The wise council mandated early Friday morning, that both Aunt Lori's laptop, which had yet to be connected, and my recently unresponsive computer would be connected to the internet by the end of the day. Due to bad weather in the morning, any outdoor activity was postponed and I spent most of them time trying to install, uninstall, reinstall, configure, unplug, reset and connect multiple electronic devices. By lunchtime I had given myself such a headache (big surprise there) that I couldn't stand without feeling as if I were about to faint.
Before heading to the Planalto after lunch, we attempted one last time at connecting Aunt Loris computer wirelessly, and this time it actually worked. After she relayed a crucial message we were on the way to the neighborhood by the hall. It had been almost a week since I had been there last, but this time I had a chance to take a walk around the area and see some of the conditions that these people were living in first hand. Many of the houses were made of brick not even mortared together. The material had just been placed over each other to form four rough walls. Some homes didn't have a floor, and roofs were constructed of the most basic construction materials.
Caroline had immediately gone to work on her paper towel holder at the cooperative and Uncle Mark was playing catch with a boy who had been anxiously awaiting his arrival. His name was Herbson, and Mark had given him an old dirty baseball from the collection that he had brought down in his luggage. The boy asked if he could clean it, and Uncle Mark had told him that he could do whatever he wanted with it because it was now his. As our car had pulled up, and I caught a view of Herbson sitting on the edge of the dirt road. I noticed how sparkling white the ball now was. If the water in his house is anything in comparison to the water at the hall, it probably took him eons to get that old baseball to look new again.
I walked a few blocks down the dirt road, wishing that I had had the common sense to not wear sandals to this neighborhood. I snapped a few pictures of the school that they will hopefully be completing this summer, God willing. I was about to head back in the direction of the hall, when I saw Uncle Mark and William coming down the street with a group of children following them. They were holding baseballs, gloves and a bat to play in the square area near the school. Dodging slum traffic consisting of bicycles, donkeys, horses, cars, trucks and people, the kids practiced swinging a bad for the first time in their lives. Uncle Mark and I tried our best, using gestures mostly, to teach them the strike zone, how to pitch, the correct catching posture and how to hold a bat.
The kids took turns switching positions, while I snapped a few pictures of them playing. The taught me some of the baseball terms in Portuguese, while I showed a few of them the basics of how to work a digital camera. I put my camera in the possession of one boy while I went to pitch for a little bit. It was the first time he had ever used a camera in his life and he loved every minute that he spent taking pictures and videos of his friends playing their new sport. As it got darker (the sun set here around 5:15) the rain began to intensify so we made our way back to the hall where the co-op was just wrapping up.
After dropping Luis's mother off at home, we went to the Hypermart to get some groceries for the following week. Because Brazilians eat their food fresh, most of them shop every other day if not more! You don't see the canned goods or the boxed items that you would see in an American or Canadian supermarket. The fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and cheese is all fresh. This was my first time in a market and I was in awe of all the types of odd looking fruits that are native to the region. One fruit looked like a weapon of choice of an indigenous indian tribe found in the Amazon and one type of mango looked as though it were breathing.
After the market and buying a new wireless card for my laptop, we headed back home where I spent the majority of the night installing software and updating my now medieval blog. I was pleased to find out that Saturdays weather was not going to be rainy as originally thought, but mostly sunny. I was looking forward to the sun, and the opportunity to play soccer for the first time in who knows how many years, but that’s another story for another day...
I thought I would share with you something I read in Proverbs right before bed, that many of you probably also read yesterday. It was a simple two lined verse that I have read countless times before stating a fact I have always known, but have never really thought in any significant depth. Growing up in a country where being "poor" is rare, it is not something that is spoken on or thought of very much. Now that I am in a country where over 90% of the people would be classified as poor by our standards, it is something that they can take great comfort in knowing and should force each of us that are more fortunate in terms of earthy possessions to think of things in a clearer light. Proverbs 22 and verse 2 in the New Living Translation reads "The rich and the poor have this in common; the Lord made them both". Your prayers for the effort down here remain coveted. Till tomorrow...
Before heading to the Planalto after lunch, we attempted one last time at connecting Aunt Loris computer wirelessly, and this time it actually worked. After she relayed a crucial message we were on the way to the neighborhood by the hall. It had been almost a week since I had been there last, but this time I had a chance to take a walk around the area and see some of the conditions that these people were living in first hand. Many of the houses were made of brick not even mortared together. The material had just been placed over each other to form four rough walls. Some homes didn't have a floor, and roofs were constructed of the most basic construction materials.
Caroline had immediately gone to work on her paper towel holder at the cooperative and Uncle Mark was playing catch with a boy who had been anxiously awaiting his arrival. His name was Herbson, and Mark had given him an old dirty baseball from the collection that he had brought down in his luggage. The boy asked if he could clean it, and Uncle Mark had told him that he could do whatever he wanted with it because it was now his. As our car had pulled up, and I caught a view of Herbson sitting on the edge of the dirt road. I noticed how sparkling white the ball now was. If the water in his house is anything in comparison to the water at the hall, it probably took him eons to get that old baseball to look new again.
I walked a few blocks down the dirt road, wishing that I had had the common sense to not wear sandals to this neighborhood. I snapped a few pictures of the school that they will hopefully be completing this summer, God willing. I was about to head back in the direction of the hall, when I saw Uncle Mark and William coming down the street with a group of children following them. They were holding baseballs, gloves and a bat to play in the square area near the school. Dodging slum traffic consisting of bicycles, donkeys, horses, cars, trucks and people, the kids practiced swinging a bad for the first time in their lives. Uncle Mark and I tried our best, using gestures mostly, to teach them the strike zone, how to pitch, the correct catching posture and how to hold a bat.
The kids took turns switching positions, while I snapped a few pictures of them playing. The taught me some of the baseball terms in Portuguese, while I showed a few of them the basics of how to work a digital camera. I put my camera in the possession of one boy while I went to pitch for a little bit. It was the first time he had ever used a camera in his life and he loved every minute that he spent taking pictures and videos of his friends playing their new sport. As it got darker (the sun set here around 5:15) the rain began to intensify so we made our way back to the hall where the co-op was just wrapping up.
After dropping Luis's mother off at home, we went to the Hypermart to get some groceries for the following week. Because Brazilians eat their food fresh, most of them shop every other day if not more! You don't see the canned goods or the boxed items that you would see in an American or Canadian supermarket. The fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and cheese is all fresh. This was my first time in a market and I was in awe of all the types of odd looking fruits that are native to the region. One fruit looked like a weapon of choice of an indigenous indian tribe found in the Amazon and one type of mango looked as though it were breathing.
After the market and buying a new wireless card for my laptop, we headed back home where I spent the majority of the night installing software and updating my now medieval blog. I was pleased to find out that Saturdays weather was not going to be rainy as originally thought, but mostly sunny. I was looking forward to the sun, and the opportunity to play soccer for the first time in who knows how many years, but that’s another story for another day...
I thought I would share with you something I read in Proverbs right before bed, that many of you probably also read yesterday. It was a simple two lined verse that I have read countless times before stating a fact I have always known, but have never really thought in any significant depth. Growing up in a country where being "poor" is rare, it is not something that is spoken on or thought of very much. Now that I am in a country where over 90% of the people would be classified as poor by our standards, it is something that they can take great comfort in knowing and should force each of us that are more fortunate in terms of earthy possessions to think of things in a clearer light. Proverbs 22 and verse 2 in the New Living Translation reads "The rich and the poor have this in common; the Lord made them both". Your prayers for the effort down here remain coveted. Till tomorrow...
Caroline at Work Painting at the Cooperative
The Wall Structure of the School Being Built
Uncle Mark and His Rag-Tag Group of Baseball "Students"
Junior Swings the Bat While Herbson Uses the Correct Catching Posture
Alex Was a Natural Born Slugger...Good Picture Taken by Junior
No comments:
Post a Comment