Six months in - little things, football and James Bond

A lift selfie with Nick and my Brazilian parents!

Last week it was six months since I arrived here in Recife and it got me thinking about how much God has provided over this time and the things I'm going to miss when I head back to England. Here are some of the many little things that make me smile in my day to day life here.

Children laughing
The bus conductors´ place name rap that they yell out the window
The sound of the sea
Being called Tia Flor (Auntie Flo)
My Brazilian Dad´s milkshakes
The way in which every time someone arrives late to class/Sunday School the whole lesson stops to say hello to them
Bible verses in the most random places, from the front of buses, to the side of the hot dog stand cart, to on receipts.
The constant music everywhere and our family car singing sessions
Hearing children reading
Arriving in Barra de Jangada and lots of children running over for hugs
Football banter
Learning new songs at church
Seeing my friends

The last two weeks

One big 'coincidence' (God-incidence!) recently has been that a friend of a friend moved to Recife for a few months and when I got in touch with her I discovered that she is living ON MY ROAD. In a city of three and a half million that's pretty incredible and as if that wasn't enough of a coincidence then it turned out that her boyfriend lives basically in my village at home and went to my 6th form! So now enjoying getting to know Georgia and showing her round :)

I'm standing in Barra de Jangada with zebra-puppet Bobby in hand, teaching an English lesson on introducing yourself. Apart from two boys at the back it's going better than I expected. As the morning draws to a close I start to think about the rest of the day. This afternoon I'm taking a lady to visit her sister in hospital and I'm feeling anxious. What if we can't find the hospital? What am I going to say? What will it be like? I pray under my breath as I walk to a friend's house to have a quick lunch. I feel shattered after a very short night and out of my depths.

We're standing at the lady's bedside on floor eight of a huge hospital after an easy journey and I sit down at her side to say a few words. She is crying and as I read some Bible verses and pray with her, I'm holding her hand. It is hard and the hospital conditions are pretty awful but I'm so grateful for the chance to be there with her, for the chance to see the joy she has in seeing her sister, at hearing news of her children, to see her listening so intently to each Bible verse. I leave her to talk with her sister and sit on the chairs in the corridor with Rafael, he is chatting away about Hebrew homework, in front of us one of the few nurses is on facebook, it is quiet, strangely quiet for a hospital.

It's Tuesday night and I am driving into Porta Larga with 12 year old Erika and my Brazilian Dad, in his huge, white, bullet-proof car. We're taking Erika home from her volleyball lesson and, as we slowly work our way through the community, it is busy and everyone seems to be out in the street. People look with interest at this enormous car and I try and wave to a lady I know, at which point my Brazilian Dad (laughing) reminds me of how tinted the windows are. It feels wrong to be arriving in such luxury, I want to be on foot, to be able to chat and hug and not attract so much attention. As Boe turns the car around, I open the door to speak to 12 year old Leticia. Soon we are surrounded by a big group of children, all trying to see inside the car and amazed at its freezing air conditioning. I wish we could take them all for a ride, but after a few hellos and a quick chat we have to rush on.

I'm standing in the library at the Seminary where I study, chatting to Paulo. My English Bible is out on the counter and he has just discovered that the book Tiago is called James in English. He looks thoughtful for a moment and then says "Wait does that mean that James Bond just means Tiago Bond?" I nod. "No no no nooo that can't be true!" I assure him it is. "But that's just ruined James Bond for me, that just can't be true... James Bond is such an exotic name and now it seems so normal!" Paulo starts to call people over and tell them this awful discovery. Soon there are several slightly put out men in disbelief at how James Bond could have such a 'normal' name as Tiago!

We're sitting at the World Cup stadium watching the local Recife derby of Nautico (my team!) versus Santa Cruz. My brother is spending 3 days holiday here after being sent to Rio with work and we have come to watch the game with Georgia, my Brazilian Dad, sister and several friends. Things aren't looking good, we're 4-1 down and the singing around us has melted away, leaving a frustrated murmuring, a lot of swear words and the sound of the man selling ice lollies. By the time it's 5-1 we decide to try and miss the rush at the end and leave slightly early. As we walk to the car we hear a cheer. It turns out to be another goal to Nautico. As we leave the car park the, extremely dramatic, commentary announces yet another goal to Nautico, 5-3... could this be an incredible comeback in the final 2 minutes?! ...Maybe not, but we head for home a bit less deflated and with a bit more defense against the many Brazilian uncles who support Santa Cruz!

Georgia and Nick

I had a lovely few days with Nick and although it was a quick visit we managed to see lots of places, catch up lots and have some great meals!

If you've read down this far you can have the privilege of my current favourite Brazilian song, Im learning to sing it in the car with my Brazilian Dad! 

When the parents came to visit....

Sorry it's been ages since my last post. My parents were visiting over the last few weeks and we had an amazing but very busy time of meeting lots of people, seeing lots of different places, eating a lot of Brazilian food and translating a lot between English and Portuguese! Here are some highlights of our time together.

Taking them to Porta Larga and church to meet lots of amazing children and teenagers!

Giving them a taste of Brazilian dancing (including me and my Mum and my Brazilian Mum taking part in a massively energetic Frevo class!)

A week's holiday on an island called Fernando de Noronha where we had a really lovely time relaxing on the beach, swimming with turtles and sharks (!) and generally catching up.

My Parents getting to know my Brazilian family and travelling with them, including late night dominoes, Anchorman 2 at the cinema and lots of yummy food!

It was really lovely to have them here and be able to give them a taste of my life here in Recife. Introducing them to everyone also made me realise just how much God has provided for me with the amazing people he has put around me. 

Since my parents went home life has stayed pretty busy with various birthday parties (including the most incredible 1 year old's party ever, featuring a three tier cake, 2 roller coasters, a 4D cinema, a bowling alley, a nightclub and some mickey mouse shaped pizzas, I kid you not.) This morning I was back at the project in Barra running an art lesson based around Jacob's ladder (Genesis 28:10-17).

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

What a huge privilege to get to serve such a faithful God and to share what he's doing in my life with my parents over these last few weeks :)

I hope you are well and that this Lent is a really fruitful and special time for you all, 

I'll leave you with the video my Brazilian Dad made of my parents goodbye at the airport! Lots of love xxxx