First of all, Kensey told me today that I forgot to sign out of Blogger yesterday, and she implied that she did something to my blog. I think she's bluffing. If you notice anything crazy, please let me know.
And it will be crazy.
In the past couple of days, I've had some new readers: Tatiane, Eliane, Ivanmar, and Ludymila. They are all very excited about the sessions (like everyone else!), but their level of English conversation varies tremendously. But I'm glad to have them all!
We have some readers who can barely speak any English at all. If I was in their position, I would have decided about three minutes into my first session that I had come to the wrong place. Thank you for your time, have a nice life. But even though it's very difficult for them, they want to keep coming back. In fact, some of them just want to come more often so they'll get more practice. Of course, no matter how much they struggle, we're here for them. If my reader wants to come try his or her hardest for 45 minutes just to form a sentence, I'll help them as much as I possibly can. I won't lie, it's exhausting to have that kind of session. But seeing them smile when they say they are happy to be there is well worth my effort.
We have had some (just a few) people who signed up not show up for their sessions. That's very common in this kind of program. The weird thing is, most of them have been my readers. I'm not scaring them away--no one I've read with has dropped out--they just never show up for their first session. We still have plenty of readers, though. Missy is leaving this Sunday (she was only staying for the first two weeks from the beginning), and we'll adopt her readers. I'm looking forward to meeting them!
Another big change is that we're moving! When Missy leaves on Sunday, the rest of us will be moving in with Randy and Kathy. We're very happy about this, because it means our team will be together all the time, and William and I will be much closer to the Escola da Biblia. Danny has been a wonderful host to us, though, and we will miss living with him. He's shared everything he has with us without even a second thought. We'll still see him a lot and he'll hang out with us, so we don't have to be too sad. Thanks for sharing your home, Danny!
Everyone's reading sessions have been going very well, and we're all getting to know our readers better. Our first party is Friday. ("What's the theme?", you ask? Why, it's an Elvis party, of course. And yes, William has a costume. Expect some wonderful pictures.) We hope a.) lots of people show up, b.) we'll be prepared to entertain lots of people, c.) our readers and their friends will get connected with Boa Viagem Igreja de Cristo, and d.) everyone will have fun!
Please keep praying for us, our readers, and our hosts. And keep sending messages! We love to hear from all of you at home. Let us know how you are, too!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sick Willy and André the English Giant
Well, today was eventful!
Last night, William went to the doctor because he had a bit of a fever. He didn't have enough clear symptoms to diagnose anything, though, so they just told him to do the plenty-of-rest-lots-of-liquids thing. So, he was out of commission all day. No worries about his readers, though; we got in touch with them and rescheduled. Hopefully, he'll feel better tomorrow. (PS- Every time I touch an air conditioner, it stops working. Ask me about that later.) The rest of us went to lunch with Theresa Boyce (that's her and Chris's last name), which was great--it's always good to see more of the city, and she's wonderful company.
I had some repeat readers (Christiane and Giovanni), as well as some new ones (Myriam, Ivanmar, and André). Christiane and Giovanni are both beginning to share more of their personal stories, and I feel like I am getting to know them very quickly. Later this week, Christiane is going to a different state to take a test to qualify for a job. Please pray that she will do her best, and that God will help her see His will for her.
Myriam is great. To be honest, I was a little afraid of her before she came today. She's 79, very small, speaks broken English, and is not afraid to tell you what she thinks in any language. At the information session, she got mad at me because I wouldn't let her sign up for more than one reading--she even told on me to Kensey and William! "Remember my name," she said, "because I want to come more than once a week!" I thought I wouldn't have any time for her later this week when she's available to come, and I wasn't looking forward to telling her that. But all was well, and we had a very good session. She's very sweet, but if we got into a fight, I'm pretty sure she'd win. There are already a couple of stories to tell about Myriam, but we'll save them for later.
André's session was very encouraging to me. When I came to meet him, he was in the process of making fun of Kensey, so I knew he and I would get along well. He is one of the most fluent English speakers I've met here. The amazing thing about that is he taught himself. Not from books or Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone, either. He watched American DVDs with English subtitles. No exaggeration, he speaks better English than some of my U.S. friends (albeit with an accent). We were hardly into our first lesson when he stopped me and asked, "Why are you here?" I told him there were two main reasons: 1.) Many people here want to speak English, but lessons are very expensive, and usually not very good as far as real conversation goes, and 2.) It gives me a way to share my faith in a way that won't turn people off, regardless of beliefs, and actually gives them a good reason to keep coming back to talk to me about it. He told me that he wanted to learn English because he feels like God is calling him to be a missionary in South Africa, and he just wanted to know that other people in the world believe that doing such a thing is worth it. I told him it was, and that God has blessed him greatly. Our sessions will be more like total bible studies (with an explanation of slang words and why there's a "gh" in "through"). Even after our first 45 minutes, I know God is going to use that to bless me, too.
I just ate some leftover Chinese food (don't think too hard about that), and I'm ready to sleep for a long time. By the way, if you've noticed Kensey and I assaulting each other on our blogs, please know that we aren't actually having team drama. You probably picked up on that, but I don't want someone calling LST and demanding she be brought home for making me cry.
If she needs to be sent home for anything, it's stealing babies. They're not souvenirs, Kens!
Last night, William went to the doctor because he had a bit of a fever. He didn't have enough clear symptoms to diagnose anything, though, so they just told him to do the plenty-of-rest-lots-of-liquids thing. So, he was out of commission all day. No worries about his readers, though; we got in touch with them and rescheduled. Hopefully, he'll feel better tomorrow. (PS- Every time I touch an air conditioner, it stops working. Ask me about that later.) The rest of us went to lunch with Theresa Boyce (that's her and Chris's last name), which was great--it's always good to see more of the city, and she's wonderful company.
I had some repeat readers (Christiane and Giovanni), as well as some new ones (Myriam, Ivanmar, and André). Christiane and Giovanni are both beginning to share more of their personal stories, and I feel like I am getting to know them very quickly. Later this week, Christiane is going to a different state to take a test to qualify for a job. Please pray that she will do her best, and that God will help her see His will for her.
Myriam is great. To be honest, I was a little afraid of her before she came today. She's 79, very small, speaks broken English, and is not afraid to tell you what she thinks in any language. At the information session, she got mad at me because I wouldn't let her sign up for more than one reading--she even told on me to Kensey and William! "Remember my name," she said, "because I want to come more than once a week!" I thought I wouldn't have any time for her later this week when she's available to come, and I wasn't looking forward to telling her that. But all was well, and we had a very good session. She's very sweet, but if we got into a fight, I'm pretty sure she'd win. There are already a couple of stories to tell about Myriam, but we'll save them for later.
André's session was very encouraging to me. When I came to meet him, he was in the process of making fun of Kensey, so I knew he and I would get along well. He is one of the most fluent English speakers I've met here. The amazing thing about that is he taught himself. Not from books or Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone, either. He watched American DVDs with English subtitles. No exaggeration, he speaks better English than some of my U.S. friends (albeit with an accent). We were hardly into our first lesson when he stopped me and asked, "Why are you here?" I told him there were two main reasons: 1.) Many people here want to speak English, but lessons are very expensive, and usually not very good as far as real conversation goes, and 2.) It gives me a way to share my faith in a way that won't turn people off, regardless of beliefs, and actually gives them a good reason to keep coming back to talk to me about it. He told me that he wanted to learn English because he feels like God is calling him to be a missionary in South Africa, and he just wanted to know that other people in the world believe that doing such a thing is worth it. I told him it was, and that God has blessed him greatly. Our sessions will be more like total bible studies (with an explanation of slang words and why there's a "gh" in "through"). Even after our first 45 minutes, I know God is going to use that to bless me, too.
I just ate some leftover Chinese food (don't think too hard about that), and I'm ready to sleep for a long time. By the way, if you've noticed Kensey and I assaulting each other on our blogs, please know that we aren't actually having team drama. You probably picked up on that, but I don't want someone calling LST and demanding she be brought home for making me cry.
If she needs to be sent home for anything, it's stealing babies. They're not souvenirs, Kens!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Defamation
Kensey just accused me of lying on my blog. I got a couple of facts wrong on my last post, but I went back and corrected them.
I may be a lot of things, Ms. Harris, but an Internet liar isn't one of them.
I may be a lot of things, Ms. Harris, but an Internet liar isn't one of them.
Cultural Weekend
Yesterday was a nice change of pace for our team. We all did our own thing in the morning (Kensey went to a children's program, Missy caught up on her communication to home, William walked down to the beach, and I just hung out at Danny's place. Some people just aren't cool with mornings, okay?) Then we met and went to the supermarket. It was great. We went to the big one around here, which is very much like a Wal-Mart, except with great fruit. Roberto (pronounced Ho-BEH-toh), our taxi driver, went in with us and told us what fruit was best to try. He stayed with us the whole time, and didn't even charge us for it! Brazilians, as a whole (from what I've been told), are very receptive to others and are generally very helpful.
That night, Kensey and I went to a bible study with Chris. It was in the home of a young lady who lives in one of the more impoverished parts of the city (which is actually where 70% of the population lives). The whole night was a great experience. Even though the study was in Portuguese, Kensey and I were amazed at how much we could actually understand (Chris translating also helped). Everyone was very warm. Even though they don't have much, they were just so full of joy. Their love for God and each other is very apparent. I hope that I can be more like them.
We also enjoyed spending time with Chris. He's been a missionary here for almost a year, and he is very passionate about helping the people, especially those that others often overlook. Talking to him was very encouraging and energizing.
This morning, we attended the Boa Viagem church service. Of course, we didn't understand a word of it (well, okay, maybe one), but we tried our best to sing along to some of the songs. Since it was the 10th anniversary, they had a big traditional meal. It was delicious (of course)--especially the fruit.
If you've never been to South America, it's worth it just for the fruit. Evidently, Brazil is famous for its juice. I can see why; every time I try I new kind, I wonder why I ever drink anything else.
Later today, we're going to a street market. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be a new experience, just like everything else.
Tomorrow, our reading sessions start again! It's hard not to look forward to them; our readers are just so excited. Friday, Gilmar said that he wanted to have me over for dinner sometime! That will be great. I'll let you know if I get to do that.
I have some new readers tomorrow, but I don't know their names. I'll let you know when I see my schedule tomorrow.
That night, Kensey and I went to a bible study with Chris. It was in the home of a young lady who lives in one of the more impoverished parts of the city (which is actually where 70% of the population lives). The whole night was a great experience. Even though the study was in Portuguese, Kensey and I were amazed at how much we could actually understand (Chris translating also helped). Everyone was very warm. Even though they don't have much, they were just so full of joy. Their love for God and each other is very apparent. I hope that I can be more like them.
We also enjoyed spending time with Chris. He's been a missionary here for almost a year, and he is very passionate about helping the people, especially those that others often overlook. Talking to him was very encouraging and energizing.
This morning, we attended the Boa Viagem church service. Of course, we didn't understand a word of it (well, okay, maybe one), but we tried our best to sing along to some of the songs. Since it was the 10th anniversary, they had a big traditional meal. It was delicious (of course)--especially the fruit.
If you've never been to South America, it's worth it just for the fruit. Evidently, Brazil is famous for its juice. I can see why; every time I try I new kind, I wonder why I ever drink anything else.
Later today, we're going to a street market. I don't really know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be a new experience, just like everything else.
Tomorrow, our reading sessions start again! It's hard not to look forward to them; our readers are just so excited. Friday, Gilmar said that he wanted to have me over for dinner sometime! That will be great. I'll let you know if I get to do that.
I have some new readers tomorrow, but I don't know their names. I'll let you know when I see my schedule tomorrow.
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