Brazil v USA
Fight to the Futbol Death
Mars and Jupiter and Pluto (you're still a planet in my book, pluto) have all aligned and thus caused the most unlikely of series of events to unfold- The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team has made it to the final of the Confederations Cup... and to boot (pun intended) we play none other than the soccer super-power and my home country away from home - Brazil. Da Daaa Daaaaaa!
It was a fantastic week of soccer and it was made even better living in a soccer loving country. In a house where people swarm in non-stop circles like worker bees and the shouts of tiny voices echo off the walls 14 hours a day, the only thing that can bring complete silence to the Sala (Living Room) is a Brazilian soccer game. The lil kids, the older girls, and the teenage boys all sit silently enthrawed by the neon glow of the TV. They clench pillows with fierce, white-knuckled intensity. They seem incapable of articulating their thoughts/emotions because the only word waiting behind their lips is...Goal...Goal...Goal.
For all you non-soccer people, let me brake down the facts of the tournament and how these facts directly effect me. Early in the tournament, The US lost to Brazil in a 3-0 beat down. That was a bad day to be an American living in Brazil. I was teased and harassed by all 31 kids - even our most closed-mouth, depressed teenagers beamed smiles of pride my direction. But then on Thursday REDEMPTION...The (14th ranked) U.S.A beat #1 ranked Spain in a beautiful 2-0 upset - Our goals came from our 19 year-old, man-child Jose Altidore and our legit world class midfielder Clint Dempsey. After every goal, I wiggled and bounced with exuberant joy, kicking pillows and blankets into the air and hugging whoever (non-exuberant kid) was closet to me. Again, the kids watched the whole game in silence - but this silence was not the silence of intense devotion - this was the silence of the annoyed. Thursday was a good day to be an American living in Brazil.
So the stage has been set...Sunday Brazil and the U.S. meet again and this time its for an international cup, as well as bragging rights (quite literally for me). So far I have 2 bets on the game... The first is with Geovone - we agreed last night in a flurry of Portuguese trash talk that the loser will wear a Jersey or T-shirt of the other country and the loser must also say three times "I love 'other country' futbol". My other bet has some high stakes...Given our actual odds of winning, I should have just walked away and not made the bet, but my patriotic side got the best of me. If I lose we (we = The USofA) I have to buy Lobo a Brazil jersey and if we win Lobo has to be me a USA jersey.
Mars and Jupiter and Pluto (you're still a planet in my book, pluto) have all aligned and thus caused the most unlikely of series of events to unfold- The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team has made it to the final of the Confederations Cup... and to boot (pun intended) we play none other than the soccer super-power and my home country away from home - Brazil. Da Daaa Daaaaaa!
It was a fantastic week of soccer and it was made even better living in a soccer loving country. In a house where people swarm in non-stop circles like worker bees and the shouts of tiny voices echo off the walls 14 hours a day, the only thing that can bring complete silence to the Sala (Living Room) is a Brazilian soccer game. The lil kids, the older girls, and the teenage boys all sit silently enthrawed by the neon glow of the TV. They clench pillows with fierce, white-knuckled intensity. They seem incapable of articulating their thoughts/emotions because the only word waiting behind their lips is...Goal...Goal...Goal.
For all you non-soccer people, let me brake down the facts of the tournament and how these facts directly effect me. Early in the tournament, The US lost to Brazil in a 3-0 beat down. That was a bad day to be an American living in Brazil. I was teased and harassed by all 31 kids - even our most closed-mouth, depressed teenagers beamed smiles of pride my direction. But then on Thursday REDEMPTION...The (14th ranked) U.S.A beat #1 ranked Spain in a beautiful 2-0 upset - Our goals came from our 19 year-old, man-child Jose Altidore and our legit world class midfielder Clint Dempsey. After every goal, I wiggled and bounced with exuberant joy, kicking pillows and blankets into the air and hugging whoever (non-exuberant kid) was closet to me. Again, the kids watched the whole game in silence - but this silence was not the silence of intense devotion - this was the silence of the annoyed. Thursday was a good day to be an American living in Brazil.
So the stage has been set...Sunday Brazil and the U.S. meet again and this time its for an international cup, as well as bragging rights (quite literally for me). So far I have 2 bets on the game... The first is with Geovone - we agreed last night in a flurry of Portuguese trash talk that the loser will wear a Jersey or T-shirt of the other country and the loser must also say three times "I love 'other country' futbol". My other bet has some high stakes...Given our actual odds of winning, I should have just walked away and not made the bet, but my patriotic side got the best of me. If I lose we (we = The USofA) I have to buy Lobo a Brazil jersey and if we win Lobo has to be me a USA jersey.
Aside from all the actual bets, there is the WMD level ammunition for trash talking that goes to the victor. I am not sure I can survive another month if the US loses 3-0 again. However, I am not sure I can survive another month (maybe literally) if the US bets Brazil. This is more than a game...in a very tangible way Brazilians have attached their national identity to their soccer team. In many ways, Brazil has a fascination with the US - our music, our movies, our cities, our Obama. In many ways, Brazil wants to have what the United States has...but Futbol is the one thing they have that the United States and everyone else wants to have...if the US beats Brazil on Sunday...I shudder to think about the death grips around the couch pillows because those white knuckled death grips might find their way around my American neck.
How Jazz Discovered Me.
I have discovered the most unlikely sound track for my time in Brazil - Jazz. I already possessed the obligatory Best of Miles Davis album in my itunes library before coming to Brazil. I (sadly) admit that I may have downloaded the album merely as a jewel to put atop my music snob, crown...However, a few weeks ago Itunes shuffled its way into "It never entered my mind" while I worked in the wood shop on a damp fall morning. Ironically, this song never did enter my mind as a befitting theme song for CLM - but then I switched off the grinding metallic whirl of the plainer machine, and I slipped away into the floating melancholy. I just watched the freshly cut saw dust float on the hazy, yellow sunlight that streamed in through the window. Outside the window, I melted into the yellow and orange leaves blanketed below the empty, swaying branches of the our tire-swing tree. The delicate piano melody and the thoughtful trumpet filled my mind with a sense of tranquil bliss that can rarely be found among the screaming, giggling, crying, chatter of Portuguese...This is how Jazz discovered me.
Flickr - I hardly know her.
I finally downloaded the up-loader for Flickr (I love saying that - internet is a universal language) and now - you can all visit My Photostream to get a better feel for the setting of my Brazilian adventures. I sipped coffee and watch the slide show of my pictures yesterday, and I began noticing changes in the tiny faces in the photos compared to the same tiny faces I see everyday. Is it possible that our kids have grown since my arriving here? Have I really only been here three months - or is this a Narnia thing where time here isn't time at home? I think these photos speak volumes about the personalities and atmosphere I am experiencing at CLM - I hope the multi-media experience of Jazz music, pictures, and rambling blog posts gives you sense of the dirty, beautiful, gritty, divine, grueling, joyful LIFE that has discovered me here.
Wii - Take that Wobbly First Step.
Last night, Mike and Mary introduced the Nintendo Wii for the boys. I thought William was going to fall over when Mike pulled the box out of the cabinet. Unlike myself, these are not kids from a computer, video game generation. In fact, I don't think that most of them had ever played any video game system before...Watching them bowl was literally like watching a toddler take their first steps - awkward and heartwarming and wobbly.
For the first two frames, William gawked the TV as he walked towards the screen (holding the controller perfectly still) expecting that his Wii Bowler to start walking too. He would then jump and dance - kicking his legs wildly to the sides (still holding the controller perfectly upright as the picture on the screen instructed). Finally, he turned to Mike with a look of utter confusion on his face and exclaim, "Mikey, Por que?".
How Jazz Discovered Me.
I have discovered the most unlikely sound track for my time in Brazil - Jazz. I already possessed the obligatory Best of Miles Davis album in my itunes library before coming to Brazil. I (sadly) admit that I may have downloaded the album merely as a jewel to put atop my music snob, crown...However, a few weeks ago Itunes shuffled its way into "It never entered my mind" while I worked in the wood shop on a damp fall morning. Ironically, this song never did enter my mind as a befitting theme song for CLM - but then I switched off the grinding metallic whirl of the plainer machine, and I slipped away into the floating melancholy. I just watched the freshly cut saw dust float on the hazy, yellow sunlight that streamed in through the window. Outside the window, I melted into the yellow and orange leaves blanketed below the empty, swaying branches of the our tire-swing tree. The delicate piano melody and the thoughtful trumpet filled my mind with a sense of tranquil bliss that can rarely be found among the screaming, giggling, crying, chatter of Portuguese...This is how Jazz discovered me.
Flickr - I hardly know her.
I finally downloaded the up-loader for Flickr (I love saying that - internet is a universal language) and now - you can all visit My Photostream to get a better feel for the setting of my Brazilian adventures. I sipped coffee and watch the slide show of my pictures yesterday, and I began noticing changes in the tiny faces in the photos compared to the same tiny faces I see everyday. Is it possible that our kids have grown since my arriving here? Have I really only been here three months - or is this a Narnia thing where time here isn't time at home? I think these photos speak volumes about the personalities and atmosphere I am experiencing at CLM - I hope the multi-media experience of Jazz music, pictures, and rambling blog posts gives you sense of the dirty, beautiful, gritty, divine, grueling, joyful LIFE that has discovered me here.
Wii - Take that Wobbly First Step.
Last night, Mike and Mary introduced the Nintendo Wii for the boys. I thought William was going to fall over when Mike pulled the box out of the cabinet. Unlike myself, these are not kids from a computer, video game generation. In fact, I don't think that most of them had ever played any video game system before...Watching them bowl was literally like watching a toddler take their first steps - awkward and heartwarming and wobbly.
For the first two frames, William gawked the TV as he walked towards the screen (holding the controller perfectly still) expecting that his Wii Bowler to start walking too. He would then jump and dance - kicking his legs wildly to the sides (still holding the controller perfectly upright as the picture on the screen instructed). Finally, he turned to Mike with a look of utter confusion on his face and exclaim, "Mikey, Por que?".
Some of the boys picked up on the games quickly and some threw the bowling ball backwards 90% of the time, but all of them bounced and glowed with the excitement of Christmas morning every time it was theier turn. "Geewiz adorable" is the only way to describe the boys as they bit their bottom lips in concentration before bowling, and then as they swung their wide smiles around the room, beaming with pride and delight because they knocked over 3 pins.
New Kid on the Block.
As I scanned the dinner table two days ago making sure all the kids had a plate, I did a literal double take (like a rubbery necked, carton character) because their was a new little face sitting at the table, staring at me. I blinked. He smiled. I waved and said "Oi". He giggled. And then I went looking for an adult, who spoke English...
Below is the explanation I heard, which our director, Mary Gibson, later wrote in the weekly newsletter. A Note about Mary: Mary's catch phrase is 'no empty beds'. She is a special person...She welcomes every new, tiny face with bottomless love and open arms. She has mothered countless children for 30 years - and shows no sign of stopping.
New Kid on the Block.
As I scanned the dinner table two days ago making sure all the kids had a plate, I did a literal double take (like a rubbery necked, carton character) because their was a new little face sitting at the table, staring at me. I blinked. He smiled. I waved and said "Oi". He giggled. And then I went looking for an adult, who spoke English...
Below is the explanation I heard, which our director, Mary Gibson, later wrote in the weekly newsletter. A Note about Mary: Mary's catch phrase is 'no empty beds'. She is a special person...She welcomes every new, tiny face with bottomless love and open arms. She has mothered countless children for 30 years - and shows no sign of stopping.
We had a big surprise today. An official from the Judge and a Social Worker pulled up with a 6 year old boy in the car. It was Alex, Aline and Alison's younger brother. He had been at the government orphanage and was attending a daycare. Some family members went to the daycare and took him. Because of the violence in the family, the officials were having difficulties retrieving him again. The Social Worker had talked about him to me today, but never said that they were going to try to get him today. Both Aline and Allison were in the shower when Alex arrived. Aline cried when she saw him and realized they were together again.These are the kind of happy - but overwhelming - surprises that lurk around every half hour at CLM. Kids come and go with the tides of the child care system in brazil - and we all scramble to keep our heads above the water line.
One thing I love about the modern day childcare system is the goal of keeping sibling groups together. Allison and Aline have been incredibly helpful and happy as they stand by Alex in his adjustment to CLM... It is real love and family and devotion on display. After all the short termers go home and the missionaries move on - these brothers and sister will have each other. Alex reminds of a hyper, new-born puppy that prances and bounces behind his mother - but in Alex's case he bounces behind his older siblings.
Yesterday, I played with Alex on swingset for the first time. I pulled him highup, next to my shoulder, and teased "Alex you're stuck! What's the magic word?" He glanced at this older sister on the swing next him, who mouthed the magic work for him. He slowly turned towards me, shyly smiled, and sweaked "Por favor?". I released the swing and off he flew. As he swung back and forth, I walked around the front of the swing set and inquired "Voce gosta, Alex?". He glanced up at me and then turned to his sister with a big smile and big, puppy dog eyes, as if to say "Yeah, I like it here. This could be home."
grace.peace.pat
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