Passport Photo Renewals

Well, it’s almost time to renew our kids’ passport photos, which of course means new passport photos.  I thought I’d let you see what I go through to try to get one good shot of both kids! (we try to keep it fun!)

Johnathan's Language School

   Johnathan has really enjoyed language school here in Brazil. He has class everyday for about 20 minutes with our language teacher. They go through his picture books for vocabulary and then make simple sentences with the words. Sometimes they "play store" or find other ways to interact and use Portuguese in common settings. She very patiently corrects his pronunciation and verb conjugations since the verbs are much more complex in Portuguese than in English.  

   The strange face he makes (0:32) is because his teacher told him that one of the types of shovels is called a "cereal shovel" (grain shovel). The only "cereal" that he understands is the kind you eat for breakfast, so he turned to his Daddy and said in English, "It'd have to be clean first!"

Holy Fish!

     Have you eaten your Holy Fish today?  This week leading up to Easter Sunday, every where you go here in Brazil you see road-side stands selling "Peixe Santo" = "Holy Fish," sounds good, right!?!!

     Obviously, this is in connection with the catholic church and "Good Friday."  Honestly, I've tried to research it, but it seems even those who practice this disagree with each other about the reasoning behind it.  Basically, from what I understand, since Christ was (assumedly) crucified on this day, they refuse to eat meat, in remembrance of His shedding of blood.  However, fish is not considered to be meat (perhaps because fish don't bleed when cut?) and so tradition mandates that you must eat "Holy Fish" on "Holy Friday."

     Obviously, this is good for business here: the first photo advertises that they accept "All types of credit cards."  The fishermen love the sales - this week alone, in our city of approximately 800,000 people,  the fishermen are expecting to sell between 400-500 metric tons of fish, according to this news article.  That's around one million pounds (1,000,000 lb.) of fish!   Almost anywhere you go, you can buy your "Holy Fish;" apparently you can even enjoy an alcoholic beverage while you wait in line, if you'd like!

     I am definitely thankful for Christ's substitutionary death on the cross, but I'm glad I don't have to eat a Holy Fish to commemorate it!

     By the way, if I have gotten my facts off on any of this, please let me know - I'd love to know about the reasons behind this strong tradition!

I might just cry over spilled milk....

 Milk is one of the things we miss most. You know, real, creamy, cold whole milk. We can buy milk down here, but it isn't at all the same. Here you buy your milk in boxes...off the shelf...unrefrigerated. Yes, I said "un"refrigerated.

   They "super-heat" the milk so that it kills the bacteria, and then it can sit in a box on your shelf for up to six months before you drink it. Mmmmmm. Doesn't that just sound so appetizing? :)  After you open the box, you have to refrigerate it and drink it within two days.  Everything dairy is made with this milk. You can taste it in the cheese, ice cream, etc.

This is the way we bought milk for the first several months that we were here. We used it, but somehow milk that has been sitting out on a shelf for a few months doesn't have that great of a flavor, and it's actually slightly gritty in texture - not creamy at all.

We finally discovered that some local dairy farmers were selling milk at the weekly market at the town square.  We were very excited.  It comes in these 2-liter bottles. Did you notice that they all have different caps? That's because those bottles were first used for different brands of soda. Because of the "cleanliness" (?) of the twice-used bottles, and the fact that the milk hasn't been refrigerated before we buy it (and it isn't always from that morning's milking), I pasteurize the milk. It does take extra hassle and work, but it's worth it to be able to have good milk every week.

I use a double-boiler to bring the milk to the correct temperature without scorching it. 

 When it reaches the correct temperature, I dump it into another pan that then gets an ice bath.

 Bringing the temperature of the milk back down quickly is better for the life of the milk, and it seems to help it not to pick up any strange flavors.  I stir the milk as it is cooling to help it cool faster. 

I have to do this for each 2-liter bottle of milk we buy. Here is the milk I get for my work. It's six liters of pasteurized milk that will last us (if we use it carefully) a week. In all, it takes about two hours of non-stop work every week, plus the time that Omar has to bike down to the farmer's market early every Sunday morning to buy it.  A bit of a hassle, but worth it to have good milk!

Mugshots and Fingerprinting

      Every year when we re-apply for our visas, we have to get fingerprinted and mug shot - (how on earth do you make that into a verb?!)  Last year was all ink, and it was such a mess, that with a 2 year old and 7 month old, no one had a clean hand to take pictures. :)  
      

     This year they're a bit more sophisticated. We only had to ink our right thumbs. Everything else was done digitally. It might have been less messy, but it took FOREVER! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the kids (and the fingerprinter-er) being patient through the long process. I think it took about an hour for all four of us to get done.

Futebol Americano - Open Doors

     It is interesting how the Lord, at times, gives us desires and then uses those desires to help us serve Him joyfully.  I've always enjoyed football, though if you've ever met me, you know by my stature that I've never been a star player!  I've also always enjoyed photography.  However, it wasn't until recently that I've been able to mix the two.

     Soon after arriving here in Cuiabá, Brasil, I discovered that our city has a "football" team.  If you've ever traveled outside of the U.S., you know that that usually means, "soccer."  However, our city has a "Futebol Americano" team (American football)  I was even more surprised to find that our team is actually very good!  In fact, this weekend they play for the National Championship!

     It all began when I visited a practice session and was invited by the president of the team to photograph a game from the sidelines - I was excited!  I have now had the opportunity to photograph several of their games and have had some of my photos published both in the local newspapers and on the AFAB website (American Football Association of Brazil).  Before I make it sound bigger than it is, I should mention that football is a newer thing here in Brazil and so they are looking for any publicity as they can get.



     Now here is the best part: the Lord has used this opportunity to open the door for me to meet and make contacts with a completely different side of Brazil!  I've been able to meet and befriend people in the Education system, Lawyers and Law Students, Physical Therapists and Medical personnel, various Journalists and Photographers, as well as a number of players!  I was even invited to hold regular Bible studies with the team, but for various reasons (language, etc...) I was not able to accept at this time.

     I was also reminded of the importance of living the christian life day in and day out.  Although I am obviously all for handing out tracks, many people are not interested in your ability to hand them a piece of literature.  They would rather see that you live the christian life than that you merely talk the christian talk.  It's been amazing to me to see the doors that have been opened as a result of just a little bit of "community involvement." Please pray with us that God would continue to develop these contacts he has given us!  What an exciting adventure it has been and I look forward to seeing what all the Lord will bring about as a result of these opportunities!

Here are a few photos that I've taken of our team, the Cuiabá Arsenal.

Arsenal vs. Botafogo Espectros - 21-20

Playoffs Semi-Final

Arsenal Vs. Rio Preto Wielers

W 55-0

TOUCHDOWN!

Arsenal Vs. Porto Alegre Pumpkins (yes, that is their team's name!) 

W 41-7

      I am definitely looking forward to taking photos for the Championship game this weekend vs. the Coritiba Crocodiles!

Festa de Coxinhas!

      A couple of weeks ago, we had a coxinha party at one of the church members' house. It's kind of difficult to explain exactly what a coxinha is.   They are meat-filled deep fried manioc teardrops. They take a LOT of work and a LOT of time!  The women started to work on them at 1:30 in the afternoon, and we didn't get to eat until after 9:00!  

      The manioc is what took most of the time.  Manioc is a root that is used in a variety of ways here in Brazil and in other parts of the world.  It can be fried, boiled, mashed, etc. 

      For our coxinhas, 20 kilos (that's 44 lbs!) of manioc first had to be peeled, which involves removing a bark-like outer layer.  Then it was washed and chopped into smaller sections.  After that it was placed in several pressure cookers and cooked until it softened enough to be mashed. 
      We started mashing it with forks, but it was too hard, so we had to switch to mashing it with our fingers :) 

      Then there were many veggies that had to be chopped and diced to add to the meat when it was being cooked.  (We made chicken and hamburger coxinhas.)  

    By the time that everything was ready to be assembled, it was already after 6:00. Many of the men had arrived from their jobs at that time, and came to help.  

  
   Some garlic fried in oil was added to the big tub of manioc, and folded in by hand. Then it was time to form the coxinhas.  We started with a ball of mashed manioc, and formed it into a bowl.  Then we added some of the chicken or hamburger mixture to it. This is where it got kind of humorous, because everyone, (men and women included), thought that they had the best technique for forming the coxinhas.  :) 

      The coxinhas then had to be closed at the top, which formed the point.  Then they were dusted with flour, and ready to be fried!

      They were deep fried in oil, and placed in a styrofoam box to keep warm until they were all finished.  In all, we made over 200 coxinhas!       

 
    As soon as the "okay" was given, and the chow-down began.  The kids eagerly lined up on the floor and accepted their first coxinha.  (Poor kids were STARVING by now, because remember, I said we didn't get to eat until AFTER 9:00!)   I'm not sure how many coxinhas were left over, but there weren't very many.  Mahalia and I shared about 4 coxinhas, but one of the men ate 15 of them! 
      I guess the best way to describe a coxinha is: meat wrapped in mashed potatoes and then deep fried.  The manioc was still soft, but had a nice crispy outer layer. 
      Now I understand why they only do this about once a year!  It was a LOT of work, but it was a lot of FUN!  

Our Morning View

     Every morning we get to watch parrots and parakeets fly over our house. This morning some Red-shouldered Macaws stopped in the mango tree across the street and so we got to watch them for a while.

Family Camp 2012 - Cleaning

This is the way we mop the floor,

 Mop the floor,

 Mop the floor,

 This is the way we mop the floor,

 When we live in Brazil!

When I was taking these pictures, you should have seen the weird looks that I was getting from the Brazilian ladies (you can see the smile on the lady in the second picture; she REALLY thought I was nuts!)  When the camp director's wife explained to them why I would take a picture of something so common (she understands because she is a Brazilian, but she's been to the States) they looked at her like she must be crazy!  How on earth do American's get their floors clean, anyway?!

When a Brazilian washes her floors, she starts by dumping a large bucket of soapy water on it.  Then she takes a broom and scrubs the suds around, brushing any "sticky" areas.  Then comes a bucket of rinse water.  Now, how is she going to get all of that water out of her house, you might ask?  With a squeegee, of course!  See the lady on the right in the bottom picture?  She uses a large squeegee and pushes all the water outside where it will quickly evaporate in this heat.   

You may be thinking, "that would ruin my house!"  And you're right!  But there are no carpets, drywall, or wooden floors here.  The floors are tiled or concreted, and the walls are block or tile, so it really is a faster, easier way to clean the floors.

And now you know:

This is the way we mop the floors,

When we live in Brazil!

Family Camp 2012 - Food

Ahhhhhhh! Food.  Be prepared to be jealous.  Brazilian food is GOOD!  There were so many yummy meals to choose from, but finally narrowed it down to these tasty dishes.  

I (Tracy) had the oportunity to work in the kitchen quite a bit during Family Camp.  It was interesting to see how you go about cooking from scratch for 200 people.  It's a lot of hard work, that's what!  The cooks were in the kitchen ALL DAY LONG!  You can't buy many canned or pre-packaged foods here, so everything has to be done by hand.  And you can trust me, tearing every leaf of arugula off of its plant to make salad for 200 people takes FOREVER!!! (thank you for letting me get that out of my system :)

Rice.  Brazilians could not survive without rice and beans.  Seriously!  Just ask every woman, and she will tell you that she has to make rice and beans EVERY day for her family.  It was funny to hear the cooks grumble about how much rice they go through in one month.  Even if they were to make a complete meal, they would still have to make rice and beans too.  It's just expected.

At camp, they made 33 pounds (that's dry/before cooked) of rice for lunch and supper every day.  That's a lot of rice, folks! Here is one of the cooks scooping the rice from the main pot into a serving tray.

This is the head cook at camp.  Every one asked her opinion on everything before they made a dish, and she knows what she's doing!

I thought you might find this interesting:  None of the Brazilians I've seen use a spoon to taste for seasoning.  Instead, they poor a little bit of the *burning hot* broth into their palm....

....and straight to the mouth for tasting! *OUCH*

They also cooked 65-75 pounds of meat for every meal!

Have you ever seen the black/green overgrown bananas in Wal-mart's fruit section?  Well, it's this - plantain. They're much sweeter and less "woody" here though because they are left on the plant for longer.  

Mmmm....fried plantain.  It's yummy.  Trust me.

And on a hot day, what would be better than some refreshing lemonade?  The cooks would pull two men out of the morning service to come back and squeeze enough lemons for lemonade. 

 Many, many lemons were juiced in the making of this lemonade.  And we enjoyed it.

And here is a parting shot of everyone getting their plates full so that they can sit down and enjoy it all.  Well, was I right?  You're jealous, aren't you?  :)

Mahalia's Christmas Gift

A little walking narrative of Mahalia opening her Christmas Gift:

Oh, wow!  A present for me!

I wonder what it could be? 

oooh...  colorful!

Aaagh!  Someone gave me an upside-down, backward doll!

Oh, I see!  Hee-hee, my fault! :)

Oh, she's sooo preeetty!

I will love her,  and hug her, forever and ever!