| when in brasil 08.12.02 |
| Wow, it's been a long time since I've checked in, and so much as happened too. Instead of describing Brazil and recapping the past month and half, I will just start from today. I finally got my own computer and my personal space here at Sepal, the publishing house that I will be spending the next four months. Sepal is located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, and boy is it crammed full of people. There are buildings upon buildings as far as the eye can see, and many, many more people and cars. The drivers are nuts, too...if there are three lanes drawn into the street, the drivers will create four lanes. If a driver wants to turn left, he will stay in the far right lane and then turn at the last minute by waving his hand outside his window, honking, and then passing in front of all the other lanes. Surprisingly, drivers are very forgiving here and let people do that. What I enjoy the most here is the people. The culture has its quirky points, but for the most part, I find it fascinating and enjoyable. To come from an environment that wasn't filled with particularly warm people, to be surrounded by people who hug you when they first meet you, is a positive change. I look forward to being able to communicate comfortably with them, but in the meantime, I am just barely getting by with my faulty knowledge of Portuguese. So it's been almost a month and half since I have arrived, and the time has flown. I feel like it's a new beginning now, though, since M. has left. There is plenty to adjust to now that M. is gone, but the sadness (the "saudade") is lessened with the excitement that God still has plenty in store for me here. I know that there are plenty of relationships to be built among my family and the co-workers at Sepal...there are plenty of more things to learn about Brasil and the brasileiros...there is plenty for me to do in terms of supporting the missionaries and Sepal with my writing and editing. I will not be sitting idly for the next five months, just counting the days before I go home. I'm sure the time will fly and when the time comes for me to leave, I will miss Brasil as well. I think since I am just studying Portuguese, I feel like I'm not really on a missions trip. It's really different from what anyone would imagine a missions trip to be like, yet this is what the U.S. missionaries here experienced when they first arrived. Most of them spent about a year just studying Portuguese and familarizing themselves with the culture. To know the people and the culture is the first step in adjusting to the environment where you will be serving God in. Although I will only be here for five months, I guess it's good for me to do that as well. Who knows...God may bring me back here one day... |
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