Storm

Dark clouds gather on the horizon of late. Bearing down with sinister intent, and guile such as is rarely seen in nature. In the moments before this storm breaks the calm, nature waits. The air is calm, pregnant with moisture; heavy with the burden of knowing this sleepy afternoon will soon be torn from its bed with a start.
Lightning begins to flash all around as the sun sets. The boiling clouds draw near as if by the very darkness itself. Light fades. Thunder tears through the clouds with vengeance and malice that would melt the knees of the very strongest man to the consistency of warm butter. It is distant at first, but clear. And coming.

Wind winds its way between the trees, down the streets and through open windows. Sometimes even through closed ones. It carries on its back the rain. Drops the size of a man's fingertip begin to pound the earth. It has begun.

The storm's rage and wrath continue, now shaking the bones of children and men alike with great claps of thunder which seem to sear the clouds together—though its motive seems to suggest tearing them apart—now pounding roof, ground, and unwary pedestrian caught by its overbearing hand.

Fury, though, must also meet its end. The clouds, with their effusion of lightning, are soon borne away by the very winds that brought their wrath. Breezes, calm and cool, take the place of the wind; stars and moon begin to shine once more.

In the houses of men calm takes the place of fear while husband and wife and son and daughter drift to sound sleep in the fresh, cool air.

Tomorrow will bring new things. Another storm is likely already building it's anger, but that will have to wait until the appointed time.

____________________________________

No, this is not the beginning of a detective mystery, or some other adventure. That is what a storm is like here. I love huge storms. They remind me how small and insignificant I really am in the scheme of larger things.

The photo is from last year, but is illustrative of the nearly nightly storms we have been having this week. I love it. I hope soon to be able to record audio from one of these. When that happens I will at least post some excerpts.

I also want to take a moment to congratulate Tré on his recent engagement!

[composed and posted with ecto]

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Safely In Brazil

Patrick's comment on this post brought to mind some things I have thought about, but not really said in this venue. Here is part of his comment:

When I was in Brazil, I found it refreshing to see how free Brazil is from much of the 'safety consciousness' that you find in the U.S.

There is more to his comment, but this is what I want to focus on. First off, I would like to say that I am not criticizing his thoughts by anything I say in this post. Instead I want to expand on them from my perspective.

I thought much the same way for several weeks after first arriving. One of the things I saw, though, that changed my view a bit was a photograph of a power company employee on the front page of the local newspaper. He was in his hard-hat, had a safety harness on. It was a pretty normal photograph, except that he was suspended by the safety harness above a metal ladder. He had been electrocuted to death.

Impressed that this image was even printed, let alone front and center on the front page of the paper, I began to think about the things I had seen since arriving in Teresina.

I do not remember the entire story behind this image—my Portuguese was not as good then—but it seems that he was working on the power lines, and they came on while he was working. At any rate, the image is burned into my mind.

Road construction is probably the most interesting contrast with the US I have seen. If you are ever driving in Teresina, and see a tree sticking out of the middle of the road that was not there yesterday, it probably means that there is a sizable hole at the location of the tree. No reflective markers, no flashing lights. Nope. Just a tree, and a mound of dirt.

Sometimes there is no warning at all. The other night I was driving my father-in-law's taxi (but not as a taxi operator), and only missed a three-foot wide by two-foot deep hole only because I had seen them working on it earlier in the day.

There are sometimes a couple of saw-horse type metal markers. They are painted yellow, but not reflective.

I have told some stories about the bus drivers here, too. For every one I have told, there are a couple more that have turned my knuckles white.

Maybe its my "over-active" imagination, but something else that really has come to make me sick (and I see it almost every day) is a man on his motorcycle with his wife—usually wearing helmets, but not always. In-between, behind—however they fit—kids. I have seen up to five or six people on a motorcycle in traffic. This kind of irresponsibility makes me angry.
Motorcycles are also commonly used to carry doors, bicycles, computers (motorist with a CPU case resting on the gas-tank comes to mind). Oh, and my favorite: The motorcycle with three propane tanks hitched to a metal bracket on the back—I recommend not hitting him.

What I am really saying here is that, yeah, the freedoms are sometimes... freeing. But sometimes I would really rather see a few more rules, or more enforcement of the ones that already exist.

Technorati Tags: driving my father, brazil, photograph, sizable hole, reflective markers, front page, metal ladder, any rate, road construction, father in law, safety consciousness, safety harness, flashing lights, deep hole, bus drivers, taxi operator, hard hat, Brazil, Life In Brazil, Living Outside the US

Echoes of Memories

As we watched footage of the Twin Towers falling last night it struck me how clearly that morning is etched in my memory. I remember many details about that day that I would otherwise not remember.

It was a beautifully clear day. I rode my bike to work in a hurry, as I had awakened a little late. It seemed a little strange that there was not much traffic on the streets, but I did not think about that much, as I was in a hurry to get to work.

As I pulled into the warehouse where my office was, I said something like “Hi, isn't it a beautiful day?” to one of my co-workers. He responded by saying, “Have you seen the news?” quite gravely.

I had not, so he recounted what he knew. At first I thought he was joking, or making it up to mess with me. I was not sure either way until I turned on the radio.


In that moment I knew that two things were going to happen: First, the economy was going to be in shambles. Second, I was going to lose my job. The first came about, but not as bad as I first thought. The second was a reality of the line of work I was in.

While I wish that all that destruction could be undone (not only for myself, but for everyone), I know that my life would have been shaped differently were it not for those circumstances.

The montage of images last night was thoughtful, but seemed somehow more gruesome than what I remembered. There are different levels of tolerance of violence on the news here in Brazil than in the US, so that may have had something to do with it.

What were you doing when you found out?

Humor at the Expense of Spammers

Just in case you missed this particular spammer's email address when they hit you...

Worship Freely

Have you ever been in a funk spiritually speaking, and God opens your eyes all of a sudden with a picture that sticks in your mind for an extended time? I want to share an experience I had not that long ago. I hope I can adequately explain what I am feeling and thinking.

One Sunday not long ago, I went to church even though I was "not in the mood." The music was really good, but way to loud, and I was struggling in my circumstances to find an emotional connection to God.

At some point, among the distractions of trying to worship in another language, the acoustics of the church (which were horrible), and my internal cobwebs blocking the connection between God and I (or the feeling of it), I saw a bright light.

No, it wasn't a literal light. It was a child.

A little boy was up in the front of the church waving his arms, jumping up and down, and laughing.

First I was a bit jealous of him. Why could I not be like that? Free. Free to love. Free to be loved. Free to dance right into The Throne Room, right up to the Father, and into his arms. The jealousy melted away into wonder as I watched him for about 15 minutes.

I remember understanding some of what the pastor said, but the little boy lived a sermon I will not soon forget. God wants us to come to him as a child: Free to enjoy His abundant provision. I don't have kids, but I can't imagine most children worrying about where the food is coming from, or what they will wear when they outgrow their clothes.

I worry to much, and don't trust Him enough. Relaxing, and not worrying seems to simple, though. So on I toil, wondering whether or not we will be able to pay this bill, or that one. And because of this, when I get to church I am so stressed that I am not free to worship.

That night I asked God to make me a child again. In some part of me, I wanted that to be literal. But more, I wanted to experience the freedom a child feels. I continue to pursue that, but I am sure it will not be completely fulfilled until after this life is over.

What things do you do to pursue a more child-like faith?

Real Life Is Now

When I was in high school, I and my friends would look forward to the day that we graduated, and began “real life.” Sure, sometimes we were nervous about it, but over-all we looked forward to it.

This past year I have found that “real life” is an interesting cocktail of good things and bad things. Sort of like those really sour gummy worms; you know, the ones that are sour on the outside, but then, after that initial shock they are really sweet.

After Nádya's surgery yesterday, we are putting off traveling to our new town of Parauapebas, Pará. It will probably be at least a week. This may mean that we cannot have the same jobs that we were lined up for (and possibly not have work at all). But we are following doctor's orders here.

Nádya is doing well, and recovering from the surgery. She is very strong. My initial understanding was that we would get the results of the biopsy today. I was wrong. We find out Tuesday, and will update you as soon as we can.

I am in the process of recovering from all the jet-lag, and getting into the swing of the schedule here. This is the first day that I have had to do some resting since returning. And, while I was there (in the US), I did not have much time for resting, either.

My parents are moving to Idaho (they already have, technically, but have a few things to wrap up at the old house), so I had to get my stuff ready to move, as opposed to just storing it. So, I spent the first week getting that done, and the second week getting my truck ready to sell.

The weekend between those two weeks was spent visiting my grandparent's house in Idaho (as well as my parents, and other family). Essentially, I hit the ground running, and have not stopped since.

It was good, though, to hear from those of you who read that you read. Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth writing all this down, when I see so few responses from it. I am not trying to fish for emails or comments, here (um... not that it would hurt you... :D). Sometimes, though, it is very difficult to gauge whether or not I am accomplishing what I set out to communicate with no responses.

There is much more to say, but I will save it for another entry. For now, I will say that it was very interesting to visit the USA with a dramatically different view of life, politics, and such.

By the way, if you are a Google Earth user (I highly recommend it), you can look at the city where we plan to live and work by typing in Parauapebas, Brazil to the “Fly To” tab.

The Past Week, Or So:

Its been an eventful month. I considered opening with the first words from “The Tale of Two Cities,” but felt that might be overkill.

November 30th the DSL was turned off here for what the company said was going to be 72 hours. I was fine with that. I figured it might be longer, but hoped not.

I found other things to do with my time, but many of them (such as watching my movies) got old fast. I also started to miss talking with family, and friends via chat and email.

One of the more extensive projects I delved into was putting some music on “paper.” Before I came to Brazil I upgraded some applications on my computer, and got a new one called Garage Band. I had a lot of fun orchestrating different pre-recorded sounds into some semblance of a cohesive and musical retreat from the rigors of everyday life. I plan to review the application on my other site soon.

Monday of this week--or was it Tuesday--I don't remember, we found out that my application for permanent residence in Brazil was rejected because of a missed step in the paperwork. This was because we were given flawed instructions.

Looking back now, I can say that it is all in God's hands, and that he has it under control. But I really struggled for a day or two with the “Why?” question. Its frustrating that we have had so many delays to getting this process started. Sometimes it feels like one step forward, three steps back.

On Wednesday I started 3 or 4 songs (I had one of those really inspired days...), then I went to the shopping center to see about a job.

Talk about Divine appointments! The director of the school had called an American who had a Tourist Visa. He could not hire this person because it would cost the company R$8000 (a lot of money here) and likely his job as well. Once I explained that I was a different person entirely, and that I had the correct authorization to work in Brazil, he was excited--or it seemed that way to me, at least.

He said that he would call me very soon, as teacher training has already begun. I should know more by the end of the day today, and will let you know about it.

Another thing I started doing during the long days without internet, was re-reading a great book. Its called “Messy Spirituality,” and its by Michael Yaconelli. (The link has some excerpts from the book.) I HIGHLY recommend this book. No, its not the Bible, but it can help you grow closer to Jesus if you let it.

So, we are getting ready for Christmas. Tomorrow morning, Nádya and I are going to a market for veggies for a salad, and in the evening the entire family is going to dinner. I will probably have more pictures for you to look at soon.

For now, though, here is a taste of the thunderstorms we get in Teresina:

Technorati Tags: Life In Brazil, Music, Observations On Life, Our Activities, Our Story

This is Nádya Writing About Karl

Casada com um americano e aprendendo mais sobre sua cultura. Você poderia imaginar que chocolate quente não se pode tomar enquanto se estar gripado? Pois é não pode. Mas pode: Tomar água gelada, tomar banho qualquer hora, abrir geladeira, cortar os cabelos...
Quem imagina algum dia nessa vida não ter tomado remédio para matar vermes? Geralmente eles não tomam. Alguns até chegam há fazer o exames (talvez quando viajam para outro país) mas geralmente isso não faz parte da vida deles. Bem, Karl tomou depois que chegou aqui. (por livre e espontanha pressão)
Quem gosta de tomates com sementes? Eu não gosto. Karl adora. Sei que isso é individual de cada um, mas ele não gosta quando retiro as sementes...
Sabia que se um homem assobiar para uma mulher ela pode até chamar a polícia? A mesma coisa poderá fazer uma mãe se algum estranho insistir em passar a mão na cabeça de seus filho?
Que é melhor vista a mulher que fica em casa cuidando dos filhos enquando o homen trabalha?
Se quiserem saber mais alguma coisa....

——————————

Well, I am not able to translate that for you (Nádya did not want me to use a translator either). So, I guess you are on your own.

Its probably easier to find an English-Portuguese class there than here. Have fun.

Technorati Tags: Life In Brazil, Love, Observations On Life, Our Activities, Our Story

Learning about being a Brazilian

I guess I should put a disclaimer here: This post is written with the humor of the situation in mind. Some of these things may (or may not) have some truth to them.

I recently had a cold. Not the flu, just one of those runny nose and sinus headache things. There were a number of things I learned about having a cold, so, in the interest of public information, here goes:

• Don't get your hair cut--your cold will get worse
• Don't exercise--you'll get pneumonia
• Don't drink cold water--your cold will get worse, and you might get pneumonia
• Don't open the refrigerator--you will get pneumonia
• Shower often so that you don't get to hot and get pneumonia
• Your cold will last eight days

I could not resist cutting my hair. It was (a) to tempting to let go and (b) my hair was really bad. Two days later I was completely better.

...oh, and my cold lasted six days...

Technorati Tags: Life In Brazil, Observations On Life, Our Activities

Life Outside the US

I have been in Brazil almost 4 months straight now. If you have never been away from home for a long time, it can be a fun experience—or grueling, but that mostly depends on one's attitude toward life. It's long enough to get homesick, and get over being homesick.

I suppose that my readers could think from reading the following, that I am complaining. Maybe that would be a correct assumption on some days, but not today. I like being here, I just want to express what its like to be here. Since I cannot share someone else's perspective, I must rely on my own.

The first few weeks I was here, I had a very strange experience: I would be sitting in one room, and hear English being spoken in another room--whether it was the TV, or people conversing. I only had to get up a couple of times and go check it out before I figured out that my brain was playing tricks with what my ears were telling it.

The hot weather here has persisted for approximately a month and-a-half. Temperatures have been 100-104 F most days. My body has gotten used to the heat, and now I shiver when its anywhere below 85 F. It should cool off a bit and start raining after Christmas.

Stuff I miss:
Yep, I miss stuff still. Things like peanut butter sandwiches, my guitars (I have one here, but I miss my good guitars...), mom's chocolate chip cookies, driving, driving my own vehicle, crosswalks at intersections, developed sidewalks...

Those are kind of the small day-to-day things. Bigger things are family, friends, being able to go do things completely for oneself (language barrier), peace and quiet.

Peace and quiet. Yes, that has been the one that I have missed most recently. There are no laws governing the noise that comes out of vehicles here (more accurately, if there are, they are not well-enforced). So the (very frequent-at-all-times-of-the-day) passing of a motorcycle can be extremely loud. There are also vehicles equipped with massive sound systems that rove the neighborhood frequently broadcasting adverts for grocery stores. If that's not enough, there is a gym across the street from the house that tends to pump out a pretty decent amount of volume from its sound system.

Those things would not be a problem in the States, as I could just walk over an shut a window (well, most of the year it would already be closed, actually). Here one would suffocate doing that. And at night, there is the constant hum of the fan, which, if turned off inhibits the ability to sleep.

I have figured out that I like to hear the sounds of silence. I covet every moment I notice that its quiet. It could just be where I live in the city too. I have been to other houses where it seemed quieter at the moment I was there.

I was remembering the other day, that the first night I got home, when I went home last time, I was shocked by the amount of quiet. I am looking forward to the feeling again.

Technorati Tags: Environment, Life In Brazil, Observations On Life

"I will NEVER do that!!!"

Never say never:

Yep, its so true. Even if it is somewhat self-negataory. I myself have said that I would never do many things that I eventually ended up doing. For example: I guess I was about 13 or 14 when one day my mom drove me past Multnomah School of the Bible (that was its name at the time), and I remember seeing the grounds-keepers pulling weeds in the flower beds. We had a conversation that went something like:

Mom: “When you go to college you will have to work at a job like that.”
Karl: “I don't want to go to college, and if I did I will not pull weeds.”
Mom: “Maybe you will be in that very spot someday pulling weeds working to pay for your education at Multnomah!”
Karl: “I will NEVER go to Multnomah!”

So, here I am a graduate of Multnomah Bible College. It took me longer than most, and yes, I did end up in that very spot pulling weeds thinking “Oh my word... I said I would never do this!”

Life is full of ironies

I also said at some point that I would never travel to South America. I thought it was to boring, to close, and was far more interested in Europe. Ha! I am now attached for life to South America! I still maintain a very high interest in Europe, but I have a feeling I will travel to Brazil a lot more than anywhere else in the world in the future.

I also said I would never blog...

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Internet, Observations On Life