Back Row Left: John (Ghana), Elisabeth (Togo), Joel (Burkino Faso), Andre (Haiti)
Front Row Left: Roberto (Kenya), Sarah (USA), Maria (Indonesia), Ghislaine (Congo), our teacher Raquel (Brasil)
For the past few weeks, I've been living in Brasilia (see map) at the Centro Cultural Missionario (Missionary Cultural Center), where I have been taking Portuguese language lessons. I think I can say honestly that it is going well -- I am slowly learning phrases, like how to order ice cream, how to say I ate ice cream in the past tense, and how to say I'd really like to eat ice cream again some time soon in the future tense! Patience is certainly a necessity when it comes to learning a foreign language, and sometime I have enough, sometimes I don't!
Participating in the program with me are people from all over the world, as you can see from the caption of my class picture. Most everyone is Catholic, headed out to do mission work after the language course ends in June. There's a vast range of language abilities, with me falling somewhere in the middle of the spectrum on account of having had some previous lessons in Portuguese and also having had some experience with Spanish. As is usually the case in the beginning stages of learning a new language, my ability to understand far out does my ability to speak!
The Missionary Cultural Center is really a very comfortable place that makes every effort to provide an environment conducive to good studying. The food is good, I have my own room, there are even washing machines for us to use. (Back in the day, the students had to wash their clothes by hand. The poor priests, who had always had house keepers, didn't quite know what to do with this situation, so I guess someone took pity on them and got some washing machines! I'm certainly not complaining!!)
So amongst all these creature comforts, like washing machine availabiliy, ;) you may be wondering when my Brazilian vacation is going to end and when I'm going to start to be a "real missionary". I can say that the whirl wind of activity and excitement of my first few months has dwindled , and now the challenges of my reality are setting in.
The challenges come in subtle forms though: trying to be patient with myself as I learn the language, and with my classmates as we try to communicate with each other in a language none of us know very well. The challenge of not comparing myself to others as we all work toward the same goal of learning Portuguese -- some faster than others. The challenge of accepting that every little thing (like buying new flip-flops, for example) takes longer than "normal", is more difficult than "normal", and probably won't turn out the way I planned it, anyway. And then, of course, I'm finding it challenging to cope with never really being understood. Either because I'm not speaking Portuguese correctly or (as is the case with the people who do speak English) because I'm in a situation where nobody knows me well or knows my background, or the ins-and-outs of my life that brought me to this point.
So, even though I am still laying the ground work in preparation for my ministry, I am beginning to learn what it means to really live in a foreign culture. And despite the challanges, I am continually humbled by the easy friendship of the Brazilain people, and continually rescued by their patience and fearlessness in communicating with me, and their genuine openness and desire to be welcoming. Right now that is the helping hand that I need, and I look forward to a future when I can reciprocate the beauty and openness of their generosity!