"Eu estou aprendendo..."
Everyone's been asking me lately what I've been learning during my time in Brasil. That question could be answered with a hundred different things, and will probably be answered differently depending on what time of day you ask me and what day it is.
Mondays I learn what a day off means. Adventure time? Usually it's more like catching up on sleep, laundry, Portuguese homework, and sunshine.
Tuesdays we study the Bible for an hour (or hour and a half, like this past Tuesday morning!). That's been a lot of learning; learning about ourselves, each other, the nature of God, our faith, and the church. Then it's lunch (usually at Paulo's, which we've learned is super cheap and delicious! I'll compare it to Taco Bell in only that it's cheap, delicious, and easily accessible.... the quality of the food and the company is much higher!) After studying we break for lunch til around 12:30. Then we learn about the neighboring city, São Gonçalo. We three interns (Stephen, Kyle, and myself) were assigned a project by the missionaries to plan a hypothetical church plant in São Gonçalo. That takes up the entirety of our afternoons, and is very interesting. We've been gathering statistics on population, salary, income and the like to try to figure out where the best place for a church plant in the city would be. It's been really interesting!
Wednesdays are the first morning of our two-hour Portuguese class! Obviously I'm learning tons there! It's so difficult! Spanish came easily; not so much with Portuguese. But I really enjoy learning. I'm getting better, I think. My main problems are a) trying to mix Portuguese with Spanish. They're slightly similar, but even if words look the same they're often pronounced differently, especially with the accent of the people around here. (It's called the Cariocas accent and I'm having an awfully hard time with it. They pronounce most "d"s as "g"s and "t" is "ch" sometimes, especially at the end of words). Anyway, that's that. Then each of us have lunch with our mentors, which is super fun! My mentor is Jill, one of the ladies from the team. There's so much to be learned from her. She's an amazing, godly woman, and we're also a lot alike. I adore her. After we get back from lunch the interns usually work on various projects either upstairs in the church office or downstairs. I like to stay downstairs so that I can meet, greet, and talk with all of the Brasilians that come in. Most of them come in for English lessons with LST, so they know a little English at least, but I try to practice my Portuguese with them, as well.
Thursdays are our second day of Portuguese class. This is when we turn in our homework and get it corrected, then move on to more learning. So far I've learned numbers, colors, how to greet people and ask them how they're doing/reply with how I'm doing if asked, order food politely both in formal and informal settings, parts of the body, the names of various games, and lots and lots of verbs to use with all these words. I feel confident that, depending on the speaker, eu posso entendo (I can understand) anywhere from 60-80% of what people are saying in Portuguese. I can only reply to about 20-30% of it, but that's okay! I'm trying super hard!
Fridays have been more relaxed. In the morning we interns study the Bible together for about an hour to an hour and a half, chill, then eat lunch. After lunch we work on various projects, including more of our São Gonçalo church plant project and some children's ministry stuff!
This next week things are going to change up a bit, and I'm so very excited for the second half of my internship! First of all I can't even believe I've been here for 3 weeks already. It's been such a perfect, wonderful trip. Anywhooo. Here's a list of things I'm super excited about.
1.) Today (Wednesday) each of us interns are moving in with a Brasilian family. I've met and spent time with the family I'm moving in with. There's the mother, father, 2 daughters and a son. I'm sharing a room with the daughter, E, who I've already hung out with quite a bit! She's really great! I think we're going to the premier of Harry Potter together on Thursday night at midnight! I'm so very excited about this!
2.) I get to practice my language skills a lot with my Brasilian family; the mother, M, doesn't speak any English. The father and daughter do, though. I don't know about the other two kids really; I think they both speak at least a little English.
3.)This is the MOST EXCITING! Next week we 3 interns are starting conversation classes with people who are interested in practicing their conversational English. I know of at least two girls around my age who want to study the Bible with me, so I am indescribably excited about these classes. We'll be giving them Tuesday and Thursday from 2-7pm and Friday from 2-6pm. After the classes on Tuesday and Thursday there will be a group Bible study in English called "Escola de Bíblia", "School of the Bible" in which anyone can come study the Bible with us and the missionaries for an hour or two in a group setting. I'm also super excited about this! This will give us even more time to build relationships with the wonderful people here in Niterói and I can't wait. It's been so great already.
4.) This weekend there are a lot of exciting things going on! Firstly, we interns are spending Saturday through Sunday in São Gonçalo with an older lady who we've met. She's a lot of fun! Her name is Dona Lucia and she LOVES Michael Jackson. On Saturday in the morning there's a Women's Tea. I'm really looking forward to fellowshipping with the beautiful ladies of our igreja (church).
All that being said, I'm gonna take a brief moment to talk about my experience with culture shock. Up until a couple days ago I didn't really even realize that I'd been going through culture shock. But I am. I've had an awful migraine nearly every day, bad to the point I often throw up. Sometimes the Excedrin I'm taking for them doesn't even work. I've also been super tired regardless of the amount of sleep I get. Every single thing takes more effort, concentration, and willpower here. It's hard to describe, but really. I guess it's partially because of the language, and also because I'm hypersensitive about everything I do, trying to keep from offending or messing up culturally, and also learning everything I can about the culture. I'm not complaining, just letting everyone know that culture shock's a reality and no one is invincible. I've also been slightly emotional when talking with people back home. But it could be worse! There are definitely worse stories I've been told about culture shock.
I live in the middle of a city of about 500,000 people, but amazingly it feels like a small town. Cities in Brasil are organized very differently than in the states. In the states you have an organized industrial district, a business district, a line of restaurants all close together, and department store shopping businesses close together. When I first got here, I felt like it was completely opposite; disorganized and chaotic. In reality, I've learned that it's efficient and convenient. There are several grocery stores within walking distance of the church, as well as restaurants, ice cream parlors, department stores, and appliance/electronics businesses. They're at random. The church is bordered on either side by a salon, a baby clothes store, a gift shop, a wood furniture shop, and a mattress store. That's just the buildings close to either side. It's a really interesting, but nice setup. I really like it. The residential district is mixed in with schools, businesses, restaurants, and other places. It's really an interesting and unique set up. Ooooh and the street vendors! There are street vendors galore! I love it! I enjoy picking up a banana or a tangerine on my way to church every morning from the vendor on the corner of a street I cross. He's a super sweet older man, and pleasant to talk with, as are all the people here.
Anyway, that's quite a lengthy post for now! I'll try to keep this better, giving updates at least every other day, now that our routine is more established, though I'm not promising anything, because it's super busy! I love you all! Thank you again for your support and love and prayers!
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| Orange you glad I love you? (It makes a heart, see?!) |
Mindi
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