Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Camp Roots, and Bello Horizonte
At Camp Roots, everything was translated into Portuguese and English. Most of the campers had some interest in learning English and went to Camp Roots to practice with the American counselors that were coming mostly from Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, TX.
Hunters and Gatherers lead singer, Logan Pringle came with the group to lead worship. I was so impressed with his musical ability and ability to explain why he loved to sing. His 3 co-musicians were Brazilians, and none of the 4 total were bi-lingual. But it was great. They knew the same notes and chords composed a tri-lingual re-mix
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Hunters and Gatherers lead singer, Logan Pringle came with the group to lead worship. I was so impressed with his musical ability and ability to explain why he loved to sing. His 3 co-musicians were Brazilians, and none of the 4 total were bi-lingual. But it was great. They knew the same notes and chords composed a tri-lingual re-mix
.My task at camp was to help campers make notebooks. Here´s some background information. Each craft that campers did at camp was designed to be given away to local people who needed it. An institution for abused, or neglected children that had requested notebooks for their kids, and we found an easy method for our campers to make notebooks by hand. What a neat experience.
This is a good point to stop reading if you just wanted a rough overview, but for people like my mom and a few others who like to read, I'll keep on going.
At camp we actually did a flash mob. This means that an American dance teacher flew in to teach us choreography: 120 people dancing to the World Cup theme song meshed with a Black Eyed Peas song and a Brazilian Samba... in the mall. I mean, we learned the choreography at camp, but after camp, we went to the Itu shopping mall and surprised them with our dance. YouTube "flash mob" to see similar presentations to ours. I'm not sure how to describe how cool this actually was. Looking forward to the flash mob at the mall made it much easier for everyone to leave camp and the relationships we had started there, but saying goodbye wasn't any easier after flash mob than it would have been from camp. In other words, I really appreciated how close so many people grew to one another at camp.
The week after camp was a medical campaign in a poor area of Itu where there was a need for dentistry, optometry, and other specialists that came from the states for the community here. It was hard to help without being skilled as a translator or medical professional, but I found ways to be helpful and help waiting patients to smile. Jokes are harder to tell in Portuguese, but I managed.
On that note, I have to confess, that I am painfully eager to speak Portuguese and communicate with people. It kills me when I can´t. For example, today at a homeless lunch in Itu, I was speaking to a man, and he said in Portuguese, "Get someone to translate because I don't understand the way that you talk." I said, "Are you sure that you can't understand me?" He was sure... His response didn´t even coincide with my question. I opened my mouth and tried to enunciate and use perfect grammar, and it didn't help at all. Screaming didn´t really give him any more insight into what I was saying either... I hate that I couldn´t talk to him and wonder what is lacking in my pronunciation. Ironically, my friends that speak English understand my Portuguese just fine but confess that sometimes when I think I´m speaking Portuguese, it´s actually Spanish. I have hope though. For example, reading Twilight in Portuguese is giving me a lot of new vocabulary.
When I went to Bello Horizonte for a week with my friend Barbara, I was shocked to find that her hometown was a capital city of 8 million. It's the capital of Minas, a state in Brazil. How many of you have heard of Bello Horizonte? I mean, it can be embarrassing to be foreign sometimes and never have heard of a city that is bigger than most cities I've ever seen.
Her family was small and intimate. When Barbara invited me to Bello, I had no idea how amazing it would be to have such an insider's view on her life. I would have to say that getting to see her home and hometown has been one of my favorite things about Brazil so far. It was relaxing down to a walk through some nearby mountains and sunbathing on the roof of Barbara's house with casserole and a glass of wine.
This is a good point to stop reading if you just wanted a rough overview, but for people like my mom and a few others who like to read, I'll keep on going.
At camp we actually did a flash mob. This means that an American dance teacher flew in to teach us choreography: 120 people dancing to the World Cup theme song meshed with a Black Eyed Peas song and a Brazilian Samba... in the mall. I mean, we learned the choreography at camp, but after camp, we went to the Itu shopping mall and surprised them with our dance. YouTube "flash mob" to see similar presentations to ours. I'm not sure how to describe how cool this actually was. Looking forward to the flash mob at the mall made it much easier for everyone to leave camp and the relationships we had started there, but saying goodbye wasn't any easier after flash mob than it would have been from camp. In other words, I really appreciated how close so many people grew to one another at camp.
The week after camp was a medical campaign in a poor area of Itu where there was a need for dentistry, optometry, and other specialists that came from the states for the community here. It was hard to help without being skilled as a translator or medical professional, but I found ways to be helpful and help waiting patients to smile. Jokes are harder to tell in Portuguese, but I managed.
On that note, I have to confess, that I am painfully eager to speak Portuguese and communicate with people. It kills me when I can´t. For example, today at a homeless lunch in Itu, I was speaking to a man, and he said in Portuguese, "Get someone to translate because I don't understand the way that you talk." I said, "Are you sure that you can't understand me?" He was sure... His response didn´t even coincide with my question. I opened my mouth and tried to enunciate and use perfect grammar, and it didn't help at all. Screaming didn´t really give him any more insight into what I was saying either... I hate that I couldn´t talk to him and wonder what is lacking in my pronunciation. Ironically, my friends that speak English understand my Portuguese just fine but confess that sometimes when I think I´m speaking Portuguese, it´s actually Spanish. I have hope though. For example, reading Twilight in Portuguese is giving me a lot of new vocabulary.
When I went to Bello Horizonte for a week with my friend Barbara, I was shocked to find that her hometown was a capital city of 8 million. It's the capital of Minas, a state in Brazil. How many of you have heard of Bello Horizonte? I mean, it can be embarrassing to be foreign sometimes and never have heard of a city that is bigger than most cities I've ever seen.
Her family was small and intimate. When Barbara invited me to Bello, I had no idea how amazing it would be to have such an insider's view on her life. I would have to say that getting to see her home and hometown has been one of my favorite things about Brazil so far. It was relaxing down to a walk through some nearby mountains and sunbathing on the roof of Barbara's house with casserole and a glass of wine.
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