I went to church on saturday. Something I haven't done within the adventist system in a very long time (besides of course when I go home). Theres a wave of peace that washes over me when I enter the house of God and it reminds me how much I need him. Now don't get me wrong, I've been reading my bible faithfully and thanking God for all the things he's given me, but its not the same. God blessed me again, this time with a friend here who took me to church. I met him in Argentina, and he's great! He picked me up this morning and we headed to church at about 9:45. When I walked in I couldn't help but feel lighter. I know it's an odd concept but being at an adventist church (even if its in portuguese and I can't understand most of it) is like getting to go home. It always is, even at home.
The rest of this week has not been as peaceful, Ive spent most of it racking my brain for words that make sense in any language. I always forget how in order to learn a new language, I have to break my own language down into its simplest form. Which means... I can't speak english anymore. I can type, because I can make the correct changes, edit, write, and rewrite what I have to say. (Not that I do that really because it takes too much effort) but at least Im given time to think about what I want to say.
I've tried an endless amount of fruits since Ive been here and I can't get enough. Some of them look so weird and some of them have names I cant pronounce. Oh how I wish my fellow chubbers were here! You guys are missing out on some sweet mouth watering action! (Get your head out of the gutter!) The list of amazing foods goes on and on and on....
This weekend I made new friends. Guess what kinda friends I made... guess c'mon. Brazilian Hipsters haha. Dont roll your eyes at me! Theyre awesome! I stumbled across them when they were organizing a strategy to save the storm stricken families of a very poor part of Sao Paulo. The couple weeks before I came there were neverending storms everyday and a lot of the city flooded. Unfortunately some families were washed from their homes, and so they had no choice but to break into empty homes and businesses to find shelter. Well the police werent very happy about this so they started beating and shooting these families, KIDS AND ALL! Instead of helping they just turned to violence. So, this group of kids I met (by kids I mean my age) was finding unoccupied homes in a nicer part of town where the police wouldnt hurt anyone, and moving the families from one part of town to this part of town. Nothing makes me happier than seeing love in our world. Im so excited that these young people care enough to make a difference and share their love to benefit others. What amazing beings God has created.
Well thats a short update on whats been goin on. Theres more stories but Ill have to post them later! Tchau!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Oh Chica(no)go...
Hmm I say. A blog. Thats a new concept for me. I figure it can't be any harder than keeping a journal right? Meh. We'll See...
I suppose I should start by letting everyone know that I fought all odds by making it in one piece to this country. Or at least I imagined myself as an all powerful kicking life it the face being! In reality I suffered some minor hardships that turned out to be all kinds of awesome.
My journey began in Pilar, NM (the middle of nowhere for anyone who didn't already know that). I spent the entire night filling my suitcases with God knows what and doing my very best to downsize from the immeasurable bounty of clothes that I'm used to having at all time. It was quite the victory to end my hassles with only a suitcase and a duffel bag, neither of which I had to sit on or struggle to close. By the time I saw streams of sunlight peaking through my curtains I realized I'de better get ready for my flight. My flight was scheduled to leave abq (a 2.5hr drive from my house) at 1pm, but we had to be there at 9am for an appointment. So I readied and clothed myself in a pretty comfortable dress, the boots I always wear, and a blazer... Everything went dandy. Fast Forward to my layover in Chicago.
This is where the fun begins! I arrive in Chicago at about 4 or so, but my flight isn't until 9:30. I mean its not the most exhilarating thing waiting in an airport for what feels like a lifetime, but hey I'm on my way to Brazil so ultimately I'm going to forget how much it sucks. I make my rounds calling family members, and I wait most patiently for them to call my name. [I was flying on a standby ticket, so there was a slight chance I wouldn't get on, but international flight always have extra space so I wasn't too worried] Its about 9:20 now and several other stand-bys have been given their seats. There's three of us left waiting for a seat on the plane, and I'm number one on the list, pretty darn good odds if you ask me, but no one did, instead a friend of the two people who cam after me on the list asked the man giving out tickets to get them on. She worked for the airline so he did her the favor and gave the last two seats to the people after me on the list... what does that mean? Well that means that I was the one and only passenger who didn't get on the plane. It also means that I have to spend the next 24 hours in chicago where not only do I have anywhere to stay but I also have nothing but my sundress and my backpack. Oh that was quite the shocker. Well they post me up in this hotel for $80 which at first made my insides boil, but then when I realized that the hotel actually cost $280 a night I simmered down a little. Then I became a sad little mess, like a wet puppy stuck in a rainstorm with big eyes staring into your happy home at Christmas. OK so, I get in the shuttle and drag my feet to this hotel... yada yada yada feel bad for poor little me.
But then an a pretty awesome friend of mine spent the night on the phone with me and it was like I wasn't stuck alone in a city I didnt know anything about. It was almost like I wasn't alone, and I realized then how blessed I really was. I thought that I was the most unfortunate person in the world, being late to school, missing my first day of classes, paying for a hotel, freezing my butt off in the chicago winter air, and having to be all alone for a night, but God was like NOPE! He made sure that I was ok, that I knew I wasn't alone, and that every misfortune has the opportunity to become an adventure. So, after learning some new quirks about my friend, and falling asleep on the phone... oops, I woke up fresh and ready to start my adventure. I checked out of my room and hit the subway. Well let me tell you! That day I became the weird stranger I always wanted to be. Coffee, journal, and camera in hand I bounced around the city viewing the world through my "Steve Urkel" glasses. I saw my reflection in the window and in that moment I knew that everyone on the subway thought I was cool! Well, at least if I were another person on that subway I would have wished I were me, because I had a pep in my step, and all the hipster additions made me look like a real artist, I dunno a journalist or something.
I bippity bopped to china town to watch the chinese new year parade. It was unbelievable. There were dragons, and costumes galore! People were smashed up on walls, climbing on stairs, and sitting on shoulders to take in the view. I even saw ronald mcdonald! I don't really know why he was in a chinese new year parade but meh, who cares, it contributed to the random mess of my day. Afterwards, I jumped right back on that metro and headed to the navy pier where they were having a snow days festival. At this point, I was kind of going numb. Considering I was i a summer dress and running on adrenaline I was doing pretty good, but pretty wasn't going to be enough if I wanted to make it through the day. I decided I was going to suck it up and continue on my icy adventure when I had to use the restroom. So I stopped at a hotel, and accidently went out a different door than I came in (it was a big hotel ok). But low and behold God did it again. Right when I walked out those spinning doors I almost hyperventilated. It was a supersized forever 21 with all its winter gear on sale. HALLELUJAH! Brand new scarf, yes. Brand new hat, yes. Brand new jeans, yes. Brand new long socks, yes. Was I warm now? You betcha! All bundled up I went on to the snow days shindig. When I got there I saw gigantormous ice sculptures, twice my size at least, and they were COOL(a little pun intended)! View 'em on my facebook if you don't believe me. Still to come was the dog sled show... man oh man was it a suh-weet deal to see those huskies mush, and hee and all those other sounds that I dont know. I kept walking and from the end of the pier I saw water, a sunset, the chicago skyline, and God reminding me that he loves me very much. Everytime I see something beautiful I know that God made it just so that I could sit there and think "Wow, I have a God who loves me beyond anything I could ever fathom". Beauty strikes a realization for me that it is not possible for a world like ours to exist without a God as passionate as ours. I sat in awe for a while, and left with a happy heart.
At this point I realized I hadn't eaten so I started to head back to the subway and stopped at a pub along the way. There was a very nice lady there from Ireland and she told me all about her adventures in chicago. She moved into the city, downsized her life, sold her car and now she lives simply happy. She was pretty stinking admirable in my opinion. Then I skidaddled off to the airport and I finally made it on my plane. Got to São Paulo, and had no luggage....
I suppose I should start by letting everyone know that I fought all odds by making it in one piece to this country. Or at least I imagined myself as an all powerful kicking life it the face being! In reality I suffered some minor hardships that turned out to be all kinds of awesome.
My journey began in Pilar, NM (the middle of nowhere for anyone who didn't already know that). I spent the entire night filling my suitcases with God knows what and doing my very best to downsize from the immeasurable bounty of clothes that I'm used to having at all time. It was quite the victory to end my hassles with only a suitcase and a duffel bag, neither of which I had to sit on or struggle to close. By the time I saw streams of sunlight peaking through my curtains I realized I'de better get ready for my flight. My flight was scheduled to leave abq (a 2.5hr drive from my house) at 1pm, but we had to be there at 9am for an appointment. So I readied and clothed myself in a pretty comfortable dress, the boots I always wear, and a blazer... Everything went dandy. Fast Forward to my layover in Chicago.
This is where the fun begins! I arrive in Chicago at about 4 or so, but my flight isn't until 9:30. I mean its not the most exhilarating thing waiting in an airport for what feels like a lifetime, but hey I'm on my way to Brazil so ultimately I'm going to forget how much it sucks. I make my rounds calling family members, and I wait most patiently for them to call my name. [I was flying on a standby ticket, so there was a slight chance I wouldn't get on, but international flight always have extra space so I wasn't too worried] Its about 9:20 now and several other stand-bys have been given their seats. There's three of us left waiting for a seat on the plane, and I'm number one on the list, pretty darn good odds if you ask me, but no one did, instead a friend of the two people who cam after me on the list asked the man giving out tickets to get them on. She worked for the airline so he did her the favor and gave the last two seats to the people after me on the list... what does that mean? Well that means that I was the one and only passenger who didn't get on the plane. It also means that I have to spend the next 24 hours in chicago where not only do I have anywhere to stay but I also have nothing but my sundress and my backpack. Oh that was quite the shocker. Well they post me up in this hotel for $80 which at first made my insides boil, but then when I realized that the hotel actually cost $280 a night I simmered down a little. Then I became a sad little mess, like a wet puppy stuck in a rainstorm with big eyes staring into your happy home at Christmas. OK so, I get in the shuttle and drag my feet to this hotel... yada yada yada feel bad for poor little me.
But then an a pretty awesome friend of mine spent the night on the phone with me and it was like I wasn't stuck alone in a city I didnt know anything about. It was almost like I wasn't alone, and I realized then how blessed I really was. I thought that I was the most unfortunate person in the world, being late to school, missing my first day of classes, paying for a hotel, freezing my butt off in the chicago winter air, and having to be all alone for a night, but God was like NOPE! He made sure that I was ok, that I knew I wasn't alone, and that every misfortune has the opportunity to become an adventure. So, after learning some new quirks about my friend, and falling asleep on the phone... oops, I woke up fresh and ready to start my adventure. I checked out of my room and hit the subway. Well let me tell you! That day I became the weird stranger I always wanted to be. Coffee, journal, and camera in hand I bounced around the city viewing the world through my "Steve Urkel" glasses. I saw my reflection in the window and in that moment I knew that everyone on the subway thought I was cool! Well, at least if I were another person on that subway I would have wished I were me, because I had a pep in my step, and all the hipster additions made me look like a real artist, I dunno a journalist or something.
I bippity bopped to china town to watch the chinese new year parade. It was unbelievable. There were dragons, and costumes galore! People were smashed up on walls, climbing on stairs, and sitting on shoulders to take in the view. I even saw ronald mcdonald! I don't really know why he was in a chinese new year parade but meh, who cares, it contributed to the random mess of my day. Afterwards, I jumped right back on that metro and headed to the navy pier where they were having a snow days festival. At this point, I was kind of going numb. Considering I was i a summer dress and running on adrenaline I was doing pretty good, but pretty wasn't going to be enough if I wanted to make it through the day. I decided I was going to suck it up and continue on my icy adventure when I had to use the restroom. So I stopped at a hotel, and accidently went out a different door than I came in (it was a big hotel ok). But low and behold God did it again. Right when I walked out those spinning doors I almost hyperventilated. It was a supersized forever 21 with all its winter gear on sale. HALLELUJAH! Brand new scarf, yes. Brand new hat, yes. Brand new jeans, yes. Brand new long socks, yes. Was I warm now? You betcha! All bundled up I went on to the snow days shindig. When I got there I saw gigantormous ice sculptures, twice my size at least, and they were COOL(a little pun intended)! View 'em on my facebook if you don't believe me. Still to come was the dog sled show... man oh man was it a suh-weet deal to see those huskies mush, and hee and all those other sounds that I dont know. I kept walking and from the end of the pier I saw water, a sunset, the chicago skyline, and God reminding me that he loves me very much. Everytime I see something beautiful I know that God made it just so that I could sit there and think "Wow, I have a God who loves me beyond anything I could ever fathom". Beauty strikes a realization for me that it is not possible for a world like ours to exist without a God as passionate as ours. I sat in awe for a while, and left with a happy heart.
At this point I realized I hadn't eaten so I started to head back to the subway and stopped at a pub along the way. There was a very nice lady there from Ireland and she told me all about her adventures in chicago. She moved into the city, downsized her life, sold her car and now she lives simply happy. She was pretty stinking admirable in my opinion. Then I skidaddled off to the airport and I finally made it on my plane. Got to São Paulo, and had no luggage....
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