Ladies, lend me your ears and send me your mulah

One of Brazil's biggest exports is shoes. I live in the town that has one of the 3rd LARGEST shoe factories in the WHOLE of Brazil!

Beautiful shoe-wearing ladies of the world: send me your money, your mulah, your dollars and your stirling and I will buy you some beautiful shoes for you to wear. They are well made and super in-expensive.

I bought a super cute pair of heals, leather, pointy, for just R$50 from the factory shop. just to clarify, R$50 works out at around US$25 and £12.50....!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I wore my red birthday shoes (heals, leather, pointy and from Zara, bought for me by Junior, independant of any advice from me...oh yeh, major brownie points for him!) and I have no idea how the women of Brazil do it. It is more common to see a woman in heals as her everyday shoe-attire than it is to see her in flats or flip-flops. However, the pavement (side-walk) is SO un-even with cracks that would certainly break your back if you stepped on the crack!! A normal 5 minuite walk from home to the church took me around 10 minutes today in my red birthdady shoes!

When I asked Junior how the women in Brazil do it, he said 'Women who wear heals dont walk to work, they drive. Only poor people walk'....oh....hmmm...maybe I'm trying to be something I'm not??!!

Nah, I don't think so! Bring on more great buys from the Factory shop of Brazil's 3rd largest Shoe Factory!! woohoo!!

All I want for Christmas

This year I will be mostly requesting Christmas Classics. Normally I am not a fan of such things, I don't like to make a Christmas list or tell people what I would like. I much prefere for the gifts I am given to be thought of, to be sentimental, creative, anything small or big, just because you thought of me when you bought it, means that I WILL LOVE IT!

However, this year, there is no room for such orniments of love in my life. I won't be asking for those wonderful trinkets, the perfect soundtrack that will make me think of you and that time we had together every time I listen to it. I won't be asking for a journal (which by the way, is one of my most favourite gifts EVER! Even though I already own a thousand of them) I won't even be asking for Adobe Creative Suite for my little PowerBook. I will be making a beeline for those Christmas Classics:

Toiletries
Underwear
Chocolate

The essentials.

Living in Brazil is not at all like 'roughing it' but there are a few things that for some strange reason are either a) unavailable b) imported so therefore ridiculously expensive c)I can't think of a third reason but I didn't want to leave a+b to stand alone in this point making session.


As I do not think I will be coming home for Christmas (Liz and Kate, you can cancel the BluePeter bring Lois Home for Christmas Appeal!) I thought I would post my wish list early so that you could all prepare!!


My Christmas List:

Facewash : Garnier Pure Deep Clean Foam Wash or Garnier Pure Deep Pore Wash
Face Moisturiser: Garnier Soft 24hr Nourishing Day Cream
Eye Make-up remover: Garnier Clean & Fresh Ultra Gentle Eye make-up remover
Moisturiser : Nivia Body Milk or Bath and Body Works Coconut Lime
Tampons: Tampax (naturally) super plus
Mac concealer (NC20): Ok, so not exactly a Christmas Classic, but I am running out and it is most certainly an essential, right ladies?!

Socks: they do have socks here, but I'd just like some new ones for christmas. plain and simple. no paterns. please.

Chocolate: cadburys, cadburys and more cadburys. There is not even the imitation stuff here like there is in Canada. Mr.Cadbury quite simply does not exist here in Brazil.


Finally, the thing that I want the most.

YOU

You, I miss you YOU. I want to be with you for Christmas. The people who I love who are all over the world right now.
So, if you feel the urge to get on a plane and fly to Brazil around the 20th Decemeber (or any other time in the year while I am here) do not even hesitate. Don't think about the hole it may leave in your wallet, don't even think about the long flight. JUST DO IT! Ok? good.


Av. 20 de Setembro 3365,
Centro Sapiranga RS
BRASIL
93800-000

That's where you need to go. (Actually, that's the church, but I don't know our home address since all of our mail gets sent to the Church. But I will probably be at the church when you arrive anyway!)

(P.S. Are you impressed that I have blogged 3 times in one week?!! I am!)

This is cool

My friend Cat originally posted this. I love it.

LEONARDO DA VINCI'S VITRUVIAN MAN

I have joined the gym. Yes it is true. I have been going for about 3 weeks now.
Every time I leave the appartment to go to the gym, I feel like I am conqering the world! I think to myself 'check me out...I'm in Brazil...going to a gym class where I don't understand the instructions from the front and I look pretty amusing always one step behind as I follow the people in front of me.' but you know what, I am doing it. I sure am.


There's something you should know about Saprianga...there's not much to do here, and so one source of entertainment is to go to the gym, not to work out, but to watch other people sweat and labour away. I am not even joking. So I am not only a source of amusement for myself, but I am also providing quality entertainment for the lost and bored people of Sapiranga. While I am doing my super cool aerobics moves there are people behind me, sat on bean bags, just watching. It has become quite obivous that I am not from these parts. (The hair-cut and one-step-behind-everybody-else-super-cool-moves give it away!) Within my first week of conquering the world (going to the gym) there was a rumour spread around town that Vânia (JR's Mum, also widely known Pastor) was bringing an American to the gym (just to clarify that I wasn't telling porky pies earlier when I said I went to the gym alone, Vânia has been with me once and from thereon in, I was on my own) AN AMERICAN?! I am not at all offended because I have some amazing friends who also happen to be american, but I found it quite amuzing that a girl from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales could be mistaken for an american (and no, my accent hasn't changed THAT much since being accross the big pond)


As I'm doing my super cool excersise moves, I am thinking to myself how this would be one of those aweful times where, when you've become famous and you're on a prestigous chat show like Parkinson, you find out that somebody secretly filmed you while you were at your little gym in Sapiranga, Brazil and has now sold the evidence of you dancing always one step behind everybody else to the press and now the 10 million viewers can be entertained along with the Sapirangonians that made their way out to watch you that night.

These are the things I think about whilest being at the gym...I also think about how the last 5 minutes simply must have been the longest 5 minutes of my life and when are we going to get to the cool down part so that I can lie down and then go home?!

Other news:

I am going to Mozambique, Africa for one month. I leave in 3 weeks.
I am co-ordinating the School of Ministry in Brazil. Next year we will have a School of Missions. You should come (if you're passionate about missions)
I have been translating the PIH part of the website from Portuguese to English.
I am learning Portuganese
I have been teaching English
Jr and I are having fun
I love living in Brazil
I miss my family
I miss my friends
I have painted a few more paintings:




I am learning:
I wrote this in an e-mail to my beautiful friend Andrea:
"I have been learning that Love is Patient. when God is patient with me, it's not patience that is weary, or itching for something to happen, or doubtful that the desire will one day be filled. His patience for me, is strong, peaceful, resting and welcoming. He waits for me with patience. He loves me with patience. there is no pressure, there is grace, it is complete. I want this patience. i want to rest in my love for people. i want to rest in God's love for me. I want to love and for that love to be patient."


This is me right now. Peace and love and all things wonderful