Saturday, March 4, 2006

The cloud’s white halo glistening in the pink and blue sunset made my heart ache. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a country more than I loved Brazil at that moment; and I ached knowing that in a few short weeks I would be seeing the same setting sun from a very different point of view.

Driving through a deserted countryside with nothing but my own thoughts and music in my head – now that’s my idea of relaxation. And as I relaxed on our way home from Tubarão I realized just how much I loved Brazil. I remembered my first impressions – São Paulo, hot, humid, dirty, over-populated. It was my first time out of the United States and my outlook on life was pretty narrow. I realize that I now look at the same scenery but see a different picture – people like you and me, families, love, hard work, happiness. The dirty streets and half-constructed houses don’t seem to be in focus as I look around; it’s a great feeling to love a place and people as much as I’ve come to love Brazil.

And if I was feeling this much love on 5 1/2 hours of sleep, just imagine what it would’ve been like if I were well rested. The hotel wakeup call rang at 6:30 am and I quickly hoped in the shower and got ready for the day. Dave went downstairs to get on the net and get an early start on breakfast.

We started the course at 8:10 with merely three participants present. A half hour later, six more arrived, and we finished the day with nine total.

Dave and I have been really blessed – each group we teach seems to be getting better and better in the final, mock interviews. This group did a great job practicing their power-statements and was quite impressive. Unfortunately, in our mad rush leaving yesterday, we forgot the cable to watch the video camera on the TV, so instead, after we closed the course, we let them all gather around the 2-inch LCD screen on the camera and watch. They enjoyed it, nonetheless.

The class was happy when we finished a few hours early. Then, instead of taking a bus back to Florianópolis, we arranged to get a ride from Cabral, a director from the Institute in Floripa. He was in Tubarão training the new institute and seminary teachers; he’s a very nice guy who speaks good English and is quite spiritual.

To Dave’s disappointment, riding with him probably wasn’t much faster than taking the bus – Dave was anxious to get to the dance at the Institute center. As we were leaving Tubarão we had to stop at one of the stake councilors house and he invited us all to come in and participate in his son’s 8th birthday party – eating lots of pasteis, salgados and bolo.

The ride home was great, and it was fun getting to know Cabral better. He was nice enough to wait 5 minutes for us to get cleaned up a little at our hotel and then give us another ride to the Institute center, where he had to go anyway.

We got to the dance about 8:30 pm and it was already rockin’. To be honest, it’s a different feeling to walk into a church dance and be excited to be there; but the friendships I’ve made in the past week have been unforgettable. It was fun to see everyone and try to bust-a-move. Ha… okay, so I didn’t really dance too much, but what I did dance, Ingridy helped me perfect my Forró moves.
This picture was after Simone cup and I crossed paths... oops. ha.

Much of the dance was spent conversing with Élida and then before I knew it, it was all over. Dave and I bummed a ride in a loaded van that would be passing by São José – it was nice of them to give us a lift.