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.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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??
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