Been a long time....off to Brazil!

Hey all, been a long time since I last wrote, who knows who actually reads this any more, but I just wanted to give a quick update on life. I feel funny writing a blog when I am back in the US, my life is considerably less interesting, but I'll give everyone a quick update. I have been hired full time at Goodwill Industries International to be the full time International Development Specialist, focusing mainly on Latin America and the Caribbean. I am working on a new strategy for international expansion and really enjoying the work. It's been great especially to work on projects for both Brasil and México. Today I am leaving for Brasil, to visit old friends and see my girlfriend, Rubia for the first time in 10 months. I am so excited! It has been far too long since I have seen her. The last time was in March and it is such a surreal thought to be able to see her again. I will be in Brasil for a month, visiting Casa Esperança, the old house where I lived in Sao Paulo and then spending time with Rubia and her family. I am so excited to be able to reconnect with all my friends and family in Brasil and especially to see Rubia. I would like to ask for prayers for the Lopez family, my first Mexican family in La Presa, México. I lived with them for 2 months in my first summer in Mexico City and have visited them every chance I have had since then. Just 2 days ago my brother, Abel, who was only 33 years old passed away of some sort of brain virus. He was like a brother to me and it is just hard to believe he is gone. Pray for his widow, for his brother and his parents. This has been such a difficult year for them as the family has lost two grand children and now Abel. Pray for comfort and peace in this hard time. I will update the blog with pictures and stories from Brasil. Much love and God bless.

Great Trip to Miami

Wow, the past few days in Miami have been so great. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and quickly found a shuttle to my hotel, which cost more per night than I spent per month in Brasil and more than I make in a week. It was a beautiful hotel and I saw a Lamborghini and a Ferrari in the parking lot as the super shuttle pulled in to drop me off. I quickly found my room, noticed the ocean view, took a shower, got changed and went downstairs for the reception for all of our Latin American and Caribbean guests as well as the Goodwill Board of Directors. The weeks conference was both a Goodwill Board of Directors Meeting and a Latin America and Caribbean Goodwill members summit. I was invited to the conference largely as the interpretor, I was expecting to interpret just a few things and perhaps to have someone else there to do the rest, but I ended up spending the whole conference pretty much just saying everything that was said in English in Spanish and vice versa. As the reception started I used soccer as small talk to get to know the people from two of the countries as I chatted with a couple from Costa Rica and two other people from Uruguay about the crucial World Cup qualifiers, it is amazing how often my love of soccer is useful in meeting new people and just starting conversations. I continued to meet everyone and then there was a dinner for all the parties involved. I ended up sitting with 2 board members, the President/CEO of Goodwill South Florida and a few other people. As the dinner started I first translated a little speech from the CEO and then another from the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The next day I spent the morning translating country presentations for the Board of Directors and the afternoon translating a variety of presentations on different opportunities for the Latin American participants. Throughout the conference I had a great time to get to know the Latin American and Caribbean affiliates of Goodwill as well as the CEO, COO and Chairman of the Board of Goodwill. It was truly an amazing experience for an intern that has been at the organization for about 6 weeks. They were all pretty impressed with my translating and just comfort in front of people and it gave me hope of possibly being able to stay on with a full time job that might let me telecommute for a time from Brasil. I even discussed with the person who would be my VP of that possibility and he didn't completely reject the idea. At one point, one of the Spanish speaking participants went on for about 2 minutes about a complicated diagram without allowing me to jump in with the English, I did my best to understand the diagram instead of remembering word for word what she was saying and upon finishing my explanation got a round of applause from the audience.

All that to say, I don't mean to boast or anything, but it is the first time that I have had any "career success" and I felt good about the experience. My CEO even said that I was "CEO material" for whatever that's worth. I continue to pray for guidance and to take steps of faith and know that God will work things out for me.
Some of the conference participants

the view from my room

Trip to Miami for my job

I am leaving in the morning to go to Miami for the Goodwill Board of Director's Meeting and Latin American and Caribbean Summit that is being held there. I have been working really hard for the past few weeks to prepare for the Summit, translating lots of documents between English and Spanish and preparing information packets for all of the participants. I will be working at the Summit/Meeting as the interpreter between the Latin American Goodwill leaders that are coming and the Goodwill Board of Directors. Definitely stuff that is way over my head, but will be a great opportunity. I will be staying in a really nice hotel in Miami Beach that costs more per night than I spent per month in Brasil. Should be quite an experience. I will update with photos and the like when I get back.

Job Update

Been a while, definitely taking me some time to adjust to a "normal" life. It has been a struggle getting used having an office job and the routine that entails. I am so used to kinda having a crazy random schedule and not spending the day in a cubicle, but I am starting to adjust. Definitely still tough to adjust to life back here in the US, it was nice on Sunday to go to a spanish speaking Bible study and just kinda be able to go back into the latino culture a bit. My job has been going really well, I have been able to do a lot of work in Spanish and even some in Portuguese and am helping Goodwill relaunch back into Latin America, they have some small organizations in several countries, but are now making it a strategic location for growth. My first day on the job I met with the CEO and have been able to take part in several meetings and such mainly as an emergency interpreter and cultural guide when we have conference calls with other countries or talk strategy. I am mainly preparing a variety of documents that will serve as a manual for starting a new Goodwill in Latin America as well as preparing a variety of briefings for our CEO and some vice presidents to prepare them for meetings with key leaders in Latin America.

In a few weeks I will get to take part in the Goodwill Board of Directors Meeting to which all the leaders of the existing Goodwill organizations in Latin America are invited. I will generally just serve as an aid there as well as fill in as an interpreter/translator. I really like what Goodwill is doing, mixing a business model with helping marginalized people. They use the profits from the stores to be able to run job training programs to help create jobs mostly for people with disabilities, but also for others with barriers to employment. Been an interesting first month on the job and I appreciate everyone's prayers as I continue to discern God's will for my future. It has now been over 6 months since I left Brasil and left my girlfriend there, definitely is tough to not be able to see her, but we continue getting to know each other through Skype and trust that God knows what He's doing. I am so grateful to God for this job and the opportunities that come with it and pray just that he would guide my steps.

Starting work tomorrow!!

It feels strange to be back in Maryland or even in the US, it has been two years since I have actually considered it home. I start work tomorrow as the Latin America Member Development Intern at Goodwill's International Headquarters in Rockville, MD. I am a little nervous as its my first "real" job although I'm only an intern. Seems funny to be nervous about starting an office job when I have now on several occasions arrived in foreign countries where I knew no one and have not only survived, but have thrived. Nonetheless my heart is beating a little fast as I prepare for work tomorrow. I think at this point I might be less nervous about arriving in some random South American country than I am about starting a new office job. Anyways, I have had a good time hanging out with my sister and cuñado (brother in law)and my family since I've been back, but definitely miss México and Brasil and just generally living in Latin America. Much love and God bless, got a new cell phone too, my number is 443-929-2985.

Re-entry to the US

Well, it's hard to believe all that has happened to me in the last 2 years living in Latin America and now for the first time I will be back in the US for a significant period of time. I will be working as the Latin America member Development Intern for Goodwill at their International Headquarters in Rockville, MD. It's definitely always a difficult adjustment to get used to your home culture. I have gotten used to being a foreigner in a foreign country, but now I have to start getting used to being a foreigner in my own country as many of my cultural values have changed after two years abroad. Previously normal things seem strange, drinking water out of the faucet seems unusual, flushing toilet paper seems unnatural as I search for a trash can to put the toilet paper in, no longer do I have to hold the flusher down for 20 seconds to make it flush. It's going to be an interesting few months in my life as I continue to sort out what's next and where God is taking me in my life. Thank you all for your continued love and support.

Latino Hospitality and Families

As I enter my last week in Latin America for a while I can't help but reflect on my past 2+ years here. There are so many stories to tell and things that I have learned. There are so many people that have entered into my life and been such a blessing to me, have become as close as family to me and its hard to say goodbye. I have lived with 10 or more families in the last 5 years in Latin America for at least one month each family, not many people can say they have that much family. Each one of those families adopting me as one of their own, took me to birthday parties of random relatives and to funerals of lost loved ones, we chatted about futbol or futebol, talked politics, life, girls, God, the church, economic development and just shared life together. So many people that have forever shaped me, so much that I have learned that makes me who I am today. I think of Mark 10:29,30

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. "

I am on my way to 100 and have received so much from so many people. Just this weekend I went back to Puebla for a visit and just received so much love and hospitality from so many people. I wish I could write about every person and every event that has transformed me, but that would take years. Just to say that I have learned so much about what family is and how to open up your home to strangers and accept them as family. I would say I have over 30 houses across the Americas where I could show up at the door and spend a few months living there no questions asked. I'm learning to love people and to love God and have had many amazing teachers along the way.

Meu Irmãozinho André, my little brother André


My Brasilian Mexican Family