Moving To Brazil

Aside from the obvious lack of posting updates here, life has continued for us. We have had many joyous times as well as our share of sorrows here in the United States. The time has come for us to move back to Brazil.

The economic conditions in which we arrived here were not easy, and have continued to worsen. Though there is light at the end of the tunnel for the economy, it is still to far away for our family—also, that is not the only factor; Nádya is once again pregnant! She is finishing up her first trimester, and looking very much forward to not having morning sickness anymore. The baby is due in September.

This one factor has made it all the more difficult for us to tell family of our decision, as we know that they were looking forward to seeing the little one.

There is a longer version of events which would make this post far to long to read in one sitting, however I would like to say that this decision is made to keep our family relationship strong rather than a triage to prevent estrangement.

Our relationship is strong, but the continued and combined stresses of living on the fringe of poverty along with being far from family, friends and all things familiar has taken a large toll on Nádya's well-being. I am not placing blame here, as I remember to some degree how it felt. To the contrary, because I remember how it felt, and because I can see how this situation is taking its toll on all of us I can better understand how this will help all of us.

There are many challenges ahead. We don't have jobs in Teresina. We are leaving the 17th of March, and still have to figure out what we are doing with all our stuff (probably a moving sale of some sort...), and there are many other unknowns. This is without question a step of faith. Maybe it is even stupid.

As I post this we only came to a final decision last night, and the emotions are fresh, raw, and maybe a bit less guarded than they should be. I can only hope that, given the resources we have, we have come to the best conclusion we could. We see God's hand in this and continually seek to remain at the center of His will.

We are aware that goodbyes will need to be said, and maybe some will want to help in some way or another. We are not asking for money, just have notice that many people have offered to help in various ways. If you would like to help, call my voicemail using the link on this page (Where it says "Call Me!"), and leave a message. Don't worry about the time, as it goes straight to voicemail and does not ring my phone.

Two weeks is not a lot of time to tie things up here. We will surely not connect with all those we would like to, that does not mean you are not important to us. Please call or send an email if you would like to. Don't hesitate!

Moved

Written 8:15 AM on Tuesday the 23rd of January, 2007. I am not sure when I will get it published, since we don't have internet set up yet.

We packed up our stuff on Saturday. Well, to be honest, Nádya packed most of it while I was teaching my second class for the day. I got home, and there was barely anything left to do.

Sunday the truck came at three in the afternoon, and we loaded our things on it with the help of the driver and one other guy. It was very hot and humid Sunday. Not the best weather in which to move, but the iron was good and hot—ready for striking.

The helper showed up smelling like someone who had been drinking since Friday night. He actually had a beer right there in the truck, and drank from it every time he took something there. I am not sure, but I think it was his personal reward system, or something. (The driver was not drunk, and seemed to be put off by this guy's actions.)

Once things were deposited more or less safely in the house, the movers left, and we started finding places for our "new" things. We have had these things since we got married, but not used them because we were living with N‡dya's parents. It is kind of nice to pull things out of a box and think, "Wow, that is cool. I did not remember we had that!"

That night it was so hot inside our house that we barely slept. We were tired enough. I was ready to fall over with exhaustion. The house had been shut for a couple of days, and had just been painted, which made it nearly impossible to sleep.

Monday morning I was left with the task of finding gas for our stove. The stoves here (at least 97% of them) run on propane that comes in 13 kilogram canisters. It is a similar setup to a propane bar-b-que. There is a little store just down the street where we thought we could buy this. So I took our empty canister there for exchange.

They evidently quit selling propane. But they were nice enough to call someone else who would deliver it.

Somewhere in the shuffle the burners to our stove got lost. So we ended up going to that same store last night to purchase one. Hopefully we will find the old ones, as the one we bought does not work very well (There is hardly a flame at all.), but at least we can cook our food!

One of the oddest things about this experience (To me this is normal for Nadya.) is that there is no toilet seat on the toilet. That is something we have to go purchase for ourselves.

Speaking of which, I am off to make a list of things to purchase, like clothes-line, and a toilet seat.

Technorati Tags: circumstances, Our Activities, Our Story

Moving Next Week

Yes! It is actually happening. [Pinches self.]

We are moving starting next Monday, so if you have a pick-up, and can stop by that would be grea... wait a moment. You are probably a bit far away for that. There are only a few things anyway, the big ones being the refrigerator and the bed.

Friends and family are most welcome to visit. We will save a hammock on the front porch for your afternoon nap.

Also, it looks like we have a new class of around 10 students starting next Monday (it just worked out like that, not planned at all). This is really exciting, as it means that we might actually be able to afford food (I jest).

Now I am going to go try to get well so that I can teach my class tonight.

[composed and posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: friends and family, jest, refrigerator, front porch, hammock, afternoon nap

Safely home, and more...

I have arrived safely in Teresina, and am greatly enjoying the time with my family here.

This is just a pause in the journey, however. From here the two of us head out to Parauapebas to start our new jobs there. We leave this weekend. In the meantime, we have some other things that we will be doing.

One of those things is that Nádya will be having surgery tomorrow morning (Thursday). There is a lump in her breast that the doctor says is a cyst inside a “nodule.” They have done several scans, and are pretty sure it is benign, but want to be completely sure.

We really appreciate those of you who are praying about this already, as well as those who will begin to pray as you read this.
I did know about it before the trip to the US, but did not want this news to overshadow the other things that were going on, and decided it would be best to wait until now.

It will be a difficult week this week, as we have much else to do to prepare for our move, as well. So, pray for energy for both of us, as well as peace, in this time of mixed emotions.

I am running out of time to write here, so I need to go. I hope to write more soon, as well as upload some pictures from Nathan and Melissa's wedding, and some of my reactions to culture shock.

[Update: Since I could not publish this last night, it might read a little differently than originally intended.]