A new beginning

Well I have officially been here for over a whole month already, though sometimes it feels much longer than that. I've settled into a routine; this what my life looks like here in Brazil!

(my housemates; Luciana and Jaqueline)

WORK:

Twice a week I am in the admissions office being trained to take over, as the main office lady is going on furlough for 3 months starting in October. There is ALOT of information. I will mostly be in charge of all communication with visitors, volunteer, staff, and students wanting to come. I will be coordinating with a lawyer and assisting foreigners through the visa process [good thing I know how that works..] and answering any questions they have.

Two other days a week, I work alongside the directors in the office as their secretary. There is still a lot that is tricky for me to do without being fluent in Portuguese [taking minutes at meetings etc] but for now I am there to help out with whatever office tasks need to get done; good thing there's never a shortage of work!

Fridays are an interesting day; in the morning it's my rotation to cook lunch for our house and the afternoon I am part of a discipleship group. It's a different and relaxing end to the week - it's nice just to connect with other people from different houses and hear how their work is going.

(view from my neighborhood of Santa Tereza)

PORTUGUESE:

I only work in the office in the mornings as the afternoons I study study study! Twice a week I go to a Portuguese tutor, which has been very helpful. It is quite an exhausting hour though; she explains everything in Portuguese and if I have a question, or I want to explain something she doesn't let me speak any English. It's frustrating, but it's good. It is also helpful that the girls I am living with are Brazilian and I can practice with them. Even though they are able to, I have asked them not to speak English to me which is extremely tiring some days but has helped me to learn so much faster.

I have to be honest; learning a second language is the most mentally frustrating and exhausting thing I've ever done. I like to figure out the fastest and most efficient way to do everything - and there IS no quick way. It's patience, practice, studying and a lot of "can you please say that slower?" To be honest, some days it is mentally isolating to be surrounded by people who speak SO fast with so much slang (as is normal in your own language) and not be able to keep up with the conversation. But everyone keeps telling me, "this will pass. It WILL get easier." I'm sure it will, but it's hard to see that most days..

Thanks for the many prayers and encouragements that are being sent my way. Please keep praying for communication and God's grace as I submerse myself into another culture and learn a new language - and embrace all the MANY challenges and frustrations that come along with that :)

Heidi