Ending 2009

  When I look back on this year I smile. God has been SOOOO good and faithful to me. I often don't have the words to express how much I love Him and how strong I feel His love. I am undeserving, but He is amazing! In love with His unconditional and steadfast love.
  Christmas was an interesting time. I am now in Sao Paulo at my friend Maria's house. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with her husband's family. They live in Campinas, it is about an hour and a half from Sao Paulo city. They didn't even eat dinner until midnight. Then there was Amigo Secreto, like Secret Santa, that did not start until 1:30 am. It was a late night! The people were really nice. Brazilians are very friendly. They taught us how to samba, too. I say, us, meaning myself and Lauren. Lauren and I work together and she is spending Christmas with me. Christmas night we went to the movies.
  This break time is nice, laying around is great! Lauren and I are tired from the stressful semester. The Christmas Program went great. The kids did a good job. The last 2 days of school we had a whole school chapel and then Christmas parties. The staff Christmas party was nice too.
  Reflecting before the new year is nice. I just learned that Brazil has a tradition that before the new year you buy a new pair of panties and you pick a color reflecting what you want for the new year. For example, red means you want passion, pink means love, yellow means money, and white means peace. I am trying to decide which color I want...LOL.
  For New Year's we are going to Guaraja! The beach! Yay! Sooo excited! We are going to be there for 5 days. RELAXATION! Life is good!

Tis the Season...

Worship team Christmas Party

Christmas Program Rehearsal

One gorgeous day, my girls and I read outside

 Jesus is the reason for the season! I have always loved Christmas! Christmas for me is a time of love, joy, hope and celebrating! Growing up my parents told us the true meaning of Christmas and I had no idea who Santa Claus was until I was in school. We have always celebrated Jesus' birthday and I always will.
  I am rejoicing because I am staying in Brazil this holiday season. I am going to Sao Paulo to stay with Maria and her husband. There is another American teacher coming with me since her family is coming to visit in January she is not going home. It should be a fun time.
   Work is crazy right now with the Christmas Program coming up! We are rehearsing a lot and making costumes like crazy. I wish you all could come and see. I did the dances...except the high school one...I did the basics and they basically screwed the rest up. They have bad attitudes about having to dance and it shows when they dance. Yikes! Other than that the other students look great!
  This weekend I attended 2 Christmas Parties. The first one was for the worship team at the international church and it was a lot of fun! It was my first outing without having anyone else from the school in attendance. It was great! The second one was super secular and it was a 'White Trash Christmas Party'--I felt out of place and didn't stay long. It was thrown by some teachers at the other international school. Crazy times.
  In case you did not know, yes, I am staying in Brazil! Deus e fiel! God is faithful. The only other issue is that we now have to move apartments...BEFORE the break! Ahhh!
  I am STILL content with the wonderful life that God has blessed me to live!

Thanksgiving

  When I say Thanksgiving I do not necessarily mean the holiday, but the action of thanking God everyday for the wonderful things He has done. The translation for Thanksgiving in Portuguese is the 'Action of Thanks'. A week ago I was teaching my students about the first Thanksgiving and before I could get more indepth into the lesson a student said, "My mom said that Thanksgiving should be everyday, a day to thank the Lord." Smart woman.
  I have been thankful for so many things...when we went around the table on Thanksgiving I said I was thankful for a God who is a 'Dream fulfiller'. It reminds me of a song we sing at Family Fellowship..
  "He's a miracle worker, He's a bondage breaker, He's a dream releaser, that is who You are" So true.
I am thankful for being able to come to Brazil and to teach kids from different countries. I am their teacher, but they teach me so many things. I am also grateful for the international church I attend. I am starting to get to know a lot more people. It is nice. I am grateful for so many things..this is just a start.
  We found out that December 7th is the day that the school will tell us who will be asked to go home. Please pray for us and the leadership. I know that God is not done with me here in Brazil.
  What are you thankful for? Think back on what God has done this year...it is almost over....

Relaxation....

Hi all! Last weekend I had some visitors, Maria and her husband Claudemir, flew in from Sao Paulo. They took me to Chapada dos Veadeiros in the state of Goias. It is a natural park with 25 different waterfalls, canyons and wildlife. It was about 3 hours away, Travis also went with us. We picked up a guide, who was a hippie and he took us to one of the waterfalls with a Woodstock stage...go figure. It was beautiful though. After being there awhile we ate at this yummy pasta bar. Later we stopped at a hot spring. We stayed the night in a pousada, a rustic inn. It was a nice place and I loved the hammocks outside. It was a great weekend. It was my first real chance to get out of the city and do something else.
  Maria asked me to be her baby's godmother! Wow! Yay! They decided to name her Rafaella. (Ha-fi-el-la) I am going to Sao Paulo for Christmas break.
  School news: things are going good. Parent-teacher conferences went well. The school is still trying to decide what to do. It sounds like they want to make a decision by the end of this month! Please pray! Thank you.  I am working hard on the Christmas program. I am teaching the elementary music part of it and all of the choreography. Please pray that I will not get too tuckered out. I am also leading an after school dance club. Life is always busy here, but God is good and I am settling in here.
  Much Love!

Prayer Requests

At our staff meeting today it was brought to our attention that our small school size is hurting the school financially. We are need of more students. For our school to survive we need about 25 more students. I know that the Lord can send them from all over the place. Pray that the embassies will send their children to our school. Our school is also promoting it's preschool program. Pray that more Brazilians and others will enroll their children. If our enrollment does not increase then 2 of us teachers will be going home in January. It has not been decided who those teachers will be yet. It is not a pleasant thing to think about. We have a great staff and I enjoy working with all of them. Don't let this tear our school apart.

We have parent-teacher conferences this week and I have a particularly difficult family I need to meet with. Please pray for me and for them.

Also found out that our director and his family will be leaving Brazil at the end of this year. They have been with the school for 10 years now and think it is time for them to move on. They are expecting baby number 3.

Lots going on, but God is faithful!

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

Overload....

  Thank the good Lord it is Friday! I am worn out! We only had school for 4 days this week, but it felt sooo long. I found out this week that one of my students went home and told her mom that I said she was dumb. I said no such thing. This girl's mom was upset and wanted to have a conference with me at Children's Day, but a member of admin. told her that now was not the time or the place. I can not believe this girl! She is one of my students who doesn't do assignments or follow directions. Ahhh..
  Next week is parent-teacher conferences, this should be interesting. The students do not have school on Monday and Tuesday, but we have to do report cards and have a teacher-in-service. I am looking forward to a few days student free.
  Last night were were all taken out to dinner and I ended up at a table full of kids...I had to relocate myself. There was no way I was going to last a meal there...I had already reached a sensory overload moment in the full van on the way to the restaurant. I wanted to retreat. After I moved tables it was fine. It was just too much.
  Looking forward to a nice weekend...

Brazilian wedding

  Today was my first Brazilian wedding and it was nice. She got married outside with a reception inside. She looked radiant! I am so happy for her! The reception was low key, no dancing or speeches like North American weddings, but good. The food was crepes--meal type and dessert type. The line we got in moved soooo slow! It was a nice opportunity to get out and get all dressed up. You should see how fancy everyone gets for a wedding!
  Oh...I caught a part of the bouquet....she threw it and it was actually 3 smaller bouquets. Cute. It was a fun time.

Children's Day

  Today was our Children's Day celebration at the school. We were praying that it would not rain and it did not rain until 8:30 tonight! God is good. Things went well...I am pretty sure that my chapel group won the pizza party by having the most tickets earned. Yay!
  Both of our games were a hit, but the water balloons were a huge hit! One odd thing was... I was in charge of supervising at the water balloon area and this 1st grader came up to buy water balloons and he ended up using 40 tickets to mostly hit me! I have no idea why this little boy wanted to attack me with water balloons. I ended up really wet and he was angry while he was throwing them at me! I teach his class music one day a week---where this anger came from is weird! He did help us win though!
  Today was also the last day of one of my prized fifth graders! I am sooo sad. He was a sweetie. His family gave me chocolates and perfume as a goodbye. So sweet. This family is from England and moving to France. I will miss this child dearly! I am losing another student next week---my fifth graders will be down to 3! Ahh. Pray for more students!
  Tomorrow is a wedding! Should be fun! Hooray for a 3 day weekend! Yay!

It is October

  Here is a mini update. Tomorrow is Children's Day and it is currently raining! We need it to be a perfect day. Children's Day is a celebration of children and there are games and sancks. The games are being run by chapel groups. My group is selling water balloons and doing Skee-ball. We need nice weather.
   Today after school we went to get our Brazilian workbooks (the way they keep track of employment) and some other stuff. It is funny how much I appreciate the staff at my school. I say funny and I mean funny...I appreciate them and they add so much humor to my day. It was a good afternoon. Last Saturday night was game night too--fun times. We had a crazy game of Catch Phrase going. God has blessed me.
  I do wish I knew more Brazilians and had time to hang out with them. This week I realized that I have no way to send packages or letters because the post office is closed by the time I get home...great.
  I recovered those monkey pictures...yay!

Things to ponder....

Today was school picture day and I think is went great. I can't wait to see all of the pictures. I took a picture with the 5th grade and the 6th grade. Then we took a joint one. Then there was the whole school picture and later the staff picture.
 After staff meeting Lauren and I went for a run and to do some exercise. When we were outside wrapping it up there was this little boy on a bicycle riding by. He said something and then I asked him if he spoke English and he kept going. Lauren and I were chatting and we saw him go over to the dumpsters and dig through it. Lauren wanted to go over and talk to him. (Really I did the talking since she doesn't speak Portuguese yet). We asked him what he was looking for and he told me toys and what not. I asked him where he lived and he pointed to this tree I know---it commonly has people living under it. He said that he lives there with his mom and 9 brothers and sisters! Woh! Lauren told him to please stop digging in the trash and that she wanted to give him some food. He said ok. We both went back to our apartments and came back with some things we had. He was grateful. He asked what religion we were. I told him that we are Christians and he said that he is too. That was great. We chatted with him for awhile and then Lauren said she wanted to pray for him. She prayed and then I told him what she said. One part in her prayer was about how this experience can help him to help others and tell them his story. He said, "Like a missonary?" I said, "Maybe." He said, "I want to be a missionary." Awww. He went to the tree where his family was. Lauren and I were saying goodbye when he came back with his puppy. It was a cute, energetic little dog, but it has a swollen belly and felt like it had something wrong with it's fur. Sad. He asked us if we could teach him English and we said yes. The words he did know in English were good, no strong accent. I felt bad for him. He said that he goes to school every once in awhile depending on where they live. Things like this break my heart.
  Please pray that I get more opportunities to talk to him, his name is Isaac. He is a sweet kid. My heart goes out to kids living in situations that they cannot control. I did not get to talk to or see the rest of his family tonight, but pray for them also.
  Por amor de ti, Brasil! (For the love of you, Brasil.) On Saturday I saw lots of people trying to sell candies and gum dragging their kids behind them. Help me be effective God.

Sooo bummed!

  So last night myself and another teacher, Lauren, were invited to have dinner at another teacher's house. They live kind of far and have this great big house. While taking a tour their teenagers asked us if we wanted to feed the monkeys. Monkeys? We went in their backyard and there were monkeys in their mango tree. One of the teenagers grabbed a banana and started to cut it up and asked if we wanted to try it. Lauren asked if they were going to bite. They told us no, but that they would grab your hand for the banana. Lauren tried it and I stood by to take pictures. As she was standing there a monkey came down and gently grabbed the banana out of her hand and ate it. It was soooo cute! These monkeys are called 'micu' and have a long furry tail and are small monkeys. I then started to feed the monkeys and it was the coolest experience ever! There were 3 bigger monkeys and a baby. We feed them for awhile and I took pictures and videos of the whole experience. One of the teenagers even got a monkey to lay on his arm for a banana. Then we are starfruit from another tree in their yard. I felt like I was living a cool Brazilian experience. This family has a great view of the famous JK Bridge here. I took lots of pictures. When we went into the house I wanted to see my videos and turn the sound on. I hit the menu button and was talking to someone and ERASED ALL OF THE PICTURES! AHHHH!!! I was sooooo depressed for the rest of the night. I found a couple of websites that allow you to recover deleted pictures and it cost $40. I am thinking it is worth it for those pictures...I just don't have an external card reader, which apparently I need. I want those pictures....so sad.
  In other news...working on my newsletter and my washing machine keeps leaking!

Quick update

  Well it has been a little while since I have posted....I just feel like there is sooo much going on around here! I wonder if I will ever have moments to breathe. Last week at staff devotions someone said 'we have more time here than we ever did in the states'....I was thinking, 'huh?' I feel so rushed all the time! Last Wednesday my doorman said to me, "You never stop do you?" It is true. I get up in the morning to catch the bus and then am at school all day and I run home and then run out again to either eat dinner at someone's house or something. So crazy. I do love life here, but I wish I had more time to explore the city.
  Last week I met some great teachers who teach at EAB, Escola Americano do Brasilia (The American School), at church. Get this! There is a couple who is from San Marcos, Ca (Vanessa) and Encinitas, Ca (Mark)! Such a small world! She went to Tri-City Christian and they met at Bible School. They married and lived in Columbia for 2 years. They have been in Brasilia since July. Nice couple. There is a growth group(Bible study) near my apartment that is great! It is sooo nice to have great fellowship and in English! Such sweet people. I am truly enjoying my time here.
   On Friday after school I went to get a manicure and pedicure with some other teachers. It was nice and dirt cheap. On Saturday we went to the Bridal shower of one of our coworkers. Here was an interesting thing--in Brazil at a shower, they ask you questions that they already asked your fiancee, and if you get them wrong they get to mark on you! It was crazy! Poor Raquel looked a mess!
  Well there is my quick update.....
Pictures:
My first Brazilian rainbow; some familiar items; the lake; "The signal of life"; Raquel at her Bridal Shower (great unibrow, eh?); manicures and pedicures; my pedicured feet with new sandals

Food and Fellowship

  Our two other teachers, Stephanie and Lauren, came on Wednesday. On Wednesday night we all went out to Pizza a Bessa, which is an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant. They walk around with all different kinds and you say yes or no. It was good.
  On Friday night, we went out as staff with families to the Brazilian BBQ restaurant (Churrascaria). Talk about gluttony! It was soooo good! All the meat you can eat---all different kinds. Their garlic bread was out of this world! To get to the restuarant we took the subway and it was rush hour so we were packed in there like sardines! Kind of funny.
  School is going okay--the kids are trying to get away with all sorts of murder, but I squashed that quick. I am glad it is the weekend!
  I have a lot of planning to do for next week...plan plan plan....this is my life.

The above photos are: the gang at Pizza Bessa; dessert pizza (yum); Josh asking for yummy garlic bread and cheese at the Churrascaria, meat; a plate of meat; Maggie and the amazing pineapple; and me and my students

First Day of Teaching...

  Today was my first day and I got all cute in pink and black, but professional looking. I took a taxi with one of the other teachers this morning. I went to staff devos and it was about desiring to do God's Will.
  My students were a bit wild today, but are learning about my classroom management styles. I have some very cute and bright students. I have students from South Africa, England (I love his accent), Spain (another favorite), Kuwait, etc etc. What a mix! They were pretty good though. I have one that is going to be a pill to change...I guess I should start with changing where he sits...LOL. My students kept interrupting me today to ask me personal questions---a little annoying. At recess they all said that I look 15. Funny. Later they asked me to speak Japanese too.
  The shortest period of the day was lunch--it went by so fast. Standing all day was hard too....blame it on the cute shoes. After school I was taken to get some pictures taken for my Brazilian work card, etc. After that I was going to go shopping for an alarm clock and some other things. Travis and I were debriefing about our first day of teaching split classes in his classroom when I was summoned to leave for shopping. We get all the way to the parking lot of the store and I realize that I left my purse in Travis' classroom! Ahhhh! The people I was with, were gracious enough to buy all of my stuff and let me pay them later. I felt soooo dumb!
   After shopping us single teachers ate dinner and dessert at Maggie's, it was fun. I now need to shower and get ready for bed! Tchau!

A rainy Sunday!

When I think about today I smile because of the bizareness of it all. I got picked up to go to International Baptist Church of Brasilia. I first attended Sunday school and it was great! They just started the book of Luke. The way he led and laid out the foundations was amazing. It was very informative. Church was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I have to admit that I had low expecations, but it was very well done. Great worship music, too. Here is my funny story...well I guess I have two. Towards the end of the service they asked in English, if there were any new visitors. I was sitting next to Travis, a teacher at my school, and it was our first time there. We started to argue about who was going to raise their hand first. Then the man asked the same question, but in Portuguese and we both raised our hands. In Portuguese he said, "We have one couple there." It can mean a couple of people or a married couple. I quickly yelled, "No, no, we're not." in Portuguese. Travis doesn't speak Portuguese so he was lost. I could not stop laughing and he was asking me what was going on. I told him, "Well now everyone thinks we are a married couple." He said, "What? Okay, we can stay married until I find someone else." Ouch. He doesn't want to be married to me. Laugh out loud. It was funny then the other teachers from the school started congratulating us on our marriage. One even went as far as to say it was 'prophetic'. Oh geez. As much as I liked the international church, I also would like to attend a Brazilian one. So far I have met lots of foreigners, but I want to meet Brazilians.


After church I went out with 2 families to an all you can eat Brazilian restaurant where you pay by how much your plate weighs. It was good, but it was in a make-shift building...it didn't have real walls and it started to pour sheets and sheets! The wind picked up too and the next thing we know we are trying to eat in the rain! It was nuts and funny! One of the families was supposed to take me shopping, but the rain was too crazy so we postponed it. They did take me to the grocery store though.

The rest of the evening I spent with Maggie, the teacher who fractured her ankle yesterday. We watched movies and chatted. The admin from our school brought her over dinner and DVD's. That was nice of them.

I had a milestone today! I walked from Maggie's apartment to mine, by myself at midnight! I have to admit I was a bit scared, but I found my way! I now feel like I can take on the city...well at least a little section of it.

Tonight I was hit by the awesomeness of God. I always knew that, but to look at my life and where I have been and where I am going, I am truly amazed and overwhelmed. I pray that He will always been glorified in my life.

Tomorrow is Brazil's Independence Day and I was invited to hike with a family from the school...we will see about the weather. I need to do more lesson planning too.

The above photos are: The church; the married couple; the roof with the rain at the restaurant; and Jill and I hiding from the rain....

I have arrived!

  Yes, I am in Brasilia, Brasil...when I arrived it felt like a dream and that it wasn't real. I needed a BIG pinch. You see, this has been a LONG time coming...and the fact that I am actually here is a testimony to God's greatness and plan. I serve a GREAT GOD.
  I caught all of my flights just fine with no long layovers. By the time I got to Sao Paulo I was starting to get a bit crabby from the lack of sleep and good food. Once I reached Brasilia I was running on pure adrenaline! I was so excited and taking pictures of everything. I was taken to the school after being picked up from the airport. I took a tour of the school and my new students were very happy to meet me. As I met the other students in the school, they were also happy to meet me. It felt like coming home.
     After hanging out at the school I was taken to my apartment. The apartment that I am living in was originally saved for a family that is coming, but since they are still waiting on some paperwork I am the new tenant until they come. It is a very big apartment, with 3 bedrooms. It is near some stores and a major road. Speaking of major roads--the driving her perplexes me. It looks like organized chaos! It would be ideal to have a car, but I am not sure I would be able to catch on so quickly. They have a lot of roundabouts here.
  After freshening up I went out to dinner with some folks. We went to this great all you can eat chicken restaurant. There was also rice, potato salad, polenta fries, salad, etc. Yum! The desserts were really good too.
  Today I went to the school to discuss where the current teacher was in curriculum. I got right down to business with lesson planning. I am so excited to start teaching. Can't wait! After planning I was supposed to get together with another teacher, but she fractured her ankle today. Yikes. I ended up walking down towards the shops on my street. Unfortunately pretty much everything was closed. I did eat at this nice restaurant by myself. I had a piece of steak, rice, a fried egg, beans, and a salad plus a drink for about $10 USD. It was pretty good. The meat didn't quite have the flavor I was looking for, but was okay.
  Random things--I managed to lock myself in the bathroom yesterday--fun. I also had a hard time unlocking my house and using the elevator..so random. On the flight from Sao Paulo to Brasilia I was given this snack and I assumed it was strawberry cookies and I opened one to lick the cream out....and it was a ham paste! Talk about shocking your taste buds! Yikes! Never again. I have also been eaten by some bugs already--not looking forward to that. It has been raining too and it is rare for this time of the year is what I have been told.
  I am really enjoying life here--it just feels so right. Tomorrow I will be going to the international church with everyone and then someone is taking me shopping at Walmart and Sam's Club. I need to go make my list...tchau tchau...
  Contending for the faith!