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!