Rain, rain, rain...

On Wednesday we spent the day sightseeing like regular tourists...except there were 8 of us (some of us super-sized) who were folded into a car that carried 7...and only carried 7 in product advertising. Thankfully Annie would fit in the glove-box.

We started the day with a trip to Olinda following a side-trip to Sam's. (Yes, Josh and Amanda, a trip to Sam's, now you wish you were here, don't you?) It had been raining pretty constantly for 24 hours and so we all carried our umbrellas and other rain gear; after all, there was plenty of extra room in the car, especially after that trip to Sam's.

Olinda is a beautiful city built up a hillside overlooking the ocean. It's about 450 years old and is one of those cities you see painted in a lot of souvenir art from Brazil. (I have one such painting on my dresser.) There is excellent shopping in Olinda...Amy and Nancy are excellent shoppers...we were excited about a "productive" day.

When we got to Olinda our first stop was at the oldest cathedral in Olinda (there are several) and we enjoyed a tour. After that we drove to the highest point in the city and got out just as the bottom dropped out and the rain begain in earnest. (It had been drizzling in fits and starts to that point). So we shopped in the downpour. We ate lunch at a place called "The Pumpkin House" were meals were served in a cooked, hollowed out pumpkin. Cute, but pumpkin. I much prefer a sourdough bread bowl. (Perhaps this helps explain my "super-size.) While we were eating the rain stopped and the sun came out so Nancy and Amy hurried to get back to the shops. Just as we got to the door of the restaurant the flood gates opened again with no relief in sight.

After Randy decided we had shopped enough (he was in the car blowing the horn at us) we left Olinda and headed to a Museum in Recife. It was built by one of the wealthiest families in Recife and they retain control of every piece of art housed there. It will be left to the city upon their deaths. It is primarily a historical museum of Brazilian culture. However, someone obviously loves sculpture because there are dozens of sculptures there of all types. Some original works and many copies of famous works. (Salome and Bacchus reigned side-by-side over the food court and various sculptures of Buddah sat at the feed of Greek goddesses in the garden.) Some of the other works of art were also copies while some were originals. It seemed that the idea was to showcase the Brazilian influence and from that prespective it was very interesting.

One building at the museum showcased weapons and had an amazing display of knives. I didn't see that exhibit but the men thought it was the best part. It continued to rain, rain, rain and by the time we got back to the Pousada we were drenched...literally. My jeans had absorbed water all they way up to my knees and could be wrung out. My advise to other travelers? Do NOT travel with people from Bellevue until they get over this obsession of theirs with floods.

Note to my family...

Several people not related to us are now viewing this blog. You will probably note that I have revised some of my previous posts and you will notice the tone of new posts will be more restrained. : )

I am having a great time but will be happy to be home to my own bed and some privacy.

River Cruise

One night we went on a river cruise to see the city. It was the eve of Brazil's "Boyfriend/Girlfriend Day" which is similar to our Valentines Day only it is just for lovers since Hallmark hasn't marketed it. We got some odd looks since we were a group of 7.

Recife skyline.

The old city.

This is Amy and Nancy making the most of an akward situation. LOL! They were not the only duo-female couple on board.

Our real couple. Josh will have a lot to live up to since he celebrated 2 Valentine's Days the first year he was married.

Monday, June 14

Today I updated previous posts because I can't stand it if things aren't chronological. So I added the South Beach tour and some photos on other posts. Today Susie and I finished up our sewing and the others went out to Villa Palmareo (spelling?) to work.

Tomorrow the city shuts down at noon for the World Cup so we will work at the Boa Viagem building in the morning and then watch the game with everyone else in Brazil.

Sunday in Brazil (not to be confused with the train)

Today we spent the day going from church to church having worship services with different small groups. We started with the congregation in Boa Viagem this morning. We held a nightly meeting the last time we were here so we knew most of these folks. It was good to see everyone again and "catch-up" thru a mix of English, Italian, Latin, Spanish, Portugese and LOTS of hand gestures. At one point I found myself listening to German. This congregation is 12 years old and needs to appoint elders. Rick preached on the subject and then we divided men and ladies and had classes. There was lots of discussion (with an excellent interpreter in the ladies class, Priscilla, who attended York College in the States.)

Ladies class

Old friends: Gilmar is engaged.

New friends: Annie really wants this to be a romance.

After worship at Boa Viagem we went to lunch at a "meat on a stick" place. A Brazilian steakhouse. It was much better than Pizza Hut. (One night we were supposed to go to a steakhouse and the rest of our group decided they'd rather go to Pizza Hut.)

Next we went to a small town about 1 hour from Recife. There is only one family of Christians there and they are new Christians. The oldest son moved to the south and was converted. When he came to visit last year he converted his mom and then this year his aunts and dad. Some of the preaching students and Boa Viagem members go out and worship with them in their home every week. The Silly Bandz were a hit even though they had no idea what they were.


The ladies of the house.

Up on the housetop...usually they meet here but it was too rainy so we met in their home..also on the roof.

Tonight we went to a service where several (I think 5) congregations are meeting together. They meet in a central place on Sunday night about 30 minutes to an hour from their towns in all different directions. Not every week but fairly often. There were probably 30 people there and 12 of them were our group. They had a reception type meal afterwards with cake, small savory treats and coke. We left the Pousada this morning at 8:45 and got home at 10:30 tonight and all the time in-between (except for an hour for lunch) was in the car or worshipping.
I am tired and also appalled at Justin Bleber (spelling) fans. : )

This is the before. There were about 30 people here for worship.

This is the after.

This one knew exactly what the Silly Bandz were and asked for more.


We met this parade as we were leaving. They wanted money for this picture.

I started out making an update but then just went off about the train...

So I figure it is time for a sort of mass update. Except I'm going to do it in installments. I hear suspense is good for ratings. Also I really should be studying right now.

I am slowly settling in to the new apartment, which is kind of hard to do because class was already in full swing when I got the place and so my stuff was literally spread all over Leo's. (Leo: Ross's friend whose house we were staying at. He's in Turkey. It's weird to stay in someones house you've never met, but also fun, because you can totally and completely judge them by their possessions and see if your right. I know, I know. If you judge, you will be judged. But I went to middle school, I've already been judged, so I feel it's now a moot point.) Also, Leo's is in Park Slope in Brooklyn, which is very nice and kind of neighborhood-y, most of the buildings are only 4-5 stories and so forth, but it take and hour to get ANYWHERE from there. So I was spending a lot of days riding the train a minimum of 2 hours just for school and then if we wanted to go do something, like get groceries or hang out with someone, that's another 2 hours. One day I rode the train for a cumulative total of 6 hours. I kept thinking of all the places I could have gone in the that time. Like to Knoxville and back, or Atlanta. Or, over the course of the week, to Abilene. But at least I don't have to steer the train, so I can read, or mostly pretend to read and actually look at people. I have seen some great and terrible things this way. My favorite outfit so far: A coral colored one piece swimsuit with mesh puffy pants. Mesh like a lingerie bag, not like a jersey. Like pants made of a shadow. Like when she sat down on the train, her butt was touching the seat, which, by the way, is a terrible idea.

Other fun times on the train: people are always asking me where the train they're riding on is going. On the weekends, the MTA loses their minds and the trains go, or don't go, all sortns of nonsense ways. Like last weekend, only 2 trains were running in and out of Brooklyn. Usually its somethings like 12, maybe 8 or 9 at night. But no, 2. Anyway, so I'm waiting for the R, which at night, looks like a D train, but runs on the R track. And this little Korean lady asks me if it will stop at 4th-9th sts. Which it will, despite looking like a D. So she gets on with her friends and they start having an incredibly animated discussion in Korean. They happened to be across from me. And the train stops at 4th-9th and they are still going on in korean. So I said, "Ma'am, did you want off at 4th-9th? Cause this is it?" and they all jumped up and for serious, the little man bowed at me all the way out of the train. Then the ladies stood outside the door and waved and waved at me, and even after the door closed and the train was moving, they were still waving away. It was pretty excellent, and everyone else in the train was looking at me like I was insane.

So thats the train. I am not having to ride it to school anymore, which is nice cause I get to sleep an extra hour. I still have to ride it to see Ross, though, but he got an apartment just across Central Park from me, so in a couple of weeks that won't be such a bad ride. I'll get to ride a bus, though (eww). I was gonna take some pictures of the apartment and neighborhood, etc, but its gross and rainy today (and when it's rainy here, its really nasty. There is positively no way to not get wet, and when you are finally not being rained on either because you are inside or it stopped, youre just very close to other people who are wet, which is unpleasant.) Hopefully I can do that tomorrow and do an apartment post. Woot.

Days at the Orphanage

Yesterday we got up early and drove about an hour outside Recife to work at an orphanage that has recently been approved to accept children. This property was previously a camp so there were buildings there that are being refitted to accomodate an orphanage. There is still a lot of construction going on but they already have 7 children staying with them.

Yes, those are chickens.

We spent the first day sanding and priming the dining hall and painting a mural on the back wall of the ampi-theatre. It is beyond hot and humid here and trying to pull your pants up after a trip to the bathroom is like struggling into a wet swim suit. (Girl metaphor) We worked about 7-8 hours and finished the mural and got the dining hall primed (sorta) and ready to paint.

Today most of our group painted the dining hall (4 coats). Painting here is interesting. The latex paint is the consistancy of putty and you continuously add water to make it spreadable. Thus the need for 4 coats. Some of the preaching students went with us to help so we were able to get a lot accomplished. Some of them worked on adding detail to our theatre mural, some helped with the dining hall painting, and two of them, along with two of ours went out to Vila Palmareo (the slums) to perform "The Good Samaritan" for the Saturday kids Bible class.
Sanding the dining hall.

This guy had free run of the dining hall when we started.


Our lunch in the pre-paint dining hall.


Susie and I made curtains and a matching tablecloth for Ednea, one of the housemoms here. She was so thrilled to have something nice for her home (which she was currently sharing with 7 children). She also gathered up all the kids clothes that needed mending and I mended those for her. She said she wanted to learn to sew (using lots of hand gestures) so I gave her scissors, needles, pins, and directions to U-Tube how-to lessons. Her daughter was familiar with U-Tube and thought it would be great for them.

The facilities at this orphanage are nice compared to others in this state but make the City of Children look like a multi-million dollar property in Brentwood. It has been very interesting for me to come here immediately following my week in Ensenada. This is definitely in the beginning stage of a work I hope will be as successful as COC.

This is a room for visiting workers. The kids rooms are similar but have tile floors and closets.
This is Gabriel. He helped with the mural for a while then apinted the tree...this tree, not the mural tree.

This is our finished mural and our supervisor. Others will add detail to the work next week.


Tonight we are going to the flea market so hopefully I will find some good souvenirs. I already got a great gift for Josh at the Recife version of Home Depot. It was a gift with purchase, so what could be better? It is definitely not a rich American tourist souvenir. I will also get some batteries so maybe I can post some more pictures.

Day One: Adjusting to Brazilian Time

Just so you know...I am not a fan of Blogspot because it is difficult for me to think in reverse when I upload. Before those of you who are of the computer generation start giving me helpful hints I must also say that I find it difficult and tedious to edit Html. So there. That's my disclaimer. Here are scenes from today in no particular order...

David (no, it's not pronounced like you think) and Nancy sort some of the millions of tiny flannel graph pictures.

The men treat the cabinet and drawers to resist termites.

Yes, Junior, this is highly toxic and you are not really a doctor.

Tall guys are very helpful when you build a puppet theatre without any ladders.

"I don't care if it's the wrong size blade, I can make it fit."

Rick, our master handyman at work.

From Gloria Estefan's house to a church in Recife. Who knew?

Randy midst the elders.

Lunch break...just before the soccer started on the TV.
After this the photos show the backs of the guys heads.
These are some of the preaching students: Junior, Solomon, David, Adriano, and Judson, not his real name)

South Beach, Miami

During our 7 hour layover in Miami Rick's sister-in-law, Phyllis, picked us up and took us to eat. After that we toured Miami and Miami Beach. We spent a lot of time in South Beach. South Beach was made famous by the movie "Birdcage." Phyllis insists that they have cleaned up South Beach and there is no longer a homosexual presence. Here are the photos, you decide.

And Then There Was Flood

Here are some pictures of our neighborhood during the recent flood.

This is approaching Caldwell heading North on Lealand.

This sign is on the track at Maplehurst field.

Here's the little creek that runs along beside Lealand. Today it is running on Lealand.

Another shot of Caldwell from Lealand.

This house is at the corner of Caldwell and Lealand across the street from the field.

What a difference a hill makes. : )

Oddly enough, our phones weren't out. Remember how they used to stop working every time it rained because this phone box leaked? Apparently they "fixed it good."

Who's gonna re-seed this, Glenn?

Photos from Susan Farris.