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Showing posts from December, 2015

On the 4th day of Christmas, this blogger gives you a NEW POST!

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*WARNING: this post contains a youtube video.  You will need to view this on my actual website* So if you are not a long time reader of this blog, I'm quite a music nerd, and I'm pretty sure it's hereditary.  Both my parents are lifetime musicians who sing and play multiple instruments each (well, they know how, even if they are a bit out of practice now because of needing to work at real jobs that pay money and all that) and encouraged (read: forced) my sister and me towards the same.  Being able to bring my guitar to play, and the ability to read music and my hymnals and books from home to sing with has been one of the most valuable tools so far here in Brazil.  Many of the hymns in their tiny hymnal (no notes, just words) are sung to many of the same tunes as our hymns back home, although the words and meanings can vary greatly.  But, it is FAR easier to sing a tune you know while focusing all your attention on pronunciation of a language you've barely learned, than

Around Brazil (and a quick trip to the UK)

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* WARNING: This post contains an embedded YouTube video that will not show up if you receive this via email.  Please head to the web or mobile site to watch. So it's been a little over a week, and what a week it has been! When last I wrote, I had been in GoiĆ¢nia for a couple days already.  I've stayed in 3 other cities since then and attended a spiritual retreat, school wide Christmas party, and started Portuguese lessons (not in that order)... Speaking of "not in that order" for those who might not guess, it's quite difficult to rearrange pictures in this type of blog post. Also, I can be kinda lazy about some things, so in order to get this post to you this week instead of never (it's already 5 days later than planned) I'm just gonna caption these with details and warn you now that they jump back and forth between events.  They say variety is the spice of life, so consider this collection well seasoned. The kitchen crew (well, kinda) for the Chri