refreshing changes

River village built completely on stilts

This is Brin here. I am back from my trip up river. I helped lead a team from the Vineyard Church of Delaware County (Ohio) as they visited churches and villages in a region close to where the Xingu River meets the Amazon. It was a serious treat for me. First of all, I needed to get away. But in my jungle town there just isn't anywhere to go. So when I returned I was refreshed and much more appreciative of my husband and eager to be a better mother. Also, this team was made up of such quality people 10 days was just not long enough to soak them up. I miss them, which is weird since I just met them.


We spent the weekend in Porto de Moz, a small port town, and the rest of the time traveling up and down the rivers, stopping in now and then at people's homes, sampling their buffalo cheese, talking about God, and putting on services in the evening. Tim, a missionary and also MD did consults along the way. I sat alongside him and acted as a glorified pharmacy tech. I loved meeting people's medical needs and it flows naturally into meeting spiritual needs as well. I was surprised at how poorly I understood the language. I thought I was doing great in Portuguese until I tried to understand the river people with their thick accents, poor grammer and missing teeth.

On the way to school

So now that I am back and getting back into a routine, Josh promptly left for a mission to the interior to a location called Suribem which is close to his heart. On Wednesday night I got a phonecall that the girls were to start school the next day. I was given less than 24 hours notice. I am not sure if that is normal or I was just forgotten. What a contrast to North American schools that have the graduation date on the calendar even before school starts. So I sent my babies off to school. They are the first foreigners to attend this school which was evident when the teachers could not make heads or tails of their immunization records and laughed at the funny names on their birth certificates. Had I had the liberty, I would have cried over the realization that my babies are no longer babies. And also that I had sent them into a lot of unknowns. But I had other commitments so I ignored the tender spot on my heart. When I went to pick them up Ava was the most enthusiastic, contrary to her worried statements prior. Statements like, "I wish I could paint my skin brown so I could make friends." Ava's favorite part was buying a popsickle for 25 centavos. She also referred to her classroom as her "hotel room." I am sure wires got crossed in translation somewhere. Mia was pleased that she got to wear a "costume" (uniform) but then at the end of the day was not happy because they did not use the playground. Ella was originally concerned because there are not doors on the bathroom stalls, which indeed there are not. She deliberatly studied her classmates, teacher and classroom and concluded it will be harder than she thought. She also stated that her classmates did not treat her any different until one of the teachers made a speech about children from other countries that look different and speak different but are still children just like them. That was when she got stared at the first time. She also gained a little unwanted attention for bringing prunes and apricots (an imported treat) for snack instead of cookies or crackers. She told them her mother was a nurse and they empathized with her.

Mia and her classmates