Living and loving in Natal, Brazil

Congratulations to my 5 readers of the week, the 5 who commented on my last post in which I shamelessly asked for comments.

The lucky 5 are:

-Miss Cassie Rice, my 2005 camper extraordinaire
-Miss Carol Lima, my new friend in Natal, and probably the sweetest girl you'll ever meet
-Miss Ann White, my surrogate sister
-Mr. Jim Kizer, employee of Acapella, YouTube video star, and encouraging, supportive friend
-Miss Deanna Meredith, fellow lover of South America, future missionary, and entertainment during boring Psychology classes a few years ago at ACU...
-not my mom. She still hasn't commented. Come on, Mom.

Thanks to you 5. You have boosted my confidence this week that those dots don't grow for nothing.

Today marked 2 weeks since I have been in Natal. I'm still happy, still loving it, and still excited about what God holds for my future in this city. I began my reading sessions yesterday, and thus far have had six great sessions with six great people. With most of them (depending on their level of English) we didn't even get to the lesson, we just talked and got to know each other! I love meeting these people and getting to know about their lives. They range from the ages of 16 to mid-40s, and have had all kinds of interesting experiences to talk to me about. I am excited to get to know them better and to become friends! I am so fortunate to have a job that is not only significant, but FUN as well! I am excited to see what it's like to develop the LST reader-worker relationship over the course of a year, rather than the short 4 week project I experienced last year. To quote a little Gavin DeGraw, but with an entirely different meaning than what he intended in his song, "this is the start of something good, don't you agree?"

Rumor has it that my apartment search is over, but the fact that I'm calling it a rumor should be evidence enough to you that I am not putting all my eggs in this proverbial apartment-shaped basket. We're all hopeful, and if this one works out we will all be ecstatic, but again...I'm leery of the basket. I hope to be bringing to you in the next post or two an explanation of the apartment-finding process in outline form, with the last point being: 10. Mission: Accomplished. (Yes, there will be 10 points, because 9 apartments have been viewed. And I like making outlines.)

I am still fundraising in order to cover unexpected costs and/or the second year of this internship, so if you find a few bucks laying around and think "my goodness, what on Earth could I do with this money?" I encourage you to click on that link over there --->. I promise you it will be put to good use.

Until next time...tchau, gente.