Bye to Fortaleza

So the Evangelistic Campaign has come to an end and it is time to move on. I truly enjoyed working with the ShareHim group. Even though ShareHim is based in the US the participants were from all over the world. The majority of the group was from the US but we had two Europeans both Portugal, a Canadian, two Brazilians and a Jamaican (me). The participants were also had occupations and were of different age groups. It was a very diverse group but we got along very well.

~A group of us at the beach~

All the participants except for one came on the campaign to be a presenter but since only two persons out of the group spoke Portuguese, our first assignment was to find interpreters for the non-Portuguese speakers. This was easier said than done. Very few people speak English and have the ability to interpret on the spot. We had trials for interpreters and at the end we fell short so I had to be an interpreter for the first few nights. Eventually, we had enough interpreters and I became basically a fill-in interpreter along with my other duties as an assistant to the person in-charge.

~ Last night I interpreted in Fortaleza~

My "fill-in interpreter" role also extended to a fill-in presenter also. One of presenter lost her voice and I had to fill-in for her. That day was probably one of my most stressful days because I found out that I had to fill in for her on the same day and I had to go to the airport to pick up several persons so I was not very prepared. The night went well thanks to God.

Other highlights of my time in Fortaleza included visiting the beach, doing a day tour to Morro Branco, a famous tourist location in Ceara. Morro Branco is popular for a variety of reasons including the beach, the colorful sand area, high sand dunes and buddy rides. I really enjoyed the day trip and enjoyed the adrenaline pumping buggy ride over the sand dunes.

~ All ready for buggy ride~

~ Views along the way~

The northeast region of Brazil has a lot of sand areas especially close by the beach and many of these dunes are very high so locals gain extra income making buggy rides of the area tourist attractions. These buggy rides over the dunes are not for the faint of heart because the drivers go really fast.

~ Colorful sand of Morro Branco~

Ok, I was happy to be by the beach but was a little disappointed with the beaches I visited in Ceara. Before going to the Northeast, everyone described there as the Caribbean of Brazil so I was expecting the beaches to be like the Caribbean. I guess this mindset somehow fueled my disappointment. The water was different. It wasn't the blue-green color or the warm calm waters that I was used to. As result, even though I was close to the beach I went into the water probably 2/3 times.

~ Beach of Ceara, beautiful but not as beautiful as Jamaica~

~Another beautiful view of the beach~

One thing I liked about visiting the beach was the unlimited supply of coconut water. I was in heaven drinking coconut water. I must give Brazil kudos because the country has master the art of selling coconut water every and anywhere. The abundance of coconuts and the demand for the product has also led to wide price range for the product.

~Doing what I love to do: Drinking coconut water~

Well it's time to move on to my next place. Stay tune!

First Impressions of Fortaleza

The place I was staying in Fortaleza was only five minutes away from the beach. I am not much of a beach person, but I was excited to see the ocean. It had been too long. I don't really bgetting into the water but I love to sit at the beach and look at the water and read. The ocean is so powerful but at the same time calming. I was therefore extremely excited about being so close to the ocean.

After getting settled, meaning getting to my room taking a shower and changing, I made my way to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. The beach itself was nothing compared to the beaches in Jamaica but just being near the water and having the ocean breeze was great. The breeze from the ocean was so strong, I am sure it could knock a small child down. Even though I was excited to be by the beach, I was also sort of homesick. I began to start thinking about Jamaica and how I had not been there in over 3 years and had not seen my parents for that long also.

To push the homesick feeling to back of my mind I decided to do what I do best. Explore! By the beach there was walking strip, called Beira Mar, parallel to the beach. There were also many restaurants and coconut water vendors. At the end of the walking path was a large fish market. Fish is one of the main foods here in Fortaleza. Most restaurants in Fortaleza will have several fish dishes. That is definitely a treat for me because I love eating fish.

Another treat along the way was a nightly craft market and vendors selling a lot different foods I love! They were selling: milho verde or corn not sweet corn regular salty corn which I prefer; popcorn, both sweet and salty; ice-cream; popsicles; tapioca (local bread-like thing made from cassava flour); nuts especially cashews, because Ceara is one of the main producers of cashew in the world; and a whole lot other foods.

Beside the obvious difference of being by the ocean, I noticed several difference between Fortaleza and many of the places I have been in Brazil. Even though Fortaleza is a tourist city and I was in the tourist area I could see that Fortaleza and possible the state of Ceara is poorer than the states in Central and South Brazil. There were much more people begging and more people and children living on the streets than in other cities. What I found interesting was the fact that these people didn´t really sleep on the pavement they had mattresses and sheets, which would appear at night. In the morning when I would do my exercise along the beach I would see several people sleeping on mattresses along Beira Mar.

The infrastructures were also poorer. Outside of the touristy places there were many dilapidated houses and buildings. The roads were also very poor condition. The drivers have to play hop-scotch to avoid falling into the many potholes. Another thing was the garbage, several city roads had a lot of trash on the sidewalks.

Even though Ceara´s infrastructure is not as good as that of the states in the south, I am glad I had the opportunity to visit the state. I am getting a better picture of Brazil. I am getting to see ethnic the diversity in people and the disparity between the north and south of the country, which is so often spoken about.

New Project-ShareHim

My interpreting experience in Mimosa and the opportunity I had to work in an evangelistic series have given birth to a desire to work on more evangelistic campaigns. So after Mimosa, I started search for other campaigns. The evangelist series in Mimosa followed a program from aministry called ShareHim program. ShareHim is an organization affiliated with the SDA church which help laymen of the church hold evangelistic campaigns around the world. So I decided to first search the ShareHim website for other projects they were having. Just imagine how surprised I was to learn that they would be having a project in Fortaleza in the Northeast right after my contract with UCOB would expire.

I immediately made contact with ShareHim coordinator hoping to find out more information and to know if I could be part of the team. I received a prompt respond but it was not really positive. To participate in the evangelist series I was required to raise a lot of money, which I did not have. It seemed like a roadblock. Anyways, I decided to participate from the Brazilian side. The Brazilian SDA Church obviously had to have some input because it was here in Brazil in their churches. I again encountered difficulty. Nobody I spoke to knew who in Brazil was organizing the series.

I made some headway, three or so months later, after watching the ASI Convention on the Internet and learning about MissionServ which was the Brazilian/American organization working alongside ShareHim to organize the series in Fortaleza. I emailed the President of the organization and she was ecstatic to have me help her organize the series. Problem resolved!

So after finishing with UCOB, I packed my bags and said bye to the West Central Brazil my home for almost a year and made my way to the Northeast. The tropical part of Brazil. I flew from Brazil to Fortaleza and as the plane was descending to land in the airport. I was able to get a bird's eye view of the place I would be staying for a next month or so. The city is right on the coast. So, I would able to see the ocean for the first time since I came to Brazil. As I landed, I was excited, because many people said the Northeast was like the Caribbean.

I will tell you how it turns out.

Time of Re-evaluation and Comtemplation

So my world-wind tour of West Central Brazil is winding down and I am back in the capital, Brasilia. This month, I will work in the Union which is in charge of all the different conferences where I had previously worked. While I enjoyed my time visiting other states, I must say I am glad that the whole traveling thing is coming to an end. I was really getting tried of packing andtraveling every month. Now as I come to the end of this project, I guess, it is time for contemplation and evaluation of the past 11 months.

Let's see 11 months, 8 work related cities, 4 states, 1 Federal District and whole lot of pictures, memories and experiences. The objective of my time in UCOB unfortunately in my eyes was not fulfilled. I came here to teach English, but I don't think anyone actually learned much English at all. There were a variety of reasons contributing to this, most of which stem from the fact that the whole program was not well organized and the students were not committed enough to learn. I have come to realize that many people have the desire to do stuff but most don't have the dedication and patience to go through with it.

Rather than being a teacher, my intended role, I have became more of a student in many senses of the word. I became a student physically because I have been learning Portuguese andBrazilian culture, not in the conventional way, but by way of living with Brazilians. I also became a spiritual student because God has been teaching me a lot things about myself and helping me to change.

Some days, I feel like my time in Brazil has been a waste. I think that maybe I could have been using that time actually moving ahead professionally because I basically I spent a lot of time not doing anything. There were also a lot of times when I have felt the very alone because I was physically alone. I love Brazil and could see myself living here but it has been only place in all my travels where I have felt the most homesick. I guess because Brazil is similar to Jamaica so I feel like I am in Jamaica but without my family and friends. Also I have not been very busy doing a lot of things.

I am grateful though for this time alone. I have had a lot of time to think about my future and work on my relationship with God. I see that even though things have not worked out as I planned, they worked out as God planned. I see God´s hands moving in the whole situations. I have done many things and changed in ways I could not have if I were not here in Brazil.

So now, I have two options of what to do next. I can remain in Brazil for a little longer and try teaching English in another region and hopefully I will have dedicated students. The other option is to go home as was my intended goal prior to coming here.

So after thinking thing about the two choices, I decided on the former option and I decided to go to another region of Brazil. I decided to theNortheast , which is supposed be the tropical Brazil. My first destination however will be Fortaleza for a mini-project.I´ll let you know how things work out!