first it means blisters: we really DO walk a LOT. and not just a lot of walking, i mean we are talking stairs, ENDLESS stairs, the sidewalks sometimes feel more like i am hiking. i imagine that my shoes will be completely broken in soon. i hope so anyway...
it means that all i ate for breakfast this week was bread and milk, because i had no money and didn’t buy anything but bread and milk! which, by the way, is an interesting thing in itself: the milk isn’t refrigerated here. i refrigerate it because i like it cold, and then i put this chocolate mix in it to make it edible. it is interesting. anyway, that PB [peanut butter] was a godsend this week- it was the only thing that i put on my bread. luckily today i have a lot of money and will be able to buy some good food for dejejum! (b-fast)...
it means that i can’t drink anything that isn’t carbonated or bottled water. i thought that was silly at first, but since we were commanded by the mission president: thou shalt drink coke... by golly we do. i am even building a taste for it. at 5 in the afternoon and my garrafa is empty, when an investigator offers some coke, i take it. a lot of people offer juice, GOOD LOOKING juice, but i can’t drink it unless i want to puke my guts out. the other day, we were at this house and we were sharing a message with the family because they had recently lost a loved one. well they gave me a glass of juice. i just held it, frozen. i can't drink the juice, but at the same time if i don’t drink it they will be offended. well, my awesome comp, during the lesson, pounds his glass, walks across the room and sits next to me, slyly switches glasses, and then drinks mine. all this is done while he is still talking and teaching. it was awesome. (our area consists mostly of favelas [slums], and we teach mostly poor people. their houses are really small and it looks like the kind of place that the water is probably not good.)...
it means that i had to ask (twice) what someone was saying when they called me "...smthg smthg verde smthg..."
being green means smiling... all the time! :)
my comp is awesome! he doesn’t really speak english, but he understands about as much as i understand of portuguese. we are doing great. we have 6 pesquisadors and i teach a part of every lesson.
some interesting things that i learned:
1. there is no rhyme or reason to roads here. the only REAL laws that seem to govern traffic are the laws of physics. the bigger the car, the faster you go, the more clout you have on the road. it is all about inertia, and after that it is a big game of chicken. buses for instance - stop for nothing, signs- lights- or otherwise, except they stop for people, to pick them up. cars give the bigger vehicle right of way, unless they are driving on the sidewalk, then people have the right of way. people are to stay on the sidewalk, but the only way to cross the street is jay walking. it is like a game of frogger, move from one lane to the next, dodging flying cars. the cars also don’t follow the whole "lines on the road" idea. if there is room, they use it. it scares the pants off me when we get in cars with members, the roads are wild...
2. speaking of wild, our area butts up against the floresta. it is so cool! behind the favelas, suddenly there is jungle, a stones throw away. this place is beautiful.
3. i hate bugs. those things just bite me all over! my ankles are covered with bruises from them. formigas everywhere!
4. go and thank your laundry machines. today i spent the whole morning doing laundry- nearly all by hand. i feel like punching jay and his dumb ole stories about having maids! speaking of jay...
5. it is not at all surprising that he withheld a certain nugget of information about the bathrooms here... you can’t flush the t-paper! and how about the showers!... nobody has a water heater, the water gets heated right before it hits you by this cool little hair dryer like device- but this device is powered by 220v and there are EXPOSED wires all over the place! i am tall and showering is a scary experience now!
6. well i spoke in church on sunday; that was exciting. another thing at church, we walked into the chapel and this woman was breast feeding her baby right there! turns out she is the branch presidents wife!
7. i guess the missionaries before us were total fubekas (a mormon word here that means slacker) because all the members turn on the TV for us when we come over. also, the area book is empty. it is hard work gaining back the trust of the members.
well gotta go
elder helland
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment