THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 6 a.m. AND 3 a.m

Ok, hang in there with me. This may sound like a rant, but I'm hoping to turn it around in the end. Yesterday, after a terrible night's sleep for both of us, Mike left for work at 6am (pretty typical). I started the day off frantically looking for an outlet adapter for the toaster. Elise was headed off on a 3-day field trip, and according to her, couldn't have the well balanced meal her teacher told her to have without toast. Jess headed out the door at 6:50 for seminary. Thank goodness for a driver! We got Elise's bag into the car, which was very heavy because the list they gave the kids for 3 days' worth of clothing was insane (3 pairs of jeans, 4 pairs of shorts, 3 swim suits, 6 t-shirts, 2 pairs of pajamas, you get the idea). Brazilians are very clean people and the second they get a smudge on them, they change. : )

I got to the school to send Elise off on the bus, trying not to worry about a 3-day trip for her. I gave her a kiss, and she waved to me from the window. Turning around to leave, I saw red-faced, teary-eyed mothers, all trying not to let their child see them cry. My peace of mind went out the window. I hugged a few of the moms and hurried off to the car. There was a vendor fair scheduled for International New Comers and I had 15 minutes to get there to help set up. It took me 15 minutes just to detour the rioting going on in a favela close to the school. Normally, I would go down a street we affectionately call favela hill to get across a bridge, but it was too dangerous, hence the detour.

I was late and going a different way. I got a little disoriented and had to call a friend for directions. Then I had to explain those directions to my driver in Portuguese. How do you say "bridge" in Portuguese? I still don't know, but I am getting pretty good at Charades! : ) José and I laughed when we finally made it to the Scandinavian Church, because it is about 4 blocks from Elise's friend's house, which we go to all the time.

I spent the morning talking to people about the orphanage that INC supports and how to volunteer there. People were very generous and kind and I had a great time getting to know more women in the area. I was asked several times what I do with my time here. It's not an uncommon question. Time seems to slip away from you here. Everything takes longer with traffic, and shopping is further away, people aren't in a hurry, and being on time isn't considered a virtue. Most women lose a portion of their identity moving here. We lose much of our independence, which is a difficult adjustment to make.

After coming home and warming up some soup in the microwave, the power went out. The laundry in the washer was not going into the dryer so I sat on the sofa to read and a minute later, water came crashing through our broken skylight onto the wood floor. It is being fixed on Friday or Saturday (maybe, if we're lucky). Mike had put plastic over it but with the hard rain, it pooled and became too heavy. I got every pot and towel I could find and mopped up the mess. Then, I climbed onto the roof with an umbrella, three boards and some plastic for a make shift, quick fix (don't ask). I was soaked after having to do this 3 more times. I sat down in dry clothes and began reading again, happy for some quiet, but the kids' after-school activities were canceled due to the near-by rioting, and they weren't as happy for the quiet. I came downstairs to figure out what was going on and saw Mitch and Jess laying on the couch practicing their forced laughs. Jess is an expert. Mitch, well, he still needs some work. They were bored out of their minds.

YM/YW was at 7:30, and I was assigned to bring a dessert. No power, no baking and no cooking. The kids and I ran to the grocery store, where the power was also out. 5 times out of 10, the power goes out while I'm shopping there, but I have learned that if I have cash, I can still buy things. We then decided to brave it and go to McDonald's, which is right next to the school and the riots. What we won't do for a hamburger and fries! Nothing like a little adrenaline rush to stave off the boredom too. We took the back roads and were fine. Our logic - if it was that bad, McDonald's would be closed, right?

There was a speaker for YM/YW who talked about success and commitment. And I learned a new word from the YW. Roncar ("honkar") which means to snore. That word will stay with me. Do you think I can remember to say something I could really use like, to give or to come?

Mike came home at 8 p.m. to a dark, empty house but there was at least McDonald's on the table waiting for him. : ) He got out on the roof to put a newly purchased tarp over my umbrella in the dark. We said family prayers to candlelight, and I tried not to think too hard about Elise going to bed without that and without a goodnight kiss. She made me kiss her bunny before she left so she could kiss him goodnight and get a kiss from me.

At 2:30 a.m. all the lights in the house came on! Mike woke up and turned off all the lights throughout the house and turned on fans for everybody who had been roasting through the humid night.

The reason I decided to write all of this; I thought it would be fun to look back on how we felt trying to become accustomed to the way things are here, but also because as I sat in the tub this morning, I thought to myself, it wasn't a bad day. It could have been, and would have been a few months ago. It may have even turned into a bad week. But it wasn't, and it hasn't. We were all generally happy but for a few moments of frustration. We rolled with it. I think that's progress. Progress that deserves to be documented and progress that feels good. It takes time and that's all there is to it. Seven months down.....

Now, I'm off to do the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. You know, the one with the broken water heater and no garbage disposal. : )