Group Time

I am hoping this is the only time this 6 months that I miss my weekly blog, but with the group here for an extended 15 day stay I was kept quite busy. But first, before the group arrived Katie and I took 10 or so of our English students to Ponta Grossa, a nearby city, for some delicious food court food, bowling and a 3D showing of Kung Fu Panda all in Portuguese! It was so special to see all their faces light up as they knocked down the bowling pins and their confusion about why they were getting headaches from watching things fly off the screen! For most of them it was there first time getting to do these things and their pure enjoyment of it all was inspiring. With vacation time we decided we wanted to spend several days visting the houses of our students with all the teachers to introduce ourselves to the parents and talk all little bit about what our plans were for this year. We also thought this would be a great chance for us to get soem insight into the home lives of our kids and maybe help us be more understanding of why they behaved the way they did or what they were lacking that we could make up for. Unfortunately some live really far away in the country so our day of visitng only got us to maybe 10 homes but it was still very eye opening and I am hoping we get the chance to visit the rest. One afternoon we headed to visit the house of 5 of our students and there we found Rogerio, an afternoon student, really sick laying in bed with a high fever and chills. His mom was nowhere to be seen and he was not taking any medicine. It was the most heart wrenching thing I have experienced thus far this year. I just wanted to curl up in the bed with him and tell him he would get better and comfort him- everything a mom should do. I couldn´t get him out of my head so the next day we headed back there to see how he was and luckily his mom had gotten him some medicine and he was feeling better but I still had a pain in my heart for him and his living situation, probably the worst of our students. I know that most of it is out of my hands but it is very hard to accept that when you have a connection with the kids- that is when the serenity prayer comes in handy. We got all the final preparations for the group ready and headed out early Wednesday morning to get them at the airport with our welcome signs! It was so great to welcome another large group into Brazil, several repeats and several new faces. By the time we made it to the Chale the first night, we quickly turned around for mass in which the homily in a foreign language had almost everyone asleep! The next day, Thursday, as we headed to PETI for capoeria we were informed that the program had been cancelled for the following week for an extended vacation, something we were banking on doing with the group. That was just the first of many curveballs thrown our way this trip. The next day a sickness started that eventually spread to 5 of the Americans, for some it lasted only a day and for others unfortunately it left them bed ridden for 5 days and ended with a hospital visit. Katie and I were luckily able to stay healthy thank God as one of us always had to stay with the sick people and the other had to lead the rest of the group in the days activities. It forced me into a leadership role that I didn´t think I was ready for- I had to speak in Portuguese in the front of large groups twice, something I normally leave up to Katie. At the time I was sweating with nervousness but looking back it was just what I needed to start losing my fear. It was extra special to get to celebrate the birthdays of both my mom and Marcos here!! We got to sing Happy Birthday a lot both in English and Portuguese and ate lots of cake. Besides some make shift days of water games and soccer at the program, we also took the group to visit communities we have helped in the past and one that we are helping with the building of their chapel this year. Just when we were releasing the Americans from the hospital after blood work and IVs, I was riding in the ambulance with Daniel, another American after he dislocated his knee playing soccer in the sand at a community. When we arrived we had everyone at the hospital joking that it was the day of the Americans. Luckily he didn´t need surgery but he did have to stay overnight in the hospital for observation. The next day he was left with severe headaches which prevented him from returning with the majority of the group on his original return date. He was put back in the hospital for another 2 days and it was diagnosed that he sat up too soon after having receiving anesthesia from the previous visit. Fortunately he was able to get his flight changed and leave with the rest of the group on Tuesday. In general it was an insane 10 days of trying to keep everyone healthy, come up with things to do without the program scheduled and make it an experience that made the Americans would remember. They were able to do some very special, unique things too like visit the land less camp and deliver a months worth of food to several families from our program. I was so grateful to have that time with everyone but especially my mom and brother. I know I have their support but to have them here going through my daily life with me is something I will forever cherish. Now that we safely got the group back in the States, Katie and I are really focused on getting this program off the ground. They won´t have vacation for awhile so we are excited to start stuff up that we know we have the time to get going. Another small set back is the quitting of our 2 afternoon teachers so for the time being it is just us and another PE teacher who helps out. Hopefully we get some people to take their places soon as the afternoon is already more chaotic was more kids. I started photography with a few kids on Tuesday taking pictures of items 1-10. It took them awhile but in the end they were really getting creative and it left me smiling! Now we are settling back into the routine of everyday life but missing everyone from the group as well. They were inspiring and brought a fresh energy to everything, thank you to everyone for all that you did for us and the people of Brazil in your short stay. They will be talking about you guys for years to come! Prayer this morning was all about how we are just a pencil in the hand of God, being used in the ways we may never expect or want but in the ways that fit into God´s plan- may we all keep this in mind as we go about our busy lives, asking God to use us each day to fulfill His work.