Let Me Smell You

Brazilians love children. When Seth, Hazel and Lyla walk into a place everyone looks at them, smiles, pats their head....and smells them. Yes, that's right, Brazilians love to smell children...mostly in their hair. A friend of ours who lived here told us it is common to put a spritz of perfume on children's heads. Well, unfortunately I find our children do not smell good. Even two minutes after they are cleaned and bathed, they become a damp, slightly sweaty, with limp hair (Hazel) and it's almost embarrassing that they get smelled. And I've even tried to perfume them up. Embarrassing, but still highly entertaining. And you will see husbands doing this to their wives too. It is a very physical culture, where in church today I noticed everyone sits super close with their arms around the back of whoever is sitting around them. And Isabel's daughter sat with us, and I think it was expressly for the purpose of the potential to hold Lyla. When church is over, groups of people surround Lyla and everyone tries to touch Hazel's hair and Seth...well Seth just runs around and the older boys will occasionally punch his knuckles. Also in Portuguese the "th" sound does not get used, so unfortunately no one can pronounce Seth's name properly. In the Bible, Seth is "Sete" so that is what they call him here. This, however, is also the word for seven. And I get the impression that Sete is not a popular name here. So when Seth says (or actually I say for him), his name is Sete, we get some very strange looks. Although I find most of the names here I can't remember because I've never heard them before and they don't sound like names to me either.

The funny oxymoronic thing about how much they love children, is how little their families are. When talking to people in the church here, they tell me that it is uncommon to have more than one or two children. Kind of like Canada, where if you have one of each sex you are either crazy or you must have had an "accident" to have a third. Which is a sad word to use when we know that children are such a blessing.

Why We Are Here

The life and times of the spouse of Shaun

Well, first of all, Brenda asked if I could explain to our audience the reason for coming to Brazil. But now that I am behind the keyboard, can you imagine being my spouse. Here we are in Brazil, away from family and friends, speaking a foreign language knowing nothing (or very little) about anything. Nothing is really the same for us. Something is always changing, and this is another chapter or change in our life. I am thankful for how we came to this position in our lives. Not too many people have this opportunity knock at their doors, and for this we are thankful and very blessed.

Back to Brenda for one minute, she has been doing quite well in Brazil if I may say so myself. She is picking up on the language very quickly, drives the car around town, to other cities, on the highway and even taking it out of its parking spot (which is a time consuming activity). She hasn’t complained too much about the fact that you put your toilet paper in the garbage after you....well you know. The fact that our showers are extremely cold, we have to get up at 5 or so, because that is when the sun rises and the kids get out of bed (although sometimes we manage to sleep in our beds till 7.) Then again, you can’t complain too much when the beach is a 2 minute walk away, there is much sun here (and AC in our bedroom), very good food and a welcoming communion of saints.

But what brought us here? Well that in itself is a long story which I will save you all from, but I will give a short run down of how we got here. Several years ago, my dad went to Brazil to take a look at Recicasco, a Coconut plant that produced Coco Peat and Coco Fibre. The business was in need of some consulting as it was not performing as it should’ve. Since then the business has ceased to produce anything and we then decided perhaps we should see if there is something here worth getting going. We had long desired to help out in Brazil, as a mission aid worker, or something. This opportunity has risen up and I have been doing a lot of work on this for the past year, establishing contacts and information regarding the Coconut business.

The coconut business is a fascinating business that is growing a lot. The Coco Peat is a much more renewable product then Peat Moss for the Horticulture industry; it is even suggested to be a more arable product and drains a lot better. The Coco Fibre is in itself a new industry. New products are being produced by it all the time. It has incredible strength, and can be used to make rope, potting plants, erosion control nets and many more things.

Why are we doing this? How great it would be if we could help the unemployed work, teach others how to start and create businesses, and teach them to be “self-sufficient.” We want to help the church community out here in Brazil. There is much unemployment, much poverty, and I believe the best way to help out a community is by teaching them hands on, how to do things - like the saying goes “give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats forever.” Once the community is able to help itself, they then can do the same to others, and you will see a domino effect where the community will in itself grow and become a nicer, cleaner and safer place to live. I realize that these are big dreams, but we are all servants in His kingdom all serving Him for the furthering of His Kingdom and this is just our piece of this work.

How We are Doing

Well it has been a week and a half since we got to Brazil. In many ways it seems like so long ago that we left Canada, and in others it seems like this time has gone so quickly. When I think of how long it has been since I've seen my family, it actually feels like so long, and I think so much must have happened back at home. But on the other hand, it seems like we quickly are getting into a routine of sorts, with bedtimes and naps falling into place, what time we have meals, etc. It has been a bit of a struggle figuring out what to eat for meals. Since Brazilians typically have their hot meal at lunch, when Isabel is here that is what we have done, and then bread and fruit for supper. But when she isn`t here, it feels so weird to look in my fridge in the morning to decide what to make for the lunch meal. And I don`t have all my regular spices and meats. When you go into the market here there is a butcher section and you just ask them to saw off a hunk of meat. Although you can find meat in the refridgerated section as well. Today I went to an outdoor market with Thacianne and we bought some fruit. There is a little boy with a wheelbarrow that would bring all the food you bought back to your house for R$1, but when we went back to the stand to collect our pile of fruit he wasn't available, so we brought it back ourselves. Kind of a good thing as I had only R$20 in my pocket. I really feel like the language part is going well, although of course there is so much more to learn. At the end of the day my mind starts wondering and I can't focus on the conversations anymore. Seth is starting to say basic Portuguese words, which is fun to see. In general we can get the gist of what they are saying, and we are getting really good at charades! And at laughing at ourselves. For example, here they have carbonated water, which is really popular, and literally the Portuguese translates water with gas. But we needed water and Thacianne was trying to explain that the company that sold the water also sold gas. So we're talking on top of each other trying to say that we want water without gas. When she understood what we were trying to say we had a good laugh. Sounds little but those little misunderstandings happen a lot. When we got the water delivered we didn`t have the actual cash on us, we were short R$2. Isabel thought we were saying we didn`t have money. So then Moizes came and offered to help us out and if we need anything, just let him know. He was so worried about us. It was a very nice gesture, especially as he had been over 20 minutes before that and must have come straight back to make sure we were okay. We also had asked Isabel to make us buns...but apparently the word for buns in our dictionary means cake...so on Saturday she made us a beautiful chocolate cake. Another example was yesterday, which was the Brazilian equivalent of Valentine's Day. We were invited to go out for dinner with a number of couples from church, and Thacianne asked if we would like her to find a babysitter. Then Sandro was over and we thought he was saying his kids would babysit, either at his house or theirs. We thought ours might be better, as the kids have had so much to adjust to, also we have screened their bedroom windows so they are getting only a couple bites a day now :) and it seems very uncommon here to have screens. Seems like a silly reason, but you should see the welts on my kids. Anyways, then Sandro and his wife, D`Jane, showed up at 7:30 to pick us up, and there was no babysitter with them. We ended up packing up our kids and bringing them to his house. It is nice how they try to include us as well. I have to tell you at the moment I am enjoying the chaotic yet relaxed lifestyle of the Brazilians. For example, to drive anywhere people drive a million miles an hour, weaving in and out on the highway, then slamming on their breaks because sporadically there are these MONSTER speedbumps (and when we're all in our car, a little Chevrolet Prisma, we bottom out on some of them). Cars pass other cars and cars coming the other way sort of move over, or you move over for people to pass you. In town the roads are cobblestone and often half the road is being repaired and it is very narrow, so you are weaving around the piles of rubble on the road and trying to avoid other cars, bikes, motorcycles, horses with wagons, pedestrians, dogs everywhere, chickens....you name it.

A couple side notes...when Shaun screened the bedroom windows he had to climb out on the roof outside the windows, and their roofing is ceramic half cylinders that just rest into eachother. Kind of u-shaped, so they go like this: ununun, but resting inside eachother, so the rain goes off the n and into the u and drains down the roof (I have no idea if that will make sense to anyone). He had to move them all to make a path to the window, because if you put any weight on them they crack. But now he thinks he would make a good roofer here...ha ha.

Also our good friend Sandro was really sick this week, and they were thinking it might be Dengue Fever, but he has mostly recovered. And an interesting note about that is that the 2 types of mosquito that carries Dengue Fever only bites during the day. Also Moizes was in a car accident this week. We are thankful that the Lord kept them in his care and allowed recovery and safety for both of them.

Anyways I'm passing over the keyboard to Shaun to put in a little entry 0f what we actually are doing here. Hopefully he'll write about some of the interesting things he has noticed since we got here, and I'm sorry this is such a long entry...I've been kind of working on it over the last couple days!

Isabel

Hello again. Today I thought we'd tell you about our new friend, Isabel. Almost the moment we arrived in Maragogi, Sandro asked us if we wanted a maid, because he knew someone who was an excellent cook and cleaner. I kind of hedged a little, as it feels like you are condescending to have a maid come in. And in Canada, it is not as common. When I talked to Thacianne about it, she told me that everyone here has a maid come in. It almost seemed snobby to not get a maid, as in you were too good to have one. Now, when I look at this house it is a bit overwhelming thinking of cleaning it, as there is a lot of tile, the bathrooms are large and get sandy and dirty very quickly, and this house is quite large, probably triple the size of our house back home, if you include the upstairs. Also even the thought of cooking in this heat tires me right out. So I decided there were three reasons I could use when people back home imply it is weird to have a maid. First of all, I could pretend I was getting someone in as an altruistic gesture, offering employment to someone from our church. Next I could say I was doing it to fit in, as everyone has one and I would love to absorb the culture, yada, yada, yada. Another big reason is to learn the language, as we would have to talk Portuguese. And I found out all those reasons are true. Isabel came for the first time yesterday, and the first thing she did was take me grocery shopping. She makes a great effort to understand our bumbling portuguese, and also talks slow enough, even word by word, when she sees we are puzzled (which is a lot!). And she talks a lot, which is great. In fact, Shaun and I had talked about getting a Portuguese tutor but really feel like we are getting a two-in-one deal! Also we had said maybe twice a week (she works for someone else 3 times a week) and we decided to also get her three times a week, which was originally what Sandro suggested. Seth is already asking her to tell her what things are in Portuguese, she just takes charge and our house looks fabulous, I love that I get to just spend time with the kids, and I think that after two months three times a week then we will be able to see if we need a maid that much or if it is a helpful experience. My feeling is it definitely will be. And it has also been nice to meet another friend in the church here in Maragogi. And to tell you the truth...getting a maid is actually like a dream come true.

School for Seth

I had talked to Thacianne about asking her father about Seth coming for a class or two a week...such as gym. This morning Shaun had made plans to go to Escola Biblica Cristo (EBC) to check things out. Moizes was going to pick him up at 8. As it turned out, we were all up and Moizes asked if Seth wanted to come. Seth was gung-ho and said "I need to be a big boy and try my best not to cry while I'm there!" I wasn't sure how he'd do but off he went, happy as can be. I was going to come after Lyla woke up and pick them all up again. Well I didn't end up getting there until 11. And there he was sitting in the classroom, hard at work on some paper. Shaun said he had been in class from 8-11, no problems. And no one, not even the teacher, spoke English. I'm a little sad that I forgot to send the camera with Shaun, but I got a few pics of Seth working hard. Shaun said that Seth had gone up to the teacher and was asking her questions in English and she was answering in Portuguese. So cute. The kids were just about to be let out for the day. The younger grades go from 7-11 every morning. I'm not sure how often we would send Seth, but he really enjoyed himself. He could even go on the bus as it is parked right outside our house and the busdriver is actually Sandro, so someone he knows! On the way home though, I asked him if he had found out anyone's name. Seth said that the kids kept asking him his name, so I asked him what he told them. He replied, "Nothing, because you said not to talk to strangers!"

sunday fun

Hello All,

Well we had a wonderful first Sunday here in Maragogi. Their church services are 8 and 6, when it is a little cooler (and by cooler we mean high 20s instead of low 30s). I think today's high was 33. The day started by us having to jumpstart our car in the blazing heat. Apparently it was due to poor quality gas. We were 5 minutes late for church...so they hadn't started yet. I'm beginning to think I should have been Brazilian. There is a real mixture of clothing worn at the church, some fancy, some jeans and some shorts. I guess skirts and dresses actually are hotter with your legs sticking together. I'm trying to catch on to the reasons Brazilians do the things they do, as I figure they know how to deal with this climate. We went home and Lyla and I napped, and Shaun took Seth and Hazel to the beach. The church had a lunch social at noon right beside our house, so when they came back, we went to that. We were also late for that. We tried many interesting foods, at least to us. Goat, some quiche thingy, pizza (or what they call pizza) with things like corn on it. Another favorite dish of the Brazilians is called Manioc flour, which is made from the Manioc, or cassava plant. This flour also is what tapioca is made from. It was mixed with black beans. Also almost every meal has rice with it. The Brazilians eat their hot meal at noon. I've heard they think we're strange for eating our large meal in the evening, when you don't need the energy, but it feels weird to eat a hot meal in the heat of the day. I guess cooking in the mornng is cooler. We went to church at 6 o' clock and ended up having Lord's supper with the church there. It is amazing that God's church is all over the world, and even if you don't speak the same language, you speak the same language. We talked to Pastor Alessandro about getting his sermon so we could read along. We also asked about getting a Portuguese/English Bible, but we were told Recife would be the best place to look. People are very friendly and everyone makes a good effort to communicate with us, but there are not many Anglophones it seems in this part of Brazil. The members of the churches here love the Canadian churches, they have a really grateful and friendly vibe towards us. For example, in the school on the principal's desk there is a stand with the Canadian and Brazilian flags together. It is amazing to see the vibrant faith of the people here. We were invited to the principal and his wife's house (Bete and Moizes) for some octopus after dinner. It is cut up legs served in a sauce of things I don't know served with pasta. Kind of chewy. Shaun really likes it. We also had some paca, which is like a small capybara...now that was tasty. We had some delicious caiparoscas to wash it down, which is lime juice, vodka and sugar/mint. They taste amazing in the heat. I need to learn how to make them! A number of visitors were also there at the same time as us, and two of them was Bete and Moizes daughter, Thacianne, and her husband Hermes (who was the Caiparosca maker!). Thacianne spent I think 8 months in Canada when she was 14, and speaks English very well. It was very helpful to have her as a translater when needed. In general though, we attempted to speak Portuguese and say "how do you say....?" an awful lot. We had a fabulous time, and hope that this is something that happens often in the future.

The Raaps at the Beach

The beach is literally 3 minutes from our house...it was a glorious morning. If you want to find us on google earth here is the approximate address. R. Cel. Rômulo Morais, 25 - Maragogi - Alagoas, 57955-000, Brasil. I couldn't find the exact location because google earth isn't downloaded on this computer, but it will give you an idea. I'm just going to upload pics because it takes forever to upload anything so maybe it will be done by the time I wake up. There's a pic also of Lyla sleeping with a bug net...the mosquitoes are eating Seth and Hazel and I alive. Shaun has blood that mosquitoes hate apparently. I don't really understand why they don't have bug nets around all their beds, or even tacked to their windows if they can't afford screens. Sandro keeps telling us to close the windows at night, but it's hard to decide which is worse, heat or bites. I currently have amazon.com open and am looking at the cost of canopies and "insect protection systems." It's strange because I haven't actually seen any mosquitoes, so I wonder if they look different here? In other critter news we also saw a salamander or gecko in our room and tried to catch it for Seth but it's disappeared on us twice. Maybe we'll catch it tomorrow! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone. Love Brenda

PS The pics took so long I ended up picking just one of each kid at the beach. I'll try add some more tomorrow again, including the view from our upper balcony.