a weekend in paradise

We went to the beach this weekend.  It was beautiful!  We left Friday afternoon and came back Sunday evening.  It was sunny both Saturday and Sunday.  I got a tan.  And it's winter here.  That's just not right. 

The weekend is here!

You'll never guess where I am! UNICAMP - the university I studied at last year!

It's been a crazy couple weeks... As I shared in my last blog, I arrived Sunday evening and started working Monday morning. After a full week of work (on average working from 8am to 9 or 10pm, with perhaps an hour or two break at some point during the day... perhaps), I helped out with the marriage retreat over the weekend, and came back for work Monday morning. "Work" includes a lot of things out here - throughout the week, I accompanied the group as translator, driver, coordinator, or whatever they needed at the moment. I worked with them a little, I translated a lot, I slipped away when I could to work on paperwork stuff, I gave tours, and the list goes on...

The marriage retreat was really great. I'll have to put up a couple pictures later. The hotel/retreat center we were at was absolutely beautiful! The speaker did a great job, and the couples got to have a romantic candlelight evening on Saturday. We finished off the weekend with church Sunday evening downtown. (By the way, I did not participate in the weekend, but went as a translator and helper. But no worries, everyone assured me they're praying for me...maybe I'll get to participate next year. haha)

I have spent most of this week in the office - Tuesday through Friday. Philip left to the States yesterday, and with no groups here, my work has slowed down considerably. I am really enjoying my work, but I have been looking forward to the weekend!

I left work a couple hours early today and decided I'd come to UNICAMP and pay a visit to my old classmates. I happened to run into one of the guys as he was leaving and he let me know where the group was having class and assured me it would be no problem to poke my head in and say hi. So that's exactly what I did... and they all laughed in disbelief and invited me in. Class is almost over now. We'll see what the weekend holds...

Greetings from Campinas

In case you were wondering, I made it Campinas just fine! I arrived Sunday evening. The roommates suggested we order a pizza, and while we waited, we rented a movie (under my name from my account from last year!). It was midnight by the time the movie was over, so off to bed we went. A group had arrived Sunday morning, so I was up and at it Monday morning. Minus about an hour from 6-7 in the evening, I am with the group all day - from about 8 or 9 in the morning until 10 or so in the evening. Tonight I probably won't get that hour break, and we're going on the birthday outing with the boys, so it will probably be a late night. Wish me luck! :o)

We're not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure

Imagine the scene: You've just gotten off yet another bus that whips through the city and the tiniest streets as though it were a little motorcycle or something.  As planned, you find a phone at the bakery and call for a ride to your final destination - a daycare and possible site for future volunteer work.  While waiting, you buy a little something for breakfast (a questionable little something that leaves you wondering how you'll feel by the afternoon, but still pretty tasty).  You head outside to wait for your ride, standing on the sidewalk at the intersection of two streets.  Looking down one street, you're at the top of a hill with a great view of the city.  As you look up the other street, however, you're merely at the bottom of yet another hill.  As you're enjoying your little breakfast, an SUV with the words "Policia Militar" on the side comes slowly around the corner.  The vehicle is filled with four men, one glaring out each window at whomever is in his line of fire as they drive by.  You make eye contact with one of the men and then chills race down your spine as you realize the barrel of an AK-47 is also pointed straight at you.  Only as the vehicle makes its way up the street do you realize that each of those men peering out their respective windows is armed and letting everyone know it.

That was the first time I was in such a situation.  It was quite an interesting sensation.  I'm sure for people in that area, it is relatively normal.  I guess I could say, "I'm not from around these parts."

The visit to the daycare was spectacular, and we all felt a little more at home.

Our visit had its "finale" as we waited for the bus.  For probably 10 of the 15 minutes or so that we waited, a woman a little down the street sat at her window - that was really more of a large whole in the side of the house - yelling at us and everyone who walked by.  Half of the things she yelled weren't understandable, and those that were were... interesting, to say the least.  I was slightly nervous that she would get up and come over to us - an encounter I was not looking forward to.  It was only later that I realized this encounter would be highly unlikely, as her legs stopped before her knees.  A minute or two after I noticed this, she left the window, using just her arms to mobilize herself.  

We're certainly not in Kansas anymore, Toto. 

Pe de Pato

I just thought I'd share this with you all... we ran into this little guy reading his newspaper in a chair on the sidewalk in front of a school or something and decided to take a picture with him... he couldn't figure out why in the world we would want a picture with him...

Many sides of Brazil

This weekend we got to see Brazil from a variety of angles.  With no meetings to go to, we were pretty free to enjoy Belo Horizonte.  Keeley and I kicked it off with a run in the Praca da Liberdade (Liberty Plaza) Saturday morning.  I of course just walked, in order to save my back (which is feeling better every day).  We came back to the hotel to shower up and meet up with Wanessa for some lunch.  Then it was off to the museum, which showed the history of the city.  The museum is located in a house from the original village that gave the great city of Belo Horizonte its start.  Once done with the museum, we swung back by the hotel to freshen up and head out to one of Belo's thousands of bars - a feature that helps give the city its fame as the bar capital of the world.  Wanessa, Valico, Fernanda, Margo, Keeley, Ryan, and I all had a great time enjoying little appetizers and a drink or two - along with a lot of laughs.  They are a great group!  Valico offered to take us out dancing afterwards, so dancing it was!  Keeley, Ryan, and I went with him, and in (almost) true Brazilian fashion, were there until 3:30 or so in the morning.  I say "almost" because true Brazilian fashion would have kept us out at least a few more hours.  We were in bed by about 4:30 and up at 6 in order to get to the Hippie Fair with Fernanda.  This is not just any Hippie Fair, however.  It's Brazil's largest, with over 9,000 booths!  We were there for an hour, and as you might guess, it wasn't nearly enough time to see it all.  But we had to get back to the hotel, as Valico was to pick us up and take us to our next engagement.  The 45-minute drive took us to the house of Claudia - a friend of Margo's.  It was not just a house, though... It was in a gated community.  And by community, I mean small countryside.  It was complete with hills, lakes (presumedly man-made), and - of course - a bar.  Virtually every house had its own pool.  We got the tour of their place first, which included their chickens, roosters, ducks, and dogs.  We got to see the monkeys only at the end of our stay.  During the 5 hours or so that we spent at their house, we laid out by the pool, talked, had lunch, and even toured the neighbor's house.  It was a nice day!  We ordered pizza last night, watched a movie, and called it a day.

The three amigos outside the museum.

 

Fernanda, Keeley, and I at the "buteco" as the bars are known around here - Bar do Doca.

Just a glimpse of Brazil's largest Hippie Fair. 

Beautiful house!

 

It may be an awkward picture, but we're all in there - Valico, me, Ryan, Michael, Claudia, Keeley, and Margo.  And the two dogs - Bela and Gabby.