Friday, April 2, 2010
We are Back!!!
We are back in the states. We left Fortaleza about 9:30 last night and arrived back in Atlanta at arround 5:10 AM EST. Left there about 9:30 and arrived here in Seattle around 11:45 and are now killing time waiting for our flight to Boise at 5 PM. The trip went very smooth, but we do have several funny stories, some involving overzealous customs agents, Morgan in lingerie, and banana disposal. I will let the various ones fill in the details. Kaycee was feeling a little poorly this morning but is doing fine now.
Ron
I am sitting here in the Seattle airport just watching the people go by and observing what is happening with the team We are occupying 4 tables in the food court, waiting for the seats at our gate to open up. One table is full of card players, one with kids doing homework, one with Luke reading and our table we have Linda doing crossword puzzles and Ron and I and Crystel just sitting watching. We are all wondering if the weather will hold and let us get out of here on time. Lots of wind and rain. I don 't think any one wants to stay any longer then necessary. I have decided that night flying is not really that wonderful. I was sandwiched between Ron and Josiah so sleep was not that easy, but did manage to get a little in. Lee and Donna sacrificed their seats and sat in the back of the plane so Linda could have a row to herself and get some rest. She has done amazingly on this trip, but I think we pushed her limits the past couple of days. All for now for the team.
Kris
Ron
I am sitting here in the Seattle airport just watching the people go by and observing what is happening with the team We are occupying 4 tables in the food court, waiting for the seats at our gate to open up. One table is full of card players, one with kids doing homework, one with Luke reading and our table we have Linda doing crossword puzzles and Ron and I and Crystel just sitting watching. We are all wondering if the weather will hold and let us get out of here on time. Lots of wind and rain. I don 't think any one wants to stay any longer then necessary. I have decided that night flying is not really that wonderful. I was sandwiched between Ron and Josiah so sleep was not that easy, but did manage to get a little in. Lee and Donna sacrificed their seats and sat in the back of the plane so Linda could have a row to herself and get some rest. She has done amazingly on this trip, but I think we pushed her limits the past couple of days. All for now for the team.
Kris
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday 3/31/2010
Linda: I haven’t written for several days for a number of very good reasons. The major one being that we work very, very hard and then we play even harder!!!! The result of all that hard stuff is I barely have enough energy at night to get myself ready for bed let alone write on a blog. Monday my job was to turn dirty, smelly laundry into fresh, clean clothes. The on-the-job hours were longer but it was MUCH easier on my feet and legs than crawling around on my knees all day at the “upper house”. I had 16 loads, 2 washers and 1 dryer and thankfully a sunny morning. It started raining just before lunch and was too humid to line dry anything after that. Put the last load into the dryer just before bedtime so didn’t finish my Monday job until Tuesday morning.
Yesterday afternoon we went to a privately owned zoo not too far from here. If I have the correct info it is the largest privately owned zoo in Brazil. There were lots of very beautiful birds. Julia and Kris got to hold a sloth, Scott and Morgan held a snake and several got to hold white cockatoos. I had decided I really should experience traveling in the back of the pickup at least once. Once was enough but I am glad I did it and the kids were proud of me but they really laughed at the hair do I wound up with!!!!
I have met my match in Josiah!!! He is sharp and quick!!
Today I did more laundry, but less than half of what I had to do on Monday. The last of the painting and LOTS of clean up was done at the “upper house” today. Once rooms were clean the boys hauled up bed frames and mattresses, preparing the rooms for the retreat that begins tomorrow evening. I think that is really cool that a large group is coming and getting to enjoy the fruit of our labors while it is still fresh and clean. The plan is that we are to leave for Fortaleza ‘early’ in the morning; which usually means 1 hour later than we were originally told. The plan is to go shopping and out to eat before going to the airport. Our flight leaves some where close to 9:30 p.m.
Please, please, please pray that there will be lots of empty seats on the airplane so that all who want to (me, for instance) can have 3 seats to themselves and get some sleep. We are all getting very tired!! It is a good tired though. Thank you for praying for us!!
Kris: I love following Linda in the blog because she tends to tell most of the story already and I don’t have to say quite so much. Tonight I am so tired I don’t really want to type too long or I may be asleep.
It is really sad that today is our last day, but I also know that we need to return to our world sometime. This has been a wonderful experience and one I hope I won’t forget. I really enjoy the Brazilian people and watching the kids. Yesterday, we spent some time in Pacoti and I really liked standing on the street and watching the traffic go by. School had just let out, so lots of kids and teens. The school bus went by and Kaycee waved at the kids in the bus and really made the day of one young Brazilian teenage guy. We thought it was pretty funny. This has been a real learning experience for these teens to understand how boring a 9-5 job can really be. It is good “real world” experience.
I can’t believe the progress we have made and that we actually accomplished as much as we did.
Everyone is really tired, and sore, but we haven’t had any big disagreements yet. That may change tonite as the girls and guys have been planning some pretty amazing pranks for tonight. It will be fun to see who wins this one. Pray for safety as we go home tomorrow, that planes will be on time, and we actually get some sleep. Love to all at home.
P.S. the sloth was really, really, really, cool.. It was like holding a little baby that wanted to hang on to everything. They are so soft and gentle. That was about the best thing I have ever done!!!!!!,
Devan: hey everything is great down here. I don’t want to leave, because it just so much fun down here. The people love us and Al is just a great guy. I really can’t wait to come back well see you all soon at home.
Julia, this is the first time I’ve written on here because it has always been so busy and everyone else was writing. But now with only a little time left I think it’s about time that I had something to say. This has been a really great trip. We have gotten everything done with the painting that was possible to get done. It has been very hard to work around all the other workers. Kris today painted a spot and then the one worker came over and smoothed some cement in that spot so she had to paint it again. What good times.
The flooring is all done to the point that we had planned. There was only beams and now there is a solid floor in 5 rooms and a hallway. It took us the whole 2 weeks. We finished the this morning with the last 2 boards and then spent the rest of the day cleaning yucky dirty bathrooms. They were really gross, but they are all finished and ready for the retreat that starts tomorrow. We leave tomorrow morning and will shop with all day and leave in the evening. I’m sad to leave and I’m going to miss having my meals made for me but I’m ready to see Naddy and Seven and to be home in some comfort. I’m also not going to miss the constant wet. The humidity is sooooo high here that nothing ever dries and the sheets and mattress are damp all the time. Anyway, I really am happy with everything that has happened. The greatest part of the trip was getting to go to South America’s largest private zoo. It was the highlight for me, because I got to hold a sloth and I got to hold different kinds of birds, big and small, older and baby, and I got to hold a couple snacks and I got to sit on a llama. It was so fun to go to a zoo that I got to touch the animals in. I praise the Lord for the blessing of coming here, it has been such a neat experience.
Donna: It is hard to believe our time is about done here. It has gone fast. It is amazing to have the job basically done, it didn’t seem possible last week. We are tired but satisfied. The retreat center is so big, and has many rooms. Seemed like I was discovering new rooms daily. I think we will be masking and painting in our dreams for a while! Yesterday’s excursion to the private zoo was fantastic. One main event for me personally was that I finally got to see a parakeet in the wild sitting still. There were also some macaws there in the wild which I don’t think we would have seen elsewhere. Our time in Picoti on the way back to the retreat center was interesting. The “traffic” is hard to believe. The roads are small and there seems to be no rules, zip this way and that, motorcycles passing wherever. While we were at the corner getting some meat on a stick from a vendor, we watched the traffic. Al was parked on one side, a bus was trying to get through, and a couple of motorcycles were impatient and going around the bus next to the vendor, while a guy on a bicycle tried to do the same and ran into the vendor’s bbq wagon. Meanwhile, a dog was laying in the middle of the street taking a nap and a guy on a motorcycle stopped, got off his bike and woke the dog up and got it moving. It is hard to describe the chaos, but it seemed like the locals took it all in stride. Today I had the privilege of spending time with Lohana. She is 10 years old. Alisa served as our interpreter while we had tea and made bracelets. We spent a couple of hours together, it was a good time building a relationship that I am hoping to continue. She comes from a broken family. She is so sweet and loving. It has been interesting and fun to try communicating with the local workers. Some warm up to us faster than others. It is a privilege to represent Jesus to them, and pray that they come to a saving knowledge of our Savior.
Lee: Well we made our last working day. We really got a lot more done than I had thought we would. The crews were staggered working on different phases of the painting process(doing 4 to 5 coats on everything). It took us 4 days before we finally were able to finish a room. Along with this the plaster men were working in various places and it seemed that when we got a room painted all of a sudden here would be a man coming along with a bucket of concrete making a mess of the paint. Some of the rooms we probably cleaned up a mess as many times as we painted. It has been a great experience. Today we finished all the walls inside and out, more than I ever thought we would get done.
Yesterday afternoon we went to a privately owned zoo not too far from here. If I have the correct info it is the largest privately owned zoo in Brazil. There were lots of very beautiful birds. Julia and Kris got to hold a sloth, Scott and Morgan held a snake and several got to hold white cockatoos. I had decided I really should experience traveling in the back of the pickup at least once. Once was enough but I am glad I did it and the kids were proud of me but they really laughed at the hair do I wound up with!!!!
I have met my match in Josiah!!! He is sharp and quick!!
Today I did more laundry, but less than half of what I had to do on Monday. The last of the painting and LOTS of clean up was done at the “upper house” today. Once rooms were clean the boys hauled up bed frames and mattresses, preparing the rooms for the retreat that begins tomorrow evening. I think that is really cool that a large group is coming and getting to enjoy the fruit of our labors while it is still fresh and clean. The plan is that we are to leave for Fortaleza ‘early’ in the morning; which usually means 1 hour later than we were originally told. The plan is to go shopping and out to eat before going to the airport. Our flight leaves some where close to 9:30 p.m.
Please, please, please pray that there will be lots of empty seats on the airplane so that all who want to (me, for instance) can have 3 seats to themselves and get some sleep. We are all getting very tired!! It is a good tired though. Thank you for praying for us!!
Kris: I love following Linda in the blog because she tends to tell most of the story already and I don’t have to say quite so much. Tonight I am so tired I don’t really want to type too long or I may be asleep.
It is really sad that today is our last day, but I also know that we need to return to our world sometime. This has been a wonderful experience and one I hope I won’t forget. I really enjoy the Brazilian people and watching the kids. Yesterday, we spent some time in Pacoti and I really liked standing on the street and watching the traffic go by. School had just let out, so lots of kids and teens. The school bus went by and Kaycee waved at the kids in the bus and really made the day of one young Brazilian teenage guy. We thought it was pretty funny. This has been a real learning experience for these teens to understand how boring a 9-5 job can really be. It is good “real world” experience.
I can’t believe the progress we have made and that we actually accomplished as much as we did.
Everyone is really tired, and sore, but we haven’t had any big disagreements yet. That may change tonite as the girls and guys have been planning some pretty amazing pranks for tonight. It will be fun to see who wins this one. Pray for safety as we go home tomorrow, that planes will be on time, and we actually get some sleep. Love to all at home.
P.S. the sloth was really, really, really, cool.. It was like holding a little baby that wanted to hang on to everything. They are so soft and gentle. That was about the best thing I have ever done!!!!!!,
Devan: hey everything is great down here. I don’t want to leave, because it just so much fun down here. The people love us and Al is just a great guy. I really can’t wait to come back well see you all soon at home.
Julia, this is the first time I’ve written on here because it has always been so busy and everyone else was writing. But now with only a little time left I think it’s about time that I had something to say. This has been a really great trip. We have gotten everything done with the painting that was possible to get done. It has been very hard to work around all the other workers. Kris today painted a spot and then the one worker came over and smoothed some cement in that spot so she had to paint it again. What good times.
The flooring is all done to the point that we had planned. There was only beams and now there is a solid floor in 5 rooms and a hallway. It took us the whole 2 weeks. We finished the this morning with the last 2 boards and then spent the rest of the day cleaning yucky dirty bathrooms. They were really gross, but they are all finished and ready for the retreat that starts tomorrow. We leave tomorrow morning and will shop with all day and leave in the evening. I’m sad to leave and I’m going to miss having my meals made for me but I’m ready to see Naddy and Seven and to be home in some comfort. I’m also not going to miss the constant wet. The humidity is sooooo high here that nothing ever dries and the sheets and mattress are damp all the time. Anyway, I really am happy with everything that has happened. The greatest part of the trip was getting to go to South America’s largest private zoo. It was the highlight for me, because I got to hold a sloth and I got to hold different kinds of birds, big and small, older and baby, and I got to hold a couple snacks and I got to sit on a llama. It was so fun to go to a zoo that I got to touch the animals in. I praise the Lord for the blessing of coming here, it has been such a neat experience.
Donna: It is hard to believe our time is about done here. It has gone fast. It is amazing to have the job basically done, it didn’t seem possible last week. We are tired but satisfied. The retreat center is so big, and has many rooms. Seemed like I was discovering new rooms daily. I think we will be masking and painting in our dreams for a while! Yesterday’s excursion to the private zoo was fantastic. One main event for me personally was that I finally got to see a parakeet in the wild sitting still. There were also some macaws there in the wild which I don’t think we would have seen elsewhere. Our time in Picoti on the way back to the retreat center was interesting. The “traffic” is hard to believe. The roads are small and there seems to be no rules, zip this way and that, motorcycles passing wherever. While we were at the corner getting some meat on a stick from a vendor, we watched the traffic. Al was parked on one side, a bus was trying to get through, and a couple of motorcycles were impatient and going around the bus next to the vendor, while a guy on a bicycle tried to do the same and ran into the vendor’s bbq wagon. Meanwhile, a dog was laying in the middle of the street taking a nap and a guy on a motorcycle stopped, got off his bike and woke the dog up and got it moving. It is hard to describe the chaos, but it seemed like the locals took it all in stride. Today I had the privilege of spending time with Lohana. She is 10 years old. Alisa served as our interpreter while we had tea and made bracelets. We spent a couple of hours together, it was a good time building a relationship that I am hoping to continue. She comes from a broken family. She is so sweet and loving. It has been interesting and fun to try communicating with the local workers. Some warm up to us faster than others. It is a privilege to represent Jesus to them, and pray that they come to a saving knowledge of our Savior.
Lee: Well we made our last working day. We really got a lot more done than I had thought we would. The crews were staggered working on different phases of the painting process(doing 4 to 5 coats on everything). It took us 4 days before we finally were able to finish a room. Along with this the plaster men were working in various places and it seemed that when we got a room painted all of a sudden here would be a man coming along with a bucket of concrete making a mess of the paint. Some of the rooms we probably cleaned up a mess as many times as we painted. It has been a great experience. Today we finished all the walls inside and out, more than I ever thought we would get done.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Driving in Brazil
Yesterday, Sunday, was quite a day. We started with breakfast at 6:30 and then waited for our rides to Fortaleza. They were later than expected. We loaded up for the trip and took off. I was driving a little black VW Gol. (In the US we have the VW Golf but I think they are smaller here so they dropped the f.) Anyway, I had Julia, Luke, and Morgan in the back and Kris and I in the front. Al says the Brazilians drive fast and mad (angry), but I think they’re just trying to keep up with him cause he drives fast and mad (crazy)!!! So we were off to the races, with me trying to keep up with Al and not make Julia and Kris sick, impossible. To make matters worse, about 90 % of the cars here are about the same size and shape as the VW GOL and all shades of silver or black so picking Al’s GOL and mine from the rest can be a challenge. We also had intermittent heavy rain showers. Sometimes you would come to water running across the road. Going through you didn’t notice anything wrong until the wheels caught on the other side. During one of the particularly hard downpours Morgan decided he needed to add to it and got very desperate so we pulled over and fortunately there was plenty of tall grass to water. The rain had let up a little so he wasn’t totally soaked. A little farther along we came to a bridge that was limited to one lane of traffic. (As Roger would say more on that later.) There was less traffic on the road then when we came out, which I very much appreciated! When we got closer to Fortaleza we stopped for fuel. These VWs run on Natural Gas (not propane) which is stored in 2 tanks in the trunk under 6000 psi pressure. Sounds like we were driving a bomb. Driving in Fortaleza wasn’t too bad but I was glad I had driven for a few days in the mountains first. We went to Al and Nadine’s apartment and then left for the beach. After the beach we returned to the apartment to shower and get ready for church. Church was from about 6:30 till 8:15 then we headed back for Pacoti (said “paco che”) at 9:45. But there was a hitch, as we came out of church Al informed us that the bridge I mentioned earlier had collapsed and that we would have to take the back road. “It is shorter but not as good a road.” This turned out to be the understatement of the statement of the century. I have been thinking all morning trying to come up with a comparison to something at home but I can’t think of anything bad enough. It was just potholes connected by mud holes. As we left the church there was a huge Catholic church letting out at the same time. There was a traffic “fight” at the first intersection with no stop signs (Stop signs are only a suggestion in Brazil.) and we were on the minor street trying to turn left on to a main street (6 lanes). Al and the Guy I was following got across during a lull from a stoplight farther up the street. I kept edging farther into the street until I was blocking the first of 3 lanes. My passengers kept yelling to just go which would have put me right in front of a bus. We finally got across and into the traffic going our direction. Fortunately the Guy we were following was driving a white Chevy Bonanza (like a large Blazer) and we spotted him half a block ahead turning right onto another street. We managed to cross three lanes of traffic and make the turn 6 cars behind. We managed to keep him on sight till we stopped at a filling station on the edge of the city. We fueled up and got ice cream, snacks and drinks. I got a large Pepsi Twist (they don’t have Mt. Dew here) to help keep me awake, it turned out to be unnecessary cause the road was so “exciting”. We headed out and quickly had the windshield fogging up so we turned the a/c onto defrost which turned out to make it worse because it cooled the glass which made the humidity condense on the outside worse than ever. We finally just turned the a/c off. Soon the road deteriorated into something I can’t quite explain. We finally got back to Pacoti at about 12:30.
Driving here is interesting to say least. I have noticed that there are only 2 traffic laws that are obeyed here. One is stoplights although that one is iffy in the country cause when we stopped at one about 5 people passed us. In the city though most obeyed. The other is “Fiscalizacao Electronico” written on the road followed by a number. Which means in so many meters we are going to take your picture and if you’re speeding you will get a ticket in the mail. So you could be flying along at 110-130 kmph and then come down to 60 for the camera and then right back to twice the speed limit.
Well I will stop now and let someone else tell you about the Beach and church and stuff.
Tomorrow we are going to the largest private zoo in South America.
Ron for Brazil 2010
Driving here is interesting to say least. I have noticed that there are only 2 traffic laws that are obeyed here. One is stoplights although that one is iffy in the country cause when we stopped at one about 5 people passed us. In the city though most obeyed. The other is “Fiscalizacao Electronico” written on the road followed by a number. Which means in so many meters we are going to take your picture and if you’re speeding you will get a ticket in the mail. So you could be flying along at 110-130 kmph and then come down to 60 for the camera and then right back to twice the speed limit.
Well I will stop now and let someone else tell you about the Beach and church and stuff.
Tomorrow we are going to the largest private zoo in South America.
Ron for Brazil 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday 3/26/2010
Hi everyone, it’s Friday night!!
It’s been a long week. We have been working 8-9 hour days. We have made a lot of progress, both on the painting and the flooring. My team has been working on the flooring in the lofts of the third floor. Julia, Peg, And either Siah or Elliott have been on my team. We cleaned and cut the wood in the basement and then carried it up three flight of stairs and then lifted it into the loft. Here is something that will surprise Dad. We started working in room 201 which has a large window opening that looks clear down to the basement level (4 stories) and I was the only one that was not bothered by working in the rafters over that windows. We have 3 lofts done to the last few boards and have started the last 2 rooms today. I think we will finish this project in the next couple of days, which is a good thing cause we don’t have much more wood than that left. Both Julia and I have sore toes from missing the board when driving boards together. Mine is just a little discolored on the tip but Julia says hers is pointing a little to one side.
Painting has been moving along well and we are seeing that it just might be able to finish that project too. We changed types of paint and are able to spray more of it. Masking tape is in short supply and doesn’t always stick well in this humidity. The crew is tired but moral is high and you have to watch out for wandering paint rollers. I even ended up with roller marks and I’m not even on the paint team.
Tomorrow we are working till 11 then will help with Good News Club. After lunch we are going to go sightseeing but not sure just where yet. Sunday we will go to Fortaleza to the beach and the mall then attend church there.
Peg is the latest on the list of people to take a tour on Antonio’s motorcycle.
Today Donna and Kris did their puppet skit for the Brazilian workers during their break. They clapped and laughed a lot.
Ron
Peggy: Thursday morning started early (5:00 am). Al was gone so I got up to help with breakfast. All of a sudden there was this stomping going on like someone was doing an Irish jig then shhh, you are going to wake them up. When I got to the kitchen Nadine and Alisa were killing a swarm of flying ants that had invaded us during the night. We spent the next 10 min killing them before breakfast could be started. Have enjoyed working on the flooring with Ron’s crew. My title is head gopher which is very appropriate since my name in Portuguese means To Get Elliot and Julia keep a lively conversation going. Josiah has joined us and I am extremely grateful for that as he has saved me many trips up and down the 64 stair steps from the basement to the third floor. Antonio has been giving motorcycle rides through the countryside so decided to take him up on the offer. Before we left Alisa translated for me my mission, pictures of cavolos (horses) and passaros (birds). I was not disappointed. Pray for the Lord to soften Antonio’s heart so he can know Him personally. Chow
Kaycee: Today was a long day... I masked and unmasked rooms for almost the whole day. I was very very thankful when Lee assigned me to another job at the end of the day! Several interesting things did happen in the workplace today though. While taping off the hallway, minding my own business, a crib, several metal cabinets, and about 10 doors fell down the stairs! It was loud and shook the whole building (Kris actually thought that we were having an earthquake and started to shout something about get in the tub!). Luckily no one was under the stuff and although it was loud no one was injured. Another kind of exciting thing that happened, I got to help clean out the tool room! It was like a really bad yard sale, the kind where most of the stuff you find is just plain junk but there are a few good treasurers! I found a sling shot, goofy sunglasses, and a Clint Eastwood movie in Portuguese! Tomorrow Al says that he has a surprise for us, wonder what that could be…
Lee: Things are going well. We have changed our plan for painting and instead of 5 coats total we are now down to 4 coats and 3 of them can be sprayed. Al got some new paint and we are straining it to keep from clogging up the sprayer. Everyone is working hard or seem to be when I am around anyway??? We went to a bible study at a home in town tonight. It was fun.
Linda: I was in waiting mode for awhile this morning (waiting to be able to do my assigned task -- putting a special finish on the top ledge of the tile ‘baseboard’ ). So, I was busy sweeping the big hallway on the 2nd floor (where the big crash took place later) and then wanting to put the switch and plug in covers back on. There was a large pile of covers on a work bench in the hall but no screws. I took a couple of the covers (minus screws) and went to 3rd floor where to get a cover with a screw in it. I was hoping to find the older gentleman who had caught the bird for Donna the day before. He seemed eager to please us and was gracious with us even after he had to halt his work for the umpthteen time for us to pass underneath his scaffolding. I couldn’t find him so tried to communicate with another guy. A very unsuccessful venture. I told him abridgada (thank you) and went again in search of the older gentleman. I found him coming up the stairs with a bucket of plaster on his shoulder. I motioned for him to follow me and he dutifully obeyed. He understood what I was wanting and went to Kaycee’s bad yard sale area and began searching for screws. Then I noticed that whoever had taken the covers off and put the screws back into their hole, so I had to go tap him on the shoulder and motion for him to follow me again to show him that I had found the screws. I am always excited when I have tried and succeeded in communicating with a local. Thanks for praying for us!!
Donna: It is late and past bedtime, and exhaustion has set in. But a good kind of exhaustion. One highlight of the day was this morning when Kris and I “practiced” our puppet skit conveniently in front of the local workers (only 2 of them are believers). They enjoyed it, clapped and laughed, so we felt it went well. Another highlight was that my little friend Lohana came. We all went to a bible study tonight. She sat next to me holding my hand and hugging the whole time. Then afterwards we went outside and played hide-n-seek in the dark. She is such a sweetie. Last night one of the workers came to me and said something, and I have no idea what it was. He walked away and I turned and told Kris, I don’t know what he said but it sounded like he asked me out to lunch! Much to my horror, he turned around, came back, pointed to his watch, shook his head no and said lunch, meaning it was not time for lunch! Who knows what was really communicated but Kris and I got quite a laugh out of it once I got over the embarrassment. Communicating is quite challenging, but we do our best, and mostly just try to let them know we care. Good night friends and family, 5:30 will come early.
It’s been a long week. We have been working 8-9 hour days. We have made a lot of progress, both on the painting and the flooring. My team has been working on the flooring in the lofts of the third floor. Julia, Peg, And either Siah or Elliott have been on my team. We cleaned and cut the wood in the basement and then carried it up three flight of stairs and then lifted it into the loft. Here is something that will surprise Dad. We started working in room 201 which has a large window opening that looks clear down to the basement level (4 stories) and I was the only one that was not bothered by working in the rafters over that windows. We have 3 lofts done to the last few boards and have started the last 2 rooms today. I think we will finish this project in the next couple of days, which is a good thing cause we don’t have much more wood than that left. Both Julia and I have sore toes from missing the board when driving boards together. Mine is just a little discolored on the tip but Julia says hers is pointing a little to one side.
Painting has been moving along well and we are seeing that it just might be able to finish that project too. We changed types of paint and are able to spray more of it. Masking tape is in short supply and doesn’t always stick well in this humidity. The crew is tired but moral is high and you have to watch out for wandering paint rollers. I even ended up with roller marks and I’m not even on the paint team.
Tomorrow we are working till 11 then will help with Good News Club. After lunch we are going to go sightseeing but not sure just where yet. Sunday we will go to Fortaleza to the beach and the mall then attend church there.
Peg is the latest on the list of people to take a tour on Antonio’s motorcycle.
Today Donna and Kris did their puppet skit for the Brazilian workers during their break. They clapped and laughed a lot.
Ron
Peggy: Thursday morning started early (5:00 am). Al was gone so I got up to help with breakfast. All of a sudden there was this stomping going on like someone was doing an Irish jig then shhh, you are going to wake them up. When I got to the kitchen Nadine and Alisa were killing a swarm of flying ants that had invaded us during the night. We spent the next 10 min killing them before breakfast could be started. Have enjoyed working on the flooring with Ron’s crew. My title is head gopher which is very appropriate since my name in Portuguese means To Get Elliot and Julia keep a lively conversation going. Josiah has joined us and I am extremely grateful for that as he has saved me many trips up and down the 64 stair steps from the basement to the third floor. Antonio has been giving motorcycle rides through the countryside so decided to take him up on the offer. Before we left Alisa translated for me my mission, pictures of cavolos (horses) and passaros (birds). I was not disappointed. Pray for the Lord to soften Antonio’s heart so he can know Him personally. Chow
Kaycee: Today was a long day... I masked and unmasked rooms for almost the whole day. I was very very thankful when Lee assigned me to another job at the end of the day! Several interesting things did happen in the workplace today though. While taping off the hallway, minding my own business, a crib, several metal cabinets, and about 10 doors fell down the stairs! It was loud and shook the whole building (Kris actually thought that we were having an earthquake and started to shout something about get in the tub!). Luckily no one was under the stuff and although it was loud no one was injured. Another kind of exciting thing that happened, I got to help clean out the tool room! It was like a really bad yard sale, the kind where most of the stuff you find is just plain junk but there are a few good treasurers! I found a sling shot, goofy sunglasses, and a Clint Eastwood movie in Portuguese! Tomorrow Al says that he has a surprise for us, wonder what that could be…
Lee: Things are going well. We have changed our plan for painting and instead of 5 coats total we are now down to 4 coats and 3 of them can be sprayed. Al got some new paint and we are straining it to keep from clogging up the sprayer. Everyone is working hard or seem to be when I am around anyway??? We went to a bible study at a home in town tonight. It was fun.
Linda: I was in waiting mode for awhile this morning (waiting to be able to do my assigned task -- putting a special finish on the top ledge of the tile ‘baseboard’ ). So, I was busy sweeping the big hallway on the 2nd floor (where the big crash took place later) and then wanting to put the switch and plug in covers back on. There was a large pile of covers on a work bench in the hall but no screws. I took a couple of the covers (minus screws) and went to 3rd floor where to get a cover with a screw in it. I was hoping to find the older gentleman who had caught the bird for Donna the day before. He seemed eager to please us and was gracious with us even after he had to halt his work for the umpthteen time for us to pass underneath his scaffolding. I couldn’t find him so tried to communicate with another guy. A very unsuccessful venture. I told him abridgada (thank you) and went again in search of the older gentleman. I found him coming up the stairs with a bucket of plaster on his shoulder. I motioned for him to follow me and he dutifully obeyed. He understood what I was wanting and went to Kaycee’s bad yard sale area and began searching for screws. Then I noticed that whoever had taken the covers off and put the screws back into their hole, so I had to go tap him on the shoulder and motion for him to follow me again to show him that I had found the screws. I am always excited when I have tried and succeeded in communicating with a local. Thanks for praying for us!!
Donna: It is late and past bedtime, and exhaustion has set in. But a good kind of exhaustion. One highlight of the day was this morning when Kris and I “practiced” our puppet skit conveniently in front of the local workers (only 2 of them are believers). They enjoyed it, clapped and laughed, so we felt it went well. Another highlight was that my little friend Lohana came. We all went to a bible study tonight. She sat next to me holding my hand and hugging the whole time. Then afterwards we went outside and played hide-n-seek in the dark. She is such a sweetie. Last night one of the workers came to me and said something, and I have no idea what it was. He walked away and I turned and told Kris, I don’t know what he said but it sounded like he asked me out to lunch! Much to my horror, he turned around, came back, pointed to his watch, shook his head no and said lunch, meaning it was not time for lunch! Who knows what was really communicated but Kris and I got quite a laugh out of it once I got over the embarrassment. Communicating is quite challenging, but we do our best, and mostly just try to let them know we care. Good night friends and family, 5:30 will come early.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
3/25/2010
I think the Brazillian workers are finally getting more used to us and we try to comunicate with them. Today, Carinna either was asked if she liked one of the workers music, or if she wanted to thow up on his radio. We are'nt sure which it was, but her answer was yes!!!! Also we had a new casuality on the team today. Linda had to sacrifice her pantihose to be used as a paint filter. Her comment was "If the Lord has need of them, I will gladly give them up'" They were greatly appreciated by the paint crew as we are trying to get the paint to go through the sprayer and save some time.
Donna is waiting to get on so I better go. I am very tired and pretty sore. Time for bed!!
Kris
Donna is waiting to get on so I better go. I am very tired and pretty sore. Time for bed!!
Kris
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
March 23-24
The Following are written by team members.
Kaycee: Question: Is it possible to get blisters from painting? Answer: Yes. It’s only the third day at work and I already never want to see a paint roller again! Today I painted 3 rooms and two outside walls, some with double coats of paint. I have also decided that Scotty and Morgan are not very talkative, which means I have to have one sided conversations, maybe Brazil really is driving people insane.
Josiah: I can finally change my underwear yay.
Kris: I know Josiah’s comment may raise some eyebrows, but yes he really has been changing the underwear on a regular basis. I am just not sure which team member is supplying them for him, Linda offered, but I don’t think he took her up on it. I am really tired tonight and my hands hurt from the pain (paint) roller. The rain has started and we wake up every morning to a shower. Sometimes it really comes down in a torrent. Today was a really good day. I paired up with Carinna today and we painted 5 rooms and the entire front of the 3rd floor. When we get home, please ask Donna about her ant experience and the new song we made up for her. The ants go marching up my pants………..!!!! Well better sign off for now. Keep praying.
Wednesday the 24th
Linda: Another exhausting day of WORK! We have finished the painting in 6 rooms on the top floor. I have been calling it the 3rd floor because the retreat center is a 3 story building but Pierschbacher’s call them ground floor, 1st floor and 2nd floor. I believe there are 11 bedrooms on the 2nd floor and at least 12 on the 1st floor. Some bedrooms on the 1st floor have small ante rooms which will be kitchenettes for guests who want to do their own cooking. The “basement crew” got promoted yesterday to the 2nd floor. Up until then they have been busy cleaning and sanding used wood flooring and now they are laying that flooring in the loft areas above some of the rooms. The floor nailer I tried and failed to sell at every yard sale we had last summer is a great asset in the floor laying!!
Yesterday evening after work and before supper all of us but Kaycee and Carinna piled in the pickup to go with Al to take one of his workers home. I asked Al how this worker had gotten to work that morning and was told he had walked It was a distance of somewhere between 4 and 5 miles most of which was hand laid cobblestone roads with lots of steep ups and downs and many curves. The only thing done by machine in making these roads is hauling the stones to the site!! Along the way on one of these very narrow roads we met a school bus. We had to back some distance to find a place to pull off so it could get past us. Some kids go to school from 7 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and another group goes from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Because we are so close to the equator it changes from daylight to dark in about 30 minutes; therefore it was dark before we got the worker home. At one point we stopped at the top of a hill where we were able to see the lights of Fortaleza in the distance.
One our way back we stopped at the home of Al’s bricklayer. We were all amazed at how clean the house was. It was not yet painted on the inside so was dark as floors and walls were all dark cement (plaster). They didn’t have lots of stuff but they had a big beautiful entertainment center.
Now, as to why Kaycee and Carinna didn’t go -- they stayed back because they were getting motor bike rides with Antonio!!! He is way cute!!! He is working on his English. Yesterday he came into the room I was working in. I was going to say, “Bom dia’” but before I could say it he said, “Good morning, how are you my friend?” Today he came in where I was working, showed me his cell phone and asked how to say it in English.
Josiah was given the day off to sleep and hopefully get over his sinus troubles. He might get better quicker if he was nicer. When he complained of his teeth hurting this afternoon I offered to let him use my OralGel. He didn’t know what that was and when I tried to explain it he said, “I don’t need denture cream!” As a result he got paint on his clothes even though he didn’t work today!!! Do pray for him, he has been pretty sick.
I think my 10 minutes are up so will let some one else share.
Devan: Hey everyone things are great down here. You should all see my beam swinging and other fun stuff up on the beams. The food is great and we eat a lot of rice. I Love work under Lee because every time I’m doing a job and I feel like it does nothing or has no meaning he assures me it has a meaning. Then I just love the job. The Brazilians are really cool to work with. I love it down here and I think maybe I’ll just stay. Well good bye for now.
Lee: Things are going good. Everyone is a little more tired than when we started, but most still have lots of energy. We are still experimenting with finding the best way to speed up our painting progress. Tomorrow we will try some different paint that doesn’t have any sand in it. If it covers well we may trade in the sand filled paint for regular and spray a lot more of it. All is doing well. We have had real good bible studies in the evening.
Donna: The retreat center is very big, and I am still discovering new rooms! We have started on the next floor and that is exciting. It feels like maybe we are finally making some progress. We are tired, but it is a good tired. We’ve had good talks with Al, Nadine and Alisa. Very inspiring. Last night Al took us for a ride in his truck, we ride in the back like a load of livestock! The mountain roads are something that you just won’t understand until you’ve been on them…..laid with rock and one lane. Anyway, we saw some neat country as we took a worker home. I hear he often walks to work. We saw lots of banana trees, and I understand that is one of the main crops around here. Riding in the back of Al’s pickup is quite the experience, we stand up and hang on! Good views that is for sure. It is fun to learn a little Portuguese and try to communicate with the locals who are here working on the retreat center. After hitting my head on their scaffold, I learned to say “I’m okay” !
Kaycee: Well, I had a very exciting day today! After we had finished work up at the retreat center, I talked to Al and had him ask one of his workers if they would give me a ride on their motorcycle. After a quick shower ( I was covered in paint thanks to Scotty and Morgan) I put on my helmet and climbed on the motorcycle. I got to tour the country for 1 ½ hours! It was great; you really haven’t experienced Brazil until you are on the back of a motorcycle! Antonio ( the guy who took me on the ride) has a very nice motorcycle and in America you would never dream of taking this bike on the roads we went on! It was a very beautiful ride and I am sad that I didn’t take my camera!
Dear Mother, I have met a guy and rode on his motorcycle. Can I bring him home? Love, Carinna
Kaycee: Question: Is it possible to get blisters from painting? Answer: Yes. It’s only the third day at work and I already never want to see a paint roller again! Today I painted 3 rooms and two outside walls, some with double coats of paint. I have also decided that Scotty and Morgan are not very talkative, which means I have to have one sided conversations, maybe Brazil really is driving people insane.
Josiah: I can finally change my underwear yay.
Kris: I know Josiah’s comment may raise some eyebrows, but yes he really has been changing the underwear on a regular basis. I am just not sure which team member is supplying them for him, Linda offered, but I don’t think he took her up on it. I am really tired tonight and my hands hurt from the pain (paint) roller. The rain has started and we wake up every morning to a shower. Sometimes it really comes down in a torrent. Today was a really good day. I paired up with Carinna today and we painted 5 rooms and the entire front of the 3rd floor. When we get home, please ask Donna about her ant experience and the new song we made up for her. The ants go marching up my pants………..!!!! Well better sign off for now. Keep praying.
Wednesday the 24th
Linda: Another exhausting day of WORK! We have finished the painting in 6 rooms on the top floor. I have been calling it the 3rd floor because the retreat center is a 3 story building but Pierschbacher’s call them ground floor, 1st floor and 2nd floor. I believe there are 11 bedrooms on the 2nd floor and at least 12 on the 1st floor. Some bedrooms on the 1st floor have small ante rooms which will be kitchenettes for guests who want to do their own cooking. The “basement crew” got promoted yesterday to the 2nd floor. Up until then they have been busy cleaning and sanding used wood flooring and now they are laying that flooring in the loft areas above some of the rooms. The floor nailer I tried and failed to sell at every yard sale we had last summer is a great asset in the floor laying!!
Yesterday evening after work and before supper all of us but Kaycee and Carinna piled in the pickup to go with Al to take one of his workers home. I asked Al how this worker had gotten to work that morning and was told he had walked It was a distance of somewhere between 4 and 5 miles most of which was hand laid cobblestone roads with lots of steep ups and downs and many curves. The only thing done by machine in making these roads is hauling the stones to the site!! Along the way on one of these very narrow roads we met a school bus. We had to back some distance to find a place to pull off so it could get past us. Some kids go to school from 7 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and another group goes from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Because we are so close to the equator it changes from daylight to dark in about 30 minutes; therefore it was dark before we got the worker home. At one point we stopped at the top of a hill where we were able to see the lights of Fortaleza in the distance.
One our way back we stopped at the home of Al’s bricklayer. We were all amazed at how clean the house was. It was not yet painted on the inside so was dark as floors and walls were all dark cement (plaster). They didn’t have lots of stuff but they had a big beautiful entertainment center.
Now, as to why Kaycee and Carinna didn’t go -- they stayed back because they were getting motor bike rides with Antonio!!! He is way cute!!! He is working on his English. Yesterday he came into the room I was working in. I was going to say, “Bom dia’” but before I could say it he said, “Good morning, how are you my friend?” Today he came in where I was working, showed me his cell phone and asked how to say it in English.
Josiah was given the day off to sleep and hopefully get over his sinus troubles. He might get better quicker if he was nicer. When he complained of his teeth hurting this afternoon I offered to let him use my OralGel. He didn’t know what that was and when I tried to explain it he said, “I don’t need denture cream!” As a result he got paint on his clothes even though he didn’t work today!!! Do pray for him, he has been pretty sick.
I think my 10 minutes are up so will let some one else share.
Devan: Hey everyone things are great down here. You should all see my beam swinging and other fun stuff up on the beams. The food is great and we eat a lot of rice. I Love work under Lee because every time I’m doing a job and I feel like it does nothing or has no meaning he assures me it has a meaning. Then I just love the job. The Brazilians are really cool to work with. I love it down here and I think maybe I’ll just stay. Well good bye for now.
Lee: Things are going good. Everyone is a little more tired than when we started, but most still have lots of energy. We are still experimenting with finding the best way to speed up our painting progress. Tomorrow we will try some different paint that doesn’t have any sand in it. If it covers well we may trade in the sand filled paint for regular and spray a lot more of it. All is doing well. We have had real good bible studies in the evening.
Donna: The retreat center is very big, and I am still discovering new rooms! We have started on the next floor and that is exciting. It feels like maybe we are finally making some progress. We are tired, but it is a good tired. We’ve had good talks with Al, Nadine and Alisa. Very inspiring. Last night Al took us for a ride in his truck, we ride in the back like a load of livestock! The mountain roads are something that you just won’t understand until you’ve been on them…..laid with rock and one lane. Anyway, we saw some neat country as we took a worker home. I hear he often walks to work. We saw lots of banana trees, and I understand that is one of the main crops around here. Riding in the back of Al’s pickup is quite the experience, we stand up and hang on! Good views that is for sure. It is fun to learn a little Portuguese and try to communicate with the locals who are here working on the retreat center. After hitting my head on their scaffold, I learned to say “I’m okay” !
Kaycee: Well, I had a very exciting day today! After we had finished work up at the retreat center, I talked to Al and had him ask one of his workers if they would give me a ride on their motorcycle. After a quick shower ( I was covered in paint thanks to Scotty and Morgan) I put on my helmet and climbed on the motorcycle. I got to tour the country for 1 ½ hours! It was great; you really haven’t experienced Brazil until you are on the back of a motorcycle! Antonio ( the guy who took me on the ride) has a very nice motorcycle and in America you would never dream of taking this bike on the roads we went on! It was a very beautiful ride and I am sad that I didn’t take my camera!
Dear Mother, I have met a guy and rode on his motorcycle. Can I bring him home? Love, Carinna
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday Funday
Tha following was written by Linda.
The trip to town was quite interesting. Al took all of us in the old pickup. Being the old lady of the bunch I was privileged to ride in the front with Al. Al kept asking for one more to come up front, excpecting one of the other ladies to come but eventually Scott came. Al gave Scott a really bad time, but in Scott's defense I explained that Scott had been given the responsibility of taking care of me and he was just fulfilling his duty!!
Al took us to the open market to begin with and in the started at the end where meat was sold. Just outside the door on the ground was a cow's head, it was apparent the meat was fairly fresh but the aroma didn't allow us to do a close inspection and it wasn't anything we were interested in for souveniers so we moved on quickly. Al bought some fresh fruit for us to eat later. Donna was interested in a small grape size fruit. Al stopped a little girl who was eating from a cluster of them, took one for Donna to try. The little girl and her granmother watched with interest as Donna ate her treasure.
After leaving the open market we walked around looking at the wares in a number of small shops. A few purchases were made with Al's help with translation. Most of the team stopped and purchased special frozen treats as we headed back to the truck. The way back took us through a different section of the open market (not the meat part!) where several tablecloths and a couple of hammocks were purchased by team members.
On the way back up, up, up the hill to New Hope Crystel asked that the boys be let out about a mile from camp so they could get in their running for the day. Track practice here is a real workout!!!!!
Some took Sunday afternoon naps, some took a hike to a high peak and some gathered a large variety of flowers to press. (We actually drive to the "High Point".)
Tomorrow will be back to work! The retreat center is a HUGE building with 3 floors with lots of bedrooms (4 walls each) and lots of hall walls, half walls around the edge of the balconies, stairway walls and lots of walls in the kitchen, dining room (where the evening church service was held) and the living room (lobby) walls. I don't know how much of that we were expected to get painted but with the Lord's help we will accomplish what we can!
Don't forget to pray!!
Linda for Brazil 2010
The trip to town was quite interesting. Al took all of us in the old pickup. Being the old lady of the bunch I was privileged to ride in the front with Al. Al kept asking for one more to come up front, excpecting one of the other ladies to come but eventually Scott came. Al gave Scott a really bad time, but in Scott's defense I explained that Scott had been given the responsibility of taking care of me and he was just fulfilling his duty!!
Al took us to the open market to begin with and in the started at the end where meat was sold. Just outside the door on the ground was a cow's head, it was apparent the meat was fairly fresh but the aroma didn't allow us to do a close inspection and it wasn't anything we were interested in for souveniers so we moved on quickly. Al bought some fresh fruit for us to eat later. Donna was interested in a small grape size fruit. Al stopped a little girl who was eating from a cluster of them, took one for Donna to try. The little girl and her granmother watched with interest as Donna ate her treasure.
After leaving the open market we walked around looking at the wares in a number of small shops. A few purchases were made with Al's help with translation. Most of the team stopped and purchased special frozen treats as we headed back to the truck. The way back took us through a different section of the open market (not the meat part!) where several tablecloths and a couple of hammocks were purchased by team members.
On the way back up, up, up the hill to New Hope Crystel asked that the boys be let out about a mile from camp so they could get in their running for the day. Track practice here is a real workout!!!!!
Some took Sunday afternoon naps, some took a hike to a high peak and some gathered a large variety of flowers to press. (We actually drive to the "High Point".)
Tomorrow will be back to work! The retreat center is a HUGE building with 3 floors with lots of bedrooms (4 walls each) and lots of hall walls, half walls around the edge of the balconies, stairway walls and lots of walls in the kitchen, dining room (where the evening church service was held) and the living room (lobby) walls. I don't know how much of that we were expected to get painted but with the Lord's help we will accomplish what we can!
Don't forget to pray!!
Linda for Brazil 2010
Prison Day
I'm sorry to say that today we were caught with an orphan and sent to prison. Linda and Kaycee aren't in the picture because they were put in "solitary" when Linda back talked the Guard.
Ron for Brazil 20??
Sunday, March 21, 2010
First Days
Ron
Hi everyone,
As Linda, told you we arrived safely Thursday morning about 5:10 AM with everything except Luke and Josiah’ carryon bags that they had to check. Immigration and customs went very smoothly. Al was a little late but showed just after Julia and I had managed to purchase a phone card.
Devan made a quick recovery but seems to be allergic to the mold in the buildings. He has been wearing a dust mask and that seems to take care of the problem. Josiah was sick last night but I hope he was just tired and a little dehydrated. Please continue to pray for our health.
Linda told of the drive up and I got to ride in the same car with Ricardo. He has a burden for the people of Brazil and wants to see them turn from the “statues” of Catholicism. He also wants to better his English so we taught each other on our drive.
Crystel they are feeding us very well here and we are abliging by eating very well. The fruit is great and lots of it the bananas have so much flavor nothing that we will ever get at home. They have their own fruit trees here at the retreat banana, lime, tangerine, orange, bananas, mango and papaya. Yesterday we were treated to Al’s Brazilian BBQ and we just gorged ourselves, we probably won’t lose too much weight here.
Linda: We are making much progress on the 3rd floor of the retreat center but have been hindered some by the “competition” by the Brazilian workers for some of the rooms. The rooms are normal height the side facing out onto the balcony but some slant up to twice that high on the back wall (some have flat ceilings); with two rows of rooms back to back. In the upper part of some of the rooms they are making a loft area that will eventually be an observation deck, which will be used as a classroom and also extra sleeping for kids when they have large retreats. Guess the loft was in the original plans, then scrapped and now added back in; therefore the Brazilian workers are knocking holes in the brick and mortar walls of some of the higher walls for doorways. Seems like just when we get a room or hallway cleaned and ready to paint that is the exact area they were ready to knock the next doorway in. Or, we will get one coat of paint on and then they are ready to knock a hole in that room. The broken brick and mortar has to bucketed and then lowered by rope bucketful by bucketful to the ground. Kaycee has done much of the brick and mortar clean up and carried many heavy buckets to Morgan who does the lowering. We are working hard but also having lots of fun. Alisa had 13 kids for her Bible time yesterday morning and there was a nice size group at the retreat center for an evening service last night but I will let others share about those.
Mom, I am still alive. *Carinna*
Donna: Yesterday we had two opportunities for interaction with the Brazilian people. Kids came in the morning for a Saturday lesson taught by Alisa. We did the puppet skit and then tied balloons for them. It gave us a chance to connect with some of the kids despite the language barrier. Alisa did lots of translating for us. Then last night was church here at the retreat. Little Lahana sat with me and held my hand through the whole service. After the service some played football with the kids and others Frisbee. I’ve been able to identify a couple of birds here, they are so beautiful. I don’t have much time for birding, and this morning when I did have the time it poured rain, so I did my birding from the balcony. There is lots of work to be done here on the building, and someday when it is done it will be a very sweet retreat center. We worked hard yesterday but it seems like we didn’t get much done. Hopefully Monday we will make more progress. My allergies are doing better, Lee and I sleep outside on the balcony.
Lee: Things are moving along on the project. The painting process is real slow because of the different (and very labor intensive) way of doing things here. Back home things are pretty standardized(same size walls, same primers, paints, etc. But here it is kind of doing whatever works. Every door is a different width, different ways of painting and finishing walls etc. The crew is working real hard and I think all are feeling the wear from that work, but it is going great. We have Ron and a crew working on cleaning and prep for the wood flooring so that when we get a room painted we can start installing the flooring. The painters are in different stages of the 5 coats of paint.
Scott: Brazil is a crazy place! Just being here makes you crazy. For example, after dipping her paintbrush in the paint can and placing the paintbrush on the wall, Linda realized she had not taken the plastic cover off of her paintbrush. But I am proud to say I have not yet had to use the shock collar on her.
Kaycee: Things here are really great, if you don’t mind fearing for your life every time you get into a vehicle. I don’t think I have ever seen such bad drivers in my life. People here cross the road like they are in a Frogger game, and I, having never won a Frogger game in my life, decided that I would not be crossing the road by myself. Besides the bad driving though I have been enjoying myself. The weather is really warm and humid, kind of like a sauna, which I have been enjoying immensely. The people here are really friendly, and despite the language barrier, we are able to communicate through actions and Al’s translations. Yesterday the children came up in the afternoon for their Bible study and we did our puppet show and balloon animals, which were loved by the children. It was very rewarding to see all of the children enjoying our company. The wildlife here is also amazing. There are all types of different birds, bugs, moths, toads, frogs, and of course wild hamsters. I have yet to see one of these acclaimed wild hamsters but Al assures me they exist.
Devan: I’m feeling great now. 1st day here I got sick. Then the next day I felt good again. I have been wearing a dust mask because some thing down here I’m allergic to. It’s a lot of fun down here and Al is just a great guy. I hope I make it home at this rate of sickness and allergies I will most likely die in a week. Pastor Roger if I don’t come home I’ll see you in heaven and we will have a talk.
Kris: I am so blessed to be here and the thought of leaving is just too hard to even think about. I made friends with a little boy yesterday at Alyssa’s children’s Bible study yesterday. While we were making the balloon animals, I noticed he was the class clown. His name is Carlos and he and I hit it off. We had a great time and I had Alyssa translate telling him I had 4 boys so I was going to watch him!! Last nite I played Frisbee with several other little boys and they had so much fun. I really think I could live here, but I will have to rid our room of the resident bat first! He made his first personal appearance this morning, but he leaves us evidence of his presence every evening. The work is hard, lots of blisters forming and sore muscles. My back is not too bad, just stiff. Crystel and I are on the same team and our job the first day was taping up the windows and doors for paint. Yesterday, we painted and the paint is like marshmallow cream. Very hard to work with. Elliott was our first casualty as he fell 10 feet the first day from the top of one room into the bathroom below. He is ok just skinned up a little , Scott almost came down from the ceiling too, but caught himself before he fell. We decided they both need to keep both feet on the ground.
Well I will sign off for now. We are going into Pacoti this morning to the open market if we can ever get Elliott out of bed!!!!
Ron:
Hope you enjoyed these notes from the team,at the bottom of the page I have added a slide show of some pictures of the first few days.
Enjoy,
Ron for Brazil 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
We Have Arrived!
We arrived safely at New Hope in Picote about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. After unloading all the luggage, some walked around getting acquainted with our surroundings, some laid out on the trampoline and rested and some tossed a football around for a while. After lunch most took showers and naps!
I, for one, felt the power of prayer throughout our long day and night of travel! Josiah thought Jaegers should allow 1/2 hour Wednesday morning for me to hobble from my house to their vehicle but it didn't take near that long for me to got out and in and settled!
I had purchased LOTS of travel packs of kleenex to bring as I was using them by the bunches at home. I haven't had to use any of them! This has been good for me , but Devan, on the other hand, has already used over half of my total supply. Poor guy, he seemed to be troubled by some allergy or other and was miserable before we reached Minneapolis. He was a little better this morning but is not doing so well this afternoon and evening. Please keep him in your prayers.
I was allowed to use my TENS machine in airports and on the plane so never got tense and never had a headache. PTL!
The flight from Atlanta to Fortaleza was not full so there was plenty of room that the team members who wished to could move and have a whole row of seats to themselves. Because I am short this allowed me to lay down and sleep several hours of that 8 hour flight!
Immigration and customs went smoothly for everyone but Luke and Josiah. The flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta was so full that the powers that be decided the larger carry ons should be checked and assured us that they would arrive at our final destination with us. Not so! Josiah's bag contained all of his clothes. Other team members have been nice enough to share some of their clean clothes with him. However, he declined to accept the use of the articles of clothing I offered to share!
The journey from the airport to New Hope in Picote was anything but uneventful! Al had planned for Ron to drive one car with some of the team members. Ron thought he was okay with that, after all, all he had to do was follow Al, right? The car I was in had 3 team members and 2 Brazilians. At the last minute it was decided that one of the Brazilians should exchange places with Ron. Long before we reached New Hope, Ron realized what a tremendous blessing it was to be a passenger rather than a driver!
The roads were narrow and very busy with all kinds of motor vehicles, motor bikes weaving in and out following their own set of rules if any rules at all, lots of foot traffic on the very edge of the road and various small home-grown businesses on the very edge of the road. The closer we got to New Hope, the road got narrower, steeper and more winding and eventually they became something I am not sure you could truthfully call roads.
Al was driving an old pick up with most of our luggage in the back and 2 team members in with him. One driver had and old SUV with the rest of the luggage and several team members. Then there were 3 small cars with the rest of the team. Al had preplanned that I would ride with Ricardo. Ricardo is a tax attorney in Fortaleza and had the newest, nicest car complete with air-conditioning. He had bottles of cold water and snacks waiting for each of us in his car to make our 2 1/2 hour ride to New Hope more enjoyable. He was also the only driver besides Al that spoke any English so we also had our own private tour guide. No doubt about it the Lord has been treating me very special! I wish all the team members could have rode up with Ricardo.
Ricardo had only been to New Hope once before and that was with Al driving. So as we, and the driver behind us, who had never been to New Hope lagged behind and got separted from the group it was kind of like the blind leading the blind. A wrong turn necessitated backing down a VERY steep non-road. The other driver ended up backing off the road and into a tree but with no significant damage to people, car or tree. Ricardo kept apologizing to us. Ron, Luke, Carinna and I kept telling him it was no big deal. After the car/tree incident I told Ricardo maybe he should apologize to the other driver but for the rest of us it was all part of the adventure!
New Hope is definetely a construction site, but it is surrounded by beautiful vegetation and colorful flowers. It is much quieter and a lot less hot and humid than in Fortaleza. Just before lunch Al had a Brazilain chop down a bunch of bananas and some of us were privileged to eat tree ripened bananas.
The story so far from Linda's point of view!!
Thank you for your prayers and please remember to say a special prayer for Devan!!!
I, for one, felt the power of prayer throughout our long day and night of travel! Josiah thought Jaegers should allow 1/2 hour Wednesday morning for me to hobble from my house to their vehicle but it didn't take near that long for me to got out and in and settled!
I had purchased LOTS of travel packs of kleenex to bring as I was using them by the bunches at home. I haven't had to use any of them! This has been good for me , but Devan, on the other hand, has already used over half of my total supply. Poor guy, he seemed to be troubled by some allergy or other and was miserable before we reached Minneapolis. He was a little better this morning but is not doing so well this afternoon and evening. Please keep him in your prayers.
I was allowed to use my TENS machine in airports and on the plane so never got tense and never had a headache. PTL!
The flight from Atlanta to Fortaleza was not full so there was plenty of room that the team members who wished to could move and have a whole row of seats to themselves. Because I am short this allowed me to lay down and sleep several hours of that 8 hour flight!
Immigration and customs went smoothly for everyone but Luke and Josiah. The flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta was so full that the powers that be decided the larger carry ons should be checked and assured us that they would arrive at our final destination with us. Not so! Josiah's bag contained all of his clothes. Other team members have been nice enough to share some of their clean clothes with him. However, he declined to accept the use of the articles of clothing I offered to share!
The journey from the airport to New Hope in Picote was anything but uneventful! Al had planned for Ron to drive one car with some of the team members. Ron thought he was okay with that, after all, all he had to do was follow Al, right? The car I was in had 3 team members and 2 Brazilians. At the last minute it was decided that one of the Brazilians should exchange places with Ron. Long before we reached New Hope, Ron realized what a tremendous blessing it was to be a passenger rather than a driver!
The roads were narrow and very busy with all kinds of motor vehicles, motor bikes weaving in and out following their own set of rules if any rules at all, lots of foot traffic on the very edge of the road and various small home-grown businesses on the very edge of the road. The closer we got to New Hope, the road got narrower, steeper and more winding and eventually they became something I am not sure you could truthfully call roads.
Al was driving an old pick up with most of our luggage in the back and 2 team members in with him. One driver had and old SUV with the rest of the luggage and several team members. Then there were 3 small cars with the rest of the team. Al had preplanned that I would ride with Ricardo. Ricardo is a tax attorney in Fortaleza and had the newest, nicest car complete with air-conditioning. He had bottles of cold water and snacks waiting for each of us in his car to make our 2 1/2 hour ride to New Hope more enjoyable. He was also the only driver besides Al that spoke any English so we also had our own private tour guide. No doubt about it the Lord has been treating me very special! I wish all the team members could have rode up with Ricardo.
Ricardo had only been to New Hope once before and that was with Al driving. So as we, and the driver behind us, who had never been to New Hope lagged behind and got separted from the group it was kind of like the blind leading the blind. A wrong turn necessitated backing down a VERY steep non-road. The other driver ended up backing off the road and into a tree but with no significant damage to people, car or tree. Ricardo kept apologizing to us. Ron, Luke, Carinna and I kept telling him it was no big deal. After the car/tree incident I told Ricardo maybe he should apologize to the other driver but for the rest of us it was all part of the adventure!
New Hope is definetely a construction site, but it is surrounded by beautiful vegetation and colorful flowers. It is much quieter and a lot less hot and humid than in Fortaleza. Just before lunch Al had a Brazilain chop down a bunch of bananas and some of us were privileged to eat tree ripened bananas.
The story so far from Linda's point of view!!
Thank you for your prayers and please remember to say a special prayer for Devan!!!
Friday, March 12, 2010
God has it all in His plan.
Yesterday Kris and I went to Nampa to purchase the last of the supplies to take with us.
We went to a restaurant supply store. When we pulled up I told Kris I thought we could spend between $300 and $350 and we knew we couldn't get everything on the list. So we went in and started looking around, they have every thing you could ever want for a restaurant. We found the spoons we wanted and they cost about a 3rd of what we expected so wee picked up all of the style we wanted that they had, 5. Next we looked at Stainless steel pots which we didn't think we could afford. Then a sales girl walked up and Kris got to talking with her and told her about the trip. She than said to wait and she would see if she could get us a better price on the $108 pot and $20 lid we were looking at. We hadn't even thought of asking for any discount. She soon came back and said $95 for the set. We then asked about food storage containers and she directed us to some that were on sale that were exactly what we were looking for. She also said if we had any other big ticket items to let her know and she would see what they could do. So we wandered around and ended up back at the pots looking at a larger one for $130 but we couldn't find a lid. We did some thinking on the number of suitcases we had left, and decided we had room for one pot but didn't think we could afford the price. But "You have not because you ask not" so we asked and she found an aluminum lid and priced the set at $96. "We'll take it." We then got a case of each 4qt. and 6qt. storage containers and figured we were probably getting close. Then I saw a squeeze bottle that I had been looking for and grabbed it and headed for check out. The clerk added it all up and added the tax. It came to $349.56. Only God! I think somewhere on this trip God's gonna use the other 44 cents. Also that was everything on our list. We continued to see God at work the rest of the day.
Here is another God thing. At our meeting Wednesday several suitcases were left for us to use among them was a huge ugly paisley looking thing with good wheels. We had planned on putting the pots in boxes and the containers in another. When we got home I looked at that suitcase and then set the two pots in and it closed perfectly. We ended up getting both pots 1 lid, 3 jars of peanut butter, all but 2 of the storage containers, 2 games, 1 box of large Ziploc bags, 2 sets of sheets, and a pair of shoes.
I think we have some of every item on Al's list except olives and cherry pie filling.
I can't wait to see God has planned for that last suitcase.
Ron for Brazil 2010
We went to a restaurant supply store. When we pulled up I told Kris I thought we could spend between $300 and $350 and we knew we couldn't get everything on the list. So we went in and started looking around, they have every thing you could ever want for a restaurant. We found the spoons we wanted and they cost about a 3rd of what we expected so wee picked up all of the style we wanted that they had, 5. Next we looked at Stainless steel pots which we didn't think we could afford. Then a sales girl walked up and Kris got to talking with her and told her about the trip. She than said to wait and she would see if she could get us a better price on the $108 pot and $20 lid we were looking at. We hadn't even thought of asking for any discount. She soon came back and said $95 for the set. We then asked about food storage containers and she directed us to some that were on sale that were exactly what we were looking for. She also said if we had any other big ticket items to let her know and she would see what they could do. So we wandered around and ended up back at the pots looking at a larger one for $130 but we couldn't find a lid. We did some thinking on the number of suitcases we had left, and decided we had room for one pot but didn't think we could afford the price. But "You have not because you ask not" so we asked and she found an aluminum lid and priced the set at $96. "We'll take it." We then got a case of each 4qt. and 6qt. storage containers and figured we were probably getting close. Then I saw a squeeze bottle that I had been looking for and grabbed it and headed for check out. The clerk added it all up and added the tax. It came to $349.56. Only God! I think somewhere on this trip God's gonna use the other 44 cents. Also that was everything on our list. We continued to see God at work the rest of the day.
Here is another God thing. At our meeting Wednesday several suitcases were left for us to use among them was a huge ugly paisley looking thing with good wheels. We had planned on putting the pots in boxes and the containers in another. When we got home I looked at that suitcase and then set the two pots in and it closed perfectly. We ended up getting both pots 1 lid, 3 jars of peanut butter, all but 2 of the storage containers, 2 games, 1 box of large Ziploc bags, 2 sets of sheets, and a pair of shoes.
I think we have some of every item on Al's list except olives and cherry pie filling.
I can't wait to see God has planned for that last suitcase.
Ron for Brazil 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Commissioning
Sending us out.
Today we had a commissioning servive for the Brazil 2010 team at Cambridge Bible Church. Lee and I shared a little about what we have been doing and what we plan to do in Brazil. It's amazing to see what the Lord has been doing withthe team. Since we are from several different churches we interduced ourselves and then the Elders prayed over us. Here are a few pictures of the service.
Our Last Pizza Day
Did you Get Yours?
Saturday was our last Pizza Day before the trip. I hope everyone got one that wanted one. We made about 250, and once again it was a fun day of working together. Donna really appreciated having Crystel's mom Bobby take over the dough making. She got to see and do some of the other parts of pizza making. Thanks Bobby for you help! Good work team and all the extra helpers! Here is a Prayer/Thankyou card that was included in all the Pizzas.
Brazil-2010.blogspot.com
It's a dot not the "at" symbol.
Thank-you agian for your continued prayer and support.
Ron for Brazil-2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Packing
Only 13 days!!
So how many pillows can you get in a suitcase? Keep reading to find out.
Kris and I have been packing some of the stuff we will be taking. Today we put 8 pillows(no that's not the answer), 1 14" frying pan, 2 sleeping bags, and 3 boxes of Ziploc bags in one suitcase. We have another that has about 20 sets of bath, hand, and wash towels. Now for the answer, we put 12 pillows in one suitcase with room to spare.
Ron
So how many pillows can you get in a suitcase? Keep reading to find out.
Kris and I have been packing some of the stuff we will be taking. Today we put 8 pillows(no that's not the answer), 1 14" frying pan, 2 sleeping bags, and 3 boxes of Ziploc bags in one suitcase. We have another that has about 20 sets of bath, hand, and wash towels. Now for the answer, we put 12 pillows in one suitcase with room to spare.
Ron
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Time is Getting Short
Hi everyone! Hey only 17 days! It'll be here before you know it. We have a list of materials that Al would like to have us bring with us. We have gathered most of the items but there are a few more that we need to find/purchase. Our funds are pretty short so I will include a list here and if you would like to donate either the item or the funds to purchace it please contact Ron or Lee or Kris. Call 257-3763 or email shortmama@ctcweb.net.
Qty. Item Est cost each
2 Cordless Phone with 3 handsets each. $60.00
2 Large Electric Roaster Pans $30-40
2 Dewalt 18 volt drill batteries $75
1 Roll Visqueen 12'x100' ?
Several large stainless serving spoons, not sloted ?
3 14" pan lids ?
2 25-30 qt. stainless steel pots, good used is fine. ?
Food items that are hard to get down there, Peanut Butter, Cherry pie filling,
Black olives, sliced mushrooms, squeeze bottles of Heinz catchup, pancake mix.
Large stackable plastic food containers, 1-2 gallon size
QT and Gal Ziplock bags.
Paper towels
Thanks for any and all help, and continued support.
Ron for Brazil-2010
Pizza Day on Saturday
The Team will be making pizza on Saturday the 6th. This will be the last one before the trip. Get your orders in as soon as possible, team members, start making calls and taking orders. Call your favorite member or you can email to shortmama@ctcweb.net or call 257-3763. On Saturday you can call 257-3456.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Super Bowl Pizza Day
Saturday Feb. 6 We did a fund raiser making and selling Pizza for Super Bowl. We made 275 pizzas which was about 100 more than we had ever made before at a pizza day. Most everyone on the Team made it to help (except Carrinna, she had to work.)plus about 5 others volunteered to help. Thanks so much!!! We started at 8:00 AM and were cleaned up by 3:00 PM. Most deliveries were completed by 7:00 PM. Here are a few pictures of the day.
Makala Kris Julia
After Brenda & Makala shaped the dough Kris
"Sauced" them.
Devan Elliott Josiah Karen
Scotty counting Canadian bacon. ...1,2,6,15,83... man it's been a long day!
Tyler and Kaycee building Pizzas
Kim in Quality Control and Packaging.
And now ready for delivery!
It all starts with Lee & Donna making the dough.
Makala Kris Julia
After Brenda & Makala shaped the dough Kris
"Sauced" them.
Devan Elliott Josiah Karen
On To the Assembly line.
Scotty counting Canadian bacon. ...1,2,6,15,83... man it's been a long day!
Tyler and Kaycee building Pizzas
Kim in Quality Control and Packaging.
And now ready for delivery!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
