Around The House

Written 11:50 AM on Tuesday the 31st of January, 2007.

We are settling into some sort of a routine in our new home. I am loving it. Of course, it is more work, as we are responsible for the entire house. But it is kind of fun to explore how we are going to meld our two cultures and lifestyles. And, while that exploration does lead to a conflict now and then, life has been pretty tranquil.

The house itself is around 7.6 meters wide (close to 25 feet) and 13.6 meters long (around 45 feet) (I counted tiles to get an estimate here.). I did not include the front porch/garage area in that measurement, but it is about 5.6 meters by 7.8 meters (18 by 25.5 feet). The lot is not much bigger than the house area. It is probably a 10 by 20 meter lot. It may be a little wider than that, but I am not sure.

The first room past the front door is the living room. Straight ahead is a hallway to the back of the house (Okay, not quite, but I will get to that in a moment.). On one side is the bathroom, and my office. On the other side is our bedroom. We think this used to be two separate rooms, but have no proof other than the shape of it. At the back of this hall is the kitchen and dining area. Just outside the back door is the "laundry room." It consists of a sink with built-in washboard, and a tiled floor.

The camera is on the way, so we will post some pictures of the house soon.

I am learning how to cook rice and beans for lunch, so that my wife does not have to do that at night when she gets home. I am also learning other things like how to wash clothes by hand, and how to keep the house clean.

...Gotta go, the beans are about to boil over.

Technorati Tags: Life, Life In Brazil, Our Activities, Our Story

That Crazy Bus Driver

As I sit down to write this, I am not sure what to say. Don't take that to mean that I don't have anything worth saying, it is more that I don't know how to say it. Hopefully I can put it into some sort of organized and logical flow of thought; but if it seems disjointed don't say I didn't warn you.

The past week has been, well... Difficult. I have been pretty homesick. Christmas decorations have been on sale here since mid-October, and I have not been home for the Holidays since 2003. I miss my family and friends at this festive time of year. My grandparents are also going through major heath decline, which makes it more difficult.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good things happening here. For example, we are starting a new English class that will meet on Tuesday evenings. I have a wonderful wife, and I love her family too. I am excited about these things, I am overjoyed at God's provision in our lives.

I am stubborn. That can be a bad thing, but not always. My stubbornness has gotten me into plenty of trouble, but it has also kept me out of trouble. I know God has me here for a reason. He is refining me and making me a better person. And, I am planning on sticking this out as long as God wants me to. That is where the good stubbornness comes in.

Here are some “free-floating ideas” that I want to share, but can't get into good paragraphs (I could make them into separate posts, but I am lazy today):

1. Its over $3500 for us to travel to the US from here. We are trying to decide whether or not to go to my brother's wedding in June.
2. Someone suggested I use my web-cam to teach English; I am looking for a practical way to do that (if you have suggestions email me).
3. I had an epiphany this weekend while teaching: Correct pronunciation of vowels is key to correct pronunciation (at least in English). It needs fleshing out, but it was cool to see how fast the students caught on.
4. This post is very interesting, and has spurred me to deep thought about the state of the Bride of Christ. [See also: 15 Theses and this homepage. The first link in particular has some very interesting reading.] Is there a connection somehow with this?

We had an interesting experience on the way home from our morning class on Saturday. We ride the bus, and this one was very full. The drivers here are not the feather-foots (at least by comparison) that drive buses in the US. This guy was the second craziest driver I have ridden with.

We were almost home, and had stood up to wade through the crowd to the exit door, when all of a sudden everyone lurched forward. Imagine 50-60 human dominoes lunging forward. I don't think anyone fell, but I came very close.

As this was happening, there was the sound of metal grinding and scraping the bottom of the bus. I could not see anything, but imagined a bicycle-sized thing being dragged under the bus. A sick feeling crept through my body with the thought of what had happened.

It turns out I was right. It was a bicycle. I have no idea why it was in the road, but it was unoccupied by all reports, at the time of the collision. The driver got out, and walked to the back of the bus. He said something to someone I could not see, got back in the bus, and drove on.

What in the world? No police? No pictures? No transit official? Nothing. Just drive on, driver. I still don't get that stuff. It makes me wonder how much this stuff happens.

Full Weekend

Since I started having classes on Saturdays, the weekends have flown by even faster than ever. If you have ever taught on a regular basis, you probably know that being responsible for one hour worth of curriculum, class control, and knowing the answers to random questions can be taxing. My classes are two hours long, and I have three of them every Saturday.

I am not saying that I don't enjoy it. I do! I am saying that I am quite finished by the time the end of the last class rolls around.

This past weekend was quite full, and interesting, so I thought I would share some highlights in this post.

Saturday marked the end of Lesson 1 in the course, so the students had a test. After they took the test, there was still some time left in my first class, so I asked if they had any questions. One of the students had a song on his cell phone that he wanted me to write out the words. I asked what band it was. “Whitecross,” he said. I was not sure whether to be stunned, or just laugh out loud.



At one time I had three CD's, and two of them were from Whitecross. I now have many more than three CD's, and I don't know what happened to my Whitecross albums. It was quite a trip down memory lane, though. The song he wanted me to transcribe was “In The Kingdom.” Evidently, he had been at a show they did in Rio de Janeiro (and so was another student in the same class!), so it was a trip down memory lane for us all–except for Nicholas, who is about 14. I think he liked the music, though. Wasn't '80s hair metal great?

As I mentioned, I gave a test Saturday, and my students did pretty well. Of eleven students, six scored above 96%, the lowest score was 75%.

Sunday was the election runoff, and while Nádya went to vote I indulged myself in a Stock Car Brasil race. It was an interesting race in that it took place in Buenos Aries, Argentina–and it had just rained. Every lap, or so one car would go off the track and get stuck in the dirt. Then caution would be called... Yeah it was not the best race I have ever watched, but it was an auto race, so I “had” to watch it.

The things that made the race interesting are the differences from NASCAR. The cars are slower, but the track is not an oval (oval=boring). They ran the race, even with the track pretty much drenched; there were several near-accidents from hydroplaning.

Other differences I noticed were that the doors on these cars open, unlike NASCAR, and the pit crew seems to just wear matching street-clothes. I think I have only watched two of these races, so I want to watch a few more to see if I like it or not. If you are interested in more about this, let me know.

Sometime in the past week I updated my profile for this site. Have a visit, and let me know what you think (I already know that the age is incorrect.).

Oh, and if you are interested in the election outcome, Lula will continue as President of Brazil.

Apartment?

In the last post, I mentioned that we are looking for a place of our own. “The plan” has gone through several revisions since a month, or two ago, but we think we have settled now.

Buying the house would have proved a stress, to say the least, on our finances. Once we did the math on that, we decided to look elsewhere. One of the ideas that kind of got this whole thing going was that there are some new apartments going in that are small enough to be affordable for us.



This is an image from Google Earth of the area. The top of your screen is due North. Incidentally, this is only about two kilometers away from the camp where we met. :D

So, to sum up what is happening here: We are not sure of anything yet. We are in the process of applying for the loan, and might know about that sometime this week. In the next month they are planning to have a drawing to see who gets to choose their apartment first (the construction is nearly done on the complex, unlike in this photo).

We visited, and had a look around on Sunday afternoon, and were impressed. They aren't big apartments, but they seem pretty nice for the price we would be paying. Some of the build quality is not the greatest, either, but it would be our apartment. So reasonable renovations are possible.

My camera is broken, or I would post pictures. If this turns into reality, thought, I will see if I can borrow a camera and post some pictures.

Directions Home

The big news this week is that we are actively looking for a place to call “our own.” We now have enough coming in every month to consider this, due to the school income (I will get to that in a moment).

It is, in a way, counter to our plans up to this point, but not completely. We have been planning to move to the States when possible. We still do plan that move, just maybe a little later than we wanted. I sort of promised my students that I would be teaching them for a year; And we are still living in her parent's house.

We need a place to call our own. So, we are exploring the possibilities here, which include renting or buying an apartment, or buying a house. There is a house not to far away that is selling for R$50,000 (about US$24,000), and there are also apartments in the R$60,000 to 70,000 range. Sizes, shapes and colors vary (though, that ugly green seems to be a theme for us). Where in the USA could one purchase a house for US$24,000? What kind of house would it be?

We have a tour scheduled for Thursday, which is a State holiday, to see the house.

In some ways, we don't need more debt (my school loans are sort of eating us alive). But if we are going to be here another year, we need our own house.

So, what I am asking for is prayer. For wisdom, and guidance.

This whole process has been pretty un-planned, especially since Nádya's visa process changed under our feet. I know I have friends and family that want to see me again someday, and to meet my wife. I wish it were easier. I guess that is what makes life so tough; it keeps changing under your feet.

People ask me “When are you coming?” I wish I knew, or could give a good answer, but the truth is that there are so many unknowns that we can only guess. We hope to make it for my brother's wedding next year, but we don't know if that will work out.

amerInglês classes went quite well Saturday. I had my first experience with students not doing their homework–now I understand why my teachers were so grumpy when I did not do my homework.

There was one student, though, who liked the material so much that he stayed up until 2 AM listening to the CD a couple of times. I am glad he enjoyed it, and could hear the difference in his English, but am a bit concerned that he could burn out if he does that all the time.

We had a few more students sign up this past weekend, and have potential to start another class (during the week) sometime soon. I really hope that happens.



Weather here has been in the low 100's F. Usually topping out around 105º F during the day, but the last two days have been cooler and cloudy. Weather.com says it is “only” supposed to get up to 94º F today, and possibly rain. What a relief!

Toasted Logic

It looks like my computer has hit the final wall of usability. The logic board (or motherboard) appears to have ceased to function.

Since it is just over three years old, and this part is about$700-$900 I don't plan on replacing it (there are other problems as well). Besides, for $700 I could get a faster computer and a monitor, so there is another reason not to fix it.


So how is your day today? :D

2005: Our Year in Review

So many new and different (though not necessarily exciting) things have happened to us in the past year or so, I thought I would put together a list. It may end up being a little long, but this is what we have been through in the past year [New Year greetings at the end.]:

• Got engaged (a little more than a year ago).
• I (Karl) spent my first Christmas in Brazil.
• I spent my first birthday in Brazil.
• I had to leave Brazil.
• As soon as I got home (within the first hour of being in Portland) I learned that I had lost my job.
• Tons of instant messaging, email, international phone calls, etc.
• I found a job, and a living situation that was... passable(?)
• Plane tickets purchased (in May).
• Quit my job, packed my things, and flew to Brazil.
• Soon found out that the wedding would not take place on the date we originally planned for.
• We were asked for a bribe by a government official--which we ended up avoiding.
• Went to Forteleza to start the visa process--and found out that we wasted our money.
• We had to postpone the wedding a second time.
• We got married!
• Karl applies for Brazilian permanent residence.
• We went to Recife to see if we could start the visa process there.
• We were soundly rejected (yet another waste of money).
• Karl applies for several jobs at English teaching schools (legally).
• One school interviews, but does not need Karl in the near-term (Not enough advanced students.)
• Karl's application for permanent residence is temporarily rejected (pending a document authorization).
• Another school is interested in Karl's English skills (should know more after Monday).

That looks like enough to me for one year. We are looking forward with anticipation to see where God leads us, and how he leads us there. We are looking forward to seeing His provision in all the little ways that He has provided us with in 2005.

Additionally, we pray the same for you; that you would have a happy and prosperous New Year. That you would trust Him with your needs--and that should you fail to trust him for a moment (who doesn't?), that you would see His light in the midst of your dark moments.

Feliz Ano Novo! Feliz 2006!

The big day

Well, to day is the big day. Except that we have (as of this morning) changed the plans once again. We really are getting married. Just on the 27th of August now. This is pretty strange to me to, so hang on, I will do my best to explain it.

The big factor here was that, until yesterday her parents did not have the means with which to put on an appropriate wedding. Its a big deal here to have a wedding in a church, as if you are married outside of the church, it is looked down upon. Gossip spreads. Its just not any good.

So, now that her parents have the money, we can start planning the wedding. That is the only real reason for the delay. If we had the money a couple weeks sooner, we would have the wedding today. If there was no money today, we would get married today (but without all the trimmings). If I were the only one who had an opinion we would get married today.

As it stands now I am okay with this. I am hanging in there. Yes, all the delays are a bit frustrating, but I know that the woman I will marry is worth it. My patience will pay off in the end. God is good to his children, and he gives us good gifts. She is the best gift (excluding, of course, the most excellent gift of His son).

I would have sent this sooner, but I wanted to be sure about the news I was giving out before I told everyone. Thank you for your patience.

Technorati Tags: Our Activities, Our Story

Our Story

Our love story begins with a mission trip that I (Karl) went on with my church. I went on this trip having told God that, unless He made it VERY clear that I was to pursue a relationship, I would not even look.

There are some missionaries in my church who are retired, and worked in this area of Brasil for quite some time. My church had gone to Teresina a couple of years prior to this trip, so I was on the second team to go. We were in Teresina for about two weeks, and our main purpose was to help as English coaches at a weekend camp.

At the end of the first weekend, it became clear that one girl really liked being around me, and, having the desire to stay true to my commitment, I decided to leave it in the hands of God. I only had her email address as contact information, and really did not know much about her. So, I prayed as often as I could over the next 24 hours (Sunday night to Monday night), asking God to make it clear what I was to do. My conclusion about what God was telling me was that I was to walk through open doors. I was somewhat afraid of the implications of this, but I decided that if God did not want me to go a particular direction He would be responsible for closing the doors.

Through an interesting series of events we ended up going on a date, after which I asked her father for permission to make it an official dating relationship. I had no idea how to this was all going to work, as she did not have a computer at home, and I had never made an international phone call before. But I decided that it would all get figured out as we went along.
For three months I planned and prepared to return to Teresina, and in October I did so. I came with my dad´s mother´s engagement ring because I was so sure of what was going to happen. I ended up waiting until December to ask her to marry me.

As you may have seen in our photos, she is wearing two rings on her right hand, and I one on my right hand. This is because the traditions are a little different in Brasil: Until the couple is married they both wear the wedding ring on the right hand. In our case, since I had the ring from my family, she is wearing them both. But normally, there is just one ring per person.

In mid January I had to leave to go make some money, I think that was the hardest day for both of us ever.
For 5 months we used the instant messenger, and email as much as we could, and talked on the phone a little too. I worked as a carpenter in a cabinet shop, and saved every penny I could. It was very difficult for both of us. But we knew that God was working in our lives through this time of separation.

As I write this I have been back in Teresina for less than a week. We will be making preparations for the wedding, and getting ready to apply for her visa for entry to the USA.

The wedding date is July 23.

...so, that is the short version of events up to now. I am sure I left something very important out, but the main point is that we have seen God´s provision at every step along the way. It has been good to see that He is providing for us, and we have even gotten to the point of expecting that as the norm. (Not that we don´t still get surprised, or excited to see it happen!)
1:31 PM

Technorati Tags: Observations On Life, Our Story, Missions, Love