Saturday, March 11, 2006

Words cannot describe the emotions that were felt at the end of today’s course. As the closing prayer was said, a sound was heard that I didn’t expect – noses sniffing, and tears crawling down cheeks. They were truly grateful for what they had learned, and it made my heart content; just another of many reasons why I’m so grateful I am apart of this program.

Here is our group photo:

8:00 am class is tough, especially when you get in about 2 in the morning, but I was impressed that most of the class arrived on time – only three people from yesterday’s class didn’t bother showing up. The rest of us had a great time: sharing experiences, learning, and completing the course.

By 4:30 pm we were getting a ride from one of the CASP participants to Maiko’s house where we were invited to hang out until we caught our bus for São José. They had a pirated version of Narnia that we watched – good message, but not sure how much I liked the movie; I actually slept through the first 30 minutes.

We called a taxi and rushed to the bus terminal by 8 pm and said our goodbyes to Natália who was going back to her house. Twenty minutes later our bus came, and back to home (São José) we went, arriving a little after 11:30.

The rest of my night and early Sunday morning was spent preparing for Sunday’s Sunday-school lesson I had been asked to teach.

Friday, March 10, 2006

The rain poured as we climbed out of the taxi in front of the Itajaí chapel; it was locked, so we scurried to a nearby shelter. Also patiently waiting were three other soon-to-be CASP participants.

From São José, Dave and I took the 4:30 pm bus to Itajaí, arriving a little before 7. Walking through the bus terminal, by chance, we ran into two of our friends from the CASEI (the single adults conference), Natália and Angelita. Dave served his mission with Angelita’s husband, Maiko, and so the five of us were planning on hanging out after the CASP course tonight; since they were going somewhere near the church, too, they hitched a ride and we dropped them off a few blocks before the chapel.

At 7:30 pm, in a side classroom with 15 or so desks filled to capacity, we started the evening’s course. I was pleased with the turnout – everyone participated well and seemed to really enjoy the course. Before we knew it, 10:30 arrived and we were saying our goodnights, reminding them about their few pages of homework and that class would start the next morning at 8.

Waiting in the cultural hall was Maiko, Angelita and Natália, who accompanied us to our hotel (Ibis) and waited as Dave and I got out of our teaching-clothes.

By 11 or so we had walked a few blocks to a nearby Pizzaria – but don’t worry, it was nothing like yesterday’s. This pizza was good!

We had a fun night just hanging out, joking around. I don’t even remember what time we finally got in, but it was early – in the morning.

Thursday, March 9, 2006

“Hey, do you want to eat some really bad rodizio pizza with us for only R$5,00?” Who could pass up an offer like that? After a long day at the SRE office, Dave and I went to a buffet (rodizio) pizza restaurant with a few kids from the ward. Well… actually we got there and there was a long line outside and I told them that it wasn’t worth waiting to eat bad pizza (they were pretty confident the pizza there was bad, but it was cheap, so they couldn’t pass it up). So everyone who knows I’m cheap will be happy to know I passed up the R$5,00 pizza buffet. When Dave came home later that night he confirmed it was pretty bad. Ha…

Most of the day was spent with the Cossios; they’re such a cute couple and it’s fun to see them try so hard at their new callings. They may not speak much Portuguese, have computer skills, or teaching experience, but they sure try. We spent most of today making follow-up calls with last year’s CASP participants. Sister Cossio, with her sweet, happy, half Spanish / half Portuguese phrases was very brave, as today was her first day calling..

When I wasn’t making phone calls I was typing more detailed instructions how to use the computer. This is where Elder Cossio keeps himself busy. Tadinhos (poor guys), computers are not their strong points.

Since the information from the phone calls had to be sent to Porto Alegre by Friday, I was making calls until about 7:30 and as I was typing up the information, some of the kids from seminary stopped by. They invited Dave and I to go out to pizza w/ them, so I called Dave at the hotel and he met us at the front of the church. After waiting for 20 minutes for someone to come w/ a key to lock up (we only have a key to the back door), we were off.

Oh, the Photo-editor of the Daily Universe (BYU newspaper) offered me a position as a photographer for Spring/summer/fall terms!

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Twenty meters off the coast, the warm water foamed and spat as the waves crashed against us. The half-watermelon-shaped moon shown through the thin layers of dispersed clouds; the cove where we swam was encircled with rocks and forest; a 15 meter beach bunkered the shore. Northward, across the water, lights shown, marking the line of houses along the coast.

Welcome to Armação Beach, where 16 of us from the greater Florianópolis spent late Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning. Two, full cars met in front of the bus terminal downtown – Dave, Daniel, Leandro, Deborah and I packed into Daisy’s car, while Flávia, Aline, Naíra and Lucas comfortably road with Luiza. The twenty-minute ride went fast and we met another carload at a supermarket near the beach.

Another twenty minutes was clocked as we meandered the paved, lightly lit trail - under, over and around - arriving at our spot. The next task was finding wood to accompany our bottle of Gel Alcohol and box of matches. We felt lucky to find a sufficient amount of broken boards and kindling as it seemed the shore had been regularly combed for firewood.

Somehow I got put in charge of the fire – me and my ZERO experience with beach fires; but that’s all right, with Flávia’s help we got a solid fire started that lasted the entire night. (Sorry if that bench-like board we burnt was yours.)

The soft sand and crashing waves were accompanied by Daniel’s guitar skills, Brazilian freeze-tag, the Weave game in the water, campfire jokes and stories, and stargazing.


It was after one in the morning when we packed up camp and headed out.

Seriously, it was a gorgeous place and just a fun time. Good memories.

As Daisy's full car was about to cross the bridge into São José, an uncommon traffic stop forced us to pull over. After a quick chat with the officer, Daisy, Daniel, Lucas and I were off to drop Lucas off at his house, as we then returned to the bridge, picked up David and Leandro, and Daisy took the rest of us home. Poor Daisy, she was pretty shaken up.

Before the beach, Dave and I got plenty of work done at the SRE office – helping Elder and Sister Cossio with more training, making follow-up phone calls, and planning our trip to Itajaí this weekend.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

The 18th of March will be a memorable day for two CASP participants from two different cities; during our routine phone calls I talked to Sônia from São José and Márcia from Joinville, and they were each very eager to share that they’re getting baptized on the 18th! Through CASP, we have become good friends - always calling to see how their job search is coming and trying to do anything we can. Oddly, they don’t even know each other, but I’m happy for them both.

Okay, so last night I stayed up a little late chatting and I didn’t wake up until about 1 pm; but that doesn’t mean my day wasn’t productive. By 2 I was at the SRE office helping the Cossios and trying to get in touch with Humberto, the Porto Alegre director. Unfortunately, for the 2nd day in a row, we couldn’t get a hold of him.

After typing a few things I ran to get a bite to eat and bought some Cds – I told Avaí F.C. that I’d send them the pictures ASAP. Before running to the post office I stopped by the office to make sure everything was going good. By 5 pm I was at the post office; luckily the Brazilian postal service works until 6pm.

Talked to some friends from home on Skype (evan and darah) and then went to the office about 8:30 to make some follow up phone calls.

Tomorrow we’re going to have a bonfire at the beach; our friends here are awesome! Even though they’re all busy with work and school, they make plans that Dave and I can participate in, since we are out of town on Fridays and Saturdays.

Monday, March 6, 2006

I went to the Telestial Kingdom this time! What luck.

Dave and I were invited to a joint FHE with Valdmiria & Ruben’s family (the same family where we’ve been having our other FHEs) and Valdmiria’s sister’s family’s house – Eliane & Eber and their four kids. Their little girl gave a great 10 minute lesson (I was very impressed) and then we played Dave’s game of Life, just like we did two weeks ago. This time I didn’t get the results I would have liked and ended up going to the Telestial. Ha…

After FHE, Eber started asking me questions about what kind of camera he should buy and other photography questions – well, of course that got me going and I was eager to help.

It was a fun night. When I get the group picture we took, I’ll post it below:

This morning I was up, showered and at the SRE by 10 to 10; Dave and I helped the Cossio’s with more training and organizing of the SRE office. After lunch, Aldo came by and I helped him with adjusting his work fliers, and Ingridy came by and showed us some great websites where we could find more information on job openings in the state. She herself found quite a few; it was a productive day. It ended with Dave and I being called by a brother from the church to help him move his fridge… that we did with Aldo.

Sunday, March 5, 2006

Why is it we always forget to buy food for Sunday? I was taking a shower after the dance and realized, “shoot, the stores are closed and tomorrow’s Sunday.” We ate light today; we’ll just leave it at that.

Before church began I went by Pedro Pimentel’s to see how his family was doing. (Reminder: Pedro is my Home Teaching partner.) The mother was getting the two little girls ready and the teenager was playing with his birds. They were happy to see me, which made for a nice visit.

Church was actually really good today. The Stake President gave a combined RS & EQ lesson that was really powerful. The testimony meeting was so full I barely had a chance to share a quick word towards the end.

At 5 pm there was a special fireside – the men met at the Kobrasol chapel, while all the women held a conference at the Forquilinhas chapel. It was an inspirational missionary fireside where each family was given a Preach My Gospel book.

My Sunday was finished its usual way – catching up on my blog, and chatting with family and friends until late into the night.

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.

Friday, March 3, 2006

I had a few neat experiences today; part of me wants to share them because it illustrates a bit better how life in Brazil is, but part of me doesn’t because I don’t want it to appear like I’m talking myself up, or anything like that.

With that, I’ll get to the stories later…

I was awoken this morning to a phone call from the Cossios. They were wondering what time we were leaving for Tubarão; I told them 14 hours and maybe it was with the company Catarinensse, but I don’t think they understood me. At 12:00 noon, when Dave went to the SRE office to gather the equipment and I stayed behind to shower and get ready, I got a phone call from Dave – the Cossios were already at the bus terminal, waiting for us! It appears they contacted the bus agency Catarinensse and learned that their bus was leaving at 12:45, not 2:30 pm like I had said. Unfortunately, I had told them the wrong agency, because there really was a bus leaving at 2:30, but not on Catarinensse. So Dave and I decided to rush as quick as we could and try to make it in time for the 12:45 bus. Well, we didn’t. We arrived by 1:05 but the Cossios were their happy, smiley selves and didn’t seem to mind the miscommunication.

They are such a sweet, old couple! I’m not sure if I’ve described them, yet, but they are originally from Argentina, and have been living near one of their children in Floripa for the last two years. They still speak with a STRONG Spanish accent, much of the time it’s hard for people w/o Spanish knowledge to understand what they’re saying. They have a number of children who are married and live in the United States and are just the nicest people! They will make great service missionaries.

As I was talking w/ Elder Cossio, a woman who appeared about four months pregnant came asking for food. I knew she was being sincere when she didn’t even ask for money, so I offered to help. I took her to a restaurant on the second floor where you pay by the kilo and I told her she could get R$4,00 worth of food, thinking she’d probably get a little more. As she filled her plate I had my eye on the nearby soccer game; bad idea. Before I knew it, her plate was bulging with food; “that’s at least R$8,00” I told her. And sure enough, the balance read R$8,45. I informed the man I was merely helping the woman and that I’d asked her to get less food; the man took pity on us both and lowered the bill to R$4,00. The woman quickly sat down and ate. The next awkward moment was paying for the R$4,00 meal with a R$50,00 bill. It was all I had for the weekend trip, but to the man I looked like a con-man since I had just talked the meal down from 8 to R$4. ha… oh well.

Dave and I ate a quick bite at a cheaper snack place. Interestingly enough, when I entered the bus terminal there was a crippled man with no legs sitting outside the door. His sunburned skin and dreadlocked hair were a few of the obvious signals that he was homeless. As I passed him, I couldn’t help but think how difficult his life must be. As I finished my snack I bought an extra pastel to-go and carried it out to him. He was very thankful but was still eager to ask for the half liter of water I was carrying.

So we took the 2:30 pm bus from Flrorianópolis, non-stop to Tubarão. Dave paid for our four tickets (which he’ll get reimbursed) and we sat in the very front of the big charter bus. Our four seats were the front of the bus, as the driver’s cab was underneath. It made for quite the view as we drove along the coast. On the way, I worked on my own resumé that I was preparing to sent to David’s mom and as part of an application for a summer internship in Washington D.C. Dave’s mom works in the BYU library and seems to be looking for someone to fill an recent opening.

So we got to Tubarão about 5:00 pm and Richard, an 18-year-old member, picked us up from the bus station and after a quick stop at the chapel, he took us to our hotel – the San Silvestre Hotel. I got cleaned up, Dave checked his email downstairs, and all four of us went across the street to a hotel; not knowing that it was REALLY expensive. Since we were in a hurry, we just bought a few appetizers and split them.

We were trying to be at church by 6:45 pm, since we were informed the course started at 7. The taxi got us there by 7, but to our surprise only two girls had arrived. We were told at least 30 people were expected; by 8:20 there were 12.

But they were a good group and we got a lot done in the 2 + hours of course. Elder and Sister Cossio used the course as a training session and took notes as we went along.

By 11:15 pm we had gotten a taxi and were headed back to our hotel. I was asleep by midnight – exhausted.

Thursday, March 2, 2006

We’ve made some good friends from the CASEI trip. This evening we got to hang out w/ some of them: Daisy, Leandro, Flávia and Luiza. We met at the Floripa bus terminal at 8 pm where Daisy picked us up and we drove out near the Historical Center of São José. There, we picked one of many restaurants along the shore and bought some shrimp appetizers, fried cheese cubes, and French fries, along w/ our variety of juices.

It was fun company; we played a variety of games… if only I could remember what they were called. And then walked along the beach to a little peninsula of rocks were we all sat and enjoyed the lights of the Island and the cool ocean breeze. We got home about 12:30 am.

Like my Avaí jersey? It's what I got from the team. :)



Earlier in the day I slept until about 1 pm, since I had stayed up until about 4 am chatting online. The rest of the day was spent at the SRE helping the Cassios and doing other odds and ends. I really need to find more time to do my homework! :)

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

I can’t say I’ve had many experiences when I’ve arrived at home late, and reeking of alcohol; but tonight was one of those nights. I guess I can say it was a true “Brazilian soccer experience.”

Today I got to take pictures of the Avaí F.C. stadium, new uniforms, and match against Joinville. Unsurprisingly, it all started off pretty hectic. It was 3:30 pm and I was at the SRE office w/ David and Elder and Sister Cossios; I was expecting a phone call from the Avaí team so I called the hotel to see if I had any messages. They said that I didn’t, but that two men were in the lobby waiting for me! I guess they had called earlier and I wasn’t there, but had come to escort me to the game. It was Thiago from Marketing, and Aldeciu from Print Relations (?).

Needless to say I sprinted to the hotel, got my stuff together as quickly as I could, and we were off.

For a few hours I merely wandered around the stadium, inside and out, taking pictures for their official website.

After that, Thiago took me onto the field so I could take pictures of their new uniforms that they’re going to release in a few weeks. The pictures I took will be used for their marketing campaign.

Thiago was actually really worried about taking pictures of the uniforms because he didn’t want the press to see. But, as I did the shoot, a man came up and began chatting all natural like w/ Thiago, and before he knew it, the man was on live radio and talking about the new jersey I was photographing. Ha… ooops.

When it came to game time I was given a fluorescent-orange, press penny and meandered around the field snapping pictures. I made friends with an experienced photographer, Malfra, who has shot three world cups and now has his own agency that supplies photos to papers and such. He was way nice and very willing to answer my questions and give me tips.

Unfortunately, the stadium wasn’t lit as well as I would have liked, and most of the pictures game out pretty grainy. The game was a 0-0 tie, with about 8,000 in attendance. (13,000 is the stadium’s max capacity I believe.)

With about 20 minutes left in the game, I asked one of the security guards to open the gate behind the goal so I could go up in the press box and take pictures from above. As I waited by the gate, a half-full (instead of half-empty) cup of beer was pelted at my back. I’ll be honest, it ticked me off, but I didn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing it did. Instead I didn’t even flinch, and continued watching the game. When the gate was finally opened I walked off the field to the sound of these same fans cussing me out. Ha.. why? I don’t know, but it made for a better story :).

Here are all of the pictures that I took and submitted to the team:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EaNnLNs5Zsd8&notag=1

To get home after the game, I had to wait for a few hours until the entire stadium was cleared out and they were done locking up. I sat in their main offices, chatting online and checking email until about 12:30 am.

The cool part was receiving a free, official, long-sleeved Avaí jersey! I was pleasantly surprised. The guy, who gave me a ride home, also bought me a hot dog.

While I was busy taking pictures at the game, David was busy showing off his dancing skills at the local, Kobrasol church dance. From what I understand, he taught quite a few people how to swing dance and seems to have quite the following now!

So that was my day. Early in the day, after sleeping until about 10 am, I got showered and made my way, with Dave, to the SRE office to help train the new missionary couple, Elder and Sister Cossio.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

When I was little I used to get motion sickness in airplanes and in the car. My mother used to always tell me to concentrate on the road and that would make me feel better. As we road home from Mafra, the young boy behind me got sick. Yeah, it was pretty gross; I could hear pretty much everything. But I quickly remembered my mother’s council and went to talk w/ the bus driver. He, “Alemão”, is a very nice guy and said there was no problem letting the kid sit in the front of the bus. So as I went and talked to the boy to sit in the front cab of the bus, Marcelo Dalla Rosa was a nice friend and carried his puke to the bathroom (sorry, did you not want to know that?).

Since nobody went to bed until after 4 am, we got a late start on the day. After a late breakfast we had our closing ceremonies; we got to vote on a few awards from the Conference. They were… biggest flirt, life of the party, best new couple and funniest. David won the ‘life of the party’ award. His crazy break dancing and other skills made him the hottest partner to dance with. To end, we had a more spiritual message and then I was asked to share my testimony with four other people; it was a nice experience.

Here’s a picture of the CASEI 2006 group (minus Marcelo Carioca who flew back to Rio early in the morning):

Monday, February 27, 2006

I now have one of “those” stories to tell. So after lunch some of us were out on the lawn taking a nap under the shade of a big tree, when I suddenly felt this little “plunk” on my chest. At first I thought somebody tapped me, and I lay there, not wanting to open my eyes. But to my surprise, when I did open my eyes I was greeted by a half-dollar sized bird turd, foaming on my white t-shirt. I rolled over to the person next to me and asked, “um, do you mind telling me what this is?” He laughed, then everyone laughed, and then some pictures were taken. When I get those pictures I’ll post them below…

By 9:45 am the charter bus was loaded and we were off to a nearby water park for the whole day. Two, large outdoor pools, indoor pool and five/six water slides were spread between the lush, green Brazilian trees and rolling hills. Behind the pool area was a fishing pond, a sand volleyball court, futsol (soccer) court and another spacious field.


Marcelo, Leandro, Élida and I started off playing volleyball. We soon had quite the crowd watching our games, as our team kept winning “King of the Court” style. It wasn’t until after a few hours of playing, when the sun was hot and we were tired :) that we lost to the older adults (they were good). I was ready for a break.

The pool was refreshing and fun. After lunch, our nap, the bird poop and more swimming, Luiza, Flávia, Kuka and I started a game of truco; of course we (Flávia and I) won… ha. I think we played three games undefeated, and then Leandro came we I was on his team as we helped him remember how to play.

One of the guys had an American football; that brought some excitement from Kuka, as if you remember from the Joinville trip, Kuka plays American football there. He is a huge guy but can still through a hard, tight spiral.

Other games were played in the afternoon, and then we had dinner.

While the girls took forever taking showers, Rafael, Carol, Marcelo, another guy I don’t know his name (but he brought the American football), and I convinced the park to turn on the biggest water slide; even though it was dark and getting chilly, we enjoyed ourselves doing some crazy dives down the slide.

Once everyone was clean and ready, we had a fireside. Probably the most interesting part of the fireside was when Flávia and Élida made a bet with me. There was a man sleeping on a chair by the front door, and they, for some reason, thought the man was a woman… ha, he “has curves”, they said. Ha… well, after a pretty funny conversation, the man woke up, and they realized their error.

After the fireside (FHE) we danced until 3 am. It was a good time.

Here are some pics from the dance:
Natália teaching me how to dance!

Me and Élida!

Flávia and me!

I didn't say I danced the WHOLE time... 3 am is late.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

TRUCO! Who knows how to play? To close out a nice Sunday, Marcelo (Carioca) and I were on a team against Flávia and Élida; with great patience they taught me how to play Truco and amazingly Marcelo and I ended up winning! But I’m getting ahead of myself… let me start from Sunday morning.

Everyone arrived to joint Sunday school dragging; most were running on just a few hours sleep. After Sunday school all the women and a few men loaded in the charter bus, the rest of the men (me included) walked the 5 blocks to the Mafra chapel where we participated in the Mafra Branch sacrament meeting. It was quite a sight to see the attendance of 120+ members when it would have normally been 30+.

After a quick change of clothes we packed into the bus again and rode a good twenty minutes to the Rio Negro park in Paraná (a neighboring state). From the leakage on the ground, you can see the bus had some troubles getting there.

But we were served a great lunch in a large meeting hall; everyone enjoyed each other’s company. Afterwards we had time to meander around the nearby forest (forests like this are rare in Brazil) and rest.


Here’s some pictures of my friend Flávia and I on some swings in the woods. We were unaware that probably as we took this picture everyone else was starting the guided trail walk through the park:

What was supposed to be a “spiritual walk” through the park ended up being a grudging hour for many of the girls who were unprepared – their platform sandals and shoes were a nuisance.

But we caught up to the last group; but during the walk Flávia and I got a little carried away taking pictures and got left behind again. We found them in the historic Catholic Church, taking a tour. I actually learned some pretty neat things on this tour – inside the church and also through a museum of ancient artifacts.
Sweet! An old fireplace!

The day finished with dinner and a fireside from an Area Authority. Everyone who was there knows what I’m talking about when I say this man had a BOOMING singing voice. Ha… They also know what I’m talking about when I say he talked about the “usual subjects.”

Many of us finished the night chatting in the lobby until midnight struck – then the games started. Truco was a fun game to learn. I actually became quite addicted. Ha…

Saturday, February 25, 2006


The picture says it all – I danced… sorta; but Dave's mad dancing skills were the big success. I have to admit, Brazilian dances are fun. The music played is often the same as American-dance music, but the big difference is the Brazilian music – Forró, Pagode, Samba, and others I don’t remember, require a certain type of dancing, which at first is a little complicated, but when you’re a foreigner, it makes for a good chance to get to know new people. It’s humbling, I can tell you that. Just look at my face in the above picture… ha… Me, a guy who has probably participated in less than five church dances in my life, had to crawl out of my shell and try something new. The fun guys and cute girls made that change a little easier. J

By 9 am Dave and I were packed and on our way to the Kobrasol chapel to catch the 9:20 bus to Mafra. But first I quickly stopped by Pedro Pimentel’s house (my home teaching companion) to explain that due to our last minute decision to participate in the weekend’s conference, I wouldn’t be able to do our scheduled visits with him.

A little after ten o’clock, the CASEI 2006 bus left Kobrasol and was on its way. I’m the first to admit, I felt a little awkward in the bus, especially when Rafael, one of the directors of the conference, introduced us to the entire bus and said that we had served missions there and “didn’t know why we were back.” Ha… I could just imagine what people thought – what fubekas (slackers).

They didn’t tell us we were to bring a little extra money for food stops, so as most everyone ate a quick lunch, I stood outside the rest-stop restaurant conversing with some soon-to-be friends.

By the end of the bus ride, a few friendships had begun: Leandro - who served his mission with Viviane (who I know from her home town of Colatina, Espírito Santo) and also lived in California for his senior year of high school; Carol and Simone - who speak fluent English; Daisy and Rafael – the main directors of the conference; Flávia – university student studying English and interested in photography; Cristiano – a cool guy who gave me a cool coconut ring. It was clear to me that if we made this many friends in a quick bus ride to Mafra, this weekend was going to be a lot of fun!

The Sussin Hotel in Mafra was a perfect place for our group of 90 and it felt as if we were the only people in the entire hotel.

Dave and I roomed with Lucas, but probably spent more time in Leandro’s room where he, Rafael, and Marcelo stayed. Marcelo’s a fun story – he’s from São Gonçalo, my first area from my mission, his brother was my Ward Mission Leader, and we often ate at his mother’s house. We had a fun time playing the name game and tossing back and forth memories and questions about people there. One of his best friends is engaged to Angelica, an awesome girl I taught and helped baptize.

The meals at the hotel were very good!

After dinner everyone got ready for the first dance of the weekend – and that’s where the picture above came from. Here's a picture of my friend Aline and I:


Thirty minutes into the dance I looked up to find an ex-mission companion staring at me with this look of confusion. I smiled and we exchanged a big hug. Marcelo Dalla Rosa was my fifth companion, and we served for a short time in Campos dos Goitacayzes, Rio de Janeiro.

After the dance him and I and a few others (Ingridy, Carol, Leonardo, and a different Ingridy) conversed in the lobby. To end on a spiritual note we each shared our favorite scriptures, and then went to bed.

It's been a week since I last had time to write, but the wait is worth it. Last weekend David and I went to the CASEI (the Single Adults Carnaval Retreat) and got home on Tuesday. Wednesday I had quite the experience at the Avaí v. Joinville soccer match. Here are some photos I took:



http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EaNnLNs5Zsd8&notag=1

Oh, and just to warn you - they asked me to take general pictures of the stadium and of their new uniforms they will release later in the year, so there are 57 pictures in all.

And here are two other sites you can see my pictures: http://www.avai.com.br/ and http://www.avai.com.br/?secao=MostraGaleria&galeria=151

Today David and I are traveling to Tubarão with the newly called, senior missionary couple (the Cassios) to teach CASP and train the new couple.

More details are on their way. Feel free to ask questions.

Friday, February 24, 2006

So I heard this crazy story and it really made me think; what would I do in a situation like this? I want to share the same story w/ you. Just be prepared, the story is kind of hard to follow at first, at least it took me to while to really understand how it went. But the story is true, and is worth the read:

A 30 year-old Brazilian was arriving home with his girlfriend at 8 pm that same evening when out of nowhere the South African man emerged and managed to rattle out in Portuguese, “I need to speak with an English teacher, please.” The Brazilian was startled, but soon realized that the South African could not speak any more Portuguese than that. The Brazilian had compassion on the man and decided to help him. For fear he was a bandit, the Brazilian left all his valuables at his house and then he led the South African fifteen minutes to the nearest English school that was still open. Apparently, they were both a little untrusting, as when they walked through dark streets, the South African increased his stride and began speaking with everyone that passed, begging for help, in English.

Upon arriving at the English school, the two men encountered an English-teaching Brazilian who helped translate and together they figured out that:
o The South African, who had been studying in Europe, had been traveling from Europe to Brazil to visit a friend and participate in a “Congress” at his Presbyterian church. He had been traveling for the past 12 days, but had been put on wrong buses, had the worst luck and had lost all of his money. He did, however, have a bus ticket to part of his destination, but that was about all the English teacher could understand. The two Brazilians said they felt like someone at the local “Mormon Church” would be able to help the lost South African man.

The American teacher, nervous and suspicious, finished listening to the Brazilian’s story, and then tried to get more information from the clearly shaken up South African man. With success, the American learned he did have money, but hadn’t succeeded in getting it exchanged. Oddly enough, the bus ticket he possessed was bought in a city three hours away when he ran into two American, Mormon missionaries. The ticket was for R$100,00 and he explained that he had the donor’s bank number and was planning on repaying the money. On another piece of paper he had written down he needed R$28,00 to purchase the last leg of his trip, and another R$20,00 to pay for the locker he was using to store his luggage at the airport.

This confused the American; for ten minutes they conversed, trying to understand what the South African man needed.

The two Brazilians and American finally realized he needed $48,00. The American at first said the “Mormons” had already helped quite a bit with his tickets, and R$5,00 more was all he could offer.

The Brazilian man then offered to give him a ride to the airport to get his baggage, and then a ride to the bus station where he wanted to sleep for the night before getting his bus in the morning. The American translated; the South African rejected the idea – he did not want to sleep at the bus terminal with his luggage, for fear of it being stolen. The Brazilian then offered to give him a ride to the bus terminal, 25 minutes away; the South African agreed.

At this time, the English-speaking teacher felt her service was complete and that she should go home. To help with translation, the Brazilian asked the American to accompany him and the South African; the American felt nervous, but upon judging the character of the individuals, decided to help.

The four of them walked to the edge of downtown, accompanying the English teacher to her home, and than returned to the Brazilian man’s house, got his car and girlfriend, and drove to the bus terminal 25 minutes away.

During this whole experience, the South African spoke much about God and how thankful he was for the good heart and help of the two Brazilians and the American. His gratitude was clear as he made the American translate, over and over, “Jesus will bless you. Thank you. Jesus will bless you.”

Upon leaving the man at the bus terminal, the American reached in his pocket and donated another R$20,00 to the man’s cause; the Brazilian and his girlfriend pulled together another R$28,00. And after his many thanks, the man was gone, with nothing more than the hope and charity of the Brazilians and American involved in his journey.

___

Quite the story, wouldn’t you say? What would you do in such a situation? I learned the details from the story first-hand, as I was the “American teacher” in the story. This experience just happened tonight!

I was at the ERS office at church this evening, helping Aldo and his son learn how to use email (Dave and I had just made Aldo a gmail account this afternoon). Out of nowhere appeared Keller - the English-teaching Brazilian woman, Adriano - the Brazilian man, and Andrews - the lost South African man. At first I was VERY suspicious, as during my mission we ran across many people with wild stories, just trying to get our money. But the more I spoke with this man, the more I believed his story. There were many points in his story that I didn’t quite understand, but we didn’t exactly have an easy time communicating; he was very stressed out and spoke very slow with an accent.

When Adriano asked me to drive w/ him to the airport and the bus terminal I got kind of freaked out; I thought of the weird kidnappings I’d heard and read about in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and wondered if these three people could really be scamming me? As a missionary I developed what I consider a good sense of character and I trusted Adriano and Keller – I still questioned the intent of the South African.

After kicking everyone out of the soccer court out back and locking up the church, I ran to the hotel down the block to let David know that I was going to be driving to the Island (Florianópolis) with Adriano and Andrews – ha, when I told David the story I couldn’t help but realize how crazy it sounded. When I hung up I said, “Well, if I don’t come back in two hours, at least you’ll have an interesting story for the police.” Dave had the good idea of getting Adriano’s cell phone number, just to keep in touch, which I did.

So, like I explained in the story, the four of us walked through downtown São José to accompany Keller home – Carnaval festivities were already starting, lots of people were in the streets, and its well known that crime is more frequent during the days of Carnaval.

As we walked, with out inquiring, Andrews shared with me what he knew about the Mormon church – Joseph Smith’s vision, New York, missionaries – and then he made me translate to Keller and Adriano an invitation for them to come to our church. They smiled, and accepted, each giving me their phone numbers for later contacts.

Upon arriving to Keller’s home, his parents are girlfriend greeted him with relief; they, too, had been waiting anxiously, not knowing what had become of Andriano and his charitable deed. Fernanda, Adriano’s girlfriend, accompanied us to the bus terminal, as they had other errands they had to run before returning home. I accompanied them on one quick errand, stopping by one of their friend’s house, and then they drove me back to the hotel in São José.

The entire way we talked about how weird this situation was, and debated about whether Andrews was telling the truth or not. There are two things that I question:

- 1. Why his European money didn’t exchange?
- 2. I think I should have gone to the ticket counter at the bus station and asked about his ‘ticket’ and the how he could best get to the city he was looking for. But the terminal was bustling with people because of Carnaval and we almost didn’t find a place to drop him off.

Before sharing your comments that you think he was a scammer, send me your questions and maybe I left out some important information. J

Anyway… before 8:00 pm, I was still having quite an eventful day. At 2:00 pm we scheduled to meet Aldo at the office to record the mock-interviews for him (which we didn’t figure out) and we made some finishing touches to his fliers and made him a gmail account, and taught him how to check his email. He’s in his early thirties, and I think this was his first time using a computer, I promise. He really enjoyed it, and I really hope this help gets his business going. He shared with us how his family is really struggling; lack of food, work, and money. I took the time to explain the importance of Fast Offerings and why we have them, and I encouraged him to talk to the Quorum President or the Bishop. I hope he does, his family needs it.

At 7:30 pm Dave and I met the newly called Senior Missionaries who we will be training to take our place when we leave! That was exciting for us because it means that our organization and hard work won’t go to waste. They are a fun couple from Argentina and speak Portañol (Portuguese and Spanish mixed). I imagine I’ll get some great Spanish lessons.

Today I also made follow-up calls to the people in Joinville; Pablo got a job! He is an English teacher! Makes sense, since he served in the Provo Mission.

All right, well Dave and I have to be packed at the chapel by 9:20 am. The bus for the Single Adults conference is going to pick us up, and than off we go for four days! I think this blog is long enough to keep you busy for the next for days.

Happy Carnaval!!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

I’d like to specially thank the manager of Pattin Pizza for their considerable charity; after this evening’s CASP course I bought a pizza from the Young Men’s campout-fundraiser. The only problem is – we don’t have an oven. It was about 11 pm as we strolled into our hotel lobby and I asked one of our friends (worker) at the front desk if it were possible for them to cook our pizza. His reply was kind of disturbing, “well you have a microwave don’t you?” A microwave to cook a large pizza? I don’t think so.

My next idea was to ask the nice people at the pizzeria across the street, Pattin Pizza. As Dave waited with the pizza on the other side of the street, I walked in and waited patiently to speak with the manager, who at the time was working the cash register. I think he recognized me from eating there the night before, and as we talked I explained how we were living in the hotel across the street without an oven, and that we had bought a pizza to support a youth group from church; I then asked if they could bake our pizza and he agreed without hesitation. I then stepped outside and called Dave. Oddly, our pizza was bigger than their oven, so they cut it in half and after 5 minutes, it was baked, sliced, and ready to eat. To show my appreciation, I bought an overpriced can of Guaraná.

Of the five CASP courses I’ve taught in Brazil, this week’s was the best for the following reasons: they were all eager to learn, we started and ended the week with the same number of participants – 10 (though a man named Rodrigo had to quit, but another man named Rodrigo joined), they did their homework assignments, they make contacts after the first day, most showed up to class tonight dressed as if they were really going to an interview (we didn’t even ask them to, they just knew today was the mock-interview day), and they preformed the best during the mock-interview. Congrats Kobrasol participants!!

Here are some pictures of the group:
From left to right: Lurdes, Paulo, Vanessa, Iasmin, Helamã, Sônia, Luana, David, Luciana , Rodrigo, Geoffrey, Aldo



Oh, and contrary to popular belief, most of the time Dave and I are not dressed in a shirt and tie, that is only while teaching the course (which is about 12 hours a week). I will try to post some pictures of us in normal clothes at the beach or just site seeing.

CASEI 2006 , here we come! (CASEI - Conferência dos Adultos Solteiros das Estacas Integradas.) Dave and I decided to participate in the Five-Stake Conference for the Single Adults this weekend; Carnaval starts this weekend and goes until Wednesday (Ash Wednesday – the start of Lent), and if we weren’t going on the getaway conference, I’m not sure what we’d do. But it should be pretty fun… here is a site to learn more about it – it has links to pictures and stuff like that - http://www.casei2006.cjb.net/

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

It was about 10:30 last night and David was wrapping up the CASP course; I quickly stepped out of the room to converse with Aldo’s 12-year-old son. Aldo and his wife are two of our 11 participants, and their son has been participating in the Young Men’s pizza making/selling fund-raiser this week at the church as well. (Aldo and his son are also the two people with whom I played soccer at the church a few weeks ago; we’ve become good friends.)

As we laughed and joked, I shared how I hadn’t eaten anything all day (the buffet pizza we ate the night before had filled me up); the boy replied, “me neither.” I then said I’d only drunken some juice; the boy replied, “I haven’t drunken anything.” Naively, I smiled and asked, well why not? His head bowed in shame, and I immediately new – it was very likely he didn’t have any food at home; I quickly changed the subject, not giving him time to answer, or giving the silence more time to get awkward.

It’s easy to forget the daily troubles many Brazilians face; on the mission I was reminded of these struggles daily, but during our internship we have been living a more sheltered lifestyle.

Other than the hard downpour at 6:50, causing more than half of out class to arrive more than 20 minutes late, the course went great!

This group seems more timid than most; we practiced entering and leaving an interview and most of them struggled. Practice is a good idea, I suppose.

I was especially proud of Senhora Lourdes who shared with the class who after the first day of CASP she went to the post office (where she wants to work) and asked to speak with the manager. Most everyone succeeded in making at least two contacts after the first day of class!

After class, Aldo asked me to type up some fliers for his painting and remodeling business; I was more than happy to accept.

Earilier in the day I was glued to the TV watching the Barcelona v. Chelsea soccer match on ESPN. Wow, UEFA soccer is intensely fast! What an exciting game, and win for Barcelona. One of the main reasons the game was showing on Brazilian TV is that the main star for Barcelona, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is Brazilian.

Keeping up w/ my reading for my BYU courses always keeps me plenty busy as well.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The High Priest’s room was filled this evening as David and I taught another course of CASP at the Kobrasol chapel. Twelve desks arced the classroom, and only fifteen minutes after the advertised start time of 7 pm, ten of those desks were filled; seven adults, three teenagers, and all eager to participate.

Being our third course in as many weeks, tonight went very smooth; in only three hours (when we had planned for four) we got through half of the course with each of the participants beaming with enthusiasm and bubbling from our practice activities. This is really the best group we’ve taught until now. Maybe part of the reason is each of them is looking for work and has thus come with open and willing minds.

We have tomorrow and Thursday scheduled to finish the course.

After lunch at the usual home-style restaurant down the street, David and I took the bus (the wrong bus, that cost R$3,00 instead of R$1,75) to the Historical Center of São José; once there, we stumbled upon a theatre and took a quick look around.

As I took pictures inside, another man walked in and gave me a weird look; he reappeared with his own camera, tripod, and assistant. Upon further conversations, Marcelo (the guy) told me he was a City’s photographer taking picture for some new brochures they were making. I took advantage of his knowledge and asked where some other nearby historical sites was and he directed us a few places.

First we admired the church facing town-square; nice rooster, eh?

We then visited a nearby spring where slaves would scrub clothes. Slavery was legal in Brazil until May 13, 1888.

Just up the stream, approximately 100 yards away are some modern-day signs of what was done by the slaves some 120 years ago.

The local museum was our next stop, but photographs were prohibited in there; but during our visit, Marcelo (the photographer) showed up to take pictures and when I told him they wouldn’t let me take any, he asked to exchange email addresses so he could send me copies of what he shot. I was surprised; that was awfully nice of him to offer.

A 1945, German film projector used in a leper-only hospital was one of the items that caught my attention. I hope they’ve disinfected it… ? I noted many other interesting artifacts, most of which were imported from the United States or Europe.

Speaking of exchange, the dollar is at a five year low; 1 Real is only worth $2.12. Just to get a sense, I remember during my mission only two years ago that 1 Real was almost worth $4.