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.