Rio de Janeiro - Cidade Maravilhosa

Rio de Janeiro is called the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvellous City) and I must say it lived up to it's name! We were told however, that "oh its sooo dangerous with the favelas (ghettos)" , "you're going to get robbed because youre not from there"..blablabla. Not at all. I felt the safest EVER in Rio. The thing is, yes, I may be American but nobody EVER thinks I am. Why? Because around the world American doesn't mean me. You would think even with Obama as president, they would know by now. Anywhoo, besides, there were five bazillion foreigners walking around the city huge tall blonde people with huge cameras, ugly big packpacks, speaking english, german and (insert anglo language of choice) OUT LOUD on the street and in the buses and using their iphones. Bruno and I though..well if anybody is gonna get robbed--it'll be them first! LOL.

So even though I was still a bit sick and weak so we didn't get to see the entire city but we did get to go to the Corcovado (with where the famous Jesus statue is) and Pão de Açúcar and saw some beautiful views of the city.

Day 1 - Corcovado and Cristo Redentor

Corcovado Building - On the Way to Jesus

The Corcovado Train - On the Way Up the Hill to the Statue

Samba Band on the Train

Enjoying Our Train Trip up the Hill!

Bruno at the Top of Corcovado

(look at the little man on his right shoulder haha!)

The Famous Statue Cristo Redentor (Christ Redeemer)

Ambruno in front of the Beautiful Views of Rio

(We took this photo ourselves, this is why my chin is cut off!)

Day 2 - It Rained All Day

That was fine because I still was very weak and eating very little. Day 1 whiped me out!

Day 3 - Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf)

Bruno with Sugarloaf Mountain in the Background

On the Bondinho (Cable Car) Up to Sugarloaf

Half the Way to Sugarloaf Mountain

The View from the Top of Sugarloaf Mountain

The View of Rio from the Top of Sugarloaf Mountain

3 Days and 2 Nights in Rio..even though I was weak and not with much appetite... (thank goodness Bruno was fine and healthy)WE LOVED every second. Rio, te amo! We WILL be back. This was the BEST part of the trip. Made up for all of the craziness in Bahia.

November Rundown - Salvador Bahia (Devil-landia)

Warning: this post does not contain any encouraging "need greating" experience. Its part of the "non-holy" November rundown.

Yes, so I totally should be getting myself ready for the meeting right now..tonight we have the C.O visit..but I realized I didn't finish the posting the much awaited photos of Salvador, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. This was the anticipated and well deserved "vacation" because contrary to popular belief we're not preaching and sipping coconuts on the beach afterwards here.. Well, I am sipping coconuts but we aren't chilling on the beach anywhere. LOL.

So first we took the last van to the next town over Arapiraca and waited 4 hours there to get on a bus overnight to Salvador, Bahia. 9hours later we arrived to the rodaviaria (bus station) and it was hustling and bustling to our surprise at 5am. Once we walked outside, things got pretty shady and scary trying to catch a bus into town to our hostel. Good thing I supposedly look like a Baiana and could blend in.. so we wouldn't be a target for the crazies, and there are ALOT of crazies in Salvador- 1 out of every 5 people talking to themselves, or their imaginary demon friends..you name it. So after waiting about an hour for our stinking bus to come..we made our way to another bustop and saw a gringa with a HUGE backpack and blonde dreadlocks, speaking horrible Portuguese jumping on a bus into town.. we followed her because we just KNEW she was going where we needed to go.

We got into the historic part of town towards our hostel and on the way there I see someone reading what looked like a Despertai (Awake!). I asked her what she was reading and had her turn it around- and oh yes and it was! Found a sister who getting her reading in before going to work right next door to our hostel. That was pretty awesome. Anywho, we happen to arrive on Black Awareness Day and there was a festival in town. Poor Bruno, stood out like a sore thumb. Some little boy even yelled to him "Essa mulher nao e pra voce, nao!" (That woman isn't for you). Hahahaa. Anywho, the festival was awesome: people drumming in the streets, a concert, $2 caipirinhas and happy black people everywhere. Yah!

Salvador itself is nice--well the historic area is my fav, its full of culture. But UNFORTUNATELY most of the culture there has something to do with spiritism that the Africans brought with them. Why, my people, why? Speaking of this..we met this woman dressed in traditional garb that asked US to take a picture with HER and suckered us out of some money. Dude YOU came up to ME to take a picture, you should give ME some money. I thought! Haha. Though I didnt give her what she asked..I gave her something. After we took the picture we realize she's one of those Baianas that do these spiritistic rituals. I think the chick put a HEX on me for not givng her the money she asked *chuckle* yes, I said a HEX..literally because after that EVERYTHING I mean EVERYTHING that could've went wrong went wrong. I got really, I mean really, sick: like I've never gotten that sick before. Vomiting all night, sweating, diarrhea, dizzy.. had to stay in the hostel the whole rest of the time there, had to pay for an extra night just to lay in the bed. Went to the airport to go to Rio..lost the passports (this has never happened to me ever in all my travels), lost the flight to Rio, had to pay extra for another flight..found the passports. Once we LEFT Salvador, it all got better. Well somewhat I still managed to stay sick but not as bad. That demonic city..never again! :-P

Hours and 10lbs Before I Got Sick

Oh yah and if you're EVER in Salvador, Bahia Brazil don't ever take a picture with a traditional Baiana because you'll pay for it... and don't ever eat something called Acaraje...becauuuse..you'll pay for it (in more ways than one)! But if you'll looking to drop 10lbs easy..go ahead and eat it! Okay Rio's up next.. next post.

The November Rundown - Holy Version

So much to tell, where do I start. The beginning of November we were invited to go eat dinner with the Circuit Overseer in the next town over because for some reason he was dying to meet us. (Don't know why). He and his wife were super cool. He's officially Tio Abraao (Uncle Abraham) to me for more reasons than one... You'll see in the pics. They invited us to go with them to Maceio the next day which is the capital; where the airport is and where we went with Bruno’s mom. The C.O. had to arrange a place for a Bethel speaker to stay a few days and he had to go in person. There we met a number of brothers including Marco, which is an Italian pioneer living there also serving. He’s a good connection to have b/c has a phat house right on the beach. J His mom and a boatload of Italians happened to be visiting when we were there. That was crazy breaking out my rusty Italian which is now mixed with Portuguese. We def had tower of babel going on there. We meet some nice people made some connections and found out there's not only an Italian group, but theres also a Spanish group in Maceio! Very cool news, because Maceio is very cool, on the beach and very NORMAL. So we'll see if we can go there and visit the Spanish group another day.

Pizza with the Italians

November 12th we had our Special Assembly day. There were some mixups with the location down to the last second. It was supposed to be held in our town, of which we would've walked to the assembly. However, due to last minute 3rd world county official run-arounds it had to be held in the next city over. The congregation rented a bus for everyone to go, since most of the brothers don't have cars. It was fun going to the assembly on the bus..not so fun sitting through a hot assembly outdoors (no this wasn't my first time)..but it's hard enough sitting there 8 hours in AC b/c I'm kind of A.D.D sometimes. So imagine with the heat. Oh I almost forgot, the C.O. tio Abraao mentioned us in the assembly. How embarrassing. (I was looking down). Side point, the bethel speaker from the Brazilian Branch Committee happens to be a gringo. They've lived in Brazil for 40 years. As soon as his wife and him walked in the place, I threw my finger out and said "ooohh Americans" with glee. LOL. I did what I NEVER do, I made a beeline and ran up to meet them and told them I was American too (which they did not believe). Why do my own people deny me? "YOU're American?" "Well you don't look it, you blend in well" (says the gringo). *CHUCKLE* Umm...thanks, I guess?

Bus to the Assembly

Lucas from our cong, Bruno and Lucas' Cousin Vanderlison (studying)

Ambruno and C.O Abraao and Elaine

Other news: we returned to the far 3 mile away territory by foot again, “Malhada da Onca”, to do some return visits. It wasn’t as easy to do this time because it’s getting even hotter. It’s burning up by 7:45am! But the good news is: I started a study there. The most exciting part is that even though she humbly said she couldn’t, she actually can read! The hard part is getting to return again. Unfortunately, it’s not that easily to do weekly. Bruno has a bunch of studies, including the guy named Jeova who’s doing really good, learning about himself. LOL. I’m going to attempt to start a study with the first person who I found in service here in Brazil, a gay guy named Wilson with HIV. Ahem, excuse me not gay, a guy with a “different masculinity” that’s what he calls it. I never knew there were “different masculinities”..that’s a new one. Poor guy. When I did the return visit he said he actually felt moved that when we came the first time he wasn’t judged and we were nice to him even though he’s gay. His Pentecostal neighbor won’t even say hi to him. So maybe we can work with that.

So this is the November Rundown the Holy Version because we also went on a trip to Salvador, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. I will save that rundown for another post.

Our Top November Service Pics

This is when I feel like we're in Africa

My Study's Niece and Her Pet Monkey (yes it's tiny)

I could just eat her face

My study's cute grandkids & little friend

Stomach Virus Blues

Sorry guys, its been a long time coming. I'm sure you've been wondering: where are the posts? Well on top of the hit or miss internet connections and lack of energy to attempt to connect.. we've been out of town and low and behold I finally got a dreaded virus/bug/worm..who knows what it is. Surprisingly almost 2 whole months here in northeast Brazil in a rural town with green rancid drainage water running in the streets, trash and (cow, horse, dog) feces as far as the eye can see and Dengue(West Nile Virus) outbreaks..and we hadn't gotten sick even once! Then we finally take a vacation to civilized and what we call more "normal Brazil": Salvador Bahia and Rio de Janeiro and I get a stomach virus! Can you believe it? Needless to say it put a damper on my beloved dream to see Rio but at least I made it there. But we've got some stories to tell! Today we're back in Sao Sebastiao safe and in one piece though I'm slowly recuperating. Bruno on the otherhand is fine, since he has a stomach of steel and can eat anything. At least one of us is doing well. :) I'll will report back soon when possible with a regular update with pictures.

1 Month Down 2 to Go

So we've been here 1 month now, unbelievable because it actually feels like we've been here for 3 months already. The days go by much slooooower here; different pace. It is getting hotter and hotter as the days go by. Here it's technically Spring but I would say it is Summer all year long. I'm getting darker each day, getting closer to my roots. :) Bruno is getting somewhat tan, he was initially a pinkish red color which earned him the nickname camarão (shrimp). He gets mad when they call him that. Poor Brunito. LOL. The sun here is brutal even I, who's not so melanin challenged, have a rash on some of my skin from the exposure.

So whats new hmm today it rained, which was refreshing because it cooled us off a bit. It wasn't fun though being in service when the torrential rains began and the streets started to flood(along with the dirty drainage and trash flowing through the streets). Fun time trying to get home, wading in that mess. Not to mention I slipped and busted my tail today. Tears! However, the rain..while it cut the service day short and made me hurt myself, it left me with time to post this blog.

Bruno started a study with a guy named "Geova" yesterday, yes same pronunciation as Jeova (Jehovah in Portuguese). Can you imagine. So Geova, would you like to learn about Jeova? Funny. I started a study with a lady today who's NEVER heard of Adam and Eve. WOWWWW, quite a challenge but it's exciting to be able to start from zero, teaching humble people.

Sooo after I've gotten the holy/encouragement report out of the way, GUESS WHAT? We are going to RIO RIO RIO at the end of the month....oohhh I'm sooo excited. Though, yes, we are in Brazil already it is not a hop skip and a jump away. Rio de Janeiro is about 23 hours away (by car) from where we are! So we have to #1 Take a van to the nearest town Arapiraca, #2 Take an 8hr bus to Salvador, Bahia #3 Take a 3hr plane to Rio. So we will actually go to the Brazil you've all heard of with the hot bodies, samba, the beach, exotic birds, Jesus statue and the umbrellaed drinks. Yay! :)

So there is sooo much to talk about but I'll talk about the highlights of the last month:

• Bruno's mom IRIS came up to visit from Uruguay for 1 Week-LOVE HER - STILL SAD SHE LEFT US :(
• Iris brought some Canarias Yerba Mate for us to drink, and some huge hats to wear in service for the sun, a gift from my sister-in-law Raquel in Uruguay-Thank you!

Bruno+Iris

Iris+Amber

Me Iris Flava

Ambruno+Iris

• We went to Maceio, the Capital of the state, which is a tourist area with nice beaches, we drank Caipirinhas, coconut water and chilled in an AIR CONDITIONED room with CABLE for 2 days, woah-look out now!

More Coconut Water

Ambruno+Maceio

Lookie Lookie a Familiar Face- I could've SWORN this was my uncle Reggie hustling coconuts on the beach!

• We bought a fan for our bedroom- yah this is a big deal!
• The brothers gave us a mosquito net to hang over our bed
• I bought some ice trays to make ice - yes, this too is a big deal for me!
• We managed to walk 3 miles to a far territory to do some return visits by ourselves and 3 miles back when everyone else said we'd die. 6 miles up and down dirt road hills annd we got back home at 10:30am. Showed them - Mwahhh (evil laugh)

Do you see that lonnggg path in the background, we walked all that and then some.

On the dusty road to a RV 3 miles away

Yes, its only been a month but let me mention some things I would kill for right about now:

• A Redbox or Netflix movie
• To wear boots and a jacket while walking through Autumn leaves
• To have an easy 10 hour day in service doing return visits riding in a car
• To see my mommy
• To use the Internet with out the connection failing 5 times

Thats it for now. Signing off from Mexico--oops rural Brazil.

Reporting from "Macedonia"

Here we are in what I like to call “flip-flop-landia” where everyone and I mean everyone has thong clad feet even construction workers. Yes JUST thong clad FEET only. Contrary to popular belief... no, this is NOT Rio..no Copacabana. No chiseled bodies shimmying to samba, and drinks with umbrellas or Jesus statues and tropical birds- it's just not at all what you think. It's hard to believe we’ve been here two weeks. We still feel like we’re in rural Mexico, not Brazil. Things are a little behind, backwards and slow in Northeast Brazil (and those aren't just the words of a dumb American..it's even considered a whole other world here even to the Brazilians in the other parts of the country) but we’re easing into our new home and embracing the heat.

This is Our Street

This is Our House

(There cars are parked there but there are NO cars in the household)

This is Our Bathroom (JUST KIDDING) but this thing is in the Backyard

What makes it all worthwhile is the service. Everyone almost everyone listens. It also is an added bonus when you start your presentation off with “Eu venho dos estados unidos” (I come from the united states) That really makes them fling their door open and pull out all the chairs for you to sit down. That’s IN TOWN that is—the people in the rural towns have NO clue where the united states is. One lady asked “oh baby is that like 3 hours away from here”. LOL. Poor lady. Most people do not know how to read or read very little. The new brochure is coming in handy, that’s pretty much all we place with everyone, that and tracts. Magazines are for the more educated and we don’t find many of them. Mostly the young kids and teenagers are the ones have education. The most exciting time here is the rural territory that we cover once-twice a week. There are 106 small towns that are a part of the territory, they’ve only covered 28. So there are 78 to go! That means the ppl in these 78 areas have never heard the good news. Its pretty exciting. We really enjoy the rural territory versus local service, since the local territory in town has been covered. However it’s quite exhausting attempting to do the rural territory more than twice a week, without cars and besides the local brothers need support in service in town.

Rural Territory

Rural Territory

Eating Goiaba (Guayaba) We Picked from a Random Tree

Cool Pic of Bruno on Break

Nice Scenery in Svc

People Actually Reading what we Just Left

Okay Maybe its Just Me but I Found this to be Very National Geographic

If you look closely... people carry things on their Head here

There are only 21 publishers in the congregation and almost all of them are new. Most are women and there is 1 elder, no servants (now 1: Bruno), 2 Pioneers Marcelo and Flavia (the brothers we live with), and now us 2 and there are 2 Auxiliary Pioneers Manoel and Menice who are all stars in our rural territory photos. Manoel is the big dude who looks Dominican big time. LOL Menices the "blonde". They’re fun. Other than Marcelo, Manoel and now Bruno there are no brothers, just a 10 year old a 15 year old and an 90 year old, none of them can give parts. Therefore in the past 2 weeks Bruno has conducted the congregation bible study, the bible highlights, given a public talk and will be doing the Sentinela (Atalaya/Watchtower) next Sunday. Let’s just say they’re putting him to WORK.

Our Local Territory

Service with the Local Cong

Bruno + Amber in Local Territory

Bruno Doing the Bible Highlights

Things I'm in love with here other than service:
- The Kids (as always). Theyre beautiful in all shades from tan to chocolate brown.
- Agua de Coco (Coconut Water)
- Cheap Cachaca (its like Rum but stronger-it costs $2 for a huge bottle. We already have had it in the states but Its about $20 at home)
- Fruit Trees in the Yard
- Walking (Though I’d like to walk more here, everything is around the dang corner)
- $.0.25 Lettuce, 10 Mangos x $1, and other what I'd l like to call "REDONCULOUS" (a bit more that ridiculous) produce prices
- That surprisingly its NOT as hot as North Carolina Summer (But there is NO AC, or riding in the car that’s the only problem)
- Washing my clothes by hand in the backyard and hanging them up. Can you believe it? I find that fun!
- Having enough time to study for all of the meetings and read the Bible and time to THINK

I heart the kids

Cute

Agua de Coco

Caipirinhas (Made w Cachaca) Makes it All Better

This Pic was Staged don't get any ideas

Additional Things Bruno’s especially in love with:
- Preaching without a Tie
- Giving Parts without a Jacket
- Eating Sugar Cane while in Service
- Brazilian ‘Novelas’ (Soap Operas) LOL, just kidding. No HES NOT Kidding. LOL

Bruno Eating Sugar Cane that He Ripped Out of the Ground

We could make a huge list of the things we DON’T like but we will keep it positive. Haha. But I will list a few things that don't make things so fun:

- Annoying retarded roosters that crow at 4:30 in the morning, dogs barking at 4:30 in musical chorus with the roosters, parties in the town til the roosters start crowing, noisy kids playing at 5am in the street (WHY are they up?), cat fights at 5am-literal cats, not women,..oh annnd MOSQUITOS- they’re the devil. Oh yah lets add crappy Internet connections to that. Ohh we really could go on and on, there's a lot that’s lacking in the 3rd world country. But okay that’s it for now.

Things we miss other than all of you:

- #1 would be being able to actually flush toilet tissue in the toilet. It's the simple things in life. LOL.

In a nutshell, we're living in a 3rd world country so some shock is to be expected and we do miss home, our family and all of our friends but we are having a good time fulfilling Matt 28: 19,20

Enjoy some of our photos and we'll get back to you as soon as we have time and good internet access, the later is hard to come by. We miss you all!