First Week... Finally!

I figure that the most interesting thoughts come from the first week, so I have included my daily happenings with my commentary. I will get to the good stuff in my next post (soon!).
 

I’m typically a chronological processer, so it may be a slightly boring format… but since it’s about the first week, you’ll have to indulge me. ;)

 

Tuesday (April 2, 2013) – Landed safely and slightly rested. Quickly got my bags (intact.) Breezed thru immigration and customs (with all that I had with me, I was extremely surprised!) Was greeted by a smiling familiar face; thanks to my friend Jefferson (the preacher.) Headed to my first home of the trip; I am staying with a girl named Claudia. She is an English teacher here, so we can talk easily, but she will also be my Portuguese teacher (how convenient!) The quick tour of my new place revealed an all too familiar view that I found quite amusing (sans mountains, of course.)

I was treated to Outback steakhouse for lunch (Welcome to Brazil!?!) Managed to buy a few things at the store… BY MYSELF (I am really proud of myself for this!!) Got back to the apartment in one piece and passed out for a couple hours (airplane sleep is the worst!) Quickly got to work settling in and unpacking (I am thankful for my incredible organizing skills; I have quite a bit to make work in a small space.) Took a break when Claudia arrived home with Burger King for dinner (yay more American food!) We talked for a couple hours getting to know each other. Then, I stayed up WAY too late trying to get to a good stopping point in my unpacking (I get a little manic like this sometimes, some might just call it stubborn….PotAto, PotAHto!)

Wednesday – Got up and around (slowly) to have lunch with Jefferson and his wife Dani (finally some Brazilian food!) We then try to attain a local number for my use here (much more complicated with smartphones, especially locked ones; but we got a plan anyway in the hopes of getting my phone unlocked quickly.) Went to the bank to get a bus card/pass (patience is a virtue!) We went to the store to find a few more items I needed (much less daunting with someone.) Then, we stopped at McDonalds for some ice cream before they brought me back home. I spent the rest of the evening finagling the whole unlocking-the-phone thing and just before I gave up, found the really easy solution (internet searches can be tricky little stinkers sometimes!) Having reached the top of this particular “Everest” I was exhausted and easily drifted to sleep (at much too late an hour, again.)

Thursday – Spent the morning with Claudia, doing my first lesson and some chores. Headed to the church (my first time to take the bus… and I went by myself) to get the Grand Tour with Jefferson. We also discussed the general overview of how the church could use my help (I’ll keep busy) and the status of their LST reader contacts (did I say busy?… I mean really busy.) The church here has their midweek service on Thursday so I attended and met several people. The service was mostly a time of prayer. It’s amazing how much the Spirit can translate the hearts of people! After service I was invited to dinner by a couple there, along with Jefferson. They brought me home which was really nice because the transportation at night can be a little.... let’s say “complicated.”

Friday – I got to sleep in, which was very much needed, and then stayed in the apartment to do a few chores. By evening I was getting ready for dinner with my friend, Bruno, and his wife, Tami. We met at the shopping mall that is right across from the apartment I'm staying in. We ate at Pizza Hut which was a little different than it is at home but good. We ended up staying there almost 4 hours talking, catching up and whatnot.

Saturday – I got to meet up with my dear friend Carolina for lunch at the mall and we spent a couple hours talking and also catching up and enjoying the patio. We then headed to the church and spent the evening at a youth event playing games that were aimed at getting the kids some Bible knowledge and memory verse recall. Very funny times. On one of the games, I was very surprised at my own language comprehension and memory recollection (I helped the girls win!)

Sunday – marathon day. It started out getting up really early so I could leave the house by 7:30 to be at praise team practice at 8. Bible class is at 9 and I have been asked to support the children's ministry volunteer and bring ideas to grow the ministry, so I decided to observe class for a few weeks. There were some really cute kids and I was proud I actually kind of kept caught up with what they were saying. As we moved into time for service I met a lot more people was greeted by lots of kisses and good mornings and welcomes, which is always nice. (I felt a little like a rock star!) Claudia was throwing a birthday party for herself that a few of us went to after service. It was definitely a good first experience for my first few days there and helped me get enveloped in culture. Luckily since Claudia is an English teacher, lots of her friends that were there also speak English. I got I got some good conversation in, and gave some of them some practice. We headed back to the church for praise team practice and service. After service we went out for pizza with the youth which was entertaining. We stayed out a little late which made for interesting transportation obstacles (surprise, surprise!) The friends I was riding with and I had to  walk a little ways to get to the bus stop that would actually have a bus coming through, but ended up getting a Cambi which is like a taxi bus. By the time I got home it had been a 19 hour day on only about four and a half hours of sleep (which is always my favorite....) :-/

Monday – SLEEP!!! It was a pretty uneventful end to my first full week. I’m pretty sure I stayed in my pj’s all day!!! J

----------------------------------------------------------------

Please feel free to comment with any specific questions you'd like me to answer in my future posts. I want to make sure to include the things you'd be interested to read about.