First Days

Arriving in Sao Paulo!

I arrived with fellow missionaries Lalia and Curt Kregness on Wednesday, October 24, and had no problems with luggage or immigration - Praise the Lord!

Getting settled

I have been blessed to have temporary housing in the home of fellow WorldVenture missionaries the Shedd's. They have been in Brazil since 1962 and started the Vida Nova publishing house. They are currently in the US saying good-bye to supporters as they will be retiring from the mission when they return in March 2008. Their daughter Helen and family live in a home behind their's with three small children, so I have had company and help getting assimilated to Brazilian life (as well as portuguese lessons from the kids!)

door to my house, back of house,
and inside house

First steps

First things first, and that was a required registration with the Federal Police, which gave me a temporary resident number, so I am legitimate to be here! Then it was visiting and selecting a Language school, and I had my first lesson November 7. The lessons have one hour with an instructor and one hour of lab. Of course being in the midst of Portuguese speakers is the best kind of lesson! And with a little help, I have taken both the train and bus to reach places. Next will be traveling alone!

Churches

I have visited the Morumbi Baptist church, which is the 'mother' church to the Vila Andrade church in the favela, where I have visited on a Sunday evening. I've also attended an International/English speaking church where some fellow missionaries attend.

Mission opportunities

I've had an initial meeting with Pastor Marcelo at the Vila Andrade church to see how I can best serve there. Will be visiting the orphanage on Monday, November 12th. Check back to see more updates on these areas.

Weather

It is spring here, and with that comes crazy weather! It was actually cool when I first arrived, but then temps went up close to 90. Most days it is sunny in the morning, followed by afternoon rain showers. If it rains too much, the roads get rather hazardous, so its best not to be in a low area! Always good to be prepared for any type of weather (with the exception of snow!)

Noises in the Night
One of the first things I had to get used to was the sound of dogs barking at all hours of the day and night. Brazilians have many dogs used to protect property, and when one starts barking, chances are another will join in, and soon it becomes a cacophony of sound. Sometimes it even sounds rather humorous, with the standard woof, the howl, and the yip-yip, except if it's 2:00 in the morning! Another sound in the night was a whistle which I couldn't figure out what it was for. Come to find out, it is a paid security guard who walks through the neighborhood, and will blow a whistle when passing by your home! There are also many vendors who drive up and down the street blaring their goods over a speaker and playing music along with it. Helicopters are also a common sound, as Sao Paulo has one of the largest helicopter fleets in the world. Many of the wealthier 'paulistas' will fly in a helicopter over the city to their destination and land on top of one of the hundreds of skycrapers here rather than drive through traffic. The sound of fireworks is common too, especially when the Sao Paulo futebol (soccer) team has won!
One final creepy thing in the night is the roach (barata). I have loaded up on bug spray and spray through the house each night, which seems to keep them away!