brasil, brasil!

this is a continuation of the last post, a small picture journal of what´s been going on here... just wanted to show yall what i´ve been up to here with my awesome host family, the sabarenses... the it´s hard to believe that i´ve only been here since wednesday, it seems like such a long time ago that i got to belo and have become sabarense sister #5... it´s been great so far, everything is so new and exciting, i´m sure there will come a point when i will get a tad bit homesick (hopefully it won´t happen soon and i don´t get too homesick) but for right now, all´s well...

now, on to the pictures...

my host dad bought us tickets to go see galo play their second-to-last game in the stadium until the world cup in a few years... the stadium will be shut down for renovations until then, and he thought it was absurd that i´ve never been to a professional soccer match! so, off we went today, after visiting his parents at their country house earlier this afternoon... (pics to come)

one side note: i kept calling the big blow-up mascot the ´big chicken´but apparently, that´s not his name... my little brother, cuau says that this is GALO ATLETICO MINEIRO... he is six, by the way! :]

tchau houston!!!

hi everyone, just wanted to get you guys some pics of the last few days leading up to my departure from houston to brazil... i put some captions on here, but you´ll have to read the blog post later... agora, esperou que voce disfruta nestes fotos!!! [now, i hope you enjoy these photos!!!]

my super-awesome friend and former co-worker katie organized a happy hour with my officemates at a local hangout, jax grill... they pitched in and bought me a cookie-cake with south america frosted on it, and the approximate location of belo horizonte marked as well... it was so sweet of them!!! the group pics we took didn´t come out but these are the ones that did! (anyone in the HRC have a group pic?)

me with my cookie cake!

me and elaine (eeeeeeeelaine), bud (a.k.a. chip) and andrew (a.k.a. scrappy doo) :]

me & ms. mary

me & ms. katie

this is the wonderful ´chahhhhlessss´(a.k.a. charles du rapau, world-traveling linguist and volunteer BIP portuguese teacher)... seriously, everyone in brazil comments about what a great teacher i must have had to have learned so much in just two and a half months!!! thanks, chahhhlessss!!!

haha, i don´t think charles knew i took this picture... proof that we did LOTS of work in our language classes every week!

already in shock...

we are officially on the plane in miami, waiting to depart for rio de janiero... it's already been a comedy of errors, slight delays and hunger... but we are troopers and we are excited to get to brazil!
I will post an update hopefully soon after we land, but until then, prat for our safe travels and safe return...
totallyexcitedtobeinbrazil!!! :)

peace and love to all and thanks so much for believing in me and what I'm doing! :)

home sweet home!

yes, folks, i'm in windy lubbock, texas, today!!! drove in last night from houston with my sister and her kids for a dinner with family & friends at my parents' house tonight... just a little 'send-off' before i leave for south america in a few days... i'll be explaining to everyone a little more in-depth about what i'm doing with the International YMCA in Brazil this summer and how they can help if they are so moved... towards the end of the dinner, i'm asking everyone to join in prayer to bless our trip, for my safety and the safety of my fellow interns, and that this time is a powerful and eye-opening time of reflection and discernment... i'll post highlights later!

things are whizzing by SO FAST (seriously, at LEAST 17 things on my to-do list at last count!), but i had to stop and take a look at the South Plains Catholic newspaper, which carried an article on what i'm doing this summer... my cousin called and said she saw me in the paper and she couldn't believe her eyes! i'll admit, i'm ecstatic to see the write-up in my hometown catholic newspaper!!! i really hope that someone sees what i'm doing and thinks about where & how God may be calling them, whatever their current circumstances are... anyway, take a look at the article online here on page 4: www.catholiclubbock.org/SPC.pdf

ahh, lubbock... i <3 being home! last night when we arrived it was still in the 90's, clear, dark skies lit up with millions of bright stars, and just felt right. today, of course, it's in the 60's, kinda breezy and overcast... what can i say, that's what you get with lubbock weather! still, i love it even though it's not the best cookout weather, lol...

well, that's all for now... more in the coming days, stay tuned!

peace and love!

T-15 days and counting...

well, folks, we officially got our itineraries yesterday at my third-to-last portuguese class and i can't believe it! it's totally happening!!! ahhhhhh!!!!!

every week for the past two months my fellow interns and i have been attending weekly portuguese language classes with a private tutor on sunday afternoons and wednesday nights, along with brazilian culture and travel classes on saturdays... it has been such a BIG commitment every week that it has been hard remembering that there would be an end in sight and that all of these classes and trainings would eventually not be there anymore, instead replaced with real life experiences!

departure time is almost upon us and i can't believe it! there's so much to do in less than two weeks, ay ay ay...

just off the top of my head, i came up with a list of 13 essential, must-do items to take care of between now and my leave date... ohhhmmmyyygggggggggosh! i know this list will keep growing if i continue to think about it all... [gulp!]

well, i just wanted to give you a small update on my travel... it'll be here before i know it! woohoo!