Rocks

Friday's Pictures

Today we left early for the work site to help with the pouring of the concrete. We arrived about 7:30AM and looked for the concrete trucks. They were supposed to be there at 7:30AM (Brazilian time. That’s not a time zone, that’s a lifestyle and philosophy). While we waited for 7:30AM Brazilian time, we started attaching the rebar intersections that were skipped last night. BTW, I still hate rebar! I helped Marvin and Clayton move about 6,000 8’ tree trunk supports from one place to another. OK – maybe 150 of them. Sometimes things seem bigger down here than they really are. Finally at 9:45AM (just slightly late by Brazilian time), the concrete truck showed up and started pumping. Mike, AJ and Pastor Jim got into the fore with rebar hooks, lifting the rebar grid up into the concrete mix. What a back-breaking job. Others helped the construction company lift more concrete ceiling forms (another back-breaking job!). And then to add to the back-breaking jobs, I ended my morning at the work site with JT laying black grout into white tile. There’s another job that I’ve never done, but enjoyed working on anyway! I hope the kids that use that classroom don’t look at the floor too closely! The best thing about this morning’s work on the site was that it was lighter than the previous four days. And I think everybody needed and appreciated it.

After lunch, we had a small break (read nap for me!) and loaded up and headed into Rio to go to the rock shop. It was about a 45 minute trip, taking us again through many different areas of Rio. Ken and I discussed how beautiful the city was, and yet, at the same time, full of contrast. At one point were driving through very low-income sections of town, then fifteen minutes later it looked like we had pulled onto Rock Road in Wichita. Outback Steak House, American banks, Exxon, car dealerships, McDonalds (with playground!), Blockbuster, Dominoes Pizza, and even the Statue of Liberty to top it off.

We then pulled up to this strip mall, and walked pass an armed guard to enter the rock store. I have never seen so many rocks for sale in my life. And not just any rocks, but seven foot tall geodes as well! And they weren’t cheap. Some of the rocks were thousands of American dollars. When you figure how low the pay in Brazil is, it makes it even more costly. Then Pastor Jim told us that even though this was a lot of beautiful rocks, it wasn’t where they usually picked out their rocks, and that there was more upstairs. WOW! There were twice as many rocks upstairs as there were on the first floor! We spent over an hour picking out souvenir rocks to take home to our families. Andrew and Adam, I have your geodes!

We left the rock store and went to another large mall. We had about an hour to shop before we needed to head back home for dinner. AJ, Don and I walked around looking in sports stores for shoes (Don knows his shoes!) and soccer balls. Most shoes that would cost $100 in the states cost about R$400 here (over $200 dollars!). The cheapest full size soccer ball we found was R$59 ($25), but we didn’t buy. When then found a food court, and I tried another Brazilian delicacy – McDonalds! I was very proud of myself. Without any translator, I successfully ordered myself a large fry (batata grande) and a large Coca-cola (Coca grande) for R$7.65 (exchange is about 1.9 Reals to 1 Dollar – you do the math :) ).

I then found a book store where I bought Emily (my 14 month-old) a board book in Portuguese (maybe I’ll learn some Portuguese now!). I think she will enjoy that more than a geode! I was feeling good about myself, with now having two transactions under my belt with no translator. As we were leaving, we stopped at the “California Coffee” stand – what seemed to be a direct copy of Starbucks (Craig, you might want to notify headquarters). After unsuccessfully trying to order a “moka grande,” a lady in line translated for me and helped me get my coffee. People here are so nice!

The trip home was an adventure in itself (as are most trips in a vehicle in Rio). Riding in the comby, (or “Gumby” as Pastor Kendall calls it – a VW bus), we saw many interesting driving habits. In Rio, if you hesitate, you die. It’s as simple as that. The amazing thing is that we have not seen a lot of accidents – many fewer than the equivalent metro driving in the states. So people are fast and barely follow street signs/lights/lines/suggestions, but they must be good drivers as well.

After dinner, about ten of us sat around the dinner table with Pastor Pedro Paulo and discussed how the church operates here in Brazil. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again (and again), Pastor Pedro Paulo is a fascinating man, pastor, and leader. I truly believe that how he is doing church here in Nilopolis is how church should be (and probably will be soon) doing church. He has such a great balance of community ministry with personal development topped off with huge (and I mean huge) amounts of prayer (like three prayer meetings a day, most days of the week). It was fascinating to sit and listen to him talk how he has taken a church of 88, who felt like they could do nothing, and changed them into a church of 2000+, who are planting churches all over Brazil, supporting (themselves!) over 60 different community programs, building a school, and building a new sanctuary that will seat over 3,000. And this is not in an affluent section of a US city, this is Nilopolis, Brazil! WOW! I think there is a lesson to be learned here in Brazil!

Well, it’s 1AM, and the city is starting to get quieter (except for the alarm that goes of for 2 seconds every night at 12:55AM and 1:00AM – what is that alarm???). I am finally caught back up on the blog, so mom, you can quit worrying about me! :)

Keep praying us!

Mark

PS - Keep those comments coming - its so encouraging to here from you! They are being shared with the entire team regularly (both San Jose and Kansas!)