We had tacos for lunch...except that we didn't have the hard shells. Just used some tortilla wraps...mmmmm. Que Delicia!
I used the beef we had with that to make a vegetable beef soup for dinner. I'm not sure that I made enough for 7 people, but we'll see how it goes. It smells really good, and I'm looking forward to eating it.
I'm getting used to the English keyboard now. I have to use ALT with the keypad for letters with accents.
Today is a beautiful day...the sun is shining, and all the laundry is drying nicely on the line.
I haven't really been getting ready for school, but I still have...4... more days...yeah.
Tomorrow I have a doctor's appt. and a bank appt...Thurs. have an eye appt...and Friday get my braces on. Talk about a week jam packed!!
I should go now, put some more laundry on the line.
Love to everyone...Ash

It's an interesting day today...I didn't do much, but it still went pretty slowly. I'm trying to get myself psyched up to get things ready for college.
Made something today...in the kitchen! What a rare event for someone who never does any baking or cooking of the sort! I made some peanut butter balls...and then dipped them in chocolate. Mmmmmm...how good was that? Well, you'll have to look in the freezer( I put them in there to get nice and hard and crunchy...)....don't think there's any left! haha
Anyways, did some laundry, read a book, ate lunch, checked my e-mails...that has been the extent of my day.
I hope that everyone is doing well.
I went to church yesterday...it was nice to see familiar faces again. Although I have to admit, I went to the second service so that I wouldn't have to see as many people...yes, I am a little crowd shy. Oh well, I will see them again at Thanksgiving. My goodness what a long ways away that is!
Love to everyone.
Ash

College and Niagara Falls

I have to say, I have never been to Niagara Falls...all my life in Canada, and never been to such a beautiful place. But this Wednesday me and my family got to go finally!!!
Around lunch time we went to check out my new college I'll be attending in the fall...I really like it!!! Although it's a small campus, it's really nice...has 2 buildings for residence(one for the boys and one for the girls) and then an academic building, and a community center building(with the gym, the cafeteria, and stuff like that)
After that, we went to Niagara Falls!! On the way, Vanessa was saying, "I don't know what all the fuss is over these stupid falls! It's just water falling over a cliff..." And then once she saw them, she understood, and she was like, "WOW!!!"
It was so funny!
Anyways, I had a great time!

living in Canada

Well, I have returned to Canada...got here on Wednesday at around noon. The only complications was the two hour delay in Sao Paulo to fix the engine...then I was delayed getting into Toronto. But that's ok, I arrived, and I'm alive, and that's all that matters! Thanks to God for getting me here safely, because only He was able to get that engine fixed well enough for me to feel comfortable flying in the air for 10 hrs!
There isn't as much of a cultural shock as I thought there would be ...thankfully. Thanks for all of your prayers to get me back here without too much to worry about. Although I was eating dinner the other day, and looked at the napkins on the table, and said to my mom, "Are these napkins always big like this?" And she laughed and said, "yes, and you have been away for too long!"(because the napkins in Brasil are pretty tiny).
My whole family was so glad to see me. And I was really glad to see them too! All my brothers and sisters have changed so much, it was crazy!
Last night I stayed over at my friend's house, and we caught up on a lot of stuff. It was good, and felt really normal.
It was kind of hot today, and I'm still sweating buckets...but it is good to be back!
love to everyone!
Love, Ash

Just finished packing all my clothes in my suitcase...but that doesn't mean I'm finished packing yet. I have a ton of other things that I have to find room for in my other suitcase! No, I will have room. Thank goodness they're big suitcases.
Anyways, I think this will be the last blog I write before I leave. Because tomorrow morning I have to get up really early to go to the airport. And finally, I will arrive in Canada on Wednesday morning.
Yesterday I went to the English church in the morning, and then went and visited some friends to say goodbye to them for the afternoon. Then Graça's daughter Dani and her husband and children and I went to the supermarket to buy some groceries for her house. She brought her digital camera, and we were being really goofy in the store, taking pictures of ourselves with towels wrapped around us and stuff like that. However, one guy who worked there came around and told us that we weren't allowed to take pictures..so much for our fun! But that's ok. It was good while it lasted.
I was so tired last night. I had planned to pack my suitcases last night, but after we came home from eating pizza, I was so tired I could hardly talk! Needless to say,I went to sleep and hardly remember my head touching the pillow!
Well, I should go now. Have lots of things to do today, including going to the airport. I have to switch my Varig flight to GOL, because Varig isn't doing any more flights. So, let's see how that works out.
But I have to say, I appreciate everyone who read my blogs, who left comments, and glad that most people enjoyed them. Sorry some days I didn't write, but it can be draining to write blogs sometimes. Anyways, thanks for all your prayers, I survived, and I'm coming home now! Looking forward to seeing everyone so much. Miss you guys!!!
Love, Ash
P.s. I will try to write when I get home.

Never know how hard it is to say "goodbye" to someone until the actual day. Thursday I said goodbye to some of the students, but I didn't cry very much . But yesterday at Vôo Livre was really hard. I really got attached to the kids there, and especially to one family in particular. I waited to say goodbye to that family after Vôo Livre closed. I went to their house and spent a little bit of time with them. But all too soon it was time to go and it was so difficult. I love them so much!
Today I'm not thinking about saying goodbye to anyone else. I don't want to think about it until I actually have to!
I went to the zoo in Brasília with Wellington and Josh this morning until 1:30. It is a nice zoo. They have alot of birds, they have monkeys, lions and tigers and bears OH MY!!!(no, they don't have any bears...just quoting from The Wizard of Oz movie. )
I'm glad that we had the time to go there and do that!
This afternoon I'm going with Cristina to have acaí...not sure how to describe it, but it's such a delicious food! And then tonight I'm going to a birthday party of one of my friends who goes to the International church! I'm so excited!
Well, hope you all have a good week-end. Looking forward to seeing whoever I will see when I come back!
Love, Ash

I'm tired of crying whenever I talk about how I have to keep saying goodbye to people, so I'm going to talk about the inevitable DVBS. Hope it's worth the wait! LOL
So, Monday morning, two weeks ago, the DVBS started. The Canadians had decided to do the same program twice, once in the morning, and the other in the afternoon, to reach as many kids as they possibly could. The registration was interesting...they were trying to group kids by age by different coloured name tags like they do in Canada(unfortunately this is Brasil, not Canada) so...needless to say, it didn't work out very well all week, so we won't even talk about it. Some people were getting frustrated, but hey, this is Brasil, you have to go with the flow.
So, what they did every day was have a main group session, do the verse and sing, they the different groups would go to either music, drama, crafts, or sports, and then they would switch after a time. The crafts were difficult to plan, I can imagine, for Kay who was one of the Canadians to do crafts. The thing was, they could only bring so much stuff with them, right? So, she would have had to pick crafts that were the same, but that were challenging enough for the older kids, but easy enough for the little kids. It was difficult, a little stressful, but that's ok. That's life at a DVBS, né??? For translators, we had Joyce, Sadie, and ...me? it was good, most of the time I just stayed in the craft room and just had to translate simple instructions, like " Glue here, or cut there..." and sometimes the kids wanted to talk to the Canadians, so I could translate that for them. But...one day, Joyce had to do something, and I had to translate the drama Bible story of Zaccheus...there's only one word for that moment.... CRAZINESS!!! I asked Wellington(the sports director, a 25-year old string bean who is so hilarious) if I did ok...he said,"it was ok...you didn't get the verb conjugations right though!" Of course, that's inevitable with me! One day, I will know them perfectly!
And another day I got to translate some of the songs in the music room. It was fun! The lady who headed that up, Wendy, has lots of energy, so it was fun working with her.
Normally there were more kids in the morning group than in the afternoon groups. The sad thing was that kids from the morning group would repeat it in the afternoon. (I say it's "sad", because that just shows you that these poor kids have nothing to do on their holidays, so they would rather come back sing the same songs, do the same crafts and everything the same than be bored...but I guess that's better than being on the streets and getting into trouble!!!)
One 13 year-old boy was giving Kate(a very timid but ever strong daycare worker) an extremely hard time the first day. But she got me to translate that Jesus loves him, and that he is a good boy but he just has to show it. As the week went on, he still was impish with others, but she just kept giving him hugs, and showing him love, and he was pretty much fine with her. Later on she told me that he accepted Jesus into his heart! It's so exciting, but unfortunately we aren't sure how far that can go. I mean, I doubt that his parents go to church, so he may not have a chance to learn more about Jesus. Joyce has Saturday morning Bible studies for kids, but not many kids go. So please pray for Fabrício...I know that Kate is! She never gave up on him, not once! I know that the week was a success, all the kids enjoyed it, and the Canadians were happy to give it, even though it was stressful at times. At the last session, they handed out homemade knitted dolls and certificates. (I even got a doll later on too!Ok, everyone else got one too...lol) Anyways, it was a very good week, and I'm glad that so many kids showed up!
That night the Canadians bought a cake for Joyce and sang "Happy Birthday" to her...Her birthday is in December!!! They're such a funny group. It was so nice to get to know them all. oops! I forgot to mention one thing. On Wednesday and Thursday there were clowns there. WEdnesday had only 2, but Thursday there were 6, and I was one of them! Four of the Canadians dressed up as clowns, and then Wellington and I dressed up as clowns too! It was so much fun, and because Wellington is so tall, and kind of a ditz, he was the perfect clown! (Sorry to any of you blonds out there,(I am sort of one too) but honestly, if WEllington wasn't black, I would think he was a blond!!!) I will tell you one reason why afterwards. So, it was fun, all the kids loved it. Then, later, Nalva(Vôo Livre's telepromotor) had to go pick up a donation from one of the supermarkets. So Josh, WEllington, and I went along too. Unfortunately, WEllington and I were feeling in the clown mood, so Nalva was getting really frustrated when she was trying to talk to the manager. The manager loved it though, and she even told her daughter to get us a bag of candy so we could give candy out to people in the store. Well, don't get us started!!! We didn't just give candy out to the store, but also to the other stores on the block, both sides of the street!!! It was so much fun, and I loved it alot! The manager of the store said she would love it if clowns came to her October children's party that she always has(so we almost got a job right on the spot!!!)
When the Canadians left, Brenda(the team leader who was also the head clown) gave WEllington the face paint and many pieces of paper on how to be a good clown. It was awesome, and I know he liked it.
Friday night we went to a Churrascaria(a semi-facny barbecue place in Taguatinga) and it was a different experience for the Canadians.
Saturday morning we had to get up really early to take them to the airport. We had to leave at 6:30AM to get the team at their hotel. Here's where Wellington's ditziness comes in...he started washing Joyce's front windshield with soap and water, not even 2 min. before we had to leave. The scene was so funny, she walked out the front door, saw him and said," WELLINGTON! What are you doing?????!!!! We have to leave right now!!"
W: Well, I'm just washing you windshield.
J: But we have to go RIGHT NOW!!!
W: Ok, I just have to rinse this off.
J: Do you have all your stuff from the house?
W: Yes.
(2 minutes later we were just ready to go and he ran into the house to get his stuff. Joyce was about ready to throttle him. He is so funny, but at the wrong time, it just doesn't work!!!)
But we made it, got to the airport, almost everything went fine, except Kate found out that in Manaus on the way here, they took the wrong plane ticket, so Joyce and her had to hurry and get the problem fixed. It was hard to say goodbye, because they were a really friendly team, but we did it.
So, that was the long awaited DVBS story. Sorry that it took so long for me to write!
Love to everyone. Hope you have a good day! Today I'm at the school in Taguatinga, and tomorrow I'm back at Vôo Livre, but these two days are going to be the hardest because I have to say goodbye to students. So please pray for me!
Thanks for all your prayers. I know that God is with me and has been watching over me here!
Love, Ash

SORRY

Ok ok....I'm back...I admit, I was stalling. There are just so many things to say, and some of them I can't even describe with words, so that's kind of difficult. This week as it goes on is going to be extremely difficult for me...Thursday and Friday I have to say goodbye to lots of students that I have known for the past 5 months. But the happy news is that I am ready to come home. I am missing my family alot, and even though I have a family here too, there's nothing like the family that I was born with. They know me inside out, and I love them so much. It still doesn't stop the hurt from leaving here though. This is life, though, eh?
Let me write about what happened last week, and then I will take a stab at talking about the DVBS...haha!
So, last week was the first week of school after vacations. Holidays for most students was 2 or 3 weeks, but some had 4 weeks. It just depends on what school they go to. Monday and Tuesday I was at the English school here in Taguatinga. It was alot of fun. We asked the students where they went on their holidays, but most of them said that they just stayed home and played computer, video games, watched T.V., and slept. How boring!!! One girl went to the Pantanal, a really tourist spot in the next state over. It is really swampy, so they have alligators, beautiful birds, and stuff like that. All of the classes on Monday and Tuesday just played a review game that was so awesome. They made a grid on the board using squares of paper and then marked the top of the grid with letters, and then down the sides with numbers. In this way, the students would pick a paper square using a letter and a number. On the other side of the squares, there could be 1 of 3 things: a star(which meant a free point), a bomb(which meant you lose all of your points), or a number(the students would have to answer a question regarding English). I really liked the game, so I made up a set of paper squares all marked differently to take to Vôo Livre with me for my English classes on Wednesday and Friday. I also made up a review for my classes, totally forgetting that I was starting the Introductory English classes. I was upset that I wouldn't have my old students(because I love them so much), but I actually did have one class after lunch that was my class from last semester, so I was happy about that. So, yes, Wednesday we started a new semester of um monte de coisas(many things) at Vôo Livre, including: Guitar, English, Computer, and Reenforcement classes(not really sure what this is, I think it has something to do with kids who aren't really understanding some things in school, I guess sort of like a tutoring class) plus the normal sports things that go on there all the time.
The thing was, Sadie told me she wasn't going to come, so I had to start a new semester all by my lonesome! It went well though. The morning class was packed with people I had never met, all who came to learn English, most of them for the first time. So I taught them the alphabet and the numbers from 1-10, and got to know them a little bit. It was a a bit overwhelming though, because there were about 24 people!!! Also, two of the boys in the back kept talking to each other. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, so I told one of them to come sit at the front. He was ok with it... he's a good kid! The class after lunch was my regular class from last semester, so we just worked on the review I did, and played the grid game. Then....then....if I thought the class before lunch was packed, ya...my third class had about 30 people!!!! Talk about nerve racking!
I just did the same stuff with them that I did in the morning. So, that was an interesting day, but it went well. On Thursday, I told Joyce she could make me do anything she needed me for. Soooooo....saying that.....yes, she got me to go over their inventory for Vôo Livre. There was so much stuff that I had to look for. There were tables, all the computers, chairs, sports equipment, and more. It was basically just to make sure we had everything that was on the inventory. It took me all day to finish it, and it was very tiring! But hey, if it helped Joyce out, I'm glad I could do it. At 4 o'clock, I went to Luziana's house(she's the teacher for reenforcement). She lives on the same street as Joyce, and she always rides her bike to Vôo Livre. So, it was a new experience...she has a little thing on the back of her bike for holding books and stuff, and she was able to sit on that while I drove the bike! Here in Brazil it's very common to have more than one person ride a bike, but of course I'm not used to it(the north american rules of helmets, seatbelts, and other things like this drilled into my head!!!) It's more difficult than you may think, because you have to balance the weight on the back. Craziness!!!
But I had a good visit at her house(she was a little stressed because it was messy, but it didn't matter to me) She is from Bahia, and music from there is called "Axé". She was teaching me how to dance to Axé, and the way they dance, it's more like one of those classes you go to, like dance aerobics. Talk about a workout!!! My goodness, it felt so good to excerise and have fun at the same time. I had a really good time!
Then just as I was going to see if Joyce had come home yet, she was looking for me(to go to church). So, sweaty as I was, I hurried into the house, changed my clothes, and got in the car to go to church. It was good to see the pastor and his wife(they had been on holidays too).
Friday was the same thing, just review of the alphabet, numbers, and review. However, word had spread, and I had more students. The afternoon introductory class now has 35 people!!! Crazy times!
Well, unfortunately have to wait again for the DVBS...time for dinner!!!
Love to everyone, looking forward to seeing my friends and family again soon!
Love, Ashleigh

A Canadian DVBS in Brasil

Hello to everyone...Quanto tempo!!!! It has been such a long time, and to tell you the truth, I am kind of dreading this blog in particular, just because I know that it is going to be really really long!!!
Not last week, but the week before on Friday, a group of 11 Canadians came down here to Brasil!
There was only one man on the team, but I think that they planned it that way. They were just coming to do a DVBS, or in Portuguese(EBF-Escola Bíblia da Ferias). His name is Ralph, and he is married to the group leader, Brenda. The youngest person on the team was 27 years old, and the oldest was 73 years old, but my goodness, she has more energy than me! They were all very nice people, and it was such a pleasure getting to know them each individually. I think Josh(the 21-year old who came 3 wks ago) really appreciated having Ralph here, because he would have been the only guy in the whole group of Canadians, especially every night when we had dinner at Joyce's house!
So, on the Friday after they arrived(at 8 in the morning!) they went to their hotel and rested or slept until noon. They ate lunch with the rest of us at the nearby little restaurant, and after that went to Vôo Livre to organize for Saturday. What happened on Saturday you ask? Oh, well, here, I will tell you. On Saturday(the day after they arrived) they had a women's day, sort of like a little retreat. They served breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know that all the women who went really enjoyed it, and immediately after some of them asked Joyce, "When are we going to do that again???!!!"
They had 3 different sessions, and during the sessions talked about different things about God...how he made us, the earth, and how everything that he makes intwines itself into everything. After the different sessions, the women went into 3 different groups, and then they had a discussion time. I guess you could say this was my first time doing some actual translating. There was only Joyce, Sadie(the lady who is teaching English for Graça) and me who were really able to do the translating that day, so I really had no choice to translate for this group. It was pretty easy stuff, just translating to the Canadians what the Brazilians thought about God, and translating to the Brasilians the Canadians' thoughts. Sometimes though, it was very difficult, because some words that they would say, I honestly had no idea how to translate them, and so in comes the improvisation. But to say the least, it was very very fun, but tiring!!! I guess I was tired because I had to think double.
Right now there are fire works happening really close to our house, and it is really annoying, because it's very loud. Allana just told me it's because one of the national soccer teams won a soccer game. That makes sense, because during the World Cup there were so many fireworks going off all over the city.
Back to the Women's retreat(which was titled "Share the Wonder" and for the Portuguese lovers "Compartilhe as Maravilhas")...In between the sessions, they had crafts for the women to do(the first was a butterfly fridge magnet, made of paper, and the second was an angel necklace made of ribbon and one of those huge criss-crossed shaped paper clips). There was also some recipe demonstrations, and I think the women really liked the whole day. I know it was tiring for the Canadian women, but it was a good day in all, and well liked by everyone. On Sunday after church and lunch, Joyce took the team to Brasília for some touring and a some shopping for souvenirs. Unfortunately Josh was sick, and he had never been touring in Brasília either(but she took him yesterday so he got to see everything). But I went with the group, and it was alot of fun. But by the time we got back in time for dinner and church at night, we were all really really tired. It was long day!
By the way, it has been nice and hot lately, no coldness at all! Yesterday and today it was almost 30 C, so back to normal again I hope!
Another tidbit of info...women and girls here don't really wear shorts. I know that has no relevance whatsoever to what I have been talking about, but it's really strange. They like to wear form fitting jeans, and capri pants. But I went out to mail a letter today wearing shorts, and felt like everyone was staring at me! It was so weird!
I know I said that I would write really long, but my right hand is hurting from writing so much, and I have to go eat something for dinner anyways. So tomorrow I will catch you all up on how the DVBS went, I promise!
Good night for now, and love to you all. Thanks for your prayers!
Love, Ash :)

Bom Dia!!!

This is how I want to look. Unfortunately today, I am very pale. Thank you all for your prayers for me. They worked! That antibiotic that I took made my strep throat go away that very night. However, I still have sore gums and it hurts a little to eat still. But, that is a big improvement! Considering I still felt kind of dizzy when I stood up, today I am totally fine, except for my poor little gums!!!
It's a good thing I'm feeling better, because today I'm going to Àguas Lindas to stay there for a week...sabe porque???? Do you know why? Because the group of Canadian ladies from Ontario are coming to do a DVBS this week at Vôo Livre. They're arriving tomorrow, and then on Saturday they're putting on a ladies day at Vôo Livre.
Please please pray for me. It seems like everytime I go to Àguas Lindas, I get sick from the dust and other people being sick. I know that God will take care of me, but a little few extra prayers won't hurt. I'm not exactly sure what the ladies will want me to do with helping their DVBS, but I'm sure that it won't be too hard. I have helped out with plenty DVBS's over the years. Also, pray for Joyce, that she will have enough energy to do everything that she has to do. She needs tons of energy! Pray that there will be enough kids showing up next week for the DVBS. It's their holidays right now, and so we're not quite sure how many will actually come!
Well, I have been thinking alot lately about the day I come back. I don't like talking about this because it makes me cry. I think it's less than a month now. August 15 is the big day. I am having such mixed feelings. I love being here in Brasil...love the people, the food, the music, the culture. And yet I miss the Canadian culture too...even though it is sooooooooooo much busier than here. And I miss my family and friends. However, when I go back there, I know that I will have such great "saudades" for the people here. (FYI: The English language doesn't have an actual word to describe when you miss somebody. We just say "I missed you"or "I will miss you". In Portuguese, they have this word "saudades" which is actually a noun for "missing". For Example: "Eu sinti saudades de você" "I felt missings for you". Or when you haven't seen someone in a long time, you can say, "Que Saudades!" "What missings!" It doesn't make sense in English, but in Portuguese, it's a very important feeling, and it has alot of emotions in it when you say it to someone. Way more than just saying "I missed you!" It's really nice)
Yesterday Cristina and I walked home from the English school. It really isn't a long walk, maybe 20 minutes or so, but felt longer for me because I haven't walked like that in a week, since before I got sick! It was interesting. I got home all out of breath.
I don't know if I told you, but for breakfast in Brasil they have lots of breads and stuff, and even chocolate cake!
And friends here in Brasil, when they say goodbye to each other whether in person or on the phone, they always say, "Beijos!" which means "kisses!". I thought that was interesting! They even say it to their guy friends too!
One more thing I haven't told you yet...every gas station is full serve. I don't think anyone here knows how to put gas in their vehicles. It's different. I guess they hire people to do that for two reasons. 1.) So that more people will have jobs. 2.) So that people won't steal gas.
Those are my opinions...don't quote me on anything! If you have any other ideas, then go ahead and put them in the comment section.
I forgot to answer one question. Taguatinga is about 20 minutes from Brasília. Taguatinga, Àguas Lindas, Guara, and all sorts of other places around Brasília are calles Satellite cities. They are small, but they all make up the surrounding area of Brasília.
Well, hope that answers everyone's questions, and satisfies everyones blog appetites, because I think that will be it until another week.
Hope you all take care in that heat, don't do anything strenuous.
Love to you all...
Beijos, Ashleigh