A White (sand) Christmas

As we drove into Altamira last night around 8:30 pm, after being on the road since 6:30 am, it truly felt like we had been away for months (it had actually been 15 days). We are excited to be home, but this morning we faced the unsurmountable task of unpacking and getting organized, fortunately today is New Years Eve and we don't have much going on.

I learned from my language instructor a while back that it is common for Brasilians to spend an evening with a friend that has just returned from vacation and look at slideshow of their vacation while they talk about them. I told him where I come from that is a sure way to lose your friends, or at least bore them to death. So, in an effort to acclimate to Brasilian culture, here is my slideshow (cue cheesy music):

Our time on the road was not as bad as our last post may have suggested. I did have to stop a couple times and ask directions, or as the photo records, refer to my map while the girls relaxed at the local convenience store.

About a month before our trip, Brin set goals for each of the girls with a reward that they would get on our trip. After many failed attempts, Ella reached her goal of doing some acrobatic flippy thing, her reward was her very own body board.

Mia surprised us by learning to swim (or more accurately, deciding not to cling to anything and everything that would prevent her from becoming submersed). I'm not sure what was more fun, watching her swim, or watching how proud she was of herself.

The idea of Christmas in a hotel room was a little hard to get used to, but we did our best to set the mood (lights and stockings hung on the TV stand) and stick to our tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve and stockings on Christmas Day.

The Berquists and Wilsons (two families from our mission) met us at the hotel, they traveled by boat. We enjoyed our time with them and our kids loved the playmates. We did a gift exchange on Christmas Day.

The Berquists had a "snow kit" that made a fake snow look-a-like that our kids enjoyed for about 2 minutes.

Ava's reward for learning to read (or at least making a valiant effort at it) was to visit the butterfly house in Belem. Unfortunatly it was closed for maintenance when we got there. We were able to talk one of the employees into letting Brin sneak Ava in covertly look at the butterflies while hiding from other guests who were walking around outside.

Our room had a bathtub. Let me give a little context to that statement. One of the hardest things Brin knew she was going to give up moving to Brazil was her baths. She loves to take baths, they are her happy little place... or something like that. Anyway, she has gone a year without a bath and was able to enjoy one every night in our room. I was going to snap a picture of her in the bath but she made threats on my life.

A Christmas Adventure

Tomorrow, Sat. Dec. 15^th, we’ll be leaving for a two weeks on vacation. We’ll be traveling to the coast, where we’ll meet two other missionary families and spend Christmas at the beach. Our girls are especially looking forward to it.

Between here and there lies 18 hours of travel, about half of which is on the treacherous and pothole-filled TransAmazon Highway. It’s sure to be an adventure. If you think of us over the next couple of weeks, pray for safety and that our family would enjoy the time we have with each other and our friends. It will definitely be a different kind of Christmas for us, but we are hoping playing at the beach will distract us from the fact that we are so far away from our friends and family from back home. We wish you all blessed Christmas and New Year!

During the rainy season, the TransAmazon Highway can be impassable at times.

The other day I went on what I thought was a day trip to another location in the Assurini. I showed up at Pastor Clenildo’s house, only to find out that we were going to be staying overnight. I rushed home and threw my hammock, clothes, and a few other things in a bag. We were already late for the ferry that, unlike anything else here, leaves promptly at the scheduled time.

Ella went with me, so that always adds to the adventure. It seems like every time I take one of the girls with me on a trip there is at least one time when they have to go to the bathroom “really bad” at the most inconvenient time possible. Ella did not disappoint. I also realized in the rush of packing I forgot a flashlight. Flashlights are essential when going to a place like the Assurini where there is no electricity. It made bedtime an adventure; we had hung our hammocks in a grove of trees so finding our way there after the church service while avoiding the occasional cow pie and roosting chicken proved to be difficult. I made a mental note to never forget a flashlight again.

I don’t eat a whole lot when I go on these trips. Dinner is especially unappetizing because it’s usually just the rice and beans reheated from lunch. I was lying in my hammock after I had tucked Ella in her hammock and one of the guys came up and excitedly told me that dinner was ready (keep in mind this is around 9:30). I politely declined, knowing Ella would not want to be left alone with the eerie sound of howler monkeys and surrounded by darkness. Plus, I was really in no mood for rice and beans.

Waiting for people to arrive for the service.

The family we visited was a follow-up to our last visit to the Assurini. A young man who had been at the TLC retreat invited us to stay with his family and invite his neighbors to a service. About 25 people showed up to watch a film and listen to Clenildo preach. In the morning we were gone, leaving them to their simple, hard lives. I’m not sure if we were just an interesting diversion or if the message we brought will lead to new life. I’m learning that God doesn’t always give us clear victories. And sometimes what he asks us to do will show no results at all, but obedience is required just the same.

Ella cooling off by the family's only source of water

Office Parties and Rustling Leaves

Its beginning to look a lot like the rainy season.

In a sudden gust of wind, the sun-dried leaves that have laid on top of our tile roof rained down on my kids playing in the yard. “It must be fall.” I yelled enthusiastically. When we are in the right mood we get rather playful when the rain clouds and accompanying winds arrive overhead. The girls strip down to their skivvies and run around the yard waiting to be soaked with the rain. That’s Brin speaking here, and for those of you who pay attention, I apologize for my disappearance on this blog. I haven’t been in a blog writing mood.

Everyone in my house is acutely homesick. And anything, seriously anything, that remotely reminds us of home can become either a cause for celebration, as the leaves did. Or ignite a river of tears that feels like the Amazon. I became upset the other night after seeing an office party while watching a movie called The Santa Clause. I was terribly missing all those office Christmas parties from back home that were occurring without me. The new Christmas dress, yummy deserts and the twinkling lights, ya know, all that stuff that goes with Christmas parties. And then on second thought, I realized I never actually worked in an office or attended an office party. I just plain missed home.

You know that you really start missing people when you recognize random friends from back home in your neighbors or people around town. Josh and I find ourselves saying, “Hey, doesn’t that look like Matt except skinnier, darker and less teeth?” So we’re homesick. I’m just sayin’ is all.