Wednesday, October 29, 2008

My Trip to the Big City!

As I already mentioned I am living in a small town, so for groceries and other things I need to go to the nearest city. Some of the teachers took me with them to the city of Anapolis which is about 30-40 minutes away from the school. There are a few buses that go from the school to the city so most people drive themselves or carpool.



During the drive, I had another spectacular view of the landscape. Again on both sides of the road, there were miles of pristine forestry spread over valleys and hills. One thing that really caught my attention as we drove to Anapolis was the fact that most of the cows I saw were white. I am used to seeing brown or black cows but I don’t think in all my life I have seen so many white cows. In each herd, that we passed I saw several white, full white not spotted, cows. I know this observation may seem strange but I was just surprised me and I had to share.



The drive to Anapolis was so serene and peaceful, which was a contrast of the city of Anapolis. From a distance I could see the city as we drove towards it, we could see the city spread out for miles and as we approached the city the air got different. The air unfortunately in the city is polluted with car emissions. There are many older model vehicles which still use diesel gas which gives off a lot of car exhaust.

Anapolis although a very small city in comparison to the larger cities of Sao Paolo or Rio de Janeiro, is a rather busy city. There were a lot of those small cars going at very high speeds. There also very large commuter buses which seen to be competing with the smaller cars for speed. The roads were also filled with tonnes of people. There are many street vendors selling a wide variety of items, from food, to clothes, to bootleg dvd's, to car accessories almost anything you could ever want. My favorite food vendors are those who sell coconut water. I was able to get ice cold coconut water. The vendors, pack a freezer full of coconuts. When you buy one they cut the top give you a straw and you drink to your heart's content. Unfortunately the vendors don't open the coconut for you to eat the jelly. The water was just fine though. The coconut water vendors also sell sugar cane juice. They have this machine where they insert the cane and it extract the juice. I didn't try it because to me that seems like liquid sugar. Some of the teachers like the juice though. Maybe next time I'll try it.

In all aspects this city was a busy. The parking situation in the city was also another shock. There is a serious parking situation; it is difficult to find parking spots. There are also a lot of private parking garages or areas which are a little costly. It reminded me of New York City and LA. I guess having a small is another incentive for such a problem.



Since I mentioned, the whole situation about cars, I must mention another thing about cars that I have noticed. Okay, I am not a car fanatic but I am observant and I have had a lot of experience buying cars. Okay, so I noticed that most of the cars in Anapolis and in the town where I live are American brands, there are a lot of Fords and Chevrolets. I was expecting to see a lot probably more Japanese or European cars. As a result of this observation, I wanted to know why? My superior told me that even though these cars are American brands they are actually made here in Brazil. That was just another piece of information that I thought would share.



Moving on to my trip….



The first issue of business for me in the city was to change dollars to $R (reales), the Brazilian currency. The teachers I went with told me that $US had been steadily gaining value against the $R so I would be getting a good exchange rate. That seem like good news to me, but in my mind I couldn’t understand why $US was increasing in value, given that the American economy is going through a recession. But what do I know? I am not an economist. Outside of the bank the best place to change $US is at a tourist office. Our first stop was therefore a tourist office. The first one we went said they were not buying $US that day. We went to probably five other offices and received the same response.

We then decided to try the bank. Surely the bank would be able to change my dollars. I was thinking I didn’t have a lot of dollars to change and it a bank, so they would do. I was dead wrong! The bank did not want to accept dollars either. This was obviously a problem. I had to get $R because didn’t have any and I need to buy some stuff and no one wanted to accept US$. I know there had to be another way to get $R. Fortunately, I had my bank card from the US. I went to the ATM and withdrew money from my bank account in $R. The bank back in the US will work out the exchange rate for the amount I withdrew and also charge a fee for using a another bank's ATM. That to me was a small price to pay get some $R.



I guess you must be wondering why, the bank and the tourist offices were refusing to accept dollars. The reason, as I understand it, go back to the fact that the American economy is very uncertain now. Even though the American economy is experiencing a recession, in Brazil the dollar is gaining value. It cost more to buy $US and there is no certainty whether these bills will retain their value in a few days, weeks, or months. On the side of caution, people are deciding not to buy dollars. That is obviously a problem for people like me who only have $US. But, thanks to God, He never leaves His children stranded. My advice to anyone going to travel, get foreign exchange before you leave the US for wherever you are going or have an ATM which you be able to use in a foreign country.

The rest of my time in Anapolis was trouble free. I went to the post office, the supermarket. The differences between these place here in Brazil and in the US are probably ease and variety. For example, the USPS is easy and very user friendly. You can get all you need without even talking to anyone, but there are signs or machines telling all you need to know. For services at the post office here, you need to talk to someone because it is not laid out for the consumer. This was a little daunting for me because the words in Spanish for many things are different and no where close to the words in Portuguese. Also the time it takes for letter to get to its destination is up in the air. I guess it get there when it gets there. FUN!

The supermarket was fun! I went around exploring the different aisles and off course comparing the prices of food in my head. There are a lot of different and let's say interesting foods. Overall though, food is by far cheaper in Brazil, but there is not much variety when it comes to certain things. For example there is only one type of soy milk which has a sort of different/weird taste and there is no vanilla soy milk. I am a person who loves cereal and it seriously it took me a good while to decide what to get. There was basically, only varieties of corn flakes, fruit loops, oat meal and granola. I'm missing some of my favorite cereals now but I will adjust because it is all a part of the experience.

One thing I love about the supermarket here is the variety of breads. It not just the regular sandwich bread white or wheat, it like mini french bread with several different types of fillings. Also, depending on the time you go to the supermarket you can get it straight from the oven. Yummy! Anyways, I am staying away from the bread. But just had to let you know they are yummy.

During my exploring of Anapolis, I also saw some familiar fast food restaurants like Subway and MacDonald’s. I even had the opportunity to eat at Subways. When I went in and was looking at the menu board, I felt like I was in Subways back in the US. Everything was the same. They had all the same types of bread, sandwiches, salads, condiments, even napkins but in Portuguese. If someone told me they lifted a store from the US and transplanted here I could believe. I must say though there were three differences I noticed: the trays, the prices and the drinks.

Folks I hope you enjoyed reading. Please feel free to leave comments. I would love to hear from you and feel free to email me at gaelin18@yahoo.com or graceannlindsay@gmail.com.

Friday, October 24, 2008

First Impressions


My supervisor and a co-worker picked me up from the airport and I got a very brief driving tour of the Brasilia on our way to have lunch. The first thing that struck me was the diversity of the people I saw walking on the streets. Brazilians are of all complexions and tones, the country is so diverse. I felt like I am getting a glimpse into how heaven will look.


Another thing that fascinated me here was the size of the cars. Most of the cars are hatchbacks. After living in the US for so long I got used to the people driving large cars like SUV, Hummers or sedans. In the US, the policy seem to be the larger the better. In Brazil and many of the other Latin American countries I visited, the opposite is true. It seems like the smaller the car the better the car. It makes sense with the current gas and economic situation affect our world, but it is definitely something to get used to.


It also seems like the speed limits here are more lax or non-existent. The drivers here drive their car really fast. The road signs are another thing, my supervisor was telling me that the stop sign mean slow down and nobody actually stops at them. That just gets me a little worried.


We had lunch at Brazil style Italian Restaurant/Hamburger Restaurant. This restaurant catered to vegetarians which was good. I was fearful that I would have difficulty finding something to eat given that Brazilians eat a lot of meat. This is one less thing to worry about here. So far food has not been a problem here. The school cafeteria only serves vegetarian food and I much say they have a wide variety of foods, with ample fruits and vegetables. I have not yet had a typical Brazilian meal.



The drive from Brasilia to IABC- The Central Brazil Adventist Institute is approximately 1 1/2 hours. Even though I was tired and was fighting to keep my eyes open, I was able to appreciate some the awesome scenery. The highway is a winding with many sharp curves. The view on either sides of the highway was magnificent. First of all these areas were lush. For miles on either side all I saw were hills, mountains and valley all covered with trees and shrubbery. Many of them are fruit trees, that area of Brazil has a lot of fruit trees. Along the highway, were many fruit vendors, selling a wide variety of fruits, including pineapples, oranges, mangos, melons, strawberries and grapes. Many of these fruits are in season and can be bought for very little money. I was told that I can get 10 pineapples for 2 reales, which is approximately $1US. That just blew me away because in the supermarket one pineapple cost $3.

When we got to IABC, we entered what looked like a university campus. There was a big gate we had to go through which had a security who would let people in. The institute sits on a large property and there are several buildings spread all over the campus. There are is a large male dorm and large female dorm on either side of the campus. There is a gymnasium, a restaurant/cafeteria, indoor swimming pool, church, school building housing all the classrooms, an administrative building and a church.



On campus, there is also faculty housing. There are several houses, approximately a 5min walk away from the academic buildings. From what I have seen so far, married couple have their own house, while single staff members live in houses separated by gender. I on the other hand live in one of the studio apartment designated for language teachers closer to the academic buildings.



The campus is very impressive. There are also many trees of different varieties and many grass areas. I was amazed at the different types of mango trees; it reminded me a lot of being home in Jamaica. I could recognize many of the different varieties. The school is very big on keeping students and staff active there several basketball courts and football fields. Most evening after dinner, the staff and students play friendly matches with each other.

Well that’s all from me for now.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Trip to Brazil

A few days before I left Phoenix, I was sent an email giving me the location and some more information on the place where I would be staying. I thought I was going to Brasilia; however, I was just flying into Brasilia. I would be living in a small town called Adadiana, approximately, 150 km from Brasilia. The Church has a large piece of property there which currently houses a boarding school and elementary school. The new institute I am helping them open will be located on that same property because it has enough space.


Ok, so my trip from Phoenix was very interesting. First of all, you know about the weight restrictions for flying these days. Well during packing, I tried to ensure that my bags were within the weigh requirements by weighing during my packing process. Went I got to the airport, each of my two pieces I was going to check was overweight by around 15 pounds. Apparently, my scale at home was defective or I was not weighing my bags properly. Basically at the airport I had to repack my bags and pay for an extra piece of luggage. Thank God the person helping me check-in understanding and that I was somewhat early for my flight.


I had planned to spend a day in Miami before flying to Brazil, to visit friends and family but I did not get to Miami until 2am of the day I was suppose to leave for the Brazil. Nothing went as planned for that day. In the morning I decided to repack my bags because the weight restriction of the airline I was flying with to Brazil were lax. During the process of repacking my bags my zip broke. I had to go and buy another bag a couple of hours before leaving for the airport. Thank God I found one in the first store I went to and I was able to buy the bag quickly. Even though the weigh restrictions were lax I was still worrying about the weigh of my bags because my friend did not have a scale and she felt that they bags were already overweight. That was something I really did not want to think about because I was tired and battling a cold.


I got to the airport , checked in and to my surprise, the person checking me in did not even weigh the bags. He just put on the tags and put them through to the plane. I was relieved and just thankful to God, because I did not want anymore bag drama. While I waited for my flight I wanted to make calls to people to say goodbye and finish my cellphone minutes. That proved to be problematic. My lack of sufficient sleep over the past few nights and my cold led to the loss my voice. I tried to call as many people as possible but it literally hurt to talk. I didn’t know that was possible.


By the time I got on my flight I could not talk. The 8hr flight gave me time to recuperate and make up for all the sleep I had missed over the past week. Overall my flights to my final destination were good. During the flight I got a first hand view into how my not knowing Portuguese would serve as a problem. The flight from Miami had bi-lingual air hostesses, however on the flight to Brasilia I was not so fortunate. I must say however that my knowledge of Spanish helped a little.


I got to Brasilia, around 11 am Friday morning, and as I was waiting for my bag, I saw so much evidence in the airport that Brazil as a country loves football (for the Americans soccer). To show that conveyor belt for the baggage was on, there was a large football advertising an upcoming football competition going around the conveyor belt. The love of football in Brazil is also evident among the people. I think it would be weird to walk on the street and not see something pointing towards football, either through advertisement or by people wearing t-shirts of their favorite team. I have not been here more than a couple of days I have had several persons have asked me if I like football or what team in Brazil I support. In fact, at the school there is an internal soccer competition between students and faculty. Let’s just say I might leave Brazil a football lover.


Anyway folks that all for now check back soon.

Friday, October 10, 2008

A Tribute to Phoenix



Leaving Phoenix is bittersweet. The hardest part of leaving Phoenix is leaving my sister and all the friends I have made here. It is difficult to recount the all the great and awesome things I experienced over the past 9 months. I have grown so much over these few months. Looking back, I know for sure that it was God's plan for me to move to Phoenix at the beginning of this year.


It amazing how from the very beginning, Phoenix felt like home. I met some really awesome people who have now become my family. I am so grateful for having room-mates like Tamar and Valrie. They welcomed me and have become like sisters to me. Thanks for the many laughs and stories guys. I am definitely going to miss you guys.


The person I will miss the most is the my sister, Donna-Marie aka
"Kim". When we were growing up together we did not get along, but that all changed over the past months. We are not just sisters, we have become really good friends. My sister gave me a place to stay when I moved to Phoenix and provided me which all-round support for all of my many adventures. I could never repay her for all she did for me while I was in Phoenix. I could not ask God for a better sister. Kim, I love you and I'm going to miss you!


I was most amazed with the landscape of Phoenix. I came to Phoenix expecting to find a boring desert but it is so much more that a desert. In the Arizonian desert there is beauty. Arizona gave me a new appreciation for nature. I have fallen in love with the outdoors and I have seen and felt God's presence there. After visiting places like the Grand Canyon and Sedona, hiking up Camelback Mountain and camping in Strawberry there is no way I can doubt that God is in control and that He created this world.

I am most grateful for the growth in my spiritual life. I had a re-encounter with God in Phoenix. The Paradise Valley Church has provided with guidance and training for doing God's work. These prompted my next move into the mission field.



Unfortunately, my time for now, in Phoenix has come to an end. But, as I leave Phoenix, I carry with me the memories, experiences, awesome friends and the assurance that I will get to see many of the people I leave behind, if not on the earth on resurrection morning.

Bye Phoenix!