Brazilian Baby Shower...

When Ben and Becky were still here, I had the opportunity to go to a baby shower.  Becky informed me that-for any party whether it be for a birthday, baby shower, or wedding-when the cake is brought out, it's time to go home (or, at least you know it's acceptable to do so at that point).

Well, I went home a bit before the snacks and cake, but I got to see quite a bit of what goes on.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so you'll have to use your imagination.  On that day we were celebrating three babies, not yet born.  One of the women was going in for a C-section the next day, so everyone was excited for her.

They started with a really neat presentation of gifts.  You may have seen this done in Canada (I saw it at a wedding, once), but first you start with an empty bag.  Then the presenter starts giving gifts, preceding that with a nice phrase to go along with it.  For example, one of the gifts at the shower was body lotion, so the woman said something about keeping the mother feeling and smelling pretty even though she will be tired.  It was a really neat idea, and pretty soon their bags were full, and everyone got to see what the gifts were and why they were important.

After this, the games director gave the mothers a small, non-exerting writing game to keep themselves busy while the rest of us ended up playing some pretty exhausting ones!  They included:

• The laundry hamper game: A team of two people had to work together to get a load of baby clothes on and off of the clothes line before the other team.  My team won, you know why? Because my mama taught me how to hang them clothes right! 
• Find the shoe game: We all had to take off our shoes and put them on one end of the room.  Then, the games director went and mixed them all up while we had our backs turned.  The first one to find her shoes and put them on won
• Put the clothes on the baby: There were two plastic baby dolls, and the first team to undress and dress her won
• Pin the diaper on the baby: We spun the unsuspecting blindfolded victim around and then, using only our voices, had to lead her to the bulletin board to pin on the diaper.  Wow, this one got out of hand! Women were yelling, screaming, getting so frustrated when the player wasn't listening.  I left after that!

From my point of view, showers are pretty similar to those in Canada, except for all the balloons.  I don't know what it is about Brazilians and their balloons, but they LOVE to use them for all their parties and decorations.

Love,

Ashleigh

New Neighbours...

I may have mentioned that our originally intended ministry supervisors arrived home to Brazil yesterday afternoon.  Tim and Tammy have two teenaged children and a little Dachsund, so we're back to a full house around here again.

They've been busy unpacking and reorganizing their home, and we've been busy planning lessons and job hunting (for when we come back to Canada), so we haven't seen too much of them.

Jake and I were talking about it earlier, and, as he said, it's a fine balance between who is guest and who is host right now.  Technically this is their home and property, so they are the hosts.  However, they haven't been in Brazil for 16 months, and we've been living here for a few weeks, so does that make us the host?!  It's all very confusing.  I think tomorrow we'll go over with some pao de queijo  and break the ice a little bit more.

Love,
Ashleigh

Pirenopolis...

Jake and I went to Pirenopolis, which is only about 45 minutes away, to stay at a pousada (a Brazilian Style Bed and Breakfast) for our 2nd anniversary.  I'll let the pictures tell the story:

The bus ride only cost about $3.00, and we staked out the very back ;)

Our room

Delicious acai, topped with banana, granola, and condensed milk

The famous Catholic church of Pirenopolis

Thankfully it stopped raining just long enough on Friday for us to enjoy a swim!

<3

Excited to eat our pizza!

Just a sample of what the streets looked like...this section is very touristy

Francesca, the pousada proprietor 

one last look at it...

Take It In Stride...

We showed up tonight, braved the rain, prepared the lesson, and no one showed up.  The doors were locked, the lights were off, the church was empty. I was looking forward to this class (Thursday classes are my favourite-they're small in numbers, but the group is really fun!)

So we did this, instead:

Doing what we do best with Bill and Kathy Bacheller, and Ward Rau, a gentleman from their church in Chicago who is here for two weeks

I had made some peanut butter chocolate squares for our class, but since we didn't get to eat it there, we ate it at the restaurant.  I gave some to the waitresses, and they liked it so much, they asked for the recipe! (Thanks, Ashley!)  I never imagined that baked goods could be such a viable ministry-for me, anyways.  There are many talented and renowned cooks back home in Canada who use this gift for baking and cooking in opportune ways, and I admire that.

Jake and I got to visit Ministerio OASIS again yesterday, the counselling part of MAEB, and Kathy Bacheller showed us her house that is in the process of being built.

Kathy and the new director's house

Bathroom space- this has been Ward's project during his time here

We enjoyed being out there, and I was able to chat with the secretary, Karine, and hear more of her story, how God has worked in her life and brought her here.

Karine and I, a few weeks ago- I think I've gotten a bit darker, don't you?

Jake and I decided to take some pics too...

Being in Brazil has really taught us how to take things in stride.  If you show up somewhere and no one is there, or they're late, you don't worry about it.  I've actually felt less stress because of this, for, if I'm a little bit late, I know that my Brazilian counterpart won't mind that much.

Love,

Ashleigh

Comin' Along...

We've been saying for a couple of weeks now that we need to get our teaching preparations completed before the actual day of class.  Even though we have plenty of time to prep during the day of(most of our classes don't start until 7pm), we both get too stressed out from the pressure of needing to get it done, not to mention getting anything printable to the copy place in an appropriate amount of time.
Needless to say, this type of preparation never helps us to feel adequately engaged with the material, nor does it put us in happy teaching moods.
What we would prefer happened this week ...I can hardly believe it!
On Monday, I prepared Tuesday's and Wednesday's classes while Jake finished up his class for the intermediates.  Then yesterday I completed Thursday's class, leaving enough time for touch-ups and review the day of.
The lack of stress is so incredible. It's not like we're doing any less work-in fact, we're doing more because we're giving ourselves extra time to think.

Jake teaching our Wednesday night Intermediates

I'm really desiring and praying  that this won't be just a fluke week, but that the lesson of planning and preparing ahead of time will stick with us for the rest of our lives.

Brazil is Alive...

Don't worry, I washed my hands thoroughly!

One of the reasons I love Brazil is because it is so lush.  It's alive.  There are constantly birds singing, lizards scuttling, and beetles buzzing.  The trees change into beautiful flowering things, and the vegetation multiplies like a child in a growth spurt.

Jake often comments to me that life is so much simpler when you don't have to prepare for four seasons.  You don't need to put special shingles on your roof, just use ceramic tiles, because there is no snow.  You don't need to change the tires on your car to accommodate for inclement conditions, and you don't need to go through a complete wardrobe change-up when the fall season starts in earnest.

I miss the beautiful colour change of the leaves in autumn back home, but I wouldn't trade sitting on this porch in my shorts and bare feet for anything.

Love,
Ashleigh

Toucans And Another Anniversary...

There is a big tree in our yard, and on two occasions, Jake and I have spotted toucans flying in for a few moments, rustling around in the treetop, then flying away.  The first time, I was doing some lesson planning on the porch, and I couldn't believe my eyes.  I'm sure many of you have seen them in zoos, but their beaks are absolutely enormous.  I found out why on Saturday evening. 

They are carnivores.

That's right, that cute lil' "Toukie-toukie!" on your morning cereal box eats innocent little birdies out of their nests. Lovely.

On another note, the church we've been attending celebrated their 25th anniversary yesterday.  To commemorate, they had a lovely lunch after Sunday school, and a guest preacher in the evening.  The pastor even led us in a rousing Portuguese edition of "Happy Birthday" after the evening service!  

Love,

Ashleigh

Pumpkin Pie...

Since Jake and I missed Thanksgiving this year, I made a pumpkin pie for him for our anniversary.  It was actually the first time I'd ever made one, and I found a recipe that included condensed milk (which Brazilians love!) So I made another one for a BBQ we went to last night. Brazilians usually eat pumpkin with only salt and butter, so for it to be sweet was something new. But oh my, they loved it! One lady went back for seconds, and another asked for the recipe.
I also made chocolate covered pumpkin seeds and brought them to a movie night.  The pastor's two teenagers just raved about them.

It's such a blessing to have these moments with people here.  It seems as if Jake and I are always trying new things, getting out of our comfort zones, yet I never imagined that food could transcend language and cultural barriers, creating an equality between us and the Brazilians, as they, too, have new experiences in their own country.  A simple pumpkin, of all things!

Love,
Ashleigh

Bikini or Muumuu...

As most of you know, I have been spending the past year trying to change my diet and also my eating habits (moderation, etc).  Because of this, I have had to jump over a few hurdles, including my love for all things chocolate.  Jake has been my biggest supporter, and one day when I was struggling particularly fiercely with the desire to eat more desserts, he looked at me and said,

"Bikini or muumuu??"

It caught me off guard, and I burst out laughing, and then said, "Bikini!", effectively stopping myself from giving in to that specific temptation.

Since then, I've asked him quite a few times to ask me that in dire moments, and it's been quite helpful in keeping me accountable when I seem to lack self control. 

Thank God for witty husbands!

Love,

Ashleigh

Aspirations and Jabuticaba...

Happy November, friends!  My new goal this month is to write a blog every single day.  I can't promise that anything exciting will happen, nor that they'll all be interesting, but we'll see how it goes.

 A family from one of our ESL classes invited us to go to a chacara, or farm, to pick jabuticabas.  Unfortunately, Jake was pretty tired out and couldn't join us.  The little farm was only about 10 minutes away, and has been in their family for only about 8 years.

Jabuticaba-the skin outside is edible, but it's pretty bitter.  It's the inside that is most delicious!

 They grow directly on the tree branches themselves, and, as you can see, in little clusters.  I get really grossed out by clusters of anything (especially insect eggs), so it was hard for me to start picking them.

I've also turned into a pretty big city girl, so I had to get over the fact that ants were crawling all over the trees.  It was nice to have a chance to get to know the family better, and to see their little farm.  There were roosters, and all sorts of fruit trees, including tamarind.

One of the most interesting things on the property were the monkeys! They were pretty fast, so it was kind of hard to get a picture, but a couple of them turned out, including a video! 

Rodrigo and his son, Arthur, trying to entice the monkeys with pieces of bread.

There they are, eyeing the bread! They even ate out of Rodrigo's hand!

 After jabuticaba picking, we ate a snack of sweetened black coffee (cafezinho) and pao de queijo.

Arthur and Annalise

Marilane and I-she's the wife and mom, and quickly becoming a dear friend!

It was great to spend time with this family, as well as experience something new.  Marilane told me that you can make jam out of jabuticaba, so I'm eager to try that tomorrow.

Love,
Ashleigh