Ahhh, the beach!

No English classes today, but Drew picked me up at 7:30 to take me to Sueli's apartment so I could watch her make cuz cuz. This is a type of corn meal that is soaked and then steamed, and here one puts it on the plate and tops it with a fried egg. Not bad...pretty bland, but since I love to learn regional meals, I'll know how to make this for Terry when I get home. Sueli laughs at me with my camera, photographing every step of this process. It's not really hard at all, but hers is much better than Penha's, so of course I want to learn from the best! We have our breakfast and then go back to pick up Shalomir and Renan in order to meet Rosinha at one of the orphanages.
The first place we go has between 11 and 13 people (depending on who you talk to). Most of these are young mothers who have come here for refuge from abusive men - husbands or otherwise. They are very young and all have babies. My biggest disappointment is that Rosinha won't allow me to take pictures, lest someone somewhere discover where these women are. The home is well kept and nice, taking into account the poor standards. I meet each gal and her baby - one of the girls is now 18 and has been here since she was a baby. She has nowhere to go, so if she helps out at the home, they won't have to kick her out. When we meet, she has a big smile and kisses me on both cheeks, (the usual greeting) and I can tell she has a very sweet, helpful spirit.
On to the next orphanage, run entirely by the state of Paraiba. Lar da crianca Jesus de Nazare. Jesus of Nazareth Children's Home. Here the state forbids me to take any pictures as well because many of the kids have been removed from the home and they don't want the parents to find out where they are. One of my very favorite things to do is photograph children's faces, and I'm just itching to sneak out my camera. However, all the ladies who work there watch me as if I'm there to steal one of their babies! There is one who is just one month old, sleeping in a pram. He is one of the babies who has been "rescued" from being tossed in the garbage. Yes, you read it right. In fact, just today, another baby has been discovered on a garbage heap in Sao Paulo. Rosinha and Cidade Viva have started a campaign, going through the streets with loud speakers, and also passing out flyers for mothers who don't want their babies. "Please don't throw them on the garbage", urges the flyer and the recorded message...going on to say "adoption is an option." It probably doesn't rhyme that way in Portuguese, but the message is still the same. It's way beyond my comprehension how anyone can physically toss a human being onto a garbage heap. Then again, living in America, we've just "invented" more civilized ways of abusing people - either mentally or emotionally. I know, because I'm a survivor.

Jesus of Nazareth home has about 130 residents, many of them physically or mentally disabled adults who have been here all their lives, and obviously have no place to go. Several of them never even have any visitors, though family may live in the area. On the way out, we encounter the woman who runs the home as well as one of the mothers whose children live in this home for financial reasons. She has just birthed her 9th child (all from different fathers, of course) - some of them live with her, and some live in the orphanage. Can't imagine what one must feel, coming to an orphanage to visit one's children.

Since my time here is quickly winding down (it's Friday and I leave early Sunday morning), Shalomir wants to take me to downtown Joao Pessoa because there are several very old and beautiful churches. When the Portuguese first settled in Brazil, all the other cities were settled on rivers; Fortaleza, Recife, Olinda, and of course Rio de Janeiro. Joao Pessoa was the first and only city settled on the river and only later did people begin to move toward the ocean. We went into the oldest hotel in the city, Hotel Globo, which is now called the Spanish consulate. There may be a small office somewhere in the building; however, it's little more than a museum with a few artifacts from the original hotel. The views from this property are incredible and we spent quite a bit of time here, taking pictures and walking around. At one point, a guy stuck his head out of a window and said "Where are you guys from?" Turns out Alvares has been a tour guide to Orlando for 25 years, taking groups as large as 250 people. He knows Marta (as Shalomir says, "everyone knows Marta") and tells us that he's going to be 60 this year so he's thinking of retiring, but he misses going to Orlando with the tours!

The oldest church was next on our list of 'things to see while you're in Joao Pessoa'. Igresa St. Francisco. It's 500 years old and not in use any more, though others of the really old churches are still being used as wedding venues. Shalomir is an excellent tour guide...she has worked in the hotel business and teaches school children, also running the English department at Cidade Viva, so she's well versed on the history of the place and the buildings. She also knows all the good shortcuts through the center of the city!

After lunch at Marta's (for menu see 5 previous blogs...) Shalomir and I decide to get our nails done. I've done this with both Jaime and Hayley (Terry's daughters) and Mary Lynn, my daughter-in-love, and it's a fun "girlie" time together. Renan comes with us and charms all the other ladies in the salon. He's so outgoing and extremely well-behaved. I think I've seen him cry once and that was because he smashed his finger in a door! He chooses white polish for his mother and I get purple. I was so relaxed I nearly fell asleep. When I wake up so early, I'm pretty ready for a little nap by this time in the afternoon.
After going back home to pick up Drew, our next stop is the policia federale. His visa has run out and he is asking for an extension...which he does not get. He and Sueli want to get married, but they find out from the notary that it takes a very long time for permission because so many people are just marrying Brazilians in order to live here. Much discussion ensues, after which nothing is really resolved. (it's the Brazilian way) But the new police station is so close to the beach we decide to stop. This is a great wind-surfing beach and there are about 5 or 6 guys out there today. For once, the sun has remained out most of the day and it's absolutely gorgeous. I've immediately got my flipflops off and head for the water. It's very warm, though not too clear. Drew (again!) needs to get back home to receive a business email but Sha offers to drop him off and come back to pick me up. Being polite, I demure, but she insists. Well, if somebody just HAS to stay at the beach, I'll volunteer! Renan stays with me and we pre-arrange a place to meet...the turtles where we stopped the other day just to take a picture. She figures it'll take us about 45 minutes to walk there. Renan and I start walking and, surprise, surprise, he gets his shoes and socks wet. Oh well, he decides to take them off and roll up his pants. We discover crab holes, lots of sand dollars, a rainbow, and a "river" left by the ebbing tide. I'm pretty fluent in 7-year old Portuguese, so we can understand each other just fine. Along the way it seems expedient (in the mind of a 7-year old) just to go ahead and get all the way wet, so he splashes happily and I take pictures. I think Shalomir must have been speaking in "Brazilian" when she said a 45-minute walk, because we don't dawdle much at all and after 45 minutes, our meeting place still looks pretty far off. We begin encountering people who tell us that there's a lady waiting for us "back there". We look, and, sure enough, there she is, waving to us. Renan sets off at a run, but by now we're in the softer sand and it's like slogging through oatmeal up to our ankles...it still takes us about 15 minutes to reach her and by now it's getting dark. (Next time I'll have to remember it's about an hour and 5 minutes.)
We stop at home for a quick shower, then to Manacai Restaurant (it's an outdoor place) for sandwiches. I have a tapioca (no, not what you're thinking...it's dry tapioca put in a frying pan to coagulate and become a flat tortilla or soft taco) with shredded chicken. Renan has a pastel (again, no, more of what we would call an empanada) He drinks a huge glass of Acai (Ah sah EE), thick, like a milkshake. Mine is cupuacu, (ku pwa SUE) made from fruit only found in the Amazon, definitely an acquired taste. Off to the mall to drop off Acai juice and extra cups for Shalomir and Michael's milkshake shop (Tribo Milkshake e Yogurt - Milkshake and yogurt Tribe). I have to have the Creme de Papaya con Liquor de Cassis milkshake. I just have to. Then we're off to look at CDs. We've been listening to a CD by a young worship leader named Aline Barros - in Marta's car and I've really enjoyed it, so we'll see if we can find it here. Which we do, as well as DVDs, but I just get the CD. Shalomir chooses some kids' movies for Renan and her school children.

After our long walk on the beach, both Renan and I are really tired. His manifests as "squirrely" and talkative. Mine doesn't.
Michael is home when we get there but after a quick hello, I'm anxious for my bed.

sunset on the beach

Up at 6 in order to be ready for Drew to pick me up for English class. These adults really want to learn, and the class is even more fun than yesterday. 2 of the 6 from yesterday return, along with 4 others I haven’t met. Today we continued conversing with each other about locations of places and their relationships to each other. “The barber is behind the coffee shop”, etc. Lots of laughs. Sueli met us here because afterward we’re going to look at an apartment Drew and Sueli want to buy after they are married, which should be within the next year, or sooner, depending on Drew’s extension of visa for Brazil. He has lived here most of his adult life until the last 7 years when he was in Spain teaching English. After 5 years out of country, one loses one’s permanent citizen status and needs to re-apply for permanent residence. Brazil allows dual citizenship, and since he’s from England, he also has a British passport. If he uses that one, he doesn’t need a visa for the States.
When I applied for, and received, my visa for Brazil, I noticed this time the indication is that it’s good for all travel within the next 10 years. Much different than my trips 20 years ago, when each time I came, I had to apply for a new visa. I asked Drew about it and he said Brazil plans to eliminate all need for visas very soon. Joy! Cut out several exasperating steps of the process!
The apartment was closer to the ocean, and very nice...but as it was not completed yet and all open, we had to ride the construction elevator – ok, it was a cage – on the outside of the building. Of course just because everything was all un-enclosed, it had to rain! But we don’t have any more “important” appointments for the day, so I guess “rain hair” will have to do. Though it was foggy, I still had pretty good views of the long beaches. I hate that it’s so cloudy because at night I can’t see the southern cross constellation that only occurs here and not north of the equator.
Sueli left for work and we took our usual lunch at “the gathering place”...Marta’s apartment. Today it was just Drew and me...Lourdes and Carlitos had gone to Recife for some medical appointments. Lunch is always the same – the biggest meal of the day (which I like) – and consists of a nice salad, usually lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes. Olive oil and vinegar are set on the table. Penha makes scrumptious, tender liver. (ok, everyone who just said “ugh” doesn’t get dessert tonight!)
There are pieces of chicken and also ground beef besides these delicious liver pieces. Always, there is rice and black beans. Here in the north, one puts the beans on the bottom and tops it with the rice. Since my first several trips to Brazil were to the south (Sao Paulo, Rio, Curitiba, etc.) I learned to put the rice on the plate first, then the beans. So, I usually say Eu sou Paulista (I’m from Sao Paulo). It’s not quite as heated an argument as the Gators vs. the Seminoles, but comes close!
Here one would take a coffee mid-morning, but not usually at lunch. The lunch beverage is usually fruit juice (cashew, one of my favorites, maracuja – passion fruit juice, strawberry...here the list of fruit juices is seemingly endless). Occasionally there are potatoes and yesterday we had manioc prepared just like boiled potatoes. It’s sweeter and a bit softer than the potatoes. There is no dessert.

Back at Shalomir’s apartment we both tried to get on the internet but it kept failing. Who knows? (makes me feel right at home...we’ve actually had far quicker and better connections here than Terry and I do in GA) Since I’ve always got several books to read, I’m fine. Drew needed to skype with some business associates so he was frustrated for a while. When Sha returned with Renan (they arrived to lunch after we left) we all left for the mall, where she had an appointment with the “landlord” of her milkshake shop. Drew and I each had shakes...mine was nutella and he had “Creme de Papaya con liqueur de Cassis” (papaya cream with Cassis) and I think that’s my next choice. Mine was good, but his was heavenly. Renan, at 7, has already figured out some things about my camera that I’ve never known. Scary. He loves to take pictures so he played around with the camera, being very careful – and also my Droid phone. At one point, he asked me in Portuguese, though his parents are trying to teach him English as well, “where are the games?” He enjoyed looking at some of my pictures of the cruise, Terry, and Meisha and Max.
When Sha’s meeting was over we headed to the beach to walk for a while...Bessa beach. They’re all pretty, but this is one of the favorites. From the beach, we drove to the river - praia do jacare - (alligator beach - but no, there were none) where our intention was to watch the sunset. Though it had poured in the morning, by this time it had cleared up. Drew found us a spot at one of the little restaurants on the water and Shalomir, Renan and I walked through the little artisan kiosks there, where I bought some necklaces and 2 hats. Why? Terry asks...because I needed more necklaces and hats. (doesn't everyone?)
Sunset was less than spectacular because the clouds had rolled in, but we had some nice crab balls and guarana and listened to the guy who plays saxophone to Ravel’s Bolero every evening just at sunset. Searched all over the internet for a name, but couldn't find it. If you just google Ravel’s Bolero sax player at sunset in Joao Pessoa, you can see what we saw last night... 3,884th presentation.
Hurry home to change and go to Cidade Viva, first for a meeting with Rosinha about her work in the orphanages, and then for the church service, which began at 8 and ended around 9:30. Everyone was hungry so we stopped at a Japanese Restaurant for sushi buffet (little 7-year old Renan loves sushi!) before bedtime. Having dinner at 10 pm makes it more difficult to sleep, but I always figure I can sleep on the plane going home. Maybe.

start packing...

Wow...yesterday we drove back from Nashville....had the most incredible time staying at our friends' house. Troy and Rhonda Madge have been friends since 3 summers ago when I met them on a missions trip to Ukraine. This weekend happened to be prom weekend for their daughter, and it sure was fun getting in on the excitement...nails, makeup, hair, gorgeous dress, and I think the rain stopped enough for Taylor to get in and out of the place without getting wet! Anyway, Troy and Rhonda know Beni Lup and also want to take a trip to Romania with me...Rhonda is anxious to go very soon...Troy has a trip to Ukraine this summer so maybe his Romanian trip will have to be delayed a bit. I write about them because Troy is going to be heading up a group of guys who will travel to Romania to build a house for Carla Preda, Beni and Eugenia's partner in their ministry! Carla is in need of a new and bigger place to live, and Troy's heart was touched by her story. Stay tuned because I'll let everyone know when that trip is as well...we'll be in need of guys who want to help. Troy also "loaned" me 5 months' worth of MAX because Beni and Eugenia have noticed they're feeling much better since they've been taking this awesome supplement, so I'll bring these 5 boxes this time, and whoever goes on the next trip can bring some more, and by then my next shipment will have arrived. On our way home, we went to my cousin's house for a shower for her nephew's fiancee....ended up staying into the early evening, so I did absolutely nothing in preparation for the trip. Ok, we did bring up suitcases from the basement!
Today seemed the best day to buy all the little travel-sized toiletries and as an early anniversary gift (our 11th is May 1, my travel day) Terry bought me a new camera! It has more "bells and whistles" than my little pocket point and shoot camera, and we've waited a long time before doing this.....so now I've got 4 days to figure out how to use it!!! On the way home, we took a wrong turn (still learning our way around) and ended up in a charming little town with a neat main street that had some cute shops. So, we took our walk there and thoroughly enjoyed it! I love those little serendipities!
So many of you have indicated either in person, or by email/phone that you'll be praying for me and I hope you know how much I really appreciate that. There have been other times when I have requested lots of prayer, and it is very evident when you do pray. God answers prayer, I know that, and I can't do a thing without total dependence on Him.