I thought I'd officially announce on here that I've made it home. I've been in Tampa spending time with family and friends for a couple of days now.
I feel a little out of it, a little empty. I don't quite know what to do with myself, and I'm finding that I don't really have an answer when people ask me what my favorite thing about Brazil was. It was like I had a different life for 3 months, another existence that was all around different. There were things that I liked and things that I didn't like, but they were all interwoven, and people think I'm being vague when I just answer "The people." Fortunately, I think the remedy for my whatever-this-is is on the way. Tomorrow I'm headed back to Tallahassee, where I can settle in to what will be my home and my life for the next year. My roommate Hannah has already set aside a couple days for us to clean and organize our space and "process" together the experiences of our last few months. I think this will be REALLY good and will give me a big dose of mental clarity!
Thank you everyone who has checked in and supported me in my other life this summer! I really loved keeping this blog and received requests from my family to keep doing it so they could actually know what's going on in my life! I don't know if I will keep at it or set it aside until my next international journey. We'll see...
Love,
Claire
Monday, August 16, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
tudo certo
Things are pretty lovely here! My classes ended well and I've had a few days of vacation now. I've been sleeping A LOT. I've been distributing mass amounts of gifts and photos and my email address. I've been having fun sleepovers and saying my goodbyes to students, colleagues, and friends. I've been buying more small presents to bring home with me and playing triage so as to decide what's actually going to make it back with me and what's going to get tossed or offered to a friend here instead. One of the two hammocks I purchased in July went home today with one of the women who works in my house. ;) Today I also got my ears re-pierced, the former piercings having closed up a in accordance with my becoming a lazy, head-in-the-clouds college student. I'm enjoying this sweet time of transition and rest. God has blessed me in some unbelievable ways this week--I've really been blown away. Hopefully I will have a chance to share some of them on here before I commence my travelathon on Friday morning, but if not there will be plenty of time when I'm back in the Sunshine State!
If you would, please pray for my reentry into the United States. My visa here expires today, and I am not leaving for a couple more days, so I'm not sure exactly what complications that may bring. Also, I'm not yet feeling the pain that my students, colleagues, and friends here are feeling due to my leaving; I miss home right now and I don't think I will fully miss Brazil until I'm not longer in Brazil. That reality is quickly approaching, though. May I be sympathetic towards those I am leaving here, even if the hurt they are feeling hasn’t quite hit me yet, and may my soul find peace and rest despite the great multitude of change in the coming days.
Tchau,
Claire
If you would, please pray for my reentry into the United States. My visa here expires today, and I am not leaving for a couple more days, so I'm not sure exactly what complications that may bring. Also, I'm not yet feeling the pain that my students, colleagues, and friends here are feeling due to my leaving; I miss home right now and I don't think I will fully miss Brazil until I'm not longer in Brazil. That reality is quickly approaching, though. May I be sympathetic towards those I am leaving here, even if the hurt they are feeling hasn’t quite hit me yet, and may my soul find peace and rest despite the great multitude of change in the coming days.
Tchau,
Claire
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Twelve days left. I’m reading two Christian devotional books nowadays: My Utmost For His Highest, a classic by Oswald Chambers which I have frequented since high school, and Pão Diário (Daily Bread), a Brazilian evangelical devotional with many contributing authors released just this year. Today both books contained a message about patience, about the dangers of being careless and impulsive and the importance of trusting and waiting on God. I will take this as a sign. I am feeling very impatient right now, and have adopted a somewhat careless attitude towards my work this week. I’m ready to come home! I miss my people! And I’ve begun to share that sentiment a little too freely—first on facebook, then to my close friends here, then to my host family, and now to some of my students.
Also, I had a majestically freeing realization while I was on the bus earlier this week: I don’t really love teaching, and I’m not fantastically gifted at it. If I want to, I can keep fighting an uphill battle to succeed as a teacher, and I can obtain more opportunities to come back to Brazil to teach down the road. Or, after I finish out my teaching commitment here in a couple of weeks, I can put my whiteboard marker and my Portuguese-English dictionary on the shelf and leave the room. I can call it quits for the time being and pursue some of the things that I really do love to do, that I feel like maybe I was made to do, and which can help people and bring glory to God just the same. That realization led me to forego submitting an application for the Fullbright English Teaching Assistant grant competition, whose preliminary deadline at FSU was yesterday. It’s a really cool program and a prestigious award, and I think I would stand a chance at being among the recipients. I whole-heartedly support what the program is going to be doing in Brazil in the next few years (placing recent U.S. college grads with a background in English education in local high schools and colleges to improve the quality and availability of English instruction in the country). It’s hard for me to pass up an opportunity like that, especially when I would love to come back here in the future, and when I see that it is going to be meeting a real need here. But I know people who love teaching; I’ve met them. They’re working their butts off, but somehow at the end of each day they’re finding themselves more fulfilled because of it, a little more like they were made to be. I don’t have that feeling; I find it doing other things, and considering I am only ever going to have one life to live, I might as well spend most of it doing the things that fit.
For the next six days, though, I need to remind myself to be patient. No matter how “done” I may be with this task mentally, I still have about 60 students to whom I have committed another week of my life. This last week of classes is important to them, and they deserve a version of me that is thoughtful, prepared, loving, and present. It ought to be pretty neat, too, especially with my teenage students at Arte e Vida. I am in the process of creating a gameshow in which they are going to be the participants. It should be a really excellent way to motivate them to review what we’ve learned in class and for me to evaluate their progress. What's more, it should be really fun for everyone involved and educational for those students at the NGO who were not able to participate in my class but will be in the audience for our show. A final perk of the gameshow on my end is that I get to jettison some of my stuff under the pretext of giving out “prizes.” According to my recent online research, it turns out the weight limit on my luggage is going to be fairly restrictive; last month I bought two hammocks, a small statue, and many other small souvenirs, and received a number of books and articles of clothing as gifts. So, while I came to Brazil with some predestined “prizes” (a few FSU hats, a Mickey Mouse beach towel, some American candy, pencils, etc.), some interesting, alternative prizes will be making their way into the selection. “Congratulations, kid! You won my college-level English-Portuguese dictionary with more than 120,000 translations! Don’t drop it—it’s heavy!” I was considering putting my unopened jar of peanut butter in the pot, but I found out that one of my close friends here really likes the stuff. She is lovely and deserves hundreds of jars of peanut butter for being such a good friend to me, so it will go her way. This seems by far the safer option, too, because peanut butter is weird and random to the point that the staff at the NGO might catch on to my scheme.
In other news, I have been able to participate in more Christian gatherings this week, which has been really great. On Sunday I visited a cool “Episcopal Charismatic” congregation. I definitely didn’t know what to expect, but turned out enjoying the service a lot. The priests wore traditional robes, and it would seem that the church administers the Eucharist every week, but otherwise it seemed much like a Baptist or nondenominational church with a little bonus passion. I was told that I would be able to meet many of the church’s young people if I returned for one of their evening services, so I am hoping to do that tomorrow. They also have home groups that meet throughout the city on Monday nights. Then, yesterday I got to attend a Bible study that my friend Augusta and some of her evangelical coworkers felt led to start up at their office during their lunch break. The study has been going on in one form or another over a period of ten years. Yesterday there were about 8 people in attendance. They conduct their time much like our Bible studies at Intervarsity, where everyone has a copy of the scripture, reads it together, and discusses its application. We read through Luke 23, in which Jesus is tried by Pilate and Herod, sentenced to crucifixion, bears his cross up to Golgotha with the assistance of Simon the Cyrene, and is crucified between two thieves, surrounded by mocking voices. It was good to be reminded of Jesus’ actions in those moments, and I enjoyed the other people’s insights into the passage. After the study ended, I got to talk for a little while with one woman from the study named Clara. They like to affectionately call her Clarita, and nearly every time they said it I found myself perking up, since that’s the nickname I have gained from my roommate Hannah.
Clarita was talking about her life, and how she often receives messages from God for people. Many times it’s a friend or coworker, and she sends the person an email. Other times it’s a total stranger. She said that one time she walked into a restaurant and God told her to tell everyone in the restaurant that He loved them. She said she felt “about this big” (holding up one hand and leaving about a centimeter between her thumb and index finger), but she did it. From these experiences, she has been told so many times “You always have something to say at exactly the right time.” Complete strangers, like one couple in another restaurant incident, have broken down crying in response to her messages. I am really glad I met Clara, saw the way she interacts with people, and heard her story. It seems like most Christians either listen to God, but aren’t open to sharing His specific thoughts towards others, or are very open to speaking to others in the name of God, but aren’t really listening to God in the first place. I don’t know where I fall; it depends on the month. I both want to be like her and am horrified of the idea at the same time. I want to be willing to be used of God in such ways, and I could see Him leading me in that direction, but I have a deep-rooted fear of offending people. We’ll see! At least now I have a beautiful example to consider. Here’s a picture of me, Augusta, and Clara.
Finally, this is the best invention I have encountered in Brazil. It is a tennis racket with a layer of mesh that carries an electric current in between two normal mesh layers (safety first!). When the racket is charged, turned on, and its handle button is pressed, it becomes an unassailable force against the mosquito population. The racket-wielding individual swishes the racket through the air or brings it to rest atop an oblivious, lazy mosquito at rest. Then comes the POP! and the sparks and life just seems to get better one dead bug at a time! I had a lot of trouble sleeping my first month here because I was not aware of the racket and I had mosquitoes attacking my ears in the night. The mosquito population is vast here, so vast that the mosquitoes I just described aren’t referred to as mosquitoes—they’re referred to as “murisocas,” the type of mosquito that dwells in dark places and comes out more at night. Other types, including the kind of mosquito that comes out in the daytime, flies near to the ground, and causes the ravaging disease dengue here, have their own names. The mosquito racket is my friend. The smell of my room is that of burnt mosquito.
The last thing that many murisocas see in my house. Note the messy hair, got-for-free pajama t-shirt, and facial expression displaying both intense anger and sheer joy.
I feel like I should apologize for having written all that. Thank you for caring enough to read all my junk. Goodnight, and I am still (calmly and reservedly) very much looking forward to coming home soon.
Claire
Also, I had a majestically freeing realization while I was on the bus earlier this week: I don’t really love teaching, and I’m not fantastically gifted at it. If I want to, I can keep fighting an uphill battle to succeed as a teacher, and I can obtain more opportunities to come back to Brazil to teach down the road. Or, after I finish out my teaching commitment here in a couple of weeks, I can put my whiteboard marker and my Portuguese-English dictionary on the shelf and leave the room. I can call it quits for the time being and pursue some of the things that I really do love to do, that I feel like maybe I was made to do, and which can help people and bring glory to God just the same. That realization led me to forego submitting an application for the Fullbright English Teaching Assistant grant competition, whose preliminary deadline at FSU was yesterday. It’s a really cool program and a prestigious award, and I think I would stand a chance at being among the recipients. I whole-heartedly support what the program is going to be doing in Brazil in the next few years (placing recent U.S. college grads with a background in English education in local high schools and colleges to improve the quality and availability of English instruction in the country). It’s hard for me to pass up an opportunity like that, especially when I would love to come back here in the future, and when I see that it is going to be meeting a real need here. But I know people who love teaching; I’ve met them. They’re working their butts off, but somehow at the end of each day they’re finding themselves more fulfilled because of it, a little more like they were made to be. I don’t have that feeling; I find it doing other things, and considering I am only ever going to have one life to live, I might as well spend most of it doing the things that fit.
For the next six days, though, I need to remind myself to be patient. No matter how “done” I may be with this task mentally, I still have about 60 students to whom I have committed another week of my life. This last week of classes is important to them, and they deserve a version of me that is thoughtful, prepared, loving, and present. It ought to be pretty neat, too, especially with my teenage students at Arte e Vida. I am in the process of creating a gameshow in which they are going to be the participants. It should be a really excellent way to motivate them to review what we’ve learned in class and for me to evaluate their progress. What's more, it should be really fun for everyone involved and educational for those students at the NGO who were not able to participate in my class but will be in the audience for our show. A final perk of the gameshow on my end is that I get to jettison some of my stuff under the pretext of giving out “prizes.” According to my recent online research, it turns out the weight limit on my luggage is going to be fairly restrictive; last month I bought two hammocks, a small statue, and many other small souvenirs, and received a number of books and articles of clothing as gifts. So, while I came to Brazil with some predestined “prizes” (a few FSU hats, a Mickey Mouse beach towel, some American candy, pencils, etc.), some interesting, alternative prizes will be making their way into the selection. “Congratulations, kid! You won my college-level English-Portuguese dictionary with more than 120,000 translations! Don’t drop it—it’s heavy!” I was considering putting my unopened jar of peanut butter in the pot, but I found out that one of my close friends here really likes the stuff. She is lovely and deserves hundreds of jars of peanut butter for being such a good friend to me, so it will go her way. This seems by far the safer option, too, because peanut butter is weird and random to the point that the staff at the NGO might catch on to my scheme.
In other news, I have been able to participate in more Christian gatherings this week, which has been really great. On Sunday I visited a cool “Episcopal Charismatic” congregation. I definitely didn’t know what to expect, but turned out enjoying the service a lot. The priests wore traditional robes, and it would seem that the church administers the Eucharist every week, but otherwise it seemed much like a Baptist or nondenominational church with a little bonus passion. I was told that I would be able to meet many of the church’s young people if I returned for one of their evening services, so I am hoping to do that tomorrow. They also have home groups that meet throughout the city on Monday nights. Then, yesterday I got to attend a Bible study that my friend Augusta and some of her evangelical coworkers felt led to start up at their office during their lunch break. The study has been going on in one form or another over a period of ten years. Yesterday there were about 8 people in attendance. They conduct their time much like our Bible studies at Intervarsity, where everyone has a copy of the scripture, reads it together, and discusses its application. We read through Luke 23, in which Jesus is tried by Pilate and Herod, sentenced to crucifixion, bears his cross up to Golgotha with the assistance of Simon the Cyrene, and is crucified between two thieves, surrounded by mocking voices. It was good to be reminded of Jesus’ actions in those moments, and I enjoyed the other people’s insights into the passage. After the study ended, I got to talk for a little while with one woman from the study named Clara. They like to affectionately call her Clarita, and nearly every time they said it I found myself perking up, since that’s the nickname I have gained from my roommate Hannah.
Clarita was talking about her life, and how she often receives messages from God for people. Many times it’s a friend or coworker, and she sends the person an email. Other times it’s a total stranger. She said that one time she walked into a restaurant and God told her to tell everyone in the restaurant that He loved them. She said she felt “about this big” (holding up one hand and leaving about a centimeter between her thumb and index finger), but she did it. From these experiences, she has been told so many times “You always have something to say at exactly the right time.” Complete strangers, like one couple in another restaurant incident, have broken down crying in response to her messages. I am really glad I met Clara, saw the way she interacts with people, and heard her story. It seems like most Christians either listen to God, but aren’t open to sharing His specific thoughts towards others, or are very open to speaking to others in the name of God, but aren’t really listening to God in the first place. I don’t know where I fall; it depends on the month. I both want to be like her and am horrified of the idea at the same time. I want to be willing to be used of God in such ways, and I could see Him leading me in that direction, but I have a deep-rooted fear of offending people. We’ll see! At least now I have a beautiful example to consider. Here’s a picture of me, Augusta, and Clara.
Finally, this is the best invention I have encountered in Brazil. It is a tennis racket with a layer of mesh that carries an electric current in between two normal mesh layers (safety first!). When the racket is charged, turned on, and its handle button is pressed, it becomes an unassailable force against the mosquito population. The racket-wielding individual swishes the racket through the air or brings it to rest atop an oblivious, lazy mosquito at rest. Then comes the POP! and the sparks and life just seems to get better one dead bug at a time! I had a lot of trouble sleeping my first month here because I was not aware of the racket and I had mosquitoes attacking my ears in the night. The mosquito population is vast here, so vast that the mosquitoes I just described aren’t referred to as mosquitoes—they’re referred to as “murisocas,” the type of mosquito that dwells in dark places and comes out more at night. Other types, including the kind of mosquito that comes out in the daytime, flies near to the ground, and causes the ravaging disease dengue here, have their own names. The mosquito racket is my friend. The smell of my room is that of burnt mosquito.
The last thing that many murisocas see in my house. Note the messy hair, got-for-free pajama t-shirt, and facial expression displaying both intense anger and sheer joy.
I feel like I should apologize for having written all that. Thank you for caring enough to read all my junk. Goodnight, and I am still (calmly and reservedly) very much looking forward to coming home soon.
Claire
Friday, July 23, 2010
Consegui?
I shall henceforth reflect upon my goals as identified and condensed with the help of the FSU Success Center, which has provided the funding that has made this entire summer possible.
1. Become more proficient in Portuguese.
BAM! I have totally accomplished this! My listening, speaking and vocabulary have progressed as needed to get by in everyday life here. I am able successfully talk on the phone with people (usually…), I give lessons in which I speak a good bit of Portuguese, and I have picked up on some of the local accent and slang. A weakness that I see in this area is that my vocabulary and grammar are still somewhat weak; I haven’t had any structured plan of study and people here are kind and accommodating to the point that they often do not correct my consistent linguistic foibles.
2. Form a partnership between Arte e Vida and FSU’s Portuguese department
Not so much. But I think I could be instrumental in bringing about such a partnership in the coming year when I am reunited with my Portuguese professor and peers. While I have not laid any specific groundwork for this type of project, my presence at Arte e Vida everyday lends increasing credibility to the institution I am representing. If some of my peers wanted to work with Arte e Vida next year, I could tell them exactly who to contact, what the students have already learned, and what resources they would be provided and would yet need to procure.
3. Gain experience in tutoring and teaching English as a second language to students at a variety of levels
Check. For coming here with just one TESOL class under my belt and very limited experience teaching and tutoring English learners, I have done a heck of a lot of teaching! My classes have been my primary commitment here, and they have certainly consumed my time and thoughts more than any else over the last two months. I have made some blunders. I have learned that I have much to learn about my own language, (seriously--is there ANY rhyme or reason to English pronunciation?! How on earth do our kids learn to read aloud? “Soup, soul, sour”…”ou” makes 3 different sounds. And don’t even get me started on what the letter “a” is capable of!) I have repeatedly accomplished less than I had wanted to in the classroom, due both to circumstances within and outside of my control. I have been under-resourced. I have stood before my students filled with apathy, hopelessness, frustration, peace, joy, and love at different times throughout this experience. Overall, I’ve gained a lot of experience, I’ve taught my students, I’ve had a positive impact, I’ve tried my best, and I haven’t given up.
4. Progress as an artist through song and dance
Weak. I have only learned to dance one type of Brazilian dance, whose name, “forró,” comes from a transliteration of an American’s comment on the dance—that it was “for all,” a dance accessible to the masses. As far as my musical progression, I have only written one song while I was here, a song in English that is strikingly similar to the other several songs I have written over the last couple of years. My lofty sub-goals of wanting to learn to sing and play some of the local/traditional music from here and to come up with an original song in Portuguese have yet to be realized. However, last week I told the students in my English Conversation class about my desire to learn to perform some local music. They enthusiastically offered to hook me up with some material, and my inbox has since been blessed with some lyrics and links to hear different songs. Last weekend, on my road trip with my Brazilian parents, an extensive sampling of artists of my favorite genre was lined up for my listening pleasure (admittedly, this would have been more successful were I more capable of staying awake during long car trips)! I am proud to report, though, that I have bought and received for free a number of CDs from aspiring artists right here in my city! Their merit is limited, but I am a woman of solidarity. Right now I am listening to the CD of one of the employees at the coffee shop within the Catholic University. He sings with The Silver Cowboy Band on this CD whose title translates to The Cowboy That Provokes (The Provocative Cowboy?). Hopefully as my classes wind down and I soak up more and more Brazilian music from these various founts, I will find myself inspired and empowered to make my own small mark on the music scene here.
5. Establish independence from family and friends in the United States through independent travel
Yes, I am satisfied with the degree to which I have successfully blown you people off! I made a Skype account my first week here but never used it as of yet. I have exchanged emails every now and then and checked in sensibly with facebook, and this has been very helpful and encouraging. Once a week or so I have written my fancy words on this blog and sent them out into the vast and often maddeningly silent void of cyberspace. I miss you people and appreciate you all the more for having tasted of your absence. My life here has certainly been more independent, and I feel like I have a clearer picture now of who I actually am. I trust that upon my return, this insight will help me to more healthily and joyfully live as a part of my community, as one connected to many to the glory of God.
6. Deepen spiritual understanding by being an American Christian in a country with very different religious dynamics
C-
I have gained some insight and perspective here that I would definitely characterize as spiritual, but it hasn’t been what I expected, and it isn’t stuff that I can easily wrap up and top with a bow. As someone with inherent curiosity about returning to this (and just about any) place to do missionary work down the road, I don’t feel like I’ve been endowed with a specific message or a burning heart to present the gospel to these people (at least not in the typical sense). As a culturally Catholic nation with a burgeoning evangelical presence, it seems at times like Jesus is all up in everyone’s grill. At Arte e Vida, the secular government-funded NGO where I work, the kids hold hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer every morning—I definitely didn’t expect that.
The things that I have gained a holy sensitivity to here are much more at the macro level—like the corruption and inequality that knowingly persists in every sector of Brazilian society, and the great fissure that divides different sects of the church here. I have also become aware of a strong humanistic pull here that suggests that the deep wounds of this nation will be healed when we finally elect good politicians, when we all embrace tolerance and turn into the good people that we haven’t managed to be in the past. As beautiful as that sounds, there hasn’t been another Eden since the Beginning, and I don’t think we’re going to find it again by omitting the God who created it in the first place. He’s the one that is good. Gee, after writing this spiel I feel like I ought to bump my grade up to a C+ or something!
My main reason for giving myself a low rating for this goal, though, is that I have engaged in very little collective religious activity during my time here, which I think has been a major opportunity lost. As an ecumenical Christian, a scholar, and a language learner here, I can hardly hit more birds with one stone than by going to church—but I think I can count the number of times have gone to church here on one hand! Twice it was a purposeful decision, but every other Sunday unforeseeable or inoperable obstacles stood in my way. My ex-Christian Brazilian host father has taken note of my heathenness and said to me in jest last week, “Yeah, just the other day I was thinking, ‘when I was a Christian, I went to church a lot more than she does!’” As of now, I don’t have any great guilt weighing on my conscience; it was not my intention to escape Christian community, and in spite of my poor church attendance, I have felt God’s gracious presence close to me this summer. I do, however, grow weary at the thought of what more could have been had I not been such an island unto myself. What prophecy could have been spoken to me? What could I have been healed of? Who could I have healed? It’s an awesome and powerful thing to worship God with other people, especially in another country; I didn’t really tap into that power so I can’t say what I missed. Needless to say, I really want to get my church on during the time that I have left here. C-.
7. Further investigate international development as a career option; decide whether or not to pursue the Urban and Regional Planning and Development program at FSU
Incomplete.
Yeah, I don’t know. And if I continue not to know, things will probably hit the fan in about a month, when I have to settle my class schedule. I now find myself distracted by the prospect of taking more classes on teaching English as a foreign language, and I can only spin so many plates at once. I am hereby counting on the deepening of my spiritual understanding in number 6 to sway my grade for number 7 into the range of acceptability! Jesus knows what’s up. :D
Summary of My Progress Report:
1. BAM!
2. Not so much
3. Check
4. Weak
5. Yes
6. C-
7. Incomplete
So there’s that! Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. If you would, please pray for my clarity of mind and for my health as I have a bothersome chest cold and I want to be able-bodied for my final two weeks with my students.
Home in 3 weeks!
Love,
Claire
1. Become more proficient in Portuguese.
BAM! I have totally accomplished this! My listening, speaking and vocabulary have progressed as needed to get by in everyday life here. I am able successfully talk on the phone with people (usually…), I give lessons in which I speak a good bit of Portuguese, and I have picked up on some of the local accent and slang. A weakness that I see in this area is that my vocabulary and grammar are still somewhat weak; I haven’t had any structured plan of study and people here are kind and accommodating to the point that they often do not correct my consistent linguistic foibles.
2. Form a partnership between Arte e Vida and FSU’s Portuguese department
Not so much. But I think I could be instrumental in bringing about such a partnership in the coming year when I am reunited with my Portuguese professor and peers. While I have not laid any specific groundwork for this type of project, my presence at Arte e Vida everyday lends increasing credibility to the institution I am representing. If some of my peers wanted to work with Arte e Vida next year, I could tell them exactly who to contact, what the students have already learned, and what resources they would be provided and would yet need to procure.
3. Gain experience in tutoring and teaching English as a second language to students at a variety of levels
Check. For coming here with just one TESOL class under my belt and very limited experience teaching and tutoring English learners, I have done a heck of a lot of teaching! My classes have been my primary commitment here, and they have certainly consumed my time and thoughts more than any else over the last two months. I have made some blunders. I have learned that I have much to learn about my own language, (seriously--is there ANY rhyme or reason to English pronunciation?! How on earth do our kids learn to read aloud? “Soup, soul, sour”…”ou” makes 3 different sounds. And don’t even get me started on what the letter “a” is capable of!) I have repeatedly accomplished less than I had wanted to in the classroom, due both to circumstances within and outside of my control. I have been under-resourced. I have stood before my students filled with apathy, hopelessness, frustration, peace, joy, and love at different times throughout this experience. Overall, I’ve gained a lot of experience, I’ve taught my students, I’ve had a positive impact, I’ve tried my best, and I haven’t given up.
4. Progress as an artist through song and dance
Weak. I have only learned to dance one type of Brazilian dance, whose name, “forró,” comes from a transliteration of an American’s comment on the dance—that it was “for all,” a dance accessible to the masses. As far as my musical progression, I have only written one song while I was here, a song in English that is strikingly similar to the other several songs I have written over the last couple of years. My lofty sub-goals of wanting to learn to sing and play some of the local/traditional music from here and to come up with an original song in Portuguese have yet to be realized. However, last week I told the students in my English Conversation class about my desire to learn to perform some local music. They enthusiastically offered to hook me up with some material, and my inbox has since been blessed with some lyrics and links to hear different songs. Last weekend, on my road trip with my Brazilian parents, an extensive sampling of artists of my favorite genre was lined up for my listening pleasure (admittedly, this would have been more successful were I more capable of staying awake during long car trips)! I am proud to report, though, that I have bought and received for free a number of CDs from aspiring artists right here in my city! Their merit is limited, but I am a woman of solidarity. Right now I am listening to the CD of one of the employees at the coffee shop within the Catholic University. He sings with The Silver Cowboy Band on this CD whose title translates to The Cowboy That Provokes (The Provocative Cowboy?). Hopefully as my classes wind down and I soak up more and more Brazilian music from these various founts, I will find myself inspired and empowered to make my own small mark on the music scene here.
5. Establish independence from family and friends in the United States through independent travel
Yes, I am satisfied with the degree to which I have successfully blown you people off! I made a Skype account my first week here but never used it as of yet. I have exchanged emails every now and then and checked in sensibly with facebook, and this has been very helpful and encouraging. Once a week or so I have written my fancy words on this blog and sent them out into the vast and often maddeningly silent void of cyberspace. I miss you people and appreciate you all the more for having tasted of your absence. My life here has certainly been more independent, and I feel like I have a clearer picture now of who I actually am. I trust that upon my return, this insight will help me to more healthily and joyfully live as a part of my community, as one connected to many to the glory of God.
6. Deepen spiritual understanding by being an American Christian in a country with very different religious dynamics
C-
I have gained some insight and perspective here that I would definitely characterize as spiritual, but it hasn’t been what I expected, and it isn’t stuff that I can easily wrap up and top with a bow. As someone with inherent curiosity about returning to this (and just about any) place to do missionary work down the road, I don’t feel like I’ve been endowed with a specific message or a burning heart to present the gospel to these people (at least not in the typical sense). As a culturally Catholic nation with a burgeoning evangelical presence, it seems at times like Jesus is all up in everyone’s grill. At Arte e Vida, the secular government-funded NGO where I work, the kids hold hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer every morning—I definitely didn’t expect that.
The things that I have gained a holy sensitivity to here are much more at the macro level—like the corruption and inequality that knowingly persists in every sector of Brazilian society, and the great fissure that divides different sects of the church here. I have also become aware of a strong humanistic pull here that suggests that the deep wounds of this nation will be healed when we finally elect good politicians, when we all embrace tolerance and turn into the good people that we haven’t managed to be in the past. As beautiful as that sounds, there hasn’t been another Eden since the Beginning, and I don’t think we’re going to find it again by omitting the God who created it in the first place. He’s the one that is good. Gee, after writing this spiel I feel like I ought to bump my grade up to a C+ or something!
My main reason for giving myself a low rating for this goal, though, is that I have engaged in very little collective religious activity during my time here, which I think has been a major opportunity lost. As an ecumenical Christian, a scholar, and a language learner here, I can hardly hit more birds with one stone than by going to church—but I think I can count the number of times have gone to church here on one hand! Twice it was a purposeful decision, but every other Sunday unforeseeable or inoperable obstacles stood in my way. My ex-Christian Brazilian host father has taken note of my heathenness and said to me in jest last week, “Yeah, just the other day I was thinking, ‘when I was a Christian, I went to church a lot more than she does!’” As of now, I don’t have any great guilt weighing on my conscience; it was not my intention to escape Christian community, and in spite of my poor church attendance, I have felt God’s gracious presence close to me this summer. I do, however, grow weary at the thought of what more could have been had I not been such an island unto myself. What prophecy could have been spoken to me? What could I have been healed of? Who could I have healed? It’s an awesome and powerful thing to worship God with other people, especially in another country; I didn’t really tap into that power so I can’t say what I missed. Needless to say, I really want to get my church on during the time that I have left here. C-.
7. Further investigate international development as a career option; decide whether or not to pursue the Urban and Regional Planning and Development program at FSU
Incomplete.
Yeah, I don’t know. And if I continue not to know, things will probably hit the fan in about a month, when I have to settle my class schedule. I now find myself distracted by the prospect of taking more classes on teaching English as a foreign language, and I can only spin so many plates at once. I am hereby counting on the deepening of my spiritual understanding in number 6 to sway my grade for number 7 into the range of acceptability! Jesus knows what’s up. :D
Summary of My Progress Report:
1. BAM!
2. Not so much
3. Check
4. Weak
5. Yes
6. C-
7. Incomplete
So there’s that! Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. If you would, please pray for my clarity of mind and for my health as I have a bothersome chest cold and I want to be able-bodied for my final two weeks with my students.
Home in 3 weeks!
Love,
Claire
Friday, July 16, 2010
On Molehills and Mountains
So...epic fail on my part for not writing for 2 weeks. P Claire definitely won out! And I'm going out of town with my Brazilian parents in like a half an hour, so let's see what I can crank out in that small window of time!
I had a rough transition back into my work at the Catholic Unversity and Arte e Vida. I think the word "meltdown" could be aptly applied. If you've even witnessed the process of me writing a research paper, it went a lot like that. If you haven't witnessed the process of me writing a research paper, consider yourself blessed--it's a frightful thing to behold! I was shifting between different housing situations when my classes began again, and I was really exhausted from not getting enough sleep for several nights in a row. Then, I held my brain out in front of me, glared at it in an attempt to establsh dominance, shook it, and said, "Be creative! Come up with PERFECT lesson plans--NOW! These kids need to be speaking English!" My brain didn't respond well to such threats. It took the passive-aggressive route and just stopped doing anything helpful. For example, I spent all of last Saturday trying to plan my next lesson for Arte e Vida and came up with absolutely nothing.
I would like to report, however, that at this time, my brain is once again performing at a satisfactory level (I gave it some cookies and apologized for loosing my cool). A number of wise Brazilian women have been advising me to relax. One of the administrators at Arte e Vida asked me the other day how I was doing. I told her I wanted to give up. She then spent about a half an hour telling me that all good teachers come up against challenges. She reminded me that my students are coming to me with a very limited academic background, that I could not expect to perform miracles in just two months. She also dropped the standard down comparatively about as deep as the Grand Canyon for what my goals and expectations should be for my classes. She said, "If they leave knowing one word, I'm thrilled. They're getting structure from coming to a super well-organized class, they're learning respect. You're already having an impact here by bringing peace into their lives and into our organization. They're going to remember you more than the content of your lessons." That was really encouraging. I like those priorities a lot more than my previous ones of trying to squeaze full sentences and viable pronunciation out of these kids. I've felt a lt more freedom in preparing my lessons since then. Another woman, the mother of the three-year-old mentioned in the previous post, told me an interesting Brazilian proverb the other night. She said, "Here we say 'The best is the enemy of the good.' If you're always trying to do the best, in the end what you do isn't good." I thought it funny that I've heard the exact opposite piece of wisdom in North American Christian circles--I know I've read it in my daily devotional at least a few times. Our corresponding proverb likewise pits what is best and what is good against one another, but with the opposite slant; I have heard it said that the good in life is what distracts us from the best. I think I'll decide to be both deep and vague and say that I agree with both proverbs depending on the situation.
Alas, I need to go! We are about to hit the road and visit some of my host parents' extended family in neighboring states for several days. There ought to be beaches involved (finally!!!) and I am intending to do my best to relax and leave my planning materials at home. Thank you for reading this. In less than a month I will be back on US soil!
Love,
Claire
I had a rough transition back into my work at the Catholic Unversity and Arte e Vida. I think the word "meltdown" could be aptly applied. If you've even witnessed the process of me writing a research paper, it went a lot like that. If you haven't witnessed the process of me writing a research paper, consider yourself blessed--it's a frightful thing to behold! I was shifting between different housing situations when my classes began again, and I was really exhausted from not getting enough sleep for several nights in a row. Then, I held my brain out in front of me, glared at it in an attempt to establsh dominance, shook it, and said, "Be creative! Come up with PERFECT lesson plans--NOW! These kids need to be speaking English!" My brain didn't respond well to such threats. It took the passive-aggressive route and just stopped doing anything helpful. For example, I spent all of last Saturday trying to plan my next lesson for Arte e Vida and came up with absolutely nothing.
I would like to report, however, that at this time, my brain is once again performing at a satisfactory level (I gave it some cookies and apologized for loosing my cool). A number of wise Brazilian women have been advising me to relax. One of the administrators at Arte e Vida asked me the other day how I was doing. I told her I wanted to give up. She then spent about a half an hour telling me that all good teachers come up against challenges. She reminded me that my students are coming to me with a very limited academic background, that I could not expect to perform miracles in just two months. She also dropped the standard down comparatively about as deep as the Grand Canyon for what my goals and expectations should be for my classes. She said, "If they leave knowing one word, I'm thrilled. They're getting structure from coming to a super well-organized class, they're learning respect. You're already having an impact here by bringing peace into their lives and into our organization. They're going to remember you more than the content of your lessons." That was really encouraging. I like those priorities a lot more than my previous ones of trying to squeaze full sentences and viable pronunciation out of these kids. I've felt a lt more freedom in preparing my lessons since then. Another woman, the mother of the three-year-old mentioned in the previous post, told me an interesting Brazilian proverb the other night. She said, "Here we say 'The best is the enemy of the good.' If you're always trying to do the best, in the end what you do isn't good." I thought it funny that I've heard the exact opposite piece of wisdom in North American Christian circles--I know I've read it in my daily devotional at least a few times. Our corresponding proverb likewise pits what is best and what is good against one another, but with the opposite slant; I have heard it said that the good in life is what distracts us from the best. I think I'll decide to be both deep and vague and say that I agree with both proverbs depending on the situation.
Alas, I need to go! We are about to hit the road and visit some of my host parents' extended family in neighboring states for several days. There ought to be beaches involved (finally!!!) and I am intending to do my best to relax and leave my planning materials at home. Thank you for reading this. In less than a month I will be back on US soil!
Love,
Claire
Friday, July 2, 2010
Acabou
The title of this post, pronounced "ah-kah-BOH" is a very commonly used word here. I actually heard it just now from the mom of the family that is hosting me temporarily; her three-year-old with a bed-wetting problem just asked to drink some more water, and she responded, "Não. Acabou." A couple of weeks ago, as I meticulously scraped the remaining dribbles of ice cream from the bottom of my bowl, I was exhorted by a friend; "Claire, acabou já." I here it several times every day that I work at Arte e Vida; as the wall clock tells me its time to surrender the present group of students for another and hastily wrap up my lesson, the assistant from the organization walks down the hallway and into my classroom and says, with a face reflecting my look of understanding sadness, "Acabou." Acabou can have many nuanced meanings, depending on how it is artfully placed, but more or less, the word communicates "It's over. done." "It ended." "It's all gone." In many ways, acabou today for Brazil. The Brazilian soccer team started off spectacularly but ended in a loss to the Netherlands in today's World Cup game. Acabou. The scene this afternoon was reminiscent of Ezra 9:3. As well, the festas juninas are truly under the bridge now. Last night I told a friend here, "I love forró!" and she replied, "São João is over--there's no more forró now!" While I happen to know that she's wrong and that there are places here that play forró music and host the dance year-round, the general sentiment remains intact. The latest excuse to party and eat an absurd amount of corn has passed; the giant ads adhered to the rear ends of buses have changed from an attractive, young, North American looking couple wearing plaid and straw hats to whatever else people are willing to pay big bucks to advertise now, (often a young, attractive, North American looking couple pretending to do/use/enjoy something else. <--Wow. As Aunt Whats-her-face says in Pride and Prejudice, "That savors strongly of bitterness!").
The well-organized, responsible (J) part of me is very pleased with this shift and senses the justice within the end of the mass festivity. I showed up for class yesterday (Thursday) afternoon at the University only to find my classroom locked with the key M.I.A. and every desk removed and stacked three-high in the hallway. When I asked if the classroom would be restored to order for the next day's class, I was told that the school wouldn't be open at all the next day because of the World Cup game (which only lasts for like three hours of the work day). I'm a little tired of the mess that accompanies the majority's vacation. In essence, I've had a week and a half of cancelled classes all around. I don't feel very good about that and I feel even worse when I consider that I have accomplished very little as far as planning ahead for the month of classes that remains before me. I wanted to get ahead on things in a big way, to secure for myself some peace of mind as I finish this thing out, but instead I got invited to a ton of places, I got sick for several days, and I read half of a book I've been needing to read for years now. I also procrastinated. :( I am not without fault in this matter (I did, however, produce a new song in the midst of being ill and avoiding my greater responsibilities...I look forward to playing it for you all when I come home). So the next month of teaching will not be handed to me on a silver platter of my own prior making, but I've already got a lot of ideas set and I will work hard and be forced to depend on God and I figure all will be well. This is what the less-responsible, let's-wait-and-see-what-happens (P) part of me thinks, anyway. Please pray in this part's favor.
I need to go to bed! I'm staying with a different family for a few days and the aforementioned three-year-old gets up really early...and really likes playing with me...so it's in my best interest to get to sleep like an hour ago. The previously promised post on the major differences I've observed between the US and Brazil as well as a concise reflection on my goals here is soon to come. I promise. (P-Claire crosses her fingers; J-Claire shakes her fist at P-Claire). But for now, please be distracted by these pictures!
Students from the NGO performing a skit at their São João party. In addition to the traditional green and yellow flags, you can see happy corn people put up on the wall on the right. We voted on a Corn King and Corn Queen at this party. May the rule the Corn Kingdom with justice!
Students dancing quadrilha at the São João party
My classroom at Arte e Vida, with the computer that I both love and hate so very much
My classroom and some of my excellent students at the Catholic University. I like to take advantage of nearly every opportunity I get to create poor-quality drawings on the whiteboard. Here we have David and Goliath, initiated by the appearance of the word "slinging" in an article we were reading.
Love,
Claire
The well-organized, responsible (J) part of me is very pleased with this shift and senses the justice within the end of the mass festivity. I showed up for class yesterday (Thursday) afternoon at the University only to find my classroom locked with the key M.I.A. and every desk removed and stacked three-high in the hallway. When I asked if the classroom would be restored to order for the next day's class, I was told that the school wouldn't be open at all the next day because of the World Cup game (which only lasts for like three hours of the work day). I'm a little tired of the mess that accompanies the majority's vacation. In essence, I've had a week and a half of cancelled classes all around. I don't feel very good about that and I feel even worse when I consider that I have accomplished very little as far as planning ahead for the month of classes that remains before me. I wanted to get ahead on things in a big way, to secure for myself some peace of mind as I finish this thing out, but instead I got invited to a ton of places, I got sick for several days, and I read half of a book I've been needing to read for years now. I also procrastinated. :( I am not without fault in this matter (I did, however, produce a new song in the midst of being ill and avoiding my greater responsibilities...I look forward to playing it for you all when I come home). So the next month of teaching will not be handed to me on a silver platter of my own prior making, but I've already got a lot of ideas set and I will work hard and be forced to depend on God and I figure all will be well. This is what the less-responsible, let's-wait-and-see-what-happens (P) part of me thinks, anyway. Please pray in this part's favor.
I need to go to bed! I'm staying with a different family for a few days and the aforementioned three-year-old gets up really early...and really likes playing with me...so it's in my best interest to get to sleep like an hour ago. The previously promised post on the major differences I've observed between the US and Brazil as well as a concise reflection on my goals here is soon to come. I promise. (P-Claire crosses her fingers; J-Claire shakes her fist at P-Claire). But for now, please be distracted by these pictures!
Students from the NGO performing a skit at their São João party. In addition to the traditional green and yellow flags, you can see happy corn people put up on the wall on the right. We voted on a Corn King and Corn Queen at this party. May the rule the Corn Kingdom with justice!
Students dancing quadrilha at the São João party
My classroom at Arte e Vida, with the computer that I both love and hate so very much
My classroom and some of my excellent students at the Catholic University. I like to take advantage of nearly every opportunity I get to create poor-quality drawings on the whiteboard. Here we have David and Goliath, initiated by the appearance of the word "slinging" in an article we were reading.
Love,
Claire
Friday, June 25, 2010
Festas juninas
The festas juninas mentioned a couple of posts back are in full swing! I have eaten a shameful quantity of corn-based delicacies!
See the sweet, corny spread from my house...(Click on any of the photos on this page for a larger view)
I have also witnessed both ends of the celabratory spectrum here. The family I´m living with here had a quiet dinner at home for São João; many hours were spent preparing the typical foods and then extended family members came over dressed in the traditional country attire. Later they went out onto the street and lit sparklers and fireworks (one type of firework here, referred to as the bomb sounds like a bomb or a nearby gunshot when it goes off; women jump, dogs freak out, babies cry, car alarms sound). They also took part in a tradition here that I find pretty crazy (and surprisingly bothersome to my health), the lighting of a fogueira. A fogueira is basically a big pile of wood you stick in front of your house on the street and set on fire. Drivers and bicyclists in the street must take care to dodge the fogueiras, and as thousands of them are lit the city becomes thick with smoke.
On the left, old and new come together: the fogueria beside the erupting modern firework. On the right, a huge fogueira that was blazing down the street near where I usually catch the bus.
The next day I went to a nearby inland city called Caruaru, (nearly always subtitled for me ´the birthplace of forró!´). The city attracts many party-goers and fills up all of its hotels for this festival each year. I loved the several-hour scenic drive, the chance to meet some cool new people and deepen my existing friendships, but overall I thought the party was a bust. It was absolutely PACKED,(however I was assured that Carnival is even more crowded), there was much smell of pee, and the music was rarely actually forró (seriously...they played Lady Gaga); 90% of the men were drunk or on their way to it and an equal portion of the women seemed to have received a memo instructing them to wear 4 inch stilettos and not much else. Every attraction, t-shirt, table, and decorative flag was decked out in some corporate logo. I guess just like us, Brazil is not immune to having its traditions and good clean fun turn sour.
[SIDEBAR: on the way to Caruaru we stopped in Gravatá to eat at a restaurant called Rei da Coxinha (Coxinha King). A coxinha (pronounced ko-SHEE-ñuh)is a lovely fried Brazilian snack. It is shaped like a large teardrop, and contains potato and other fillings of one´s choosing (I ordered the popular cheese and shredded chicken filling). The establishment is owned by evangelical Christians and also bosts the best coxinhas in the state. I saw many strange artistic manifestations of these joint passions of the owners of Rei da Coxinha, and I felt obliged to photograph them...
Semi-seductive coxinha billboard and me and my new friends beside a giant coxihna statue.
Me in front of a giant chicken billboard claiming the best coxinhas in the state. And, by far the weirdest thing I saw, a mural in front of the restrooms which displays an except from Isaiah 40 about the LORD´s provision of strength above an American eagle ripping open a coxinha with its tallons to feed its young.
END SIDEBAR]
Two of my classes at the Catholic University this week were cancelled with the understanding that no one would show up. Half of this week´s classes at Arte e Vida were done away with as well for the holiday. While everything will be back to normal at the University, I will not have any classes at Arte e Vida next week either. Midweek the NGO is having a party to celebrate São João and showcase this semester´s work for the students´ families. I´ll get to see my students perform skits, play drums, show off some excellent crochet creations, and dress up in plaid clothes and straw hats and perform some traditional dances. I´m pretty stoked. I´m also stoked and amused by the fact that the NGO has designated the three days prior to the party as student-free, just to cook food and make final preparations for the party. I expect this to be a really special event for all involved, and the down time gives me a nice opportunity to plan the next few weeks of my lessons, instead of staying in the planning-one-or-two-days-in-advanced rut I´ve been stuck in. I think better planning will help me continue to decrease the stress and anxiety involved in doing my work here and will also make for better continuity and cohesion between my lessons.
In other news, it looks like I´m going to be staying here with this lovely family instead of attempting to switch homes in July. I think it works out well this way for everyone involved, and I must say, I am really enjoying it here. And I´m up to a solid 80% success rate at getting on the right bus and finding the correct destination when using the routes in this area!
It is also of great importance that I mention that Brazil will be moving on to the next round of the World Cup. Everything really does stop here for soccer. It´s true! We don´t have a sport in the US that receives such precedence and uniform support. Many green and yellow shirted aficionados are saying this year´s team isn´t playing very well, though. Today there was a fairly disatisfying game against Portugal--the Brazilian team was down its star player and burned a lot of time switching the ball back and forth between themselves midfield. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. As the players threw off their shirts and we got ready to go downstairs for lunch, my Brazilian uncle turned to me and said, `This is the reason why Brazil doesn´t get ahead. Because we sit around watching this trash!´ While I don´t completely agree with him, (because Brazil is in many ways getting ahead and because I think many of the nation´s setbacks are a result of more profound societal evils), I can certainly see where he´s coming from.
Hours before Brazil´s match against North Korea, I stood in the lobby of the Prefeitura, the body that governs Recife at the municipal level. I waited there for a good 15 minutes for a friend to descend from her office so we could go watch the game with her family. I stood there as hundreds of people flooded out of the cramped office stairwell and elevators, most in yellow or green attire, some mysteriously accompanied by their children. I just had to laugh at how many people were flowing out of the stairwell, and that all of them were leaving their government posts at one in the afternoon on a Tuesday!
I expect to write another update in a few days. My half-way mark will be arriving shortly and I want to take some time to reflect on how I´ve been doing on accomplishing my goals here. I also want to share the major differences between the US and Brazil that have been brought to my attention through talking with people here. If you would, please pray that any remaining fogueira smoke would clear my lungs and that any mental smoke would clear my mind so that I might plan my classes well this week.
Please pray for discernment regarding my future (I can´t be an Olsen twin forever...). I have been looking into the grants that the Fullbright program is going to supply for students to do research and teaching assistantships in Brazil in 2012 and it looks like an opportunity I might want to try for. In the long(er) run, I still have thoughts of missionary work, study in urban planning, and stateside international student ministry swishing around in an inconclusive sort of way in my brain. If I´m supposed to be figuring any of this out nowadays, may I have the insight and inner quiet enough to do it.
See the sweet, corny spread from my house...(Click on any of the photos on this page for a larger view)
I have also witnessed both ends of the celabratory spectrum here. The family I´m living with here had a quiet dinner at home for São João; many hours were spent preparing the typical foods and then extended family members came over dressed in the traditional country attire. Later they went out onto the street and lit sparklers and fireworks (one type of firework here, referred to as the bomb sounds like a bomb or a nearby gunshot when it goes off; women jump, dogs freak out, babies cry, car alarms sound). They also took part in a tradition here that I find pretty crazy (and surprisingly bothersome to my health), the lighting of a fogueira. A fogueira is basically a big pile of wood you stick in front of your house on the street and set on fire. Drivers and bicyclists in the street must take care to dodge the fogueiras, and as thousands of them are lit the city becomes thick with smoke.
On the left, old and new come together: the fogueria beside the erupting modern firework. On the right, a huge fogueira that was blazing down the street near where I usually catch the bus.
The next day I went to a nearby inland city called Caruaru, (nearly always subtitled for me ´the birthplace of forró!´). The city attracts many party-goers and fills up all of its hotels for this festival each year. I loved the several-hour scenic drive, the chance to meet some cool new people and deepen my existing friendships, but overall I thought the party was a bust. It was absolutely PACKED,(however I was assured that Carnival is even more crowded), there was much smell of pee, and the music was rarely actually forró (seriously...they played Lady Gaga); 90% of the men were drunk or on their way to it and an equal portion of the women seemed to have received a memo instructing them to wear 4 inch stilettos and not much else. Every attraction, t-shirt, table, and decorative flag was decked out in some corporate logo. I guess just like us, Brazil is not immune to having its traditions and good clean fun turn sour.
[SIDEBAR: on the way to Caruaru we stopped in Gravatá to eat at a restaurant called Rei da Coxinha (Coxinha King). A coxinha (pronounced ko-SHEE-ñuh)is a lovely fried Brazilian snack. It is shaped like a large teardrop, and contains potato and other fillings of one´s choosing (I ordered the popular cheese and shredded chicken filling). The establishment is owned by evangelical Christians and also bosts the best coxinhas in the state. I saw many strange artistic manifestations of these joint passions of the owners of Rei da Coxinha, and I felt obliged to photograph them...
Semi-seductive coxinha billboard and me and my new friends beside a giant coxihna statue.
Me in front of a giant chicken billboard claiming the best coxinhas in the state. And, by far the weirdest thing I saw, a mural in front of the restrooms which displays an except from Isaiah 40 about the LORD´s provision of strength above an American eagle ripping open a coxinha with its tallons to feed its young.
END SIDEBAR]
Two of my classes at the Catholic University this week were cancelled with the understanding that no one would show up. Half of this week´s classes at Arte e Vida were done away with as well for the holiday. While everything will be back to normal at the University, I will not have any classes at Arte e Vida next week either. Midweek the NGO is having a party to celebrate São João and showcase this semester´s work for the students´ families. I´ll get to see my students perform skits, play drums, show off some excellent crochet creations, and dress up in plaid clothes and straw hats and perform some traditional dances. I´m pretty stoked. I´m also stoked and amused by the fact that the NGO has designated the three days prior to the party as student-free, just to cook food and make final preparations for the party. I expect this to be a really special event for all involved, and the down time gives me a nice opportunity to plan the next few weeks of my lessons, instead of staying in the planning-one-or-two-days-in-advanced rut I´ve been stuck in. I think better planning will help me continue to decrease the stress and anxiety involved in doing my work here and will also make for better continuity and cohesion between my lessons.
In other news, it looks like I´m going to be staying here with this lovely family instead of attempting to switch homes in July. I think it works out well this way for everyone involved, and I must say, I am really enjoying it here. And I´m up to a solid 80% success rate at getting on the right bus and finding the correct destination when using the routes in this area!
It is also of great importance that I mention that Brazil will be moving on to the next round of the World Cup. Everything really does stop here for soccer. It´s true! We don´t have a sport in the US that receives such precedence and uniform support. Many green and yellow shirted aficionados are saying this year´s team isn´t playing very well, though. Today there was a fairly disatisfying game against Portugal--the Brazilian team was down its star player and burned a lot of time switching the ball back and forth between themselves midfield. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. As the players threw off their shirts and we got ready to go downstairs for lunch, my Brazilian uncle turned to me and said, `This is the reason why Brazil doesn´t get ahead. Because we sit around watching this trash!´ While I don´t completely agree with him, (because Brazil is in many ways getting ahead and because I think many of the nation´s setbacks are a result of more profound societal evils), I can certainly see where he´s coming from.
Hours before Brazil´s match against North Korea, I stood in the lobby of the Prefeitura, the body that governs Recife at the municipal level. I waited there for a good 15 minutes for a friend to descend from her office so we could go watch the game with her family. I stood there as hundreds of people flooded out of the cramped office stairwell and elevators, most in yellow or green attire, some mysteriously accompanied by their children. I just had to laugh at how many people were flowing out of the stairwell, and that all of them were leaving their government posts at one in the afternoon on a Tuesday! I expect to write another update in a few days. My half-way mark will be arriving shortly and I want to take some time to reflect on how I´ve been doing on accomplishing my goals here. I also want to share the major differences between the US and Brazil that have been brought to my attention through talking with people here. If you would, please pray that any remaining fogueira smoke would clear my lungs and that any mental smoke would clear my mind so that I might plan my classes well this week.
Please pray for discernment regarding my future (I can´t be an Olsen twin forever...). I have been looking into the grants that the Fullbright program is going to supply for students to do research and teaching assistantships in Brazil in 2012 and it looks like an opportunity I might want to try for. In the long(er) run, I still have thoughts of missionary work, study in urban planning, and stateside international student ministry swishing around in an inconclusive sort of way in my brain. If I´m supposed to be figuring any of this out nowadays, may I have the insight and inner quiet enough to do it.
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