Back in Salvador!

I flew into Salvador on Sunday evening and went straight to church with the Jefferson's to church! I am excited that instead of just hearing "bla, bla, bla" in sermons I actually hear individual words and recognize many of them! I can't quite follow along with what he's saying but I predict that I will be able to within a month or two.

I have a English/Portuguese Bible and am beginning to study it (even though it's KJV) so that I can learn the words that will be most important to ministry here down the road when I can actually converse with Quilombolas without an interpretor.

"Order and Progress!"
These are the words on the Brazilian Flag!!...BUT...
I was warned about how inefficient things are here but didn't really expect it to be quite as bad as it is.
Five hours to open a cell phone account.
An entire day to renew *Visa's.
1. You get to an office that has processed Visa's for years and they say the location has changed. 2. You get there and it doesn't open until mid-morning.
3. You wait and then get sent to the mall to fill out an online form with the individual code you were given (website in complete Portuguese!).
4. Then you go to a bank to pay the Visa renewal fee using the barcode on the form you just printed at the mall.
5. Then you return to the Federal Police station at the Airport and fill out another form and pray that you're given favor with the attendant there because they are known for giving American's a really rough time,
6. and then finally get to go to another place in the city to get the documents stamped as authentic,
7. but they need copies of this document and that but don't have a xerox machine...
8. ...so we go to a store that has a xerox machine
9. and drop by the bank for cash because they don't take credit cards
10. and return to get the stamps.
The only reason we only spent an hour at that place is because we had a connection that let us cut in front of about an hours wait.

Unbelievable Processes!
Here everyone has to pay their bills at the bank. At the beginning and end of the month there are hundreds of people in line at the bank. It is truely unbelievable!!!!

College professors start phone chains if they decide to change the class location on any particular morning. They can choose to do this if they just happen to be on the other side of town and would prefer to stay there and bring all of the students to them. Students spend their whole day traveling by bus from class to class in different locations around the city! The students engaged in loud protesting in the streets during my first week here!

I could tell more and more stories like this!!!

Miss Multi-Task
The inefficiency is the most difficult adjustment to being here, but it is good for me too! Everyone close to me knows that back home every half hour of my day is scheduled on the calendar until bedtime, and friends can't get a slot until the following week often times. I rarely just talk on the phone, or just grocery shop, or just hang out with a friend without meeting at the park for a 3 mile walk to kill two birds with one stone. Many of us live this way in the US...sometimes it is good, and sometimes we just need to use the Brazilian policies of "He-lax (this is how they say relax) and "no stress". The Lord is transforming my perspective on so many things and I praise Him for it!!

Embracing the Simple Life
I'm struggling to embrace the simple life but can see how it pleases the Lord to give me a less stressed life, by force, and teach me to delight myself in the simple things that I have missed in my busyness back home.

Love Takes Time
Most importantly...loving people takes time! I long to love people better...as Christ does!! He doesn't give us 30 minutes of distracted time on His way to the next appointment. Such "efficiency and production" in one day must have it's roots in my own pride. How much better to love 15 people well then constantly apologize to 250 people that I didn't reply to their email fast enough or that I can't have lunch until next month cause I'm booked? :-) Just thoughts.