sorry for a disjointed all over the place post

Wow, its hard to believe now that is has been nearly three months since I arrived in Brasil. That first time I entered the favela it was with fear and trepidation, now it is with joy that I can enter the favela. I no longer feel afraid or wonder if I will get lost and not find my house. I no longer fear someone will say something to me and I won’t understand and I feel accepted now as part of the community. The human being is an amazing creature how it can adapt to new situations so quickly, how the mind can adjust to seeing new things so quickly that they cease to be new after a short while; that it no longer seems strange to see guys on the corner selling drugs or even more curiously seeing those same guys flying kites.
These past few weeks have been good, but busy. On Saturday we had our year end closing party/dinner for the Radicais (Bible club sort of group). It was neat to see all of the kids/teens there and looking nice. We held it at a nearby church and had a big dinner for the families, most of them came which was an answer to prayer. The kids had been practicing a Christmas song all week (an odd one because it’s to the tune of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, but it’s about Jesus coming, which is the only version of that song known here in Brasil) and sang it for their parents. It was great to see smiles of accomplishment as some kids received rewards for outstanding behavior and all received Christmas presents. The whole banquet was a lot of work, but well worth it.
Last night I went to a ballet put on mostly by people from my community, it was sponsored by a ballet non profit that works with underprivileged kids, I was thoroughly impressed by the professionalism of the show (it was at a local theater with professional lights and scenery). It was great to see the kids faces shine as they knew they had done something special and worth all the applause they received. It was an odd moment too as I realized that after the show they still went back to their mostly broken homes and broken neighborhood, but for that one moment they were stars.
During this week we have been busy with Spring cleaning as I have sanded and painted many walls and railings now and continue to do odd jobs around the house to beautify the place. It’s a strange thing living in a favela because you know that any investment in your home might not really pay off long term because there is no real sense of long term because at any moment the government could hand you about $2,000 and give you a few weeks to move out before they bulldoze your house and build a luxury high rise condominium. Anyways sorry for low quality of the entry, but I’m tired and not feeling like writing for anyone to read but myself. I love and miss you all.