Around Brazil (and a quick trip to the UK)

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So it's been a little over a week, and what a week it has been! When last I wrote, I had been in Goiânia 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 Christmas party for the kids

My small group for the diocesan spiritual retreat in Goias

Went to lunch, ordered coconut water, got a whole coconut

I've seen lots of squirrels on restaurants, shirts, etc.
There are no actual squirrels that live here.

My room at the monastery for the spiritual retreat.
Mango tree and garden view.

This is the monastery dining hall.  Like nearly all the buildings I've seen here, it's less "outside vs inside" and more "under"
With no AC (except in the banks which are locked down tight and need the air piped in) cross breeze on a day thats 34C+ (~94F) is a bigger blessing than anything

The path from the dining hall back to my room at the monastery.  It was quite the beautiful place.

More monastery.

A street in Goias. I was told that all the stones in this colonial town
were laid by slaves here long ago. With all the hills, it must have been
nearly an impossible job.  And still the driving is quite rough.

More Goias.  Mango trees everywhere!

I saw this little guy numerous times around Goias.  He is the first
ever feral dachshund I have ever seen.  More surprisingly, he was the clear
leader of the pack of feral dogs.

Some familiar titles in an unfamiliar language in the shops of Goias.
(Homer's Odyssey, The tortoise and the hare, and Daniel and the lion's den)

Goias is a beautiful little town with a rich history.
I hope you are capable of wikipedia if you're interested, because
I don't really have the fortitude to write it all here.

Cora Coralina was the most famous poet from Goias.

Coconut Caramel ice cream (aka Sorvete [sore-vay-chey])
in the Goias town center

The center fountain and cathedral (I think) of Goias

More of the beautiful center of Goias

The house/historical site of Cora Coralina

The bishop's Sunday sermon in the open sided chapel of the monastery

Back in Brasilia, a quick lesson in city navigation
from the bishop.

We were invited to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Christian Aid (a humanitarian organization) at the UK embassy.
The man in the red tie is UK Ambassador Alex, and was a very gracious host and gave me a few tips about adapting to Brazilian life and Portuguese.

Some of the projects of Christian Aid
in English

One that's not in English, but discusses
indigenous land rights

Couldn't resist a selfie with such a great piece of art on UK soil

I got a cookbook
I cannot yet use the cookbook
Oh well. Goals.

I have issues typing, but this is fairly self explanatory
This is in the Pedregal neighborhood of Nova Gama where I'll eventually live and work 

"Portuguese of Brazil for foreigners"
My textbook for my lessons

The same cookbook as before
I got it because I have no idea how to cook
so much of the produce here that is new to me.
Also it has ice cream recipes. Sold.

In Portuguese, on sale.
I'm considering it a learning expense.
That's not a lie, right?

Cooking for the kids at the Centro Social Anglicano (CSA)
They got some really yummy pizza for their party
completely from scratch!
I helped...
mostly as a taste-tester.
What? It's a real job!

The view from my accommodations in Goiânia before heading to the monastery

This video is from the end of the closing Eucharist at the monastery retreat.

I think churches in states needs more congregational dancing.

(I danced before, but wanted to get video to share with all of you, promise) 

The students of the CSA sing a bit as part of their Christmas party.  This coming week will be the last before summer break.  I'll hopefully be ready to join the CSA team at the start of the 2016 school year after summer ends in February. I'll be teaching computers, helping with English and environmental education, and whatever else I can contribute to.

Other thoughts and remarks:

1. So I managed to go from NO monastery stays ever to 3 in a year.  I guess that's a side benefit of YASC. "Join YASC, see the monasteries of the world!"
2. I am very itchy.  While the people here are very happy to have me with them, their enthusiasm is nothing compared to that of the local mosquito population.  As the jingle goes: "The snack that smiles back: Rachel"
3. I'm sorry that I couldn't bring you marvelous pictures of the beautiful Brazilian countryside in all my travels.  Motion sickness is a real thing, and with all the hills, twists, and turns of this plateau region, rest assured you're not missing anything that I didn't miss myself.
4. Still accepting Christmas gifts ;-) So far I believe I've received 4 goats and counting.  You can peek at my last post if you want to learn more.
5. Make sure to look into some of the blogs of other YASCers (on the "all about YASC" page at the top).  They are doing some really awesome things from all over the world! And my friend Bryan, from the diocese of Puerto Rico will be arriving in Brazil for the start of his year on Saturday! I encourage you to follow his experience in this country as well, especially if you can read Spanish (although google translate is enough to get the gist)

If you have any questions for me that I may not have realized I overlooked, feel free to use the "Contact me" part of this page so we can start emailing and I can share more of what I'm learning.

I'm really trying to make time to post every week, just to keep up with all that is going on in the busy transition and Advent season. See you next time!