Photographer alert!

Here are some snazzed up photos from the last few days....

In other news...

I spoke at a church a few weeks ago...was the main speaker, which for those of you who know me, know that public speaking is my least favorite thing to do. I'd rather eat liver patê, smoke a pack of cigarettes, or clean out infectious wounds than speak in front of large groups. With a microphone. For more than five minutes.

But I did it, and God was gracious and it went well. Especially since I was the featured missionary speaker, which meant that I took the place of the pastor and the sermon. And I didn't use an interpreter. Tiago said that everyone understood everything I said. (That's obviously a bit of an exaggeration, but it made me feel good!)

After the service, we talked to some people and got some names and phone numbers. Mondays are our days to go to the streets, and I told them we'd welcome new volunteers. Monday afternoon came...and we reached a new WMF Brazil milestone. More Brazilian volunteers than Americans! Four teenagers came, age ranging from 12 to about 20. And they keep coming back, wanting to visit more days during the week. It's incredible. They're amazing!

I want to put up some pictures, but I first have to figure out how to move them from this paint program....argh. Computers.

Diagnosis

"The demands you place on your body are almost overwhelming. By comparison, the support you give yourself is seriously inadequate."

That's what an online test told me tonight. That's not really such a breakthrough. It was pretty simple. Is my job stressful? Oh, let me see. The other day, we dodged bricks being thrown in a boyfriend/girlfriend fight. I watched a woman punch her seven year old daughter in the face. I woke up at four-thirty this morning to nearby machine gun fire and slept on the kitchen floor. Then my bus today had to make an emergency detour because there was shooting happening up the street. Stressful? Nah.

I could exercise, or find quiet places in the city to recharge, or do art, all of which would be good for me and relaxing. But that demands time, and all I want to do right now is sleep. That's the reason I've been lax about posting on this blog recently. Given the choice between typing and sleeping, I always opt for the latter. I'm not giving my body enough time to rest. Which is probably the underlying cause of my excruciating back pain. Thankfully, I have a friend who's a masseuse and has offered her services free of charge...

But something has got to change. I can't keep up this pace for long...

Happy Birthday to me!

I have turned a ripe old 26 years of age.

I can rent cars, say I've passed the quarter century mark, and am now considered an "upper-twenty-something."

:)



Is my hair getting curlier with old age???



Here I am, sunburt. But trust me, I used sunblock. SPF 45. It just doesn't work as well down here, or maybe it's because it was cheapo dollar store stuff...:)

March 07

I saw an old man eating a banana today with such relish. He was one of the men who push great handcarts around the city, collecting paper and cardboard and metal. He was seated in the shade by the side of the road, his legs bent up and a look of pure delight as he sucked the last bit of goopy banana out of a brown studded peel. It was as if he was alone in the Garden of Eden, sampling food never before touched by human hands. His toothy pleasure in that tiny breakfast cheered my heart and tugged at my guilt strings, remembering the whole meal I’d thrown out in my trash that morning because the refrigerator had died and I feared eating the bacon, cheese, and other assorted odds and ends that had been unrefrigerated for days.

We had a birthday party on the streets on Monday. J-, M-, and I all celebrated within a week of each other. Chocolate cake mix with American style frosting was a success...one of the boys practically licked the pan when all the cake was gone!

I’ve been experimenting with taking pictures on the streets that are a) creative and b) internet-appropriate. I don’t want to take pictures that demean the people we love, or put them (or us) in any collisions with the law, Brazilian or otherwise. My criteria include not publishing easily identifiable pictures of children or adults, as well as minimizing anything that would make the subjects (or me) embarrassed to have shown to the world. Here are some of the winners from the last roll:



This girl has such gorgeous features and a radiant smile. I tried to make this as silhouett-y as possible, then played with the colors in iPhoto and liked the result.



This little boy was looking at everything through his magnifying glass...



The classic occupation of teenage boys on the streets: shoe shining. Here's the trio: the shoeshine box for carrying supplies and supporting the foot, a brush, and a can of Coke-drink the soda, then pour your drugs into the container for hours of a mild high.



These two little boys were watching their older siblings and friends dive off the docks into the waters of the bay...

The joys of the telephone

I was on the phone for more than three hours last night. First Nayra. We haven't talked since before Carnaval, so there was lots to catch up on. And Tiago called in the middle of our conversation. The moment Nayra and I hung up, my parents rang. I had a pleasant hour and a half conversation with them but was fading fast (it's late here), when the phone rings again...and it is my grandmother, calling to chat as well! What a fun, surprising evening...and what a sore, sore neck I have from cradling the phone!