The Handyman

I have run into an interesting situation here in Brazil and it involves something I really enjoy doing, fixing things. I grew up with one of these dads that could fix anything. Very rarely do I remember seeing service people come to our house to fix or install something. My dad grew up on a farm were it seemed you had to know a little bit of everything. With this type of example it is no surprise that I find myself wanting to know how things work and how I can repair them myself. While in Abilene I was proud of the fact that while I was no expert or able to build a house from the ground up I could do a little more than basic maitenance on many household items. And for those projects that grew a little out of my reach I always had a friend that knew something about what ever it was and could help me out. Call me crazy, but I enjoyed this process.

Imagine my surprise when I get to Brazil things are a little different. When moving I expected to be limited in communicating and navigating the culture, but I did not expect to be as helpless when it came to installing basic things around the house. Due to my helplessness I had to call in help and actually pay someone else a little bit to help install things such as celling fans and air conditioners. As they did these thing I was able to learn how they do them here so maybe next time I can do a few more things on my own.

Through this process I was able to learn a new cultural insight about the Brazilian mindset towards handywork. It appears that many Brazilians with even a moderate incomes do not venture into this world of "do-it-yourself." The common practice seems to be what I had to do, hire someone to do it for you. While I seriouly doubt this common practice will stop me from trying to do things on my own or work on possible solutions for my own problems it does call me to reflect on where these messages come from in both cultures and what other parts of our lives they touch.

Victory!!!!

After weeks of waiting and several attempts to arrange for help we now have air conditioners in two rooms and celling fans in two others!!! We are so happy. What does this mean for my family? It means that when it rains at night I do not have to worry about it getting too hot in Kelton's room because we closed the window to keep the rain out, it means I may actually sleep a night without waking up several times because I am too hot, it means we can have people into our living room and not fear being too hot if anyone should decide to talk. It is a good day.

Sunday with friends

This past Sunday was a very special day. A few weeks before we met a brother who was a leader at one of the small churches in Salvador and he invited us to worship with the church there. He also very generously invited our whole group to have lunch with he and his family.

So about 11:30 this past Sunday we met Luciano and took a bus to his house which turned out to be on the other side of the city. So we finally arrived at his house about 12:45 and we shared a meal together with Luciano, his family, and a few other Christians. What a meal they prepared. We had beans and meat, moqueca de peixe (a Bahian fish dish), rice, vegtable salad and plenty of drinks. Then after lunch we all sat around and drank tea or coffee.

What an honor it was to be invited into their home. While the food was great what was truly amazing about that Sunday was the conversations we were able to have with our brothers and sisters in Christ here. Our conversations ranged from the view, to our lives, to the pluralistic nature of religion in much of Salvador. When we had talked long enough he took us on a tour of his neighborhood and down to the beach a couple of blocks away. And all of this time we were welcome guest in his home. It seems like in the States our hospitality ofthen has a time limit largely controled by our watches and nap schedules. Yet when Luciano invited us to come at 12:00 he did so with the expectation that we would stay all day and then go to worship with him at 4:00 and if we desired he would have welcomed us back after worship. From what I understand this is more of the rule rather than the exception in Brazil. I look forward to learning even more about how to do hospitality as an invitiation into life and I think people like Luciano and his wife are good people to learn from.

Our new apartment

Many of you have been by our side while trying to get settled into Brazil lifting us up before the Father. We cannot thank you enough. Now that we are in our new apartment we wanted to show you where it is and at least what the building looks like.

We have a great apartment and we are able to see a good part of the city off of our balcony

We are glad to have a place to start calling home.

Time in Brazil

it has been a good week on the whole. We were able to accomplish several things and take a little time to relax. A friend of ours who was also a missionary in the northern part of Brazil once said that in Brazil your day is basically divided into three periods: a manha (morning); a tarde (afternoon); a noite (evening or night) and if you are able to accomplish one thing in two of those periods you have had a successful day.

He was right! it is definitely a different way to think about how to get things accomplished. In the States I was used to plan my life by the hour and sometimes by the half hour. It just isn't the same here which is a lot easier to understand once you have tried to accomplish something here that requires your interaction with others.

For example, yesterday I made some time about 11:00 in the morning and planned on going to one of the post offices close to our apartment to open a box for our family. When I arrived I waited in line for only about 20-30 minutes before being able to see one of the attendants. Once there I attempted to tell him what I needed and showed Him my documents. As it turned out I did not have all of the correct documents. He said I needed to bring a proof of address like a bill or receipt and he said my contract would be fine. Knowing how things often work in Brazil I asked him if there were any other papers I needed to complete the process or was this the only missing document. He reassured me that I just needed a proof of address.

Due to the lunch hour and some other things I needed to try to take care of I was not able to return until about 1:45. This time the line was a little longer and it probably took a solid 45 minutes before I was able to talk with a different attendant (the one I spoke to earlier was not there). Again, I attempted to let the attendant know what I wanted to do and then showed her my documents. Upon showing here my documents she wanted to know about my proof of address. Of course, I had two different forms my apartment contract and a receipt for my downpayment on apartment. However, these were not what she wanted. Again after much signing and repeating on both sides I was able to interpret that what she needed was a bill from either the electricity, water, or telephone none of which I have. To try to shorten the story a little, after explaining that I had not received any bills with my name as of yet and only had the contract as proof she said i could bring a copy of a bill in the apartment owners name and that would be fine. So again, I had to leave without a post office box to retrieve another document. By this time is it getting well in to the afternoon and I still have another business stop to make while I am out so I decide to return another day with the documents and try again.

This is just one story among many that make my friends point true so as we write from time to time and exclaim our joy for being able to do one or two things during a day please understand that here that can be a great accomplishment and truly something to be happy about.

Looking for something to eat

It has been so nice this week to have the ability to eat at home. We have a stove with an oven, a microwave, and a refrigerator meaning our kitchen is now open for buisness. Yet there are still times it is nice to go out to eat and let someone else prepare the meal (and most importantly clean-up after it is over).

Thus was our predicament tonight, however, as we thought about going out to eat we were faced with the very daunting question of where. Amazingly enough, we have not dined in all or anywhere near 2/3 of the resturants in Salvador and few of the places we have eatten at are actually anywhere near our new apartment.

Interestingly enough, this question did not come to our attention though until we were ready to go. Yes we had been talking about going out tonight for most of the day if guess thinking we would choose one of our usuals Abuelos, Ta'Mollys, or something like that. So what do you do when you want to go out but don't know what resturants there are much less how to find them. And then once you start thinking about the resturant you might have seen on your way to that place over there you wonder what type of food do they serve and more importantly what can your stomach handle.

Well after quite a bit of thinking and guessing at what was available decided to visit a resturant we ate at last year while on our survey trip. Thankfully it was still there and food was great both big pluses. Another couple on our team came with us and we had a wonderful time. So problem solved this time at least.

Waiting in Brazil

Many of you have heard about the many lines we have had to wait in while in Brazil. It is truly amazing how much you have to wait. For those who do not know, it is very common in any service oriented place in Brazil to wait in a line until it is your turn. In most government places, where we have spent literally 3-4 hours a day at different points, you normally get a senha or number to tell you when it is your turn. While you wait some places have chairs others just have lines drawn on the floor for you to follow.

Waiting in lines is something we are getting used to, so we at least expect it know most places we go. what is truly amazing to me though is to watch the Brazilians around me as they wait too. As I observe I have faced again with the pace of life we set for ourselves in the US and how drastically different it is here. In the US we are used to waiting in lines at certain places; the bank, the grocery store, the doctors office, and many others. However, when we know that we will have a long wait it is very common to bring something to do while you wait. (i.e. letters to write, homework to finish,a list to make, or at the very least something to read) Not here though. Here in Brazil most people simply take their place in line and wait. Every now and then there are those people who see a friend and spend their time in conversation, but for the majority of the people their time is spent quitely waiting their turn.

At first my thoughts go to questions like, "How can they waist all that time?" or "Do they really have nothing else to do?" But the longer I am in Brazil the more i wonder about the benefits of slowing my pace so as to enjoy my "line time" in peace and calmness taking some of the time forcably carved out of my day to relax rather than run.

here we go

We are now ready to follow the advise of so many and start a blog for our family. This will mainly be to tell stories and let you know what is happening in our life in a more informal manner. We hope you enjoy it and we look forward to your comments.