Zen and the Art of Procuring Motorcycles

It appears as though we might have procured ourselves a motorcycle. Procure is both an English and Portuguese verb so I am going to use it if I can get twice as much bang for my buck. Getting the motorcycle was no small task. There is paperwork required on Josh's end, that he did not have, and papers that the owner should have had, that he did not. Finding used motorcycles are not easy either, although easier than finding a car. There are not classified ads here so you know if something is for sale if you hear about from someone else or you see a for sale sign. Josh often went to look at a motorcycle he heard was for sale only to find out it was not or already sold. One time we went to check out a motorcycle which was supposed to be in great condition, only to find it in a million parts. Apparently there was a peculiar knocking that required investigation. Motorcycles are like mirages, Josh said, just as soon as he got close enough to a bike to take it for a test ride, it would just disappear. One time Josh took his language helper with him to look at a bike. His language helper is really intelligent and works hard at his English but he is not fluent. While looking over a bike, Josh asks this language helper to ask the owner if the bike had ever been raced. Racing is kinda common here and it would obviously devalue the bike. Without asking the owner, Betu answers "No." Knowing that there was no way Betu would know that Josh presses him to aks the owner, which Betu does and again tells Josh, "No, the bike has not been erased." Good! Because we were really concerned that some of the decals might have been changed around. So after almost a month of searching we are proud owners of our fisrt vehicle. I just can't drive it. Yet.

A Foreign Version of the Familar

Christmas here is a strange blend of the familiar and foreign. The other day I saw one of those stupid dancing Santas like they used to have at Wal-mart stores. But I also saw another Santa that I’ve never dreamed I would see. One of the peculiarities her in Brazil are the advertisement trucks, they are trucks (sometime just motorcycles or bikes) stacked high (sometimes 10 ft. high) with an assortment of speakers. These trucks drive slowly up and down the streets blasting their wares. Usually it’s a combination of music and a voice convincing you to buy something (I guess). These trucks are so loud that when one passes by you have to stop your conversation, there’s no chance you’ll be heard (even if you are inside a store). The sight I saw the other day was a Santa on top of one of these trucks, dancing and throwing candy to no one in particular.

The other evening we went down to the riverfront where they had some Christmas decorations set up. Everything from a nativity to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The girls loved it. Brin and I weren't sure what to think...

This morning (Christmas Eve), we opened our presents. Tonight we have church (as usual on Sunday evening) and then tomorrow morning we have a breakfast at church.

Even in the familiar act of opening presents, we experienced something that reminded us again that this was to be no normal Christmas... Some of the presents we bought were wrapped at the store, and they used Portuguese gift tags. To top that off, the order is reversed: who it is from is on the first line, and then who it is for is second (backwards from what I was used to). We finally got all the gifts sorted out, but Ava ended up opening one of Mia’s gifts. She was so excited (see picture below), even though it was actually a gift she had bought for Mia (she didn’t even recognize it).


To see more Christmas pictures, and a short video go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/brinleezj/Christmas

Scratching Where it Itches

Now I know where the carnival rides from the Tremont Turkey Festival go during the winter. Altamira, Brazil. No kidding. I think I recognized some of the “carnies” from last summer. We really did go to a fair that was in town. The girls loved it. They rode the rides, won some candy at a shooting gallery and even bought carnival treats (carmeled apple, carmeled popcorn, and cotton candy).

The other day Brin asked Ava if she likes it here in Brazil. Her answered captured how we sometimes feel: “Yeah, but I itch a lot… but that’s ok, I like to scratch.”

Our House

I’m not sure many of you are interested, but I thought I would post some information about our house. Our house is actually sort of a duplex. We live in Bud and Suzannes old house. I did not include drawings of their new part, just know that it’s plenty big and plenty nice. The only access to their side is through the shared office between. We are slowly getting comfortable in it. Although it is much smaller than our old house, it seems to be adequate for our needs. The rooms are all small (except for the master bedroom). There are some quirks, such as the low ceiling in the kitchen, lack of outlets, and weird placement of light switches (some ridiculously low, others ridiculously high). We do have air conditioning in the office, the rest of the house stays relatively comfortable. With a fan on us at night we are usually comfortable. We spend a lot of time outside, the veranda and gazebo are great for the kids to play on.

We’d love to have any of you come and visit and see it first hand! We even have an extra bedroom (the girls are currently sleeping in BR 2, but will soon move into the bigger one).

The pictures are: 1) A view of the front of our house, 2) a view of the kitchen and dining room area from the front hallway, 3) a view of the kitchen from BR 2, and 4) a view of BR 2.

A Little Missionary Journey

This past week I had the chance to go on a day trip up river with Bud. It gave me a better picture of the ministry that Bud has. We took the “speedboat” (I use that word loosely, it was only speedy in comparison to the other larger wooden boats), an aluminum hull boat about 4 ft. wide and 15 ft. long with a 40-horse outboard motor. Our journey was about an hour up river to a community called Boa Esporansa. The purpose of the trip was for Bud to meet with, and disciple, a couple who hosts a church meeting in their home. They themselves are young believers, but the most qualified in the area to lead the young fledgling church. The couple has been going through discipleship material that the church gives out to new believers and Bud was there to answer their questions and encourage them. He spent 2 or 3 hours talking with them and praying with them. I tried to keep busy, listening to the Portuguese, walking around the homestead, and reading. It was fun to get out on the river and see some more remote areas, but more than that it was exciting to see firsthand people with a hunger to learn more about Christ, and the role that I may play in the future.

Jungle Bells

We’re anticipating Christmas just like the rest of you. Tonight we decorated a tree and ate some Green and Red Hershey’s Kisses that Angie (another Missionary with Xingu) brought in from the States. It was a timely moment to replicate our family’s Christmas traditions that we had always done in the States. It was lovely, for the most part. Look closely at Ava in that last picture. Notice that lower lip? As touching as our family time was tonight it was also pretty indicative how the entire day went. Mia spent the night puking last night; she’s fine now because apparently she didn’t eat any more dog food. Mia was whiney and clingy, Ava was disobedient and antagonistic with Caleb (although better from days past) and Ella was poorly motivated to do her schoolwork. There were moments today where I resented my children and their overwhelming neediness. It was nice to end the night with a tradition that the kids could connect with their pasts. -BZP

See more pictures from today at: http://picasaweb.google.com/brinleezj/DeckingTheHalls

I scream, you scream

Our first field trip was to the ice cream factory. Actually it is just a storefront with a little production room and freezer in the back. Since we are such good customers, they let us come on a day they were making the ice cream and gave us a little tour and lecture. At the end we got samples, which is what the kids wanted all along. Me too. My favorite is maracuja (passion fruit) and abacaxi (pineapple) and coconut and chocolate. They also make popsicles there in a variety of flavors, including corn.

Note to those who like to critique our blog… if you thought our grammer and spelling was poor before we left for Brazil it is getting exponentially worse each day. I think the immersion in Portuguese is putting our English off kilter.

Monkey See

Yesterday we got to watch a pair of white monkeys playing in the jungle that borders our back yard. It was so exciting even though the sighting lasted less than 5 minutes.