Burned

I was going to post this on Saturday, but I ran out of time. All these PICTURES just took too long to upload. I haven't been on a computer since then, so this is a belated post. Hopefully, the PICTURES will make up for it.

Friday night (after our reading sessions, of course), we had our party. It was Game Night.

See? Told ya.

We had a lot of fun. First we played Uno with the people who helped us set up while we waited for everyone else to arrive. I officially declare that game So Not Fair.

Before the party!

Kensey realizes she's about to play against me in Uno.

Then, we played Pictionary, Catchphrase, and a couple of other games. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, even though some of them couldn't understand what we crazy Americans were talking about. We really enjoy spending time with our Brazilian friends. They're a lot of fun, and they're always smiling!

Everton proving my point

Kensey and me, as drawn on the Pictionary board by Pietro

Saturday morning, we got up very early to go play with some awesome kids. The Torch mission group is in town for a few days, and they (along with the Faulkner men's soccer team) were having a game day for kids at the camp where Torch is staying. It was kind of crazy with all the kids running around, but they loved it. It rained a bit, but they didn't seem to mind. I think some of them actually preferred playing games in the mud than in the sun. I may lose man points for saying this, but those kids were cuter than should be allowed by law.

This guy would be a felon.

Child Sits on Balloon by K. Harris. Pixels on computer screen.

Red team rules!

Kensey with a tiny Brazilian

William and Kensey stockpiling the ammunition

Catching water balloons on sheets

On the way home, Randy bought some fruit from street vendors for us to try. One was pinha (PEEN-ya, as in piña colada). It wasn't my favorite, but it made me really want some pineapple. The other was pitomba. Pitomba is basically a giant seed that really wants to be a fruit. It's like sucking on a slimy rock. You're supposed to just kind of get as much fruit as you can off of it and spit out the seed (which is about the size of a large marble). Unfortunately for me, as I was trying to eat it, the seed shot like a bullet to the back of my throat, at which time I promptly swallowed it. I honestly felt it fall into my stomach a few seconds later. If something bad happens to me, I want William to have my blog.

Sunday, we went to Porto de Galinhas again. This time, though, we got to stay much longer. The Torch group was planning to spend the day there today, and they invited us to come. So, we went down the night before. We spent the night and had a great time on the beach! Then, the group came and we all spent the day together. Most of them (and William) took a boat out to the reef. Kensey and I decided that we'd rather just relax on the beach for a while. The bad news is that I didn't take a single picture the whole time. Sorry, I was just way too relaxed. Luckily for all of us, Kensey takes lots of pictures.

By the way, I got sunburned. Ouch. No pictures of that, though you'll probably notice in pictures later on. No worries, though, I'll be fine. I have lots of aloe. It's my fault; I forgot to wear sunscreen. Sorry, mom!

In case you're wondering why Monday was a day off for us, we rearranged our schedules so that we could spend time with the Torch group. So we'll be working with our readers on Saturday. Some of them are very excited, because that's the day they have the most free time! We think it will be a great day for reading.

Oh, I almost forgot. Saturday, we met up with Dayanne. Her aunt is an awesome painter, and we wanted to see some of her work, so she brought some to Dayanne's house. We also had dinner with her family. It was so great! They were very excited to meet us, and they welcomed us very warmly into their home. I'm so glad we got to have that experience! Kensey and I both bought one of her aunt's paintings. They'll be great souveniers. If I think about it, I'll get a picture and post it.

Speaking of pictures, I hope this post satisfies your craving for photographs. Don't say I never did anything for you. But don't worry, I'll stick to my promise about this week. A picture a day, or my name isn't Jarrod Q. Taylor.

100% Real Juice

I know I say it a lot, but I really mean it: Thank you all for reading our blogs and keeping in touch with us. It makes us feel very loved to have friends and family that are thinking about and praying for us. Some days are harder to work than others, and your encouragement really helps us keep a good perspective.

PS, we love our mommies.

Yesterday was raaaaaaiiiiiny. At one point, it was raining so hard that Fernando, Dalmo, and I were yelling at each other just so we could hear. Fernando is Dalmo's uncle, and he doesn't want to read by himself, so they come together. At first, Dalmo was too shy to talk much, but he's starting to open up. It's always fun to have a younger person and an older one together. The older person has usually known English for longer, but the younger person has been learning it since they were little. So they stop every couple of minutes to correct each other's English. Sometimes, I don't even have to talk!

Last night, Sport played Corinthians. We watched the first 30 minutes or so of the game. It was on pretty late, so we didn't stay up to watch the whole thing. When we left, Corintians were up 2-0. I just searched online, and I don't speak Portuguese, but I think Sport lost 3-1. I already guessed that they lost, because I only heard the entire city shout once. If they had won, people would still be honking out the Sport chant on their car horns today. They do that anyway, but it's nonstop when Sport wins.

So you probably read about our juice on Kensey's blog, but here's my version of it. My favorite juices, in a very particular order, are as follows:

1. Graviola
2. Cajá
3. Mangaba
4. Acerola
5. Açai

For the record, açai pudding/mushy fruit stuff: delicious. Açai juice: less delicious. I think it's just because it's not as sweet, and we've been spoiled by our sweet juices. If there was some more sugar in it, I'd probably love it. Also, I left out uva (grape) because we haven't had it fresh, only from a carton. And I didn't drink pêssago (peach) and it's in a carton anyway. Only fresh blended juice gets on this blog.

Tomorrow is party night. We're going to teach our Brazilian friends a bunch of party games. We don't know how they'll respond, but we hope it will be a lot of fun! I'll let you know how it goes, and maybe even take a picture or two.

I know, I know. Pictures. I just can't remember. Okay, I'll make you a deal. No promises about this week, but next week, I'll post at least one picture per day. They will probably have nothing to do with whatever the post is, but at least you'll have something other than text. And I'll try to put some on sooner than that... if I remember.

The Early Bird Waits for Three Hours

So far, all of my readers have shown up today. I mean, really shown up. When we got back from our afternoon break at 4:00, two of my readers were sitting there. Since three o'clock. Their reading sessions were at 5:00 and 6:00. So, they had to wait while I had my 4:00 session with Myriam (who brought me Whoppers from Holland). After that, though, I went ahead and got them done early so they wouldn't have to wait any longer. What's really weird is that it rained all day, and that usually makes everyone late.

Reading sessions are much easier now that I'm used to talking to my readers. At first, I struggled to make conversation. Some of the lessons are easy to talk about for a while; others last approximately 30 seconds. Most of my readers are comfortable enough to talk now, so we can go beyond the questions in the book. It's great to get to know them better, and they seem eager to share what they think.

One downside I noticed today is that I'm used to hearing them talk. That's great for me, because I can understand them more easily. But they want me to correct them when they pronounce something incorrectly. Since I notice it less, I have to be very intentional about making myself do it. Sometimes, they'll ask if they pronounce a word right and I'll say, "Yes." Then they ask me to pronounce it and I realize that they weren't saying it right after all.

Hey, I've never claimed to be an English teacher, no matter what anybody from Brazil tells you.

I have been taking my camera around the past couple of days. I'll get some pictures up soon, I promise. Awesome pictures. Of things. And people.

PS- Kensey is putting lots of technology on her blog. Be sure to tell her how neat it is, or else she'll feel like she wasted her time. Don't tell her I told you.

Half Way

It's hard to believe we've been here three weeks. Not that time has flown by for me exactly; it kind of depends on the day. Sometimes, because we've done so much, I feel like we've been here for a year. But when I look at some of Kensey's pictures, I can't believe a week has gone by since she took them. It's a very weird feeling, and I'm sure it will only get weirder as the six weeks comes closer to ending.

This weekend, we went to Casa de Cultura, a former prison that's been turned into a tourist tra--I mean, shopping experience. It really is neat, and it is probably the best place in the area to buy souveniers. I also spent some quality time in my hammock, which I've decided is my favorite part of Brazil.

We're about to head to the school to start another week of reading. Some of our readers are moving along so quickly, it's hard to keep up with them! But with most of them, we've moved past only talking about the text and awkward silences, and we're actually having real conversations. By now, we know some of our readers pretty well (not their deepest personal secrets, but we've talked to them a lot). They are inviting us to things and helping with our parties. One of my readers said that her friend told her last year, "It's not good. Just when you're getting to know them, it's time for them to leave." I guess that's just the way it is with short-term mission work.

But it's not like we're leaving tomorrow. We've still got lots of work to do!