Ahhh the life of a carioca

Hello!

Sorry I know I have been slacking off on blogging but I didn't have a good internet connection in our apartment until two days ago! So PRAISE GOD! We now have internet in our apartment. This is only one of the ways that God has taught us to trust in him during our time in Rio.

Thank you to each and every one of you who has prayed for us over the last few months and especially during our first official week in Brazil. It has been a crazy and awesome transition. We are slowly getting integrated into daily life here and it's awesome.

Here are a few of our routines:
-Daily walks to the Recreio shopping mall across the street from our apartment. They have clothing stores and everything like a regular mall but we like it because it has "Casa & Video" which is a store that has nicknacks for our apartment like rugs, racks for drying clothes, pots, pans, etc. We also like the mall because it has a "Sendas" which is a small grocery store where we can buy fresh bread, cheese, meat, delicious fruit, and of course the staples such as Guarana, pao do quiejo, and cookies.
-Going to the ocean. It is only a fifteen minute walk from our apartment and it is a GORGEOUS beach!!! Looking at it is beautiful and hopefully we will all be lookin like Brazilians by the time we leave in two months ; )
-Keeping our apartment clean: we have tile floors so it gets dirty quick and with no dish washer the dishes stack up quick. But we just got a washing machine today so we are living large!
-With only six Portuguese channels, no dvd player, and only one computer with internet we spend a lot of time reading on the roof, talking and getting to know one another (sharing some seriously hilarious and awkward moments), going on walks around the beautiful neighborhood, showering, and sleeping.
-We are always trying to learn more Portuguese! So we read billboards, read our books, and try talking to people to pick up more everyday!

It is cool because we each get to find a Brazilian to partner up with and learn Portuguese while we teach them English. I will be connecting with a woman named Luciana who is a physcial fitness trainer :) oh yeah. Hopefully I'll get to hit the local gym down the street where she works a few times. I have started running outside on different routes and I love it! We also have a gym up top but I haven't tried that one out yet. Our roof has a gorgeous view of the ocean, a gym, a coffee shop and a pool. I want to swim really bad but it hasn't been that warm and I'm pretty sure the Brazilians in our building would look at me like I'm crazy because it is their winter here. But those of you who know me know I really don't care about being crazy so I'll probably be taking a dip...I'll let you know how it goes.

I am sleeping well here (thanks for the prayer Brian : ) and my quiet time has been amazing. The Lord has been taking me through Mark and I am learning a ton. We are also doing a bible study as a group reading through Cast of Characters. It is a book by Max Lucado where he takes a look at different characters in the bible that God uses in big ways even though they seem like ordinary people. So far we have read about Joseph and Matthew. I would highly recommend this book.

Funny stories....you all know me. I am not much of a coordinated person. So besides the daily tripping over sidewalks, rocks, cords, and the other usuals I have had a few mishaps.

1. The first night I tried to make us some pao do quiejo for dinner. It's little mini rolls with cheese in the middle. Very delicious. But our oven doesn't have a rack in it currently and we didn't have a baking sheet or a pan without plastic handles that would melt in the oven so I tried to make an oven out of the stove. Needless to say it did NOT work and I burned the living daylights out of the pao, made our apartment stink, and caused us to eat granola bars for dinner.
2. The second night we got a baking pan and I jimmyrigged the racks on top of the stove to fit in the oven. So again....I made pao. It looked beautifully golden brown and delicious. But when I went to go pull the meal out of the oven I didn't open the door wide enough and it slammed back and scraped/burned my hand on it's way. I yelled out in a fit of joy as my hand started gushing blood and seared from the heat. Needless to say the pao was still good and the hand is finally healing.
3. The third night I was outside on a bench just across from our apartment because we don't have internet in our house trying to write a few emails to family and loved ones. It was the first time that I wore shorts outside even though it was chilly out. I figured I would be safe from mosquitoes. WRONG! By the time I finished my legs were feeling really weird. They were burning. So I hurried up and ran inside. When I got in the elevator and finally looked down at my legs I realized that I had been bitten ALL OVER! I mean I looked like I had a flesh born disease on my legs! It was crazy!!! So my roommates tried to help me by buying me some ointment for my legs but what I didn't realize at the time was that it was cortizone cream...which I just so happen to be allergic too. So I woke up in the middle of the night with a burning/itching sensation that I have never experienced before in my life. Praise God...I had one benadryl in the bottom of my suitcase. Now it's all good my legs are tan and normal...for now.

These are the basics for now. Much more has transpired but I cannot make this blog too long for the sake of my faithful readers. More to come.

God is good. We had a great time with the youth group saturday night and at the church service sunday evening seeing old friends and meeting new ones. God is setting up opportunities to work with differnt churches, possible opportunities helping homeless street kids, mentoring young adults, going and inviting local youth at English courses throughout the city to the Celivre church and so much more. So pray for the ministries that God is preparing for us. Pray for the students and people we will come into contact with. And pray that we would keep our eyes continuously focused on Him!!!

Thank you for all the prayer and encouragement. It has made all the difference in the world!

Blessings,
Anna