Capoeira

One day I was walking through the city and came across this in the middle of a park area.  It's called capoeira and is a very traditional Brazilian type of martial art that focuses on dance and music.  Pretty neat.

And here's a picture of our very own Alisha practicing capoeira the first time she came to Brazil almost 3 years ago.

A Smith Family Visit

My dad and grandma were here for 6 days last week.  Arriving on Thanksgiving day.  I decided to take them to paradise for a day or two.  We relaxed on the beach, drank coconut water, tried to watch the sunrise (it comes up way earlier than I thought), held a sea urchin, and even got to walk out on some reefs and found one natural pool that is shaped like Brazil.  

The sunrise that was still beautiful even though we missed it.

Me holding the sea urchin.  It tickled a lot.

Grandma, Annika and I at dinner. 

Grandma made a friend at Derby and even taught her a word in English-- "hug". 

I got to introduce them to one of the ladies, Riso, who donated her time when we first arrived to teach us Portuguese and has continued to be an awesome friend. 

We had an amazing lunch with the ministers and deacons in the church in São Lourenço and their families. A fun afternoon had by all.  Including coconut water, fresh fruit juice, yummy food, and lots of translating.  

We even got to see a few museums and get to know the culture a little better.

Thanksgiving: Brazilian Style

We all knew that being in Brazil for Thanksgiving was going to be a little bit weird.  I mean, for one thing Thanksgiving is during the fall...not the spring.  For another, Thanksgiving is all about Pilgrims and Indians.  I don't even know the Portuguese word for 'pilgrims' (Annika does, and has been great about sharing the true Thanksgiving story)...it's just not one of those words that people use everyday.  Anyway, many, many months ago an awesome missionary family invited us to spend Thanskgiving at their house.  We eagerly accepted.  A little about their family: Dennis, an American, married Germana, a Brazilian, and they have two beautiful half Brazilian/ half American daughters, Paulina and Victoria.  However, they all joke that Germana is the most American one in the family when in comes to Thanksgiving.  She was so excited that we all got to spend the day together.

We started planning the menu and set a day on our calendars.  We were even going to invite my dad and grandma who were going to be visiting me and could bring us some of those coveted "Thanksgiving ingredients" that don't exist here in Brazil.  However, plans didn't work out quite that well, and we ended up having the dinner before my dad and grandma arrived.  So, on Tuesday morning, we gathered in Germana's kitchen to try our hand at our planned Thanksgiving foods.  While we didn't have all of the ingredients to make our traditional thanksgiving foods, we did pretty good and even added in some foods that just reminded us of home.  We had a feast of delicious food as we brought both American and Brazilian together to give thanks for what God has provided for us (too much of a stretch trying to connect it back to the original Indians and Pilgrims?).  

Annika made a delicious corn casserole.

Alisha made dressing and I made fried okra.

Annika created a beautiful fall table setting.  Doesn't it just make you want to sit down and eat!

And we all sat down to enjoy or Thanksgiving meal.  We even invited Germana's mom and neice to join or celebration. 

Our menu consisted of chicken, gravy, dressing, biscuits  fried okra, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, salad and passion fruit juice.  With strawberry cheesecake and apple cobbler with cinnamon rolls on top for dessert.  

Yumm!

Jabuticaba

Anybody ever seen a fruit that grows on the trunk of the tree?!

Now you have.  It's called Jabuticaba.  It's a sweet, gooey fruit that takes over the trunk of the tree.  You break the skin, eat the sweet, gooey inside and spit the seed out.  The darker and bigger the fruit the sweeter it is.  Those green ones aren't ready yet and are still pretty bitter tasting. 

Wonderful People

 We went to our first Brazilian soccer game, the national team was playing against China. They won 8-0! It was a huge stadium filled with energetic fans and waves of yellow and green. Here we are with our friends Camila, Diogo and Nicole.

One Wednesday night we had a huge group, we talked about Daniel and the Lion's Den, made these bookmarks on which we wrote phrases to help us remember to trust in God

 We helped our friend Riso teach an English class for adults.  Some of them were shy but they also asked us lots of questions and we ending with singing God is so Good.   Afterwards one of her students took us quickly by several different beaches

 We went out to sushi with some of our friends from Portuguese class, we had a mix of Japanese, Australian, French, Colombian and Brazilian friends all speaking Portuguese. 

We had our new neighbors, the three couples from church that live in the same apartment complex, plus a few other friends over for a big mexican dinner. One batch of our enchiladas was too spicy for some of them.  It was a lively night of community and laughter. We're thankful for these friends, they've been helpful with getting us set up in our new place. 

Caetano Veloso

Meet the newest member of our little home: Caetano! He is the most amazing of little cats, and speaks Portuguese! Taking his name from on of Brazil's most famous singers, Caetano Veloso, our little guy has quite the singing voice!

And here's a trailer from the moive that inspired his name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS8uhFa0MYg

This documentary is about Tropicalismo, a revolutionary musical movement in the late sixties that has had a lasting impact on Brazilian culture, even up to this day. I saw it on Monday in theaters and was much intrigued by the music and the passion. I was also excited because it was my first Brazilian national film to see in theaters, and I was able to follow fairly well with my limited knowledge of the beautiful Portuguese language.

Seasons

Happy October! So it's that time of year again... fall. The leaves are changing, the air is getting crisper... and yet here we are, tanning by the pool in the warm summer sun. It's strange not experiencing the fall weather. This will be the first time in my life that this beautiful season won't touch me. It's caused me to pause and think about the rhythms of life, the seasons, the cycles, how we are all affected by the passages of time, even if subconsciously.

Full Moon

And so from this end of the world . . . Happy Summer!

Jovens Retreat

At the jovens retreat in Belo Jardim, a city about 3 hours inland from Recife, it was cool, so we had to bring jackets and blankets and it was still cold.  Not cold, but 55 or 60 degrees. There were about 100 young people, ages 12-30, from all over the state of Pernambuco coming together for 3 days of lessons, praise, food, games and fellowship.  It was an interesting mix since there was a variety of teens and young adults so I felt like I was half participant and half helper.  I helped get our team get into the relays, games, building of spiritual armor and washing dishes. 

We got to spend quality time with people deepening relationships as well as get to know new friends. Annika and I were able to reconnect with some of the people we met from other cities two years ago. There were a few girls in particular I met and spent a good amount of time with, both of them didn’t know many other people, it was a blessing that God brought us there to cross paths and encourage each other.  

Sagui!

At a camp a few weeks ago a young girl asked a group of us if we wanted to go exploring the city during free time and see the monkeys.  My automatic response was "yes!"  I've lived here for 6 months now and the only monkeys I've seen have been caged monkeys in this park downtown.  So we all got ready and set out on our walk.

After walking a little while, we stopped in this little square and I asked her how much longer till we got to see the monkeys.  She looked up and pointed and there above our heads were like 5 Sagui monkeys hanging out in this little habitat in the tree in the middle of town.  Naturally, we bought bananas and tried to lure them down, but they were very skeptical.  Here's a video of the friendliest...or hungriest.

We moved!

Sorry it's been so long.  We've been without internet since we moved almost a month ago.  Which brings me to the exciting news for the day...WE MOVED! After lots of prayers, lots of talking, and lots of trying to decide between practicality and awesome neighbors--we decided to move.  We don't live on that crazy steep hill anymore in the middle of São Lourenço, but in an apartment building about 5 minutes away from the center of town.  There are definite advantages and disadvantages to both of the houses, but I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be living in this new community.  We now have room for people to come visit and stay with us...*hint hint*!

The Dancing Dog

On our way to a friend's house out in the country, we walked past this dancing dog.  It's kinda entertaining because he's dancing to the music, but also really sad because he's been hearing nothing but loud music for so long that he can't do anything else.

Sorry about all the wind and the bad sound quality.

Obstacle Course in the Streets!

There have been quite a few interesting things in the street recently that deserve being shared with the rest of the world.  :)

Exhibit A: This is a giant tree stump. 

I don't really know where this tree stump came from because I'd never seen it before in my life, but one day it showed up on our way home and three days later it was gone.  They were doing a lot of construction on the road and I'm not sure if they dug it up, or were using it to defer traffic.  Either way, it made for an interesting landmark.  

 Exhibit B: This is a large pile of bricks.

A lot of people are doing construction on their houses right now so it's a pretty normal thing to see large piles of bricks or piles of sand in front of people's houses.  I also just find it funny because when someone is bringing us home, we just have to tell them that our house is the one in front of the giant pile of bricks.

Exhibit C: Lots of Water and a giant hole.

(Picture to come eventually)

Something happened about a month ago to a pipe on our street and it has been leaking water ever since.  They've come out to fix it a few times, but can't exactly find the problem.  So the hole keeps growing and shrinking and the water keeps flowing.  It's made our steep hill a little hard to climb!

Festa de Agosto

August 10th is the day to commemorate the saint that our city of São Lourenço is named after.  Pretty much it means that Friday, August 10th is a holiday in São Lourenço and anyone that works here got the day off.  Now, I know what you're all wondering.  "What if I live in São Lourenço, but work in Recife?"  Well, you don't get the day off, but Recife had there own special day off a few weeks ago, so I guess it all works out in the end.  Anyway, starting the first day of August until the 12th day of August, there is a type of 'city fair' along one of the streets.  São Lourenço is pretty big, but this particular street isn't too far from our house.  So, when I still hadn't heard any noise or seen anything different in the city by the 3rd or 4th day, I wasn't expecting too much.

Sunday night, after church, we went with some of the young adults to the 'fair/ show'.   I was surprised to find that it was a little bit like the Texas State Fair...with a few exceptions--one of which being that the only fried food was french fries.  Typical foods are chocolate or candy covered apples, chocolate covered strawberries, espetinho (grilled meat on a stick), french fries, and hot dogs.  Another difference was that everything was crammed into one street...which wouldn't be that bad, but it's one of the main streets going through São Lourenço and so not only are there street vendors lining the street and people jam packed walking through the street...but there's also cars and buses trying to get through.

There were also a few "kids" rides--a pirate ship and one like the Sombrero at Six Flags and a few that are like mini roller coasters with just a little track.  One major difference is that there were no seat belts or safety precautions like I'm used to at a place like that.  The ride that was like the Sombrero at Six Flags was called the Samba.  There were kids that were standing in the middle of the ride instead of sitting, everyone was holding on for dear life, and one mother had created a seatbelt for her young son who was just flopping all over the place by putting her legs over his lap and hooking her feet around the handrail next to the door to get off of the ride.  It was such an interesting experience!

 Alisha and our friend Douglas on the Ferris Wheel.

Valeska and I on the little roller coaster...yes, I screamed, and yes, I actually was scared for my life.

All in all, a great experience and if you're ever in Brazil at the beginning of August, make a trip out to São Lourenço to experience the "Festa de Agosto."

MOLD! YIKES!...or not.

Our North American mold beliefs were radically shaken over the last few months.  There were a few specific days that were almost overwhelmingly traumatic, but we survived, leaned some lessons about earthly possessions, and are hopefully better for it.  

Here are just a few examples of our "earthly possessions" that we've either figured out how to clean or live without (I wish I had more pictures to show you, but I really only have 2).  I think it's pretty incredible the amount of mold that can build up in just a few days.  

Just before Easter, Annika found this craft online and we all thought it was a great idea for our used matches.  We were all really sad when it started leaking and then molding once the "rainy season" started, but are looking forward to the day when we can make more.  

**Disclaimer:  To all of you who are horrified/ scared for our livelihood.  We really are fine, the rainy season is ending and our house will return to the way it was before the mold very soon :)

Acampateen: Guerra Espiritual (Teen Camp: Spiritual Warfare)

We spent this last weekend back at the lovely campground in Aldeia (the same one from Annika's post about São João) as counselors for a teen camp.    It was a wonderfully fun, exhausting, challenging and unforgettable weekend.

The most challenging part for me was the language.  We've all gotten pretty good at having one on one conversations, but when it comes to leading discussions or trying to follow a million people talking at once...it's just exhausting.  Thankfully, we were all paired up with some other wonderful counselors.  I was paired up with a girl who was incredibly patient and understanding, while still pushing me to lead as much as I could.  We had some awesome campers and were able to get to know a lot of new kids, and continue to build the relationships with kids that we've met at other camps or see every week at church.

Every night there was a different theme for dinner.  We all dressed up and got silly and had a blast.  The themes were camouflage, superheroes and circ du soleil.

(This was a little after dinner, where they picked the 'best dressed' from each team and made them come to the front.  When they were introducing me they mentioned that I was an American...so the judges started asking if I was an impostor and decided that to prove my innocence I had to sing the Brasilian National Anthem.  One problem: I don't know the Brasilian National Anthem.  Eventually one of the guys behind me started singing in a really high voice and I just started mouthing words.)

(Annika even learned how to juggle so she could be in character for the circus night.)

There was a haunted house type thing where all the boy counselors were scary monsters.  The campers had the option of going through it if they wanted to, but a majority of them decided to go even if they were a little scared.  One of the girl counselors was TERRIFIED, but still decided that she wanted to go.  Since she was a counselor and not a camper, the boy counselors decided to take advantage of the fact that she was already scared and focus all of their scaring efforts on her.  At one point, I lost my grip on her hand and all the "monsters" carried her off into another room and wouldn't let me go save her.  As weird as it sounds, it was a blast.

Alisha also brought back marshmallows and graham crackers from her recent trip home and we got to share s'mores with some people.  We had to cook them over the stove, but they were delicious.  A few of the boys ended up playing "chubby bunny" with the leftover marshmallows and it was hilarious.

The leaders of the camp also like to make silly videos to show each year.  Here are a few of the ones that we watched this year at camp.  Now, if you don't understand Portuguese, you won't be able to understand them, but they're pretty funny just to watch too.  And you'll get to see a little bit of the city as all of the videos were taken in Recife and most at the Boa Vista church building.  A few of the ones we've watched are "a história do homi cone" and "ninjinho trailer".  Alisha is actually in the "grito da guerra-equipe deserto" as it was the war chant for the team she was on during the camp.   Click here.

Acampakids

This past weekend we were at Acampakids helping in the kitchen as cooks along with a few other women from Sao Lourenco to prepare meals for about 130 campers and helpers.  At camps and events here they prepare full, hearty meals from scratch, nothing simple or pre-made.  Each morning we began really early making breakfast and it was an all-day event in the kitchen preparing one meal after another  We prepared everything from juice, fried steak, crème de galinha, beans, soup, fries and more.  To make juice we washed, blended and strained acerola or maracuja (passion fruit) added sugar and water and put it all in a huge pot.  We did lots of chopping and all played different parts preparing the masses of food.  I cooked the steak and fries in sizzling oil and did my best to avoid the burning pops that jumped out.  Annika and I even broke out into a series of hymns amidst our work one afternoon.  It was exhausting but we enjoyed it. 

Preparing Acerola Juice

We did get a few breaks in which we were able to help the kids in a type of scavenger hunt, ride a horse, and hang out.  Annika and I taught a few songs in English to some of the kids, it was a bit hard to teach but fun for all of us.  We also got to hang out with some of the other youth helpers that were there and have a good time visiting, one girl Camila got really excited and started asking all kinds of questions about our lives and also about English.  We’re thankful for the time we had to serve and build more relationships.

Pray for us as we have a teen camp this weekend!

Weekend Retreat and São João

This past weekend was spent at a youth camp hosted at a ranch out in the countryside. Here “youth” ranges from 13 to 35, so it was a great time for “young people” of all ages! The topic was “faith and reason” and the sessions were great Portuguese practice for Kasey and I. The weekend was also great time to get to know the young people from Sao Lourenco as well as meet others from churches in other cities.

The camp also fell on the weekend of one of the most extensively celebrated holidays here in the northeast, the celebration of Saint John or São João. With origins as a catholic holiday, it has grown into a celebration of the “matuto,” the people who live in the interior of the country and are not up with the times . . . If we were speaking in American terms the closest word would probably be a hillbilly! To celebrate people dress up in “matuto” fashion. For girls it’s bright, ruffled, and beribboned dresses with hair in braids. For guys it’s plaid shirts with straw hats and drawn on moustaches or beards.

São João decorations of colored flags and paper lanterns 

For our celebration there was:

a huge bonfire to dance around and roast ears of corn (yummy!).  

the bonfire . . . all ready for the big night!

lots of other tasty foods, all made from corn including Canjica, Pamonha and Bolo de Milho 

(follow the link for info and recipes :)

and finally... the holiday wouldn’t be complete without the Quadrilha and Forró... traditional northeastern dances!

our group dancing the Quadrilha

Aaaand here's a super fun Quadrilha song for your enjoyment! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj5p4gvIre8

Another wonderful part of the retreat was the location in beautiful Aldeia, a natural area of green loveliness. On Saturday, a group went for a walk on the trail down into the forested valley below. It was a gorgeous jungle hike that went on and on through the lush greenery until the trail turned a corner and you suddenly come upon a little piece of paradise.

A long winding stair leads down into a quiet and sheltered hollow, with large paving stones, a pavilion, a natural spring, and a swimming pool fed by the ice cold spring water. It was the most beautiful and mysterious place imaginable, as if it had been lost out in the jungle for a long, long, time, and we were the first to discover its existence. We had tons of fun swimming and exploring the little valley and the surrounding mata (jungle in Portuguese!).