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.