Traveling with the Kids!

Before we got to travel with our kids on Saturday, we had to say goodbye to a student who many of you have heard about and been praying for, Eva. Her mother is moving her and several of her siblings to a new city in search of work. Unfortunately it had been awhile since we had even seen Eva, at this point she had stopped coming to PETI, school and English lessons. It was sad to see her go but even more sad that things left without much emotion as she has changed so drastically in the month since she left the orphanage and moved back in with her mom. All we can do is pray that this new city brings them happiness and success.

Then on Saturday afternoon we headed to Tibagi, a nearby town, with 23 of our older, well behaved students for a weekend camping trip! The place where we stayed wasn´t necessarily 5 stars but the view that surrounded us was breathtaking and the kids made it such a fun adventure! We took them to a beautiful waterfall and within minutes they were all in the freezing water splashing around and having a great time. Back at our campsite they made the most of the waste deep river nearby and also played soccer and volleyball. Then we cooked up some hotdogs for dinner and as it started to get a little darker we all sat around the campfire while some students played the guitar and everyone else sang along :) We also attempted to make some s´mores but it had a Brazilian twist with the strawberry marshmellows they sell here- they were a big hit with everyone! You would think with a full day in the sun they would all be exhausted and sleep early.. WRONG! They had all kinds of energy to dance the night away and play all kinds of hide and seek games. It took us threatening to take away their spots on the beach trip to get them to finally lay down and keep semi quiet. Needless to say we did not get a lot of sleep as it was freezing and we were sleeping on the floor of a shelter without walls so no protection from the bugs as well as we forgot the bug spray.. yikes! They were all up at the first sign of the sun to do it all again!! We spent Sunday afternoon splashing around and playing until we headed back after lunch. In general it was such an amazing vacation with kids that truely appreciated and loved each moment. It was a great chance to have some one of one time with kids, something we normally don´t get each day at the program with some many kids seeking out attention.

This week we have spent a lot of time starting to plan the upcoming beach trip that we are planning for the first weekend in December. We are trying to keep the number of kids to 50 which is looking quite impossible- my vote is for 60 even if that means a little more work but a chance for more deserving kids to come along! It is going to be a long process selecting kids, finding an affordable place with lots to do and all the other little details that need to be worked out.. but it will be worth it in the end! I got the chance this week to do some advanced English with the PBF students and then with all the students in a few rounds of BINGO with English words and then Thursday I helped out in their music class as they are learning the lyrics to ´Happy Day´- really precious to hear them try to pronounce the words!

Wednesday I discovered that I have lice- two years in a row! Unfortunately here the treatment is a little more complicated and not as advanced as the medication that you can find in the States that kills live ones and gets rid of all the eggs too. Here I have to put a shampoo in that kills the live ones then Katie has had to comb through my hair and take out all the individual eggs that are left- its a complicated process that I have to do for three straight days then hopefully I am clear. Luckily the girls have not caught it and also I caught it early before they really started to take over! Hopefully after this weekend I will be good :)

We do not have the program today as it is a holiday for the government in Imbau so that cancels PETI- this country has more holidays than any other! We spend the morning looking through the clothes Sister Rose has for Halloween costumes we can use with our kids for our upcoming party we are going to have with them next week to celebrate! Then we got to spend some time with the 3 sisters by having lunch at their house before I sent the girls on their way to another city for another capoeira event this weekend. I am looking forward to this time along to get some things done and just relax!

I had the special priviledge to talk with my family but most specifically my dad for his birthday on Wednesday- it is hard to be away from family on special days like that but I am so grateful for things like Skype that make it easier to stay in touch!

Happy Halloween weekend to everyone- enjoy all those sweets! :)

UPS AND DOWNS OF PD

So just after I got done blogging last week, we arrived in Imbau to discover that while we had been at the funeral on Thursday afternoon, they had cancelled PETI for Friday so there were no kids coming for band presentation. We were so frustrated that planned had been changed without us knowing and we had to call the band with only 2 hours notice of our cancelation. Unfortunately this was not the first time we have been left in the dark about a change of plans.. we are working to get the workers better about communication but it takes some time. So we instead spent the afternoon visiting houses to let the kids know about the capoeira events that were taking place Friday night and Saturday afternoon. That night the kids came by bus into Telemaco Borba for a roda with a master of capoeira that came from Curitiba just to do this with our kids! He did all sorts of fun games with them that had them all leaving with big smiles and motivation to return the next day for a course in Imbau. Unfortunately we were still in our week long rainy period so not as many kids as we had hoped showed up but those that were there loved the course! They were all sweaty but happy by the end of a fun relay race that ended the afternoon. Sunday we just relaxed and let the girls rest their tired bodies after a weekend full of capoeira!
This week we had the Project Discovery Center just how we wanted it, with some pillows and all kinds of books, magazines and comics ready to read along with all kinds of games for their use! We even printed several large pictures to show different aspects of the program that decorate the walls. We are so proud of this place :) Since Monday we have been taking several small groups of kids to come and play in one room while the other room is being used to get some extra math help in. Megan has been in charge of that and has really motivated the kids to study a little more and improve their math skills.. it has been awesome to see them get excited about it!
My photography project this week has 4 kids taking self portraits every day this week. The rules are that they have to be the one to take the picture and they are to show five sides of themselves, one each day. It has been challenging for them to think of something creative to display different sides of their personalities. They LOVE to take pictures of themselves so it has also been hard for them to leave only one picture each day after taking about 50! It is exciting for me to really see some of the kids come out of their shells behind the lens of the camera.
This week we have also been frantically getting together our travel plans for camping this weekend with the kids. It was a trip that was originally planned by another teacher who left PETI and now the trip is in our plans. We moved locations to a closer city, Tibagi, to save some money. This week we had to visit houses to get permission from parents as it is an overnight. We will leave Saturday afternoon and return Sunday after lunch. The kids are very excited about the trip and have been full of questions about the plans, what to pack, etc. It should be a lot of fun, just hoping the rain holds out!
With my Thursday morning free for outreach this morning I headed to APAE, the school for children with special needs here in Imbau. I intended to go alone and visit with Dougless, the young boy I met a few months ago when we did the parade with the school, but 2 boys wanted to visit with me so we all headed there together just to see what we could do! We just entered into a classroom and started helping out with there lesson on the sounds of letters. I have never felt such pride in someone as I did in our two students who jumped in and started interacting and helping these other students. I could not stop smiling as we went and played outside with the kids on the playground before being a part of their PE class to end our visit. Before we left, it was one of the boys idea to return and teach the kids how to make some friendship braclets, something I have been teaching them at PETI. I left with my heart full of pride for what these 2 boys had done and I just felt so blessed to witness such a beautiful exchange of love!
I am wishing my family safe travels and a wonderful fall break getaway in NYC! I hope it is a great vacation for all of you.. you deserve it! Keep sending your prayer requests our way and know you are all always in our hearts here in Brazil. God Bless!

SLOW, RAINY WEEK

I do not think the rain has stopped coming down since my last blog, starting with our a rainy weekend in Maringa. Luckily, this just gave us the opportunity to find entertainment in new places like the movie theater inside the mall. We also tried to wait out the rain by praying the rosary in the beautiful cathedral near our hotel. We finally decided we just had to embrace it so we walked around the festival, getting wet but enjoying some delicious churros! It was a wonderful girls weekend and a beautiful tradition that we hope to continue if any or all of us return next year.

It has been a slow week at the program as PETI was cancelled Monday so that the teachers could get together and prepare for the party we were throwing for the kids Tuesday to celebrate Children´s Day. We worked all morning on getting together little goodie bags full of sweets, making some desserts and getting the trampoline we were borrowing. Then Tuesday we had a party in both the morning and afternoon. We tried to have a few games/activities planned but everyone was very excited to wait in line to jump on the tramp! This was something they so rarely get to do, for some it was their first time, and they could not get enough of it. They would end their 2 minute jumping time and run to the back of the line. We also had Bingo, Twister and some other board games too. Naturally, a game of soccer got started as well. We had a special lunch prepared for them as well. We had a BBQ with delicious meat, potatoe salad and rice with cake for dessert.. delicious! The day was very chaotic with 2 teachers missing and a few extras hands always needed in the kitchen, but the kids loved it so it was well worth it!

Then Wednesday again we had the day off as it was the actual holiday of Children´s Day and also the feast day of the country´s patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida. They had a procession of cars an hour long in the morning and at night we went to a beautiful Mass celebrated in the outdoor sports gym to fit everyone. The devotion and love this country has for Mary is an inspiring thing! We spend the better part of the afternoon cleaning our filthy bedroom, it was about time! Then I had my first driving lesson with a friend.. learning how to drive stick shift proved to be a little harder than I thought it would be! Luckily I did no harm to the car :)

Yesterday we were back at PETI and I spent the morning doing English in our new Project Discovery Center then headed back to make bracelets with the kids with all the colorful yarn my mom sent down! Surprisingly it is the older boys who have really taken to making these bracelets and have figured out the pattern I taught them.. it is cute! Then sadly we spent the whole afternoon at the funeral of our coworker´s grandpa. We stayed a few hours and just visited with the family, distracting the little cousins with talk of Disney princesses and Barbie. Being there, not doing much, just showing support, made me so grateful once again for all those who showed that same support last year when my grandpa passed away. I am glad I was able to repay that to a friend.

Now I am sitting here, listening to the rain coming down still and getting ready to head to Imbau late this afternoon as the morning was cancelled because we have a band from a church here in Telemaco going to talk and sing with our kids this afternoon! I met the pastor when I went to church with a friend here and he heard about our project and immediately wanted to get involved! So today him and his band are going to share a little bit with our kids about the importance of faith and sing some praises to God, I am so excited!!

As of yesterday, we are down to exactly 2 months, wow! As the countdown continues I pray that the 3 of us really open ourselves up and seek out where God is calling us next. That is always the question people ask us and what we constantly ask ourselves :)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful month of October! Know that we think and pray for all of you in the States daily!

Living Out of A Suitcase

It does feel like we have been blessed to be able to travel a lot more this year but this week I have already unpacked my suitcase once and will pack it again tonight! We spent the night in Imbau, where we work, on Tuesday night as after work we went with another teacher from PETI to accompany her with her adult English class later in the night. The bus unfortunately does not run that late so we had to sleep there. The other English teacher at this school happened to be good friends of my parents from when we lived here all those years ago. Dad, do you remember a Paulo Alves? I sure hope so because he remembers walking around Telemaco with you practicing your Portuguese and you helping him with his English. I could tell my dad really left an impact in his life as he was so proud to tell the class all about how we were connected. Supposedly he gets a Christmas card every year so his class had already seen several pictures of me and the family from past years- small world huh?!

I have said lots of good things about how on top of things the new teachers here at PETI are and just another example- one teacher thought one of our morning students was a little hard of hearing as he is constantly screaming even when you are right in front of him, it can be a little scary ha but they immediately set up an appointment for him with the doctor in Imbau who is now sending him to Curitiba, the capital, to have a test done free of charge! It gives me such a sense of peace knowing we will be leaving our kids behind in such great hands in 2 short months. At the same time though, we sadly lost a teacher this past week as he moved jobs to one with a greater salary. He was the one who planned our upcoming camping trip so we are in the process of making sure that can still happend without him, maybe in another location.

This whole week we have dedicated ourselves to our brand new Project Discovery Center!! We decided to rent out two small rooms very close to the building we work in where we plan to take small groups of students to study, whether it be English or math, or to just read or play some games! We also plan to use the space as a meeting room for when we need to talk with parents in a more professional, quiet setting. We were given permission to paint so that we did! The walls are the colors of PD- red, green, yellow and blue. It has left the place with such a bright, cheerful atmosphere! The kids came today to paint their hands and leave their handprints on the wall- it looks really awesome and kid friendly, just what we wanted! Next with the help of Sister Rose we are trying to furnish it a little bit with a couch and some pillows and a rug. One room is more for relaxation and the other will be more of a quiet, study space. It is small and nothing special but we are so proud to call it our own!!

Today with my first Thursday off I went with Katie to pray the rosary with an elderly woman in the community, Dona Rosa. Katie goes there every Thursday and always comes back with stories and a gift and I felt so blessed to tag along today. This woman is an angel if I have ever met one. The gentle way she talked about the suffering of her son and how much she prayed to take his place in the suffering almost brought tears to my eyes. It was a really special experience to pray the rosary in another language and I immediately thought of you Mom and how much you would love that! :)

This weekend we are headed to Maringa, a nearby city that we randomly visited last year and fell in love with. It is a beautiful, bigger city with a small town feel! We are just going to spend the weekend there, finding entertainment who knows where, but ever since last year we have been looking forward to returning!

Especially with this new Project Discovery Center, I want to take the time to again thank all those who have financially donated to our work here. Things like this would not be possible without your generous help, we can´t thank you enough! All the support we receive, spiritually and monetarily, help in ways only God knows!

May God bless you all with a wonderful weekend and upcoming week! Hope your birthday month is starting out great Dad!!