My New Favorite Place

I thought I'd share with my blogging audience that I have a new favorite place in Natal. No, it is not here:Ponta Negra, my favorite beach in Natal

nor here:The church building, where I spend most of my days

nor here:Mangai, the coolest restaurant EVER, and will you please just look at those desserts? (Sidenote: I used to be so pale!! HA!)

nor even here:The hotel pool where I have hung out with Andy and Jonah this week. See Ponta Negra in the background? Yeah.

Are you ready? My new favorite place in Natal...is...drumroll please....HERE!!
"What is that, Cris?" you ask. "It looks like a very bad picture of a post office." You're right! It is the only picture I could find online of a Brazilian post office, and though it is not the exact post office of which I speak, it is a representation nonetheless.

Do you find it strange that My Favorite Place in Natal is a post office? Maybe if you had lived here for 6 months then went to this particular one, you would love it too. You see, my friendly neighborhood post office has the single best air conditioner I have ever experienced in my life. I walked in, took my number, and sat down. Usually in this type of setting, you sit watching the number-shower, cursing the machine because the numbers go by so slowly. Today, however, I sat watching the machine, wishing "Please don't let my number come up. Please don't let my number come up. Just five more minutes...just five more minutes." I knew that when 456 finally came around, I would have to get up. And getting up meant that I was seconds closer to leaving. And leaving meant I was back on the street, walking home in 150 degree heat (ok...95.) I sat in that chair and closed my eyes. I breathed in the frigid air, the kind that leaves your nose pink. The facility is rather new, and still has that new-building smell. I breathed in the new-building smell that is only made purer by cold, processed air. Soon the machine sounded, and 456 popped up in big, red lights. "It's been a good run," I told myself, walking dejectedly to the counter.

So, I'll be looking for more reasons to stop by the post office. Anyone have a craving for mail from Brazil? No matter that it's absurdly expensive to mail things to the US...that air conditioner is 100% worth it.

So pretty much the biggest confidence booster EVER in learning a new language is when you get the chance to translate for a person who doesn't speak it. They depend on you for survival, primarily in ordering coffee, and there is sweet satisfaction when that coffee arrives exactly how they wanted it. I'm on Cloud 9 this week.

So, it's been a while since I've checked in with you, and you are about to find out why. Remember that reference I made to not being the only American in the church anymore? Well, here is your explanation. Last week a new American family arrived to join the missionary work at Comunidade. They were missionaries in Porto Alegre, the complete opposite end of Brazil from Natal, for a few years in the early 00s. There they met and worked with Roberto and Marisa before their move to Natal, and due to family needs/priorities had to move back to the States for a couple years. They have spent those couple years resolving those family needs/priorities and raising money to come back to Brazil. They finally made it, with a mom, a dad, a 6 year old boy, a 3 year old boy, and a grandma. And they are my new best friends.

I seriously had not realized AT ALL how much life as the Lone American here had affected me. I didn't realize how much I missed the company of Americans (not because We are a superior people, but we are a similar people, and they look like me and sound like me!). In the span of one short week I have already been blessed so much by their company, and have spent some serious quality hotel-pool time with the boys.

As John and Samantha (the parents) have been running around trying to buy furniture, a car, an exterminator, etc, Joann (grandma) and I have been hanging out with Jonah and Andy (the boys) during the day, primarily keeping them out of the hair of Mom and Dad and right smack dab in the middle of the hair of every hotel guest who happens to be in the pool at the same time as we are. :) I have learned all kinds of things about Spiderman, as well as how quickly kids pick up on new languages. It's quite remarkable, actually. As Jonah accidentally kicked a girl in the face in the pool on Monday, he smoothly turned around and said "tudo bem." (It's all good...) Wow.

We haven't only played, though. I've had some great conversations with John and Samantha about how we can work together in our ministry. I explained to them how HUGE of a window of opportunity English provides in outreach for the church, and they were gung-ho to start meeting my readers, holding English Bible studies, hosting get-togethers, etc. Every single one of these things were ideas I already had, but they beat me to the punch in laying them out on the table. It has not been easy for me to plan these kinds of events all alone, and so having teammates who are just as excited about it as I am definitely gets me jazzed about all the possibilities! This morning John even stopped in on my advanced group class to answer a quick question we had, and I saw a twinkle in his eye as he was able to participate, even if only briefly, on the discussion we had going on.

The Jewells (the whole family) are definitely an answer to a prayer I didn't know I was praying. When I prayed for God to bless this work, He had them in mind. When I prayed for God to grow this work, He had them in mind. When I prayed for God to keep me happy and sane, He had them in mind. When I prayed for God to keep me from getting lonely, He had them in mind. It's only been a week since they arrived, but already I can see how God's timing is impeccable!

Please keep their family in your prayers as they begin this adjustment. They've made it once before, which definitely helps, but it's still exhausting and challenging. I'll definitely keep you updated, and even if you aren't interested I'm afraid I won't be able to help it. They seem to already take up a rather large part of my life here, and I'm all smiles.

Congratulations are in order to...well, I don't really know to whom...the readership? of Living and Loving in Natal, Brazil for surpassing the 4000 mark at some point this week. That's a LOT of hits, and special thanks to my Mom for taking care of about 75% of those. Haha, just kidding. Only 50% I'm sure. I hope you'll all stay tuned for the day we reach 1 million. Yes it can be done, my friends, it just might take a few, or 25, years. We're well on our way!

I mentioned on Monday that I would be coming back on Tuesday to offer a 6-month reflections post, which turned out to be a lie because today is Thursday and I'm only now checking back in with you. I think I need to stop making promises about things like that, because I never follow through. It must be an aversion to deadlines left over from 4 years in college. I was never the student who casually turned in assignments late, I was always on time. So maybe now that I don't have anyone or anything holding me accountable I just throw caution to the wind. See it out there, flying? That's my caution, in the wind. Wow, such a lame joke. But I will not delete it.

So yeah, I hit the 6-month mark on Tuesday. How did it feel? Like a normal Tuesday. It also felt like Thanksgiving and Christmas, in that I willed myself to get emotional and it just did not work. But really, 6 months is a big deal. I remember back in September or October when I was trying to study Portuguese and I just sat in Marisa's office and cried...and cried...and cried. I was so frustrated because I thought I would never learn. Later that night, Marisa told me to not be so discouraged, I was doing so well that within 6 months I would be speaking fluently. I politely thanked her, and then laughed secretly at how delusional she was. It actually cheered me up I thought it was so funny. Well, Marisa did turn out to be wrong. I was speaking almost fluently by the 4 month mark. And at 6 months, the only English I use is in my reading sessions, where that's kind of the whole point. Would I ever have predicted that? NO. Am I so thankful that God has blessed me so much in this area? YES.

What else is significant about 6 months? Well, it also means I'm halfway done with my first year. When I first signed up for this internship, the idea was 2 years. Then all people wise and knowledgeable encouraged me to take it one year at a time, for several different reasons. I followed their advice and got here with enough money for 12 months and no plans come August 2008. Well, 6 months later, I now have money left for 6 more months (given that the dollar doesn't continue to fall ridiculously low as it already has) and plans to raise more. I'm not leaving any time soon, and August 2008 is definitely soon.

So, that's my 6 month reflection. I still live in an apartment alone, I still go to the beach sometimes, I still spend all day everyday at the church building, I still have amaaaazing readers with whom I love working, I still love my church family, I still get made fun of by my friendly neighborhood bakery workers if I go in to buy breakfast after 9 am (is it my fault that their jobs start at like 5 am? I think not) and I'm still deathly afraid of lizards. Yep, things seem to be rolling along smoothly.

Great votes on the Democracy post, I will be weighing the opinions soon and begin to address the topics at hand. And Justin, although I am interested in "avoiding detection by the Brazilian police force," you can be sure that the "series of blog posts detailing [my] diabolical plot to take over the Brazilian government, install [you] in a puppet regime, and wield power from behind the scenes," is coming soon. Just wait patiently...ever so patiently...

This is a Democracy

The staff here at Living and Loving has heard your cries, and the blog color scheme has returned to green. A total of 4 readers weighed in on this matter, which really isn't a lot, but one of them was my dad, and so that makes it uber-important. I actually didn't understand my dad's suggestion, but I got that he wasn't a fan of the white, so back to abrasive we go. Maybe one day I'll change the font on ya, just to mix things up. I'd like to draw attention to the fact, however, that although the background colors may change, the theme will always be the colors of the Brazilian flag, which is why you will never see red, orange, black, or purple here. (Although you would never see purple anyway, I really can't stand purple.)

I'd like all readers to know that this blog is governed with a system of democracy. Even if the important issues such as color schemes only get 4 votes, you better believe I will listen to the majority of those 4 votes. I, in true political fashion, will do anything and everything to just make sure you keep reading.

So, with that affirmation in mind, I'd like to make a call for suggestions on blog topics. Are you particularly interested in knowing how my Portuguese is coming along? Would you like to hear more about my readers? Would you like me to weigh in on what it feels like to be the only American (until tomorrow) at this church? Are you interested to know what it's like to be an American living here in general? Would you like me to explain what my parenthetical 'until tomorrow' is about? Do you want to know what my future plans are?

Stay tuned for my next post, which should come tomorrow, entitled "Well It's Been 6 Months...WHAT??" It should be a fun one. Until then, please vote (either on my blog topics or in the primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont, Rhode Island, etc, etc.) Happy March!

Extreme Blog Makeover

It's 11 o'clock on a Thursday night and I have nothing to do. So I change the color scheme of my blog.

What do you think? I find the white background less abrasive than the green. Opinions?

Well done, Charlie

I saw this the other day and have watched it quite a few times since. I crack up every time, particularly at the 38 second mark when Charlie appears to be very repentant. :)

From one younger sibling to another, well done Charlie. Well done.

Comunidade de Cristo

This week I've been overwhelmed with love for my little church here in Natal. Nothing special has happened this week to make me feel this way, it's just been one of those weeks where I've had time to stop and appreciate how wonderful it is.

Every single one of my readers knows that the reason I came back to Natal was not because of the beach (although my pictures may indicate otherwise.) It was not because of the weather (DEFINITELY not.) It was not because Natal was the only place that would accept me (at least I hope not.) And it was not because I was in love with a Brasilian boy (although I did get asked if "Living and Loving in Natal, Brazil" was the title of my blog because I was dating someone. Um...let's clear that up right now...NO.) They all know that I came back to Natal because of the church. I tell each of them that the church here is very special, like none I've ever seen. I even sacrificed my pride enough to tell the young people (in Portuguese, thus the pride-sacrificing) at our end-of-year party in December, that they were a part of a church so special that it was unlike anything I had ever been a part of, and to take advantage of it.

Why is it so special? I don't know. Maybe it's because every Sunday the whole congregation stops for about 5-10 minutes during the worship service for a time of confraternizaçao, where everyone goes around hugging each other and saying "God bless you." You can't escape being hugged, and this aspect is what attracts many visitors to come back again: at our church people hug you! (Sidenote: this part used to make me nervous because it required me to speak in Portuguese, or at least try to understand what others were saying to me. For the first two months it was so awkward I would suddenly have to go to the bathroom until it was over. I always appreciated it for what is was, though, and now that I am linguistically able to participate, I love it!)

Or maybe it's because every day of the week, there is something going on at the building. On Mondays and Wednesdays there is a literacy class for neighbors in their 90s. On Tuesdays there is a cooking class for women from the community to come and share recipes. On Monday and Tuesday nights there are English grammar classes. On Wednesdays there is a midweek Bible study. Every day there are discipleship Bible studies between church members and the missionaries. Several nights a week there are small group home studies. On Saturdays there is a Bible study for young people. One Saturday each month there is a women's Bible study. And Sundays, of course, there is Sunday school and the worship service. And I didn't even mention the English conversation classes I offer each day.

Our church is not big. The roster boasts 50, but we have 40ish members present week to week, with an ever-growing number of visitors. Our offering is small, as half of the congregation is comprised of financially dependent college students who come to church independent of their families. But our reputation is big. Everyone in the neighborhood knows about the "big white church on the corner." The bus drivers know it too. My friends at my bakery know my friends and I are from the church, and my doormen all knew of it before I told them I worked there. My readers always have good things to say, even when they have a dislike for churches in general. "This church is different," they say. "I like this church."

Our reputation was formed through an outpouring of love. People know that at our church we teach love, and that when they walk through our doors they will receive love. They may not like the acappella worship, they may not like that we collect a weekly offering, they may not like lots of things, but they will never question whether or not we are a loving body of believers. After all, that's really what Jesus taught, isn't it? I'd say we're on the right track...