Three Bishops, Three Priests, and a missionary walk into a bar...

No, it's not the start of a joke, it was the start of my "Thanksgiving" dinner!

But I suppose it's best to start more at the beginning. Here are a couple pictures from my travel day:

I arrived at the Tampa airport at about 3 pm.  I landed in Brasilia at about 8 am.  That was fun. But the good news was that, while tired, I had just touched down in the largest coffee producing country in the world.  The Bishop brought me back to his home, where I'll be staying for a while (if you would like to send mail, I have an address, so please message or email me).  I got to meet his wife, and we all shared a Brazilian style breakfast.  After putting my things in my room, it was time to get changed.  We headed out to the neighborhood of Pedregal, where I'll be living and teaching eventually, to a family churrasco (barbecue), with a stop to pick up beverages on the way.  

  

 The meat gets cut and put on large metal skewers, then put over an open charcoal fire.  The second picture was literally just the beginning, by the end there was more than triple this amount of food, plus side dishes. I got to meet two of the Bishop's sons, and his granddaughter Estella (so cute!), and Estella's mother and a lot of her side of the family and cousins.  By the time we left, I think it was about nine hours later, and I was totally zombified from lack of sleep and a brain overloaded by a lot of Portuguese.  I fell asleep really early (read: 8:30 pm) and slept very soundly.
Day 2 brought another lesson in breakfast terms, then the Bishop took me back out to Pedregal to visit Centro Socio Anglicano (the Anglican Social Center where I'll work).  I got to meet the local priest, his wife, some lay leaders of the church, and the teachers and staff of the center, along with the morning shift students.  Public schools here operate only half the day, so some children go to school in the morning and the center in the afternoons, some do the opposite.  In their time at the center, students are able to work and reinforce their school studies in math, reading, and writing, and there are other options offered regularly for things like soccer (really popular), English (mostly older students), and dance (maybe they'll let me join as a student??).  This school year is almost done and they'll have their summer/holiday break starting next month until about March. So next school year, I'll be adding a class in computers to their options, and also helping with English and possibly environmental education classes. The school takes about 150 students at the moment, ages 3+, with a waitlist to get in of another 100+ students. With daily care, help, opportunities, and a snack, this program prioritizes students in the most dire financial situations and helps their families to maintain jobs, keep kids off the streets, and encourage a brighter future.

Groceries for the party!

In the mean time, I'm not the only visitor in town. On Tuesday, Bishop Mauricio went back to the airport to pick up more bishops! The Primate of Brazil, the Provincial Secretary of Brazil, the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican church of Canada, and the Secretary for the Presiding Bishop. So of course there needed to be a celebration.  Bishop Mauricio invited them all over for dinner at the house, along with many local clergy and the leaders I had met at the Center. So two wins for me: familiar faces, and other English speakers (but not both).  It was great to meet many of the priests I'll be seeing at future events, and it was a great chance to share stories, gifts, and time together. The party started around 7, and dinner was served just after 9 pm.  I've noticed that I am usually the first one in the house to head to bed, often around 1 am local time.  I like it!

On Wednesday, our whole crew (with all the bishops) headed back out the the Center.  The kids sang for us (video above), and we got to hear from those who started the Center how it truly came to be. A priest and his wife came to the area and she started a group for women to support each other in the face of poverty and gender violence.  Her husband, the priest, then started meeting with the men of the community to educate them about the problems of violence against women and children and how to be advocates for those who are vulnerable.  As these meetings continued, they noticed they needed help to care for the children with their parents attended, so they asked some adults and young people to help.  This time eventually transformed into educational aid and care, which later formalized into the Center.  We also got to hear about the funding and building of the current services offered and the new construction just finished this year.  I has a great and ongoing history of the community, diocese, partners, and friends stepping up in many ways to make this endeavor possible.  By a rough estimate, the existence of the center impacts over 800 member of the community of Pedregal each year. So after all this intense discussion, we took a break. With snacks and lunch!

 

In Brazil, they take their coffee small, strong, and heavily sugared and hot!  They also had sweet bread, cheese bread, cookies, and nut and banana breads.
Lunch was a family style meal, as most are, for all 14 of us.  The restaurant was known for its Carne do Sol which is common in the north regions of Brazil (which includes Brasilia, despite what you might think from a map).  It's a meat that is rubbed with special seasoning and aged in the bright Brazilian sun (hence the "do sol") and then grilled.  It's good!  And so are the feijo (beans), arroz (rice), farofa (a coarse manioca flour mixed with spices and meat), whole cooked manioca (called yuca in the states ususally or cassava, kinda like a potato but not), and some really amazing fried cheese (Brazil is big on meat, and big on cheese. YAY!!!)

After lunch, we headed back to the city, and stopped at the national cathedral (Catholic, obviously) which is open to the public and used for various ceremonies, including the Anglican church's installation of Bishops (including Mauricio).  The building was designed by Oscar Neimar, the architect of much of the city, and is stunning.

 

That evening, the clergy, bishops, and their associates (and I) gathered for a group discussion of some of the major issues percieved to face these two separate Anglican churches, the issues they feel they actually face, and the history and future of the partnership between the two.  It was very informative and inspiring. 

On Thursday, the great and wonderful Reverend Tatiana (I gotta be extra nice, not just for all her help, but because I'm staying at her house all next week) took me on an adventure.  Step one: figure out Brazilian bus system. Step two: go to airport to federal police stations to check in per visa protocol.  Step three: ignore federal police indifference and walk over to local police station.  Step four: learn that I'm missing about 3 things and need an appointment.  Step five: more bus.

Then we went to Patio Brazil, a local mall.  Upon entry, saw giant Papai Natal display with creepy animitronic elves in a sleigh, and a photo op for the holiday picture with Santa. Also, every store is covered with signs about Black Friday sales.  Sheesh.  We went up to the food court and I learned that maybe a build your own pasta place is not ideal when your vocabulary is so small.  I couldn't even recognize the required 8 ingredients to add to the pasta, so I just added cheese more than once.  Sometimes a loss is a win in disguise.

Then Tati helped me get a chippy (SIM card) for my phone.  I have yet to actually get the phone to function, but I will soon have a real phone number here, I hope.  The last stop in the mall was to try and change out my US currency for reais (the plural of the Brazilian real [pronounced "hay-Al" and "hay-ice"]).  Too bad the currency exchange shop only had US$ and euros left. 

After that adventure we went back to the house to get ready for the evening's service.  The Bishop came home about the same time after having spent the day with the visiting bishops and associates meeting the Canadian ambassador at his embassy.  He also stopped at Boulangerie for snacks, so at about 6 pm we had some great croissants, sourdough bread with orange marmalade or bleu cheese, and some chocolate croissants for Tati and I (the bishop doesn't like chocolate....weird).  Then we headed over to the Anglican cathedral for their Celebração do Dia de Ação de Graças. This wonderful 7:30 pm service started promptly at 7:45, which I wished many times was the case at home.

The mural in the Cathedral's sanctuary

With the picture of Rev. Patricia Powers
former dean who now lives in DSWFL

And now we're back to the beginning picture of me with 3 bishops and 3 priests at an after church dinner. At 10 pm. With fried chicken (it was amazing), veggie fried rice, fries, hummus and pita, and many many bottles of beer. I was very thankful for all of it!

Me with the Primate of the Anglican Church of Brazil
and some unruly Canadians in the back  ;-) 

Today was some more sightseeing of the Capitol.  Itamaraty Palace, the home of the ministry of foreign affairs, was beautiful! The entrance hall is the largest open room without any support pillars, and like almost every building in Brazil that I've seen so far, the outside is inside too.

After, Tati, Rev. Magda (dean of the cathedral), and I went and toured the Parliament building. And had lunch together.

I loved the cARTpet

The ceiling was strange but pretty

I believe this pen belonged to Princess Isabelle, but the sign
was in Portuguese only, so that could be wrong.

Former presidents of the Senato
Facial hair required, I guess

 After lunch Tati took me for Sorbete (sore-bet-chay) aka Ice Cream and we got to walk home.

Brazilian Grafite (NOT equivalent to US "Graffiti")

I played it safe and got Sweet cream and a scoop of banana

Corn ice cream, and...I have no idea what those are

Avocado ice cream and pineapple ice cream

Grafite of the famous briddge in Brasilia

I could probably talk more, but it's getting later here and my computer is about to die, so you're welcome to post questions and I'll be happy to answer about anything I left out or didn't explain well.

Tomorrow I travel to Goiânia.