we head out on our way, only to find that the farmers in Rio Grande do Sul are protesting for more money for their crops. They have blockaded the roads and we are going to have to go a different route, 30Km, out of our way, via the town of Catuípe. The road though, was quite a `memory building experience´ as my mom would say. After only a few minutes down the road, it turns into this unpaved, rocky mess, which is all of the sudden a main highway because of the people trying to get to/from Ijui. We are going only about 40km/hour and are just covered in a heap of red dust, it reminds me of my mom as she would always say when we were driving around Ijui "look at the red dirt!" and now, stuck in a really hot car, since we can't open the windows, all I can see is a cloud of red dirt, and since it hasn´t rained there in almost a month, the plants are covered in it, the fences are covered in it, and now, our car is covered just the same. yes mom, I see the red dirt.

We arrive in Ijui at 4:00, 3 hours after we left Santa Rosa, but Tia is very happy to see us as she thought that we would be there just after 2:00. We sit and chat as Jorge tries to figure out how we are going to get home with all of this protesting. We find out that its not only Rio Grande do Sul, but Santa Catarina and Paraná as well. Jorge decides to go to the police station to ask them what our options are and leaves Tia and I to chat for a while. It was really great just diving into conversation. She showed me the towels she is needlepointing, I tell her about all of the scarfs I like to make. I decide that its a good idea to bring it out with me next time as its bound to be colder and people are going to want scarfs! We also talk briefly about my time so far, my family in Seattle and their ongoing drama, and day dream about wanting it all to go away. Our time is cut short by Jorge returning. He has decided that we leave tonight, after having dinner. As lame as that is... coming all the way out to Ijui only to spend a few hours with tia, I am refreshed and relieved to know that I will be coming back in a few weeks. Just driving through the town reminds me of all of the fun I had here last time and the opportunities I have when I return. We say goodbye to Tia, she says to call her whenever and I can come for as long as I want. It feels good knowing that i´m welcome.

We hop in the car, and start driving back home. 3am we arrive, unscathed, and really tired. Next time, I take the bus.

checking in...

I just wanted to check in with all of you to say that I´m alive, I made it to Ijui, but because Tia´s bathroom won´t be done by the time we have to leave, I´m spending the week in Santa Rosa, hanging out with Jorge´s step family. They are really cool, I have a new 25 year old "cousin" named Letticia that is awesome, we hung out last night and she´s the first Brazilian that I can actually understand everything she says. I spent the night at her place on saturday, and we even stayed up late just talking, it was really fun to communicate without the guess work.

Today after lunch we head out to Costas (which I´m not sure if its a city or just the name of a development) on the Rio Uruguay, that separates Bazil from Argentina. We are going to hang out at their house on the lake, go boating and also fishing... which, if we catch anything we´ll get to eat as well. They say it is just beautiful, I trust that they are right.

I´ll write a nice long description about my adventures here when I have more time... most likely not until Saturday. I know its a long way away for those who like to hear from me a few times a week... but sometimes adventures take you away from computer access.

love you all,
abraços,

Ana

Next week:

Hey everyone,

Just thought I´d let you know that tomorrow (at 5am!... that´s 1am for all of you at home...) we are leaving to go to Ijui/Santa Rosa for the week. Now that the weather is changing, I think I may be in for some `really cold brasilian weather´that my tio Alex keeps on warning me about. I think the jist of it is that since they concerve their energy, they don´t keep their houses warm except for the kitchen which is only warm because of making meals and showering is a bare because they have these insta-hot water showers that doesn´t work extremely well when the water is almost freezing. (maybe I´ll take a picture to demonstrate to everyone what i´m talking about if I do end up taking one of these frigid showers)

I think we´ll be back on Friday or Saturday and then I´m off again to see more of this beautiful country for 2 weeks! WOO HOO! I really have no idea what internet access will be like, but I´ll try to stop into an internet cafe or something by monday/tuesday and give a brief update.

abraços,
Ana

(0 bug bites!; craving: really nothing currently, just ate huge amounts of meat for lunch... Temperature: 70F)

RAIN!

I feel like I´m in Seattle again! Except for that its kind of warm and rainy. Today I got to observe this amazing rainy-ness as I sat under-cover in the back yard finishing the last 150 pages of Harry Potter and watch the birds reactions to the rain coming down by the bucket load as we had thunder and lightning and down pours on and off all afternoon. To my surprise, it was the hummingbirds that enjoyed the rain the most. It was surprising, because I think that oftentimes I think of them as fragile birds that can´t get wet or they won´t be able to fly or something... more insect like than animal... I guess. (I realize this is a weird assumption, but that´s my brain for you.) Anyways, the hummingbirds (I found out today that there are 5 of them) would sit on the clothes line stretching out their wings, fluttering about, puffing up their feathers, just splish splashing in the huge rain drops. It was truly a fun thing to waste away my afternoon.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Its hard to believe that I´ve already been here for almost a month. I´m sure that some of you are home feel the same way as I do, it seems like I left only last week, while others feel like you´re ready for me to be back, trust me, I have that part of me too.

I feel like i´ve done so much, but so little that I had in mind, and I have so much to look forward to. Lets look back on some of these things, reflect on my time here and try to look into the crystal ball and see what my future holds:

Things I wanted to do:
Find a church -- I haven´t spent two weekends in a row in the same place and have only gone to church once (just this last sunday). I have, however, found a spiritual bond with Vania, now own a guitar, which i enjoy playing whenever I have the chance, and I´ve managed to listen to Richard´s podcasts, which have been amazingly refreshing. I also have been able to meet with God almost everyday on the beach. It has taught me that church is just a means to reach God, and if walking on the beach, playing the guitar and reading my bible do the same thing, then its just as good.
Find a tutor -- Sadly still not. I have been working on a portuguese book and have had vania correct it for me, I feel like I´m learning a lot, and Vania´s mom is convinced that by the time I leave I´ll be better at speaking portuguese than she is. I feel that although my access to brasilians is limited, it has been good, and I´m definitely getting better and can recognize that. A lot of my reasons behind all of this delay is that I´ve been trying to make it out to Ijui for about 2 weeks now, it will be 3 by the time that I get there. When I was first thinking about a tutor, my thought was, well in a week I´ll be in Ijui, so I might as well not get one... now that i´ve been grounded here for a while, maybe it would have been a good decision. Oh well.. c'est la vie. or I guess in portuguese: esta vida.
Teach English -- Also a negative. I´ve been going to the class that I would have been teaching almost every night with Vania and its been a great place to learn more vocabulary, make friends, and hang out with people for 3 hours a night. Besides, some of them consistently ask me how to say things in english and then return the next night using the vocabulary with me, so its not like I completely blew that one.

If there is anything that I have done its get to know family. I´ve spent two of three weekends in Ponta Grossa and love being there. My cousins there are a lot more like friends than family at this point and I really feel like they think I´m "legal" which is a nice feeling: being accepted, knowing that they enjoy having me around, etc. Wanting to go back because I feel like they want me back. This was the trade off I knew I was going to have to be forced to make (ie: know family or ground myself somewhere), but I´m thankful that my focus has been more on family and less than finding other people to be with because really, they will always be around for me and waiting for me to return... it wouldn´t necessarily be that way with random people I met throughout my journeys.

Looking forward brings me more questions, but I feel like my heart is settling on what I want to do for the next two months. I´ve been attempting to wait patiently for the bathroom to be done at my Tia Ana´s house so I can come and visit her. Sadly, its behind schedule (which I was betting on), luckily, more opportunities are coming up. Jorge and I are going to travel to Santa Rosa this weekend (leave between thursday and saturday) and spend time with more family. His mom is visiting there, so as long as I pay for gas, we´ll go out together spend the weekend in Santa Rosa and then I´ll get dropped off in Ijui when the bathroom is ready, spend 4 or 5 days with Tia and then come back to Porto Belo for 2 days before heading off to Rio to meet up with Ryan (my friend from the UW via Kirstin and freshman year to those who don´t know, who was the only person to take me up on my offer to come visit me) to travel around Brazil for 1.5 weeks before coming back to Porto Belo for 4 days before Ryan has to head back to Seattle. We will be spending some time in Rio, Ouro Preto, Fortaleza and Foz de Iguaçu. It is going to be quite the whirl-wind tour, but I think it will be a really fun time.

After that is the world cup. I´ve decided to spend it jumping from city to city, seeing family and watching the games. First stop I think is going to be back to Ijui for 2 weeks, then Porto Alegre for 1 week, back to Porto Belo for a week and then Ponta Grossa for the first week of July and the world cup final (GO BRASIL). My final thought is to run over to Buenos Aires for a week-ish, hang out with my uncle´s friends and then come back to Porto Belo for another week before calling it a trip. I think I´ll head home the last week of July sometime.

So that´s basically it. I´ll write more drawn out examples of my journeys when I´m actually on them and not just hypothesizing about what they will be like. Hope everything is fine at home (or wherever you are reading this) and that you don´t miss me as much as I´m missing all of you.

beijos e abraços,
Ana

(4 bug bites, craving: a really big hug from my brother, 68F)

Its what's on the inside that counts?

So I've been thinking a lot about what separates me, as a christian in the 21st century, from every other moral non-christian out there. It may be what's on the inside that counts, but it seems like I don't live my life in a way that expresses Christ living in me on the outside.

I don't feel like my relationship with Christ is me following a list of rules, but clearly, he asks me to live differently. So how do I outwardly live my life differently? Well, I don´t cuss, but I say things that are still mean and hurtful, I don´t get beligerently drunk, although I do drink plenty of beer/alcohol, I've abstained from sex, but i've gone plenty far in that department in my life, I go to church, but so do a lot of people who claim to be christians but don´t live the life at all. It seems like on the outside, I am just like every other person out there who is trying to be moral.

But I know I´m not, Christ lives in me, he is supposed to be my everything, but are the words "supposed to be" what´s tripping me up? I know that when I´ve been crazy about past boyfriends, I couldn't stop talking about them, was writing their names on my notes in class, they were the last thing I thought about before i fell asleep and the first thing i thought about when i woke up, I would depend on them, talk to them every day, feel like something was missing if I didn't. But its not that way with my relationship with christ. I can go for days without much more than a thought of him and I don't even worry about it. So, I guess the real question is much do I love Christ? Do I love him like a lover? Do I love him like a father? Do I love him like a hero? I need to love him in all of these ways. After all, he loves me perfectly, unconditionally, and won't leave me...ever. He is my father, he guides my steps, and ultimately, he is my hero. He died for me, I get to be forgiven again and again. So if this is all true, and he is the most amazing thing for me, then what stops me from screaming his name from the hilltops, from writing his name in the sand, from clinging to him for my every breath, from living my life differently because he lives in me? that my friends, is the question I´m currently trying to answer. And hopefully, I will grow to love him more and more and find out the answer as I continue my journey.

blessings,
Ana

(5 bug bites, craving: mac and jack´s, temperature: 20C)

Mais fotos no Flickr!

swinging
Originally uploaded by ana.brasileira.

Hey All!

Just thought I´d let you know that I posted a new batch of photos on my Flickr account. This one is of me on the HUGE swing mentioned on my "the best day ever" post.

to get to my photos, click the link under this one and then click once more on "my photos" (or something to that effect!)

abracos!
Ana

My Funnest Day Yet!

Saturday we went to an aquatic park to fish (pegue e pague) and have lunch. It was a blast! Although at first I was dissappointed to see my uncle stoop so low as to go to a fishery to catch, I was plesantly surprised at how quick and fun it was (the reason I don't really like fishing is because its slow and boring, so this was just the opposite), and I highly enjoyed the lunch we had with our fresh fish (including the tiny one I caught that my uncle made ME eat because “you eat what you kill” – I’m still arguing that even though it was small it tasted muh better than his), and the awesome time we had on these HUGE tree-swings after lunch. What made it awesome was that you would hike up a prettysteep hill with your swing and with all of that potential energy as you lifted up your feet you went FLYING (PE=KE... hehehe... looks like physics paid off afterall) I think my cousins thought I was nuts becasue I couldn’t get enough, but I was seriously only TOO GREAT! (ps: please note that i’m getting tan like a true brasilian... quite enjoyable)

Lessons Learned in Ponta Grossa

The reason my uncle invited me to spend the weekend with him was because my cousin is/was in a fair amout of financial trouble and he wanted to see what he could do to help. And really I was astounded at his selflessness to help his daughter and her family. His solution ended up being to sell his car and buy another cheeper one that he´s going to pay off over time. I was also astounded because after the transaction the only thing he could do was thank God for giving him such an amazing new car—he feels like he got and upgrade or something. I feel like the last thing I think of when a friend or family member asks for help finacially is what can I sell or do without that could be worth money. I’m so quick to offer prayer but now willing to offer the tangible gift my friend is asking for.

Because my uncle and I drove out together, I also got a real picture of who he is, why he is the way he is as well as his picture of god, eternity and life. It was interesting to see where our spirituality was completely the same and was drastically different on other levels. But unlike me, he´s thought through every aspect "I´m a questioner" He tells me, so therefore his questions turned into a very long, interesting conversation...

He is a deeply spiritual person, but sadly, he was horribly burned by the church and does’t want to be with hypocrites. That seems fair enough. He says that he goes for direct access to God. He goes swimming and fishing, he meets God all the time by himself and he says that that’s his church. But I think that he is so burned that he has rejected a lot of chrisitanity as well. Kind of like Ghandi when he said that Christianity is the religion with the most truth but he wouldn’t want to be a christian because people who say they are don’t live the life the bible calls them to. This seems like it happens only too often. People get “burned” by the church and reject God altogether. It really convicts me to look at my life and ask myself where am I hypocritical and where am I just a person making mistakes like everyone else.

Although we didn’t talk about this, I’ve also been thinking a lot about how it is a common thought that there is only one God and many interpretations of him, which makes up different religions. I’ve been thinking about this because I’ve been reading the last of the Chronicles of Narnia “The Last Battle” and there is a part in it where some men trying to take over Narnia and they do it by saying that Aslan and Tash (the God of another country) are one. They call him Tashlan, and CS Lewis makes a point to show where it is wrong to combine Gods. God is God. Aslan is Aslan. Tash is Tash. Could you imagine what it would be like as a Christian or Muslim to have a person come into your Church/Mosque saying God and Allah are the same. We will call him Gallah. Yet, in the doctrines of both religions it says “I am God, you will have no others before me”. It seems to me that combining the Gods of two different religions that explicitly state that they are God (no more, no less) directly goes against this.

I’m going to stop my philosophizing here, rather that broadcasting my thoughts along with my uncles on the world-wide web. I would like to say, however, that I feel like I’ve really reached a new level of my speaking portuguese—being able to talk about religion, past experiences, life lessons, all of this—in another language is quite a milestone. Sure, I still hardly speak flawlessly, but I'm catching on and can get my point across 95% of the time. I’m starting to really recognize words in conversations and am even starting to understand the sports newcasters during soccer games, which is something I vividly remember not understanding in the slightest, so I feel like it is coming to me... even if it is devagar.

An Afternoon in Curitiba

On our way to Ponta Grossa this weekend, Jorge offered to show me Curitiba. What a beautiful city!

Our first stop was lunch, because my family is far more about living to eat rather than eatting to live. Jorge took me to an italian restaurant called Madalosso, which is the 2nd largest restaurant in the worl. It is the size of a football field, they go through 40,000 chickens and serve 55,000 people each month. The restaurant consists of 5 or 6 great rooms, each named after a city in Italy. Every night each of them has a different type of music to suit your fancy. Its also all-you-can-eat (although I always end up eatting to maximum capacity when we go out, whether or not its a buffet, so it appears that every restaurant is all you can eat, whether you want it or not). Within 5 minutes of sitting down you have about 6 dishes of foot at your table and the waiters ciculate around with varying pasta dishes. Although different from American Italian food, it was awfully good.

After lunch, touring the town was on the agenda. We made three stops: First the Parque do Tanguá then the Opera do Arame, which was closed for repairs so we only got a peek of it and lastly the Jardim Botanico, which was by far a grande finale for it all.

The main attraction at the Jardim Botanico is the green-house itself, but the gardens around it and the city as a backdrop make the whole area complete. I expecialy liked the row of bright red and yellow flowers down the middle leading up to the house. Where the flowers end there was a waterfall whose source is within the green house itself. It is a more natural looking water fall with a stream running off of it out of the house and outside ot the larger fountain.

Also, encircling the greenhouse is a collection of artwork by a man named Frans Krajcberg who took destroyed logs (burned, decomposed, flooded) and turn them into beautiful abstract art by widdling at the and painting them. Jorge especially liked it and is planning a new art project of his own.

It was a quick look at a huge city, but I really think that I got to see the highlights of it. And it was really my type of tourism... three hours, in, out, to the point. Not to mention also plenty of eating.

Jokes by Jorge

Jorge told me a few jokes as we were driving to Ponta Grossa this weekend. Thought I’d share them with you.

Jorge tells me this one as we are driving by the Kaiser Beer Factory:
J- Do you see those big vats of beer?
A- Yeah,
J- Well, one time a man fell in who couldn’t swim.
A- Really?!?! How sad!
J- Yeah, he dropped right to hte bottom and when he came up he yelled “Socorro! Socorro!” (which means help me!)
Then, he sank down to the bottom and when he came back up he yelled “Soco....rro, Soc...o..rro!” (ie: yelled slower)
One more time he sinks down to the bottom, when he finally came back up he yells “Yippee!! Wahoo!!!”
(it was right about now that I figured out it was a joke)

Second joke:
What’s the difference between George Bush and Brasil’s President Lula?
--A Beard.
(at least they don’t like their president either!)