I liked the floor

Ahhh... something wonderful happened this morning.. the tank was installed.. we have a complete toilet..and it the most beautiful toilet I've ever SAT on. Thought I would share that.
So anyway changing the subject.... Here in Brazil, everyone goes to church in the evening.. I figure because starting about 10am it starts getting hot.. no one wants to be sitting in the service all hot and sweaty in their nice church clothes. It starts cooling off a little around 5 or 6 in the evening and services start about 7pm. It felt a little strange at first, but then, at the same time, it feels special. It's like going out for a special evening.. it's a time to dress up beautiful and elegant.. and the Brazilian women do take advnantage of this. Sunday night the streets of Sao Goncalo are filled with church-goers..spilling out of churches from every corner. A while ago there was a very strong evangelical movement in Brazil, and now you can find churches everywhere! In places you'd neverthink to look.. in garages, in houses, in warehouses, in deserted buildings... they range in sizes from 10 attendents to hundreds.
Last night we decided to attend one where a musician friend takes part in the worship team. We've visited several in the area, but there's always so much abrasive yelling or boring music. This time I was pleasently surprised. It fit about 20 to 30 people. The little brick building was partially open but protected by a tin roof. I especially liked floor which consisted of a mosaic of broken tiles differing in all shapes sizes and colors. I found myself staring at the ground most of the time. It was a small enough group that some of the women passed out cafezinho in delcate little porcline cup and saucers.. along with the tiniest little stiring spoon i've ever used..they got me right there.
Samuel played with the worship team. He's been practicing his sax like crazy. He's so good, and I think he's always getting better, especially the high notes which he's really been focusing in on. Anyone he plays with is lucky. I can see him coming to America and playing with great musicians and singers from around the world..doing concerts for great crowds and in stadiums.. Then think back on times like this in humble little churches.
The woman who gave the message came up to me after the sevice and asked if she could pray for me. Sure, why not. Prayer nver hurt anyone. she laid her hand gently on the shoulder and prayed for Gods blessing and comfort over me then for Samuel and Little Matteo. Then she said, when I was praying, I felt that you feel a little sad in your heart. Maybe because you are a long ways away from your family and country and its a little hard durng this time. but you can know that you have friends here.
How sweet. I suppose that is kind of true.. I did come here to be near Samuel when I had the baby, that was important to me. But now Matteo is here. And I didnt realize it would be so hard and frustrating not to be close to everyone over there now. He's already three months and no one from my family has even gotten to hold him.. except Mom... and he's growing really quick. I'm really looking forward to getting back for that reason. I'm looking for things to do to distract myself in this time before we get there. Trying to look for all the good happy beautiful things.. and when you look for something, you start seeing it in places you wouldnt have before. Like the ground? I really liked that floor.

Toilet Situation

Samuel finally recieved his letter from the united states visa center or whatever its called, informing him that they are ready for final processing and now he needs to gather all these documents and forms before his big interview at the american consulate on July 5th! its then when they decide if they want to give him the visa... which would allow him to come to the United States...the "promise land". Its been quite the process. its been a lot of waiting and stressing. At this point it seems to close, yet so far away.. there are so many things to do before his interview.. including collecting some documents from Italy.. which could take a while. We had hadnt realized how expensive this would end up to be with all the fees and payments involved. To make matters worse suddenly three of his studnts quit, all at the same time..i wish i could work or do something, but i have to take care of matteo.. plus my portoghese sucks. Looking back on this little adventure, which has taken us across three continents, it makes me think of our toilet... you know, in the sense that when it gets hard and seems like the end, you have nothing left, it can only get better.. usually. let me explain....

When I first got here to this apartment, it had been empty for several years before samuel got there a couple months before me, so not everything was at its best, including the toilet. It wasnt terrible, the seat was just a little lose and to flush it you had to pull a string someone had attatched inside the tank, hold it until the water had gone, then let it go...otherwise it worked fine. Sometime later, his brother came for a visit before returning to italy, he thought he'd be helpful and attempt to fix the flushing function. but instead, the toilet situation worsened and now it was leaking and had no more pullcord. but oh well, at least it still flushed.. until another member of the family stopped by.. after that, it no longer flushed so we had to fill up a bucket of water and dump it down the toilet after we used it. a little while later, someone tried fixing the problem, but ended up dropping the lid to the tank on the seat and cracking the toilet bowel. so now, we could no longer sit on the toilet, and we had t0 dump the water after use.. not to mention it was starting to get smelly. at this point, I thought it would be better just to have a hole in the floor. Well, the yesterday morning i heard a lot of goings ons in the bathroom.. and when i looked.. there was no toilet.. just a whole in the ground.. huh... well, at least I can squat instead of that awkward hovering. With a heavy heart, I headed out the door to use the bathroom at the ground floor enternce to apartment complex. I guess it cant get much worse from here. I was right, because later that day, samuel's father showed up with a new toilet... theres still no tank, but i know its on its way. Little by little the toilet situation is improving, and when it's finished, when we get to the end of thing, I will be better than it was before and everything will be super...right?
So anyway, that was my connection..

I'm in Brazil and under construction

this fancy little blog is under constuction.. when its completed, it will be the most beautiful blog.. in all the land! Muhaha...ha. I wanted to start upthis blog again, after a little pause.. of over a year. since then, I've finished my art restoration studies in florence, Italy... married Samuel, am in Brazil and our son, Matteo was born in febuary.... will fill in details later....

I wrote this a couple nights ago...

So, here I am, we've just finished watching our favorite novella (soap opera), insensato coracao (insensitive heart).. It's getting good. Brazilian soap operas are great, theres so many. Another favorite is Morde e assporte. It involves a hot robot woman and dinosaurs. Its amazing how they are able to combine just the right elements to make it seem so strangely right..and heart wrenching. and addictive. So it's become a ritual. every night. I have to make sure to tell samuel when it starts.. and we'll watch it with his dad... brazilian men are funny. Ah, i'm tired.. tired of doing nothing really. I'm looking forward to getting home where i'll have space to do some painting and resotation projects... and just have space in general i guess... it gess a little crowded in this apartment where samuel and I, and his parents.. and matteo are staying. And not to mention introduce my husband and son to my family... I'm about to go crazy waiting. but theres nothing we can really do to make the visa process go any faster. So I need to find ways of staying sane and enjoying the rest of my time here in sao Goncalo, Brazil.. my son's birthplace.. which is slightly different from my homeland.... Minnesota, hail to thee.
Matteo is sleeping, Samuel went to a birthday party. Despite the fact that Brazilian birthday parties are not to be missed, I decided not to attend tonight. mostly for Matteo's sake.. I get kinda nervous riding in cars here. They drive like maniacs. What else can I say? On the way from the airport on my arrival here, our driver asked samuel, while weaving in and out of traffic, to tell me to pray in my language that we would arrive safely at our destination. Ah...gladly. "Dear Lord.....", I started, "please don't let us die". He had stitched on his nose from an accident he was in a few weeks earlier. I thought I had to stay on my toes while living in Florence, but the Cariocas, those from Rio de Janeiro, make the Florentines look like Minnesotans, which says alot.