greener grass

Still unsettled in some ways, our life has began to take on somewhat of a perceptible routine. At least for me (Brin). I have started homeschooling in the mornings, which means I have also started all the explanations to my neighbors who don't know anything about the topic. Our mornings start with school, as best I can and then sports in the afternoon. Within days of arrival I met a neighbor who told me about a local community center (SESI) that has various lessons. So we looked over the list of classes; guitar, belly dancing, jiu-jitsu, theater, karate, until the girls settled on ballet and swimming. 

With a neighbor friend, Mônica, at their first day of ballet.

Ava reported that Mia cried during class and then later lied to her instructor about having a fever. And that is why I am glad to have someone else help me teach these girls. Ballet in Manaus, I have heard, can lose it's  " classicalness"  and instead take on more of a samba feel. I am hoping for the best but will keep my eye out, especially during Carnival.

Good grief, city living can be tedious. For one thing, the rules. People actually obey the law here, so there goes driving around with 10 friends in the back of pick-up. And swim class was quite a registration ordeal. The girls had to have a health check-up and have their skin checked by a nurse (I doubt I count) every 2 months. Sometimes city life is a real contrast; that is when Mia says, "  I want to go back to Brazil."    She means Altamira.

We still have not met many of our Asas de Socorro teammates, which is a bit discouraging to me. As it turns out none of them live in our borough, ours being a bit of a rougher crowd. But I really like it. The neighbors hang out in front of their homes, the kids play in the streets; the Brazilian version of  "kick the can" being interrupted only when a car comes. And my house borders reserved jungle owned by the Federal University and rumor has it there are monkeys in it. So I do have a little slice of jungle life, albeit hardly authentic. Being on the rivers and so close to nature was something that I thoroughly experienced in Altamira, I know I am going to miss it. I will try not to complain too much, but since I already am, perhaps some of you heard me mocking the mere 3 meters of grass that I will trim with Mia's Hello Kitty scissors?! Well, I complained too soon- a new well had to be dug this past week and now that pitiful patch of grass is mud.

Last weekend we were able to spend a few precious hours cruising the Rio Negro on our way to attend a inauguration for a new boat that will be used for ministry. It was lovely but the best part was meeting new friends. Some of them work for Asas, some work for other organizations and one family, working for Caterpillar in São Paulo, gave us an encouraging slice of home.

The girls on the boat getting to know their new friends. As always, Ava was the first to find her new best friend. Thankfully, it was a girl this time since all, seriously, all the kids who play on the streets are boys. Ava and Mia take them on ambitiously.

Chatting with Ligia about expat life.

 And on another note, our congratulations go out to our family's much loved Cleide! For those of you who have followed our family this past 4 years, Cleide is a familiar name to you all. She called a few days ago to let us know that she passed a very competitive college entrance exam. We are so proud of her! We all miss her tremendously, and with this good news, all the more. I cannot wait to see where God is taking her.

Cleide is on the left, Cleny is on the right. Have I told you all that Cleny is living with us in Manaus? I will write about her next! Actually, Josh will probably write about his routine next, which includes lots of frustrating phone calls about the internet.