Today was the first day when I fulfilled one of my teachers' obligations. I attended a 3 hour long teachers' meeting that was in Spanish only! I courageously told them a little about myself in Spanish... and for the rest of the meeting I tried not to fall asleep because everyone spoke so fast that I could't follow the conversations although I really tried at first. In the beginning all the teachers stared at me as if I had green hair, blue face and yellow ears... they got used to me in couple of hours! Now I really know how black people feel when white people stare at them! There is so much to do before the new school year.Pray for all the teachers, Velta, principal Panfil, me and the others who try to make sure everything goes successfully! We are doing a hard but very important work!
Local Ayoreos and Bolivians are so amazing people... every day they surprise me with their actions or way of thinking. They certainly are not related to Latvians. I promise to tell more another time! Tomorrow is Sunday, I have to sing a solo at church. I will sing the good old Light of the World! And I will try to explain what the song is about in Spanish!
With a big smile,
your Liene
P.S. For those who read this in English - all respect and gratitude to Agrita who is translating all my thoughts so faithfully and perfectly! It's not an easy thing, but she is doing a good job, isn't she?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
It's good!
Hello, my dear friends! It's been another beautiful day in Rincon, it was Friday, January 28. By the way - nameday greetings to KARLIS :)
I'd love to write about EVERYTHING that's going on here but unfortunately there is not enough time... we only have so much electricity here. I'll try to summarize the most important things that have happened lately!
Finally I met Panfil, pastor Samuel's wife and director of the school in Rincon. There are very few women like her in the whole world. Her energy, aura, power, expression, temperament, love, brightness... it all creates such a unique personality! She comes from Mexico and her grandmother is Gypsy. She believes those things give her the crazy amount of energy. She is 53 but there is nothing that would make you believe she's not 25 anymore, because that's the age she seems to have. She has so many responsibilities and duties... as she says herself, both Samuel and she work 24/7. For most of the people here you can't draw a line between their work time and private time, it's all the same... Since she speaks English, I am very, very happy there is someone I can have a nice conversation with! And she immediately "hired" me as a high school English teacher for grades 9-12. I'll teach on Mondays and Tuesdays. I'll wear a teacher's uniform - a white robe that looks a little like doctor's attire. Panfil gave me books, a notebook with a bear on the front cover, pen, pencil and pencil sharpener and said: Now you have everything you need to start working! Tomorrow morning (on Saturday) at 8:00 AM is a meeting for all teachers that I have to attend so that I can be introduced to my new colleagues. And on Tuesday at 8:00 AM is the beginning of the new school year that I have to attend, of course. There I will be introduced to parents. WOW! This will be my first real work experience at school. So far I have been only an intern at school and at my work place I taught adults... but now it's going to be a real school with real students PLUS they're Ayoreo and Bolivian students!!! Pray that God gives me the right attitude, words, approach, wisdom so that I can help them learn a lot!
This year 150 students from near and far will study at the school. Some students have traveled 100kilometers (62 miles), they flew here on Samuel's plane because the roads are too muddy for their parents to drive them to school. Unfortunately we they had to deny the chance to study here to 30 students at least. And there are those who are denied this opportunity every year. The reason is that there is a GREAT lack of people in the mission. Of course, the is always a lack of money and premises for extra students too but the greatest deficit is PEOPLE! Panfil also stressed that when she told me about situation in the mission. There are sponsors who are willing to give more... there are people, who are ready to come on short term mission trips to build extra buildings, if there is such need. But there is a lack of people who would be able to stay here for a longer period of time. There is a great need for people who'd work at the boarding school and take care of it, and help the students in any need they have. They need a kitchen manager. And they need a person who takes care of all the practical things in the mission as Velta does. I'll make a separate blog entry about her. Pray for Velta. She does A LOT more than one person is capable of. You'll definitely hear about her again!
The school in Rincon is widely known and very necessary for many kids. The Latvians who once established this mission one by one leave this place and go to Heaven... there is no one really who would take their place. So please pray - maybe one of you has to come here soon! And this is a really wonderful place, and you grow and learn so much here!
My friend Sharon came in and she is sending warm greetings to all my friends in Latvia (and beyond)! She is muy bonita!
I just wanted to add that I really don't have much time on the computer and I don't have time to check every website so in order to save time I will check my blog and only this email - liene.svoka@inbox.lv. So if there is anything you want to tell me personally, please email to this address.
And again, huge thank you for your thoughts and prayers! And thank you for leaving comments on my blog - they are like tiny messengers of you :D I love you all and I'm running to my room while the electricity is still on. Otherwise I'll be eaten by one of the little creatures that await me here in multitudes!
Hasta luego!
I'd love to write about EVERYTHING that's going on here but unfortunately there is not enough time... we only have so much electricity here. I'll try to summarize the most important things that have happened lately!
Finally I met Panfil, pastor Samuel's wife and director of the school in Rincon. There are very few women like her in the whole world. Her energy, aura, power, expression, temperament, love, brightness... it all creates such a unique personality! She comes from Mexico and her grandmother is Gypsy. She believes those things give her the crazy amount of energy. She is 53 but there is nothing that would make you believe she's not 25 anymore, because that's the age she seems to have. She has so many responsibilities and duties... as she says herself, both Samuel and she work 24/7. For most of the people here you can't draw a line between their work time and private time, it's all the same... Since she speaks English, I am very, very happy there is someone I can have a nice conversation with! And she immediately "hired" me as a high school English teacher for grades 9-12. I'll teach on Mondays and Tuesdays. I'll wear a teacher's uniform - a white robe that looks a little like doctor's attire. Panfil gave me books, a notebook with a bear on the front cover, pen, pencil and pencil sharpener and said: Now you have everything you need to start working! Tomorrow morning (on Saturday) at 8:00 AM is a meeting for all teachers that I have to attend so that I can be introduced to my new colleagues. And on Tuesday at 8:00 AM is the beginning of the new school year that I have to attend, of course. There I will be introduced to parents. WOW! This will be my first real work experience at school. So far I have been only an intern at school and at my work place I taught adults... but now it's going to be a real school with real students PLUS they're Ayoreo and Bolivian students!!! Pray that God gives me the right attitude, words, approach, wisdom so that I can help them learn a lot!
This year 150 students from near and far will study at the school. Some students have traveled 100kilometers (62 miles), they flew here on Samuel's plane because the roads are too muddy for their parents to drive them to school. Unfortunately we they had to deny the chance to study here to 30 students at least. And there are those who are denied this opportunity every year. The reason is that there is a GREAT lack of people in the mission. Of course, the is always a lack of money and premises for extra students too but the greatest deficit is PEOPLE! Panfil also stressed that when she told me about situation in the mission. There are sponsors who are willing to give more... there are people, who are ready to come on short term mission trips to build extra buildings, if there is such need. But there is a lack of people who would be able to stay here for a longer period of time. There is a great need for people who'd work at the boarding school and take care of it, and help the students in any need they have. They need a kitchen manager. And they need a person who takes care of all the practical things in the mission as Velta does. I'll make a separate blog entry about her. Pray for Velta. She does A LOT more than one person is capable of. You'll definitely hear about her again!
The school in Rincon is widely known and very necessary for many kids. The Latvians who once established this mission one by one leave this place and go to Heaven... there is no one really who would take their place. So please pray - maybe one of you has to come here soon! And this is a really wonderful place, and you grow and learn so much here!
My friend Sharon came in and she is sending warm greetings to all my friends in Latvia (and beyond)! She is muy bonita!
I just wanted to add that I really don't have much time on the computer and I don't have time to check every website so in order to save time I will check my blog and only this email - liene.svoka@inbox.lv. So if there is anything you want to tell me personally, please email to this address.
And again, huge thank you for your thoughts and prayers! And thank you for leaving comments on my blog - they are like tiny messengers of you :D I love you all and I'm running to my room while the electricity is still on. Otherwise I'll be eaten by one of the little creatures that await me here in multitudes!
Hasta luego!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Hola :)
It's Monday, January 24. One more day is spent worthwhile. I've been working since 7:00AM. I cleaned a house, then brought some second hand clothes from one house to another, worked at the laundry room, kitchen, prepared a room for our new guests and did some other stuff. Time really flies by when you have so much to do.
Yesterday was a day of rest - Sunday. Church service started at 8:00AM and we had lunch at 10:30AM. In the afternoon I visited one of the Latvians -Harijs Jansons (English version - Harry Johnson). He showed me pictures from the old times and told many stories. First Latvians arrived here from Brazil riding on oxen. And he remembers times when he and other "crazy people" came here on carts pulled by 6 oxen. And the 80km (50 miles) long trip from the point where asphalt road ended till Rincon took them up to 13 days, because the road was so bad. He told about a time when during this 13 day trip they spent the night under the open sky. One of the men took off his shirt and hung it by the fireplace to dry it. But when he woke up in the morning all he could find was the collar... ants had taken everything else away :) Then brother Harijs told about flood in Rincon. When something flows here, it takes everything away. Once the flood took all their pigs to forest. It took them several days to catch and bring back all the piggies. Another time one of the Ayoreo ladies was pregnant and as she is walking through the flood water she feels that it's time to give birth to her child. Since everything is covered with water she climbed a nearby tree and gave birth there. She used her hair pin to cut the umbilical cord, wrapped her child in her shirt and kept walking. They both were alive and well. These and many other stories Harijs told me on Sunday with a great joy. And he was very, very happy that someone visited him. He feels very lonely because his wife Ruta passed away several years ago... even though he gets to see other villagers there is no other friend like her... so I promised to visit him again and look at the pictures and hear other mighty stories! Every Latvian here wants show and tell something to me. Usually they don't have anyone to whom to tell these stories...
Yesterday we had an evening service at 6:30PM. And that was the shortest service of my life. 25 minutes later everyone was already going home. :) I love the way they do church services here - the one who leads doesn't have a program printed out. He picks the songs they'll sing on spot. He looks at the people who have gathered and picks someone who will read the Scripture, who will pray and who will sing a solo. Yesterday they told me without warning - sister Liene will sing a solo :D But I said I need some time to prepare and we agreed that I will sing a week later. So they're very spontaneous!
The adventure of the day was that my friend Sharon took me for a walk to the real jungle!!! You can't expect more genuine jungle than this... palm trees, bamboos, lianas, cactus, grass as tall as you, all kinds of interesting flowers, bushes, rivers, horse bones, monkeys, butterflies, big birds... I walked through and was wondering but for them it's so usual... very beautiful indeed!
There is a lot of work to do here. When you feel like you have finished your work there is something else to do. This week the biggest work is to prepare everything for the new school year when 120 children will live here. We have to tidy, wash and repair all the dorm rooms, make their beds. For the past 3 months they had their summer break and everything is dusty and needs some repair... Besides the 120 children about 20 teachers will also live here. We have to prepare accommodation for them as well. So we have a lot of work. And in a week I will have many other responsibilities. I can not image what I will have to do yet. But I can smell that it will be a lot of work! And I love it. I love to be a part of the team that is doing this great work. Rincon mission is an amazing place on earth. They have built such a civilized village in the middle of jungle and established a high level school according to Bolivian standards. You can achieve so much when you make some effort. I have a lot to learn here...
And soon we will be without electricity again... I'm saying goodbye! And I really hope that I will have internet access soon so I can post all this.
Thank you for your prayers. They really work :) I can't wait to see what will happen here during school time. But at the same time I can't wait to be in Latvia again and show my pictures and videos :)
Kisses and goodbye!
Yesterday was a day of rest - Sunday. Church service started at 8:00AM and we had lunch at 10:30AM. In the afternoon I visited one of the Latvians -Harijs Jansons (English version - Harry Johnson). He showed me pictures from the old times and told many stories. First Latvians arrived here from Brazil riding on oxen. And he remembers times when he and other "crazy people" came here on carts pulled by 6 oxen. And the 80km (50 miles) long trip from the point where asphalt road ended till Rincon took them up to 13 days, because the road was so bad. He told about a time when during this 13 day trip they spent the night under the open sky. One of the men took off his shirt and hung it by the fireplace to dry it. But when he woke up in the morning all he could find was the collar... ants had taken everything else away :) Then brother Harijs told about flood in Rincon. When something flows here, it takes everything away. Once the flood took all their pigs to forest. It took them several days to catch and bring back all the piggies. Another time one of the Ayoreo ladies was pregnant and as she is walking through the flood water she feels that it's time to give birth to her child. Since everything is covered with water she climbed a nearby tree and gave birth there. She used her hair pin to cut the umbilical cord, wrapped her child in her shirt and kept walking. They both were alive and well. These and many other stories Harijs told me on Sunday with a great joy. And he was very, very happy that someone visited him. He feels very lonely because his wife Ruta passed away several years ago... even though he gets to see other villagers there is no other friend like her... so I promised to visit him again and look at the pictures and hear other mighty stories! Every Latvian here wants show and tell something to me. Usually they don't have anyone to whom to tell these stories...
Yesterday we had an evening service at 6:30PM. And that was the shortest service of my life. 25 minutes later everyone was already going home. :) I love the way they do church services here - the one who leads doesn't have a program printed out. He picks the songs they'll sing on spot. He looks at the people who have gathered and picks someone who will read the Scripture, who will pray and who will sing a solo. Yesterday they told me without warning - sister Liene will sing a solo :D But I said I need some time to prepare and we agreed that I will sing a week later. So they're very spontaneous!
The adventure of the day was that my friend Sharon took me for a walk to the real jungle!!! You can't expect more genuine jungle than this... palm trees, bamboos, lianas, cactus, grass as tall as you, all kinds of interesting flowers, bushes, rivers, horse bones, monkeys, butterflies, big birds... I walked through and was wondering but for them it's so usual... very beautiful indeed!
There is a lot of work to do here. When you feel like you have finished your work there is something else to do. This week the biggest work is to prepare everything for the new school year when 120 children will live here. We have to tidy, wash and repair all the dorm rooms, make their beds. For the past 3 months they had their summer break and everything is dusty and needs some repair... Besides the 120 children about 20 teachers will also live here. We have to prepare accommodation for them as well. So we have a lot of work. And in a week I will have many other responsibilities. I can not image what I will have to do yet. But I can smell that it will be a lot of work! And I love it. I love to be a part of the team that is doing this great work. Rincon mission is an amazing place on earth. They have built such a civilized village in the middle of jungle and established a high level school according to Bolivian standards. You can achieve so much when you make some effort. I have a lot to learn here...
And soon we will be without electricity again... I'm saying goodbye! And I really hope that I will have internet access soon so I can post all this.
Thank you for your prayers. They really work :) I can't wait to see what will happen here during school time. But at the same time I can't wait to be in Latvia again and show my pictures and videos :)
Kisses and goodbye!
Everyday Rincon
During the past few days I have experienced so many new and unusual things, but for the locals it's been normal everyday stuff for decades. I have my own room in younger girls' dormitories. They wanted to give me a house at first but then a Brazilian couple said they plan to come here and the house will be given to them. But I'm very happy that I can live close to other people, I couldn't sleep alone there in the middle of field where that house is. Falling asleep is my biggest problem. My room has an aluminum roof and EVERYTHING that happens on the roof makes a very loud noise. When it rains, when a branch or a fruit falls on the roof, when a bird walks or grasshopper hops... it sounds really scary. Some insects sing especially loud at nights and every bird caws... small animals walk through grass, horses walk by your windows and they are barked at by 6 Rincon dogs. And it is COMPLETELY dark during the night and tiny bugs hop on my blanket. It takes some time to fall asleep. It gets easier every night but anyway - every night is a challenge. Both my windows have a mosquito nets that save me from death as Ms. Velta said. :) But all kinds of tiny creatures find their way to me. I guess they all want to taste the new, white blood :D The best thing was when one night as usual I felt something was walking on my blanket. I opened my eyes (even though it's a stupid idea because you can't see anything) but this time I saw something! I wiped it away and all of a sudden a small flash light was in front of me! I closed my eyes, rubbed them, opened again because I thought it wasn't for real. But I saw that tiny flash light again. And then it started to hop on my blanket! Later all the locals laughed at me, when I told this. It is a very common bug here. I'd say it's a remote relative of Latvian fire fly. Yes... there is no lack of live creatures. I meet new miraculous things every day... a butterfly in the size of the palm of my hand lives in my room for the 4th day already, outside next to the sink crawls a 7cm (2.7 inches) long fluffy spider. When I open the doors of my closet I see a 6cm (2.3 inches) long cockroach, a 1000-legged worm crawls outside my door, a HUGE toad jumps through Ms. Velta's garden, he's about as big as a children bowling ball. Every place is full of unusual creatures! You're never alone :D You get used to it after a while... I'm still in the process.
When you don't think about all the insects, bugs and amphibians, wonderful people walk around. Currently there are 3 local Latvians in the mission - Velta, Janis and Harijs. Undine went to see her dentist in Corumba. Pastor Samuel flies to many local authorities to deal with paperwork. But these 3 Latvians and an old man Romans from Hungary are wonderful people indeed! They all are 74 or older. But they work and serve more actively then an average 20 year old European! Both gray haired men always greet me kindly and have wept several times upon looking at me... I am an answered prayer for them... and I'm very happy I am! They tell me adventurous and exciting stories about the good old times... if anyone could write them down, they would make a fantastic book! And they work all the time. We see each other for lunch and dinner, they eat quickly, say "Provecho" and rush back to their work. I'm helping Ms. Velta these days - I do everything that needs to be done. So far I have cleaned a house no one has lived in for a long time, I cleaned the toilets, windows and furniture, helped in the local shop, pealed corn cobs, made corn juice and done other smaller or bigger things. When you work you're sweating all the time here! I have to wipe my forehead often because it's covered in sweat! But it's easier to bear the heat here than in Latvia in July.
Every day is pretty much the same because we have our meals on the same time. Breakfast at 7:00AM, lunch at 11:00 AM, dinner at 5:00PM. At 5:30PM it gets dark and electricity is provided for all the houses. It goes off at 8:30PM and everyone goes to bed. Other live creatures become active then... at least those who live around my room ;) School will start on February 1st. Then the electricity will be provided until 8:00PM and we will have to get up a little earlier in the morning. But it's easy to get up in the morning because the light is bright outside and the temperatures are rising. When the school starts about 120 kids will live in the dorms - so my social life will be more active. They let me live in the dorms because there I will learn the language easier since the girls will want to talk to me all the time. That's their nature! On the first night here a local girl came to me and I showed her my pictures and tried to tell about my life in Latvia in my poor Spanish. I learn new phrases every day. I love when the old Latvian men forget that I don't speak Spanish so well yet and they smile and look at me and tell me something in Spanish. Of course, I can't interrupt their story so I just nod and smile. Until Ms. Velta comes and tells them that I don't understand it all :D Then they try to translate their stories into Latvian. Usually they talk to each other in Spanish except when they don't want the locals to understand, then they use Latvian.
I'm writing all this on a Saturday night. I don't know when I will get to post this because pastor will fly back only on Tuesday or Wednesday.
By the way - you can write me letters! Yesterday pastor flew here from Corumba and brought some mail. I was surprised there were some letters from Riga. Now I know that I can receive some mail from Latvia (and other places) too! You have to mail these letters to Corumba, Brazil. Pastor goes there once a week to get mail and send letters. So I will be able to mail something too! My address is:
LIENE SVOKA
CAIXA POSTAL 101
CORUMBA
MS 79301-970
BRASIL
I will be veeeerrrrryyyyy happy to receive something! And I will definitely try to send something myself! So feel free to leave your addresses here for me... ha ha... maybe I will send YOU something from jungle :D
I have so much more to tell but the power generator will be switched off soon and I need to finish.
I hope I will get to use the computer again soon!
I am happy, I have enough food and clothes, I'm a little hot but satisfied with life here! But I feel like in a totally different world. And their Latvian is totally different. In 6 months I will speak like a Latvian from century ago :D I will have to write down my new vocabulary one day!
I send you tropical greetings from Rincon del Tigre, Bolivia!
When you don't think about all the insects, bugs and amphibians, wonderful people walk around. Currently there are 3 local Latvians in the mission - Velta, Janis and Harijs. Undine went to see her dentist in Corumba. Pastor Samuel flies to many local authorities to deal with paperwork. But these 3 Latvians and an old man Romans from Hungary are wonderful people indeed! They all are 74 or older. But they work and serve more actively then an average 20 year old European! Both gray haired men always greet me kindly and have wept several times upon looking at me... I am an answered prayer for them... and I'm very happy I am! They tell me adventurous and exciting stories about the good old times... if anyone could write them down, they would make a fantastic book! And they work all the time. We see each other for lunch and dinner, they eat quickly, say "Provecho" and rush back to their work. I'm helping Ms. Velta these days - I do everything that needs to be done. So far I have cleaned a house no one has lived in for a long time, I cleaned the toilets, windows and furniture, helped in the local shop, pealed corn cobs, made corn juice and done other smaller or bigger things. When you work you're sweating all the time here! I have to wipe my forehead often because it's covered in sweat! But it's easier to bear the heat here than in Latvia in July.
Every day is pretty much the same because we have our meals on the same time. Breakfast at 7:00AM, lunch at 11:00 AM, dinner at 5:00PM. At 5:30PM it gets dark and electricity is provided for all the houses. It goes off at 8:30PM and everyone goes to bed. Other live creatures become active then... at least those who live around my room ;) School will start on February 1st. Then the electricity will be provided until 8:00PM and we will have to get up a little earlier in the morning. But it's easy to get up in the morning because the light is bright outside and the temperatures are rising. When the school starts about 120 kids will live in the dorms - so my social life will be more active. They let me live in the dorms because there I will learn the language easier since the girls will want to talk to me all the time. That's their nature! On the first night here a local girl came to me and I showed her my pictures and tried to tell about my life in Latvia in my poor Spanish. I learn new phrases every day. I love when the old Latvian men forget that I don't speak Spanish so well yet and they smile and look at me and tell me something in Spanish. Of course, I can't interrupt their story so I just nod and smile. Until Ms. Velta comes and tells them that I don't understand it all :D Then they try to translate their stories into Latvian. Usually they talk to each other in Spanish except when they don't want the locals to understand, then they use Latvian.
I'm writing all this on a Saturday night. I don't know when I will get to post this because pastor will fly back only on Tuesday or Wednesday.
By the way - you can write me letters! Yesterday pastor flew here from Corumba and brought some mail. I was surprised there were some letters from Riga. Now I know that I can receive some mail from Latvia (and other places) too! You have to mail these letters to Corumba, Brazil. Pastor goes there once a week to get mail and send letters. So I will be able to mail something too! My address is:
LIENE SVOKA
CAIXA POSTAL 101
CORUMBA
MS 79301-970
BRASIL
I will be veeeerrrrryyyyy happy to receive something! And I will definitely try to send something myself! So feel free to leave your addresses here for me... ha ha... maybe I will send YOU something from jungle :D
I have so much more to tell but the power generator will be switched off soon and I need to finish.
I hope I will get to use the computer again soon!
I am happy, I have enough food and clothes, I'm a little hot but satisfied with life here! But I feel like in a totally different world. And their Latvian is totally different. In 6 months I will speak like a Latvian from century ago :D I will have to write down my new vocabulary one day!
I send you tropical greetings from Rincon del Tigre, Bolivia!
On the way to Rincon
I'm sitting at the computador at my dear Ms. Velta's home. The system will be this: I can use her computer to type my messages and then I will paste them on Samuel's computer, it's the only computer in Rincon that has internet access. Since the village is surrounded by mountains, the only way the get internet access is through a satellite. So now I am praising God for both internet and satellites. Since pastor Samuel is a VERY busy person, I will not get to use his computer a lot. But when I get to use it I will most likely post several stories at once.
Before I tell you about life in Rincon I would like to tell you about my way here. My dears, I wish I had a super cool video camera attached to my forehead that would stream this video online so that you can follow my trip!
When we arrived in Puerto Suarez, Bolivia it took some effort to find a "taxi" that would take us to Rincon. A taxi here can be any person who has a car and two hands! I could also be a taxi driver. Thank God we found someone who could do it - Don Mario! At 8:00 AM after spending the night at a hotel in Puerto Suarez we were ready to go to Rincon and it's the time that Mario had agreed to pick us up. Since they don't care about time so much we left the hotel at 9:00 AM. At first it was a nice asphalt road. I was seated in the front of the car next to Mario so that I could have a better view. My friend Undine was in the back seat packed between our many bags. Time after time Don Mario asked me something in Spanish and sometimes I understood and was able answer him in Spanish! I love how they list the languages they know here. I ask him, how many languages can he speak. And the list goes on - Spanish, Portuguese, English, German... I got really excited that he knows English and asked him: Do you speak English? He laughed and said: No, no, no English! So I learned that if you can say: I speak english, it already means that you speak the language. You don't need to know more than that!
Then I was also fascinated by their understanding of beauty. It's a little different. We were approaching a tiny town and he points at it and says: Muy Bonito! Beautiful means that the town has some houses, streets and trees. Our first taxi driver said that Puerto Suarez will also be muy bonito. I was more than surprised that they called it beautiful. OK! You can get used to the local sense of beauty.
On our way I had a feeling that Don Mario knows everyone in Bolivia or he's just really friendly because he waved and greeted every driver we saw on our way. Wild dogs and cows were walking along the road. Seriously - they have wild cows and other cattle! They are the ones who have escaped from their owner's farms and chosen to live on their own. Then they wander through forests and fields and try to find some nourishment for their skinny bodies.
When the asphalt road ended, my friend Undine said: Now hold on, otherwise you will bump your head! And this time she was absolutely right. And the adventure began! Sometimes the road was simply bad - like on the countryside in Latvia - rough and rocky. Then sometimes there were these HUGE puddles with dark brown water that covered us every time we went through one. Mud parts were the best, and we had quite a few of them. Mud means that it's up to your knees and higher. Sometimes we went through shifting from one side of the road to another. There were moments when I just closed my eyes and prayed for Don Mario. And it certainly helped because when I opened my eyes we were already through the critical part. Luckily his car was pretty high and we got stuck only once. Despite the unique roads there were many beautiful sights to the right and left. We were accompanied by many flocks of butterflies. I had never seen so many butterflies in such a short period of time. And thanks to the quality of the roads I had some butterflies in my stomach as well :D The further we went the narrower the road and I really began to feel like in jungle. There were many unknown trees and bushes, thousands of lianas hanging in the trees. I heard weird bird voices. Time after time big weird insects flew by our windows. Then I saw unique flowers. Sometimes I felt like I was in Avatar movie - the sights were a little similar. Sometimes we saw some local Indians with a pile of branches on their backs. Some were riding on a donkey, one hero was on a horse. I especially loved the two ostriches that walked in front of our car for a while swinging their fluffy backs. Seriously, wild ostriches walk around here!
After four hours of this adventurous ride we went through a gate that said "Welcome to Rincon Evangelical mission. Jesus Christ is our only hope!" in Spanish. Two more kilometers and we arrived in the village of Rincon del Tigre - place I had dreamed about and prayed for exactly for a year.We were welcomed by a smiling Latvian lady Velta and several Bolivian cowboys. Real cowboys - on horses and with those leather things they put on their pants, and hats or course. First thing Velta said was: We waited for you for so long... And that's how I feel here - long awaited and loved...
Before I tell you about life in Rincon I would like to tell you about my way here. My dears, I wish I had a super cool video camera attached to my forehead that would stream this video online so that you can follow my trip!
When we arrived in Puerto Suarez, Bolivia it took some effort to find a "taxi" that would take us to Rincon. A taxi here can be any person who has a car and two hands! I could also be a taxi driver. Thank God we found someone who could do it - Don Mario! At 8:00 AM after spending the night at a hotel in Puerto Suarez we were ready to go to Rincon and it's the time that Mario had agreed to pick us up. Since they don't care about time so much we left the hotel at 9:00 AM. At first it was a nice asphalt road. I was seated in the front of the car next to Mario so that I could have a better view. My friend Undine was in the back seat packed between our many bags. Time after time Don Mario asked me something in Spanish and sometimes I understood and was able answer him in Spanish! I love how they list the languages they know here. I ask him, how many languages can he speak. And the list goes on - Spanish, Portuguese, English, German... I got really excited that he knows English and asked him: Do you speak English? He laughed and said: No, no, no English! So I learned that if you can say: I speak english, it already means that you speak the language. You don't need to know more than that!
Then I was also fascinated by their understanding of beauty. It's a little different. We were approaching a tiny town and he points at it and says: Muy Bonito! Beautiful means that the town has some houses, streets and trees. Our first taxi driver said that Puerto Suarez will also be muy bonito. I was more than surprised that they called it beautiful. OK! You can get used to the local sense of beauty.
On our way I had a feeling that Don Mario knows everyone in Bolivia or he's just really friendly because he waved and greeted every driver we saw on our way. Wild dogs and cows were walking along the road. Seriously - they have wild cows and other cattle! They are the ones who have escaped from their owner's farms and chosen to live on their own. Then they wander through forests and fields and try to find some nourishment for their skinny bodies.
When the asphalt road ended, my friend Undine said: Now hold on, otherwise you will bump your head! And this time she was absolutely right. And the adventure began! Sometimes the road was simply bad - like on the countryside in Latvia - rough and rocky. Then sometimes there were these HUGE puddles with dark brown water that covered us every time we went through one. Mud parts were the best, and we had quite a few of them. Mud means that it's up to your knees and higher. Sometimes we went through shifting from one side of the road to another. There were moments when I just closed my eyes and prayed for Don Mario. And it certainly helped because when I opened my eyes we were already through the critical part. Luckily his car was pretty high and we got stuck only once. Despite the unique roads there were many beautiful sights to the right and left. We were accompanied by many flocks of butterflies. I had never seen so many butterflies in such a short period of time. And thanks to the quality of the roads I had some butterflies in my stomach as well :D The further we went the narrower the road and I really began to feel like in jungle. There were many unknown trees and bushes, thousands of lianas hanging in the trees. I heard weird bird voices. Time after time big weird insects flew by our windows. Then I saw unique flowers. Sometimes I felt like I was in Avatar movie - the sights were a little similar. Sometimes we saw some local Indians with a pile of branches on their backs. Some were riding on a donkey, one hero was on a horse. I especially loved the two ostriches that walked in front of our car for a while swinging their fluffy backs. Seriously, wild ostriches walk around here!
After four hours of this adventurous ride we went through a gate that said "Welcome to Rincon Evangelical mission. Jesus Christ is our only hope!" in Spanish. Two more kilometers and we arrived in the village of Rincon del Tigre - place I had dreamed about and prayed for exactly for a year.We were welcomed by a smiling Latvian lady Velta and several Bolivian cowboys. Real cowboys - on horses and with those leather things they put on their pants, and hats or course. First thing Velta said was: We waited for you for so long... And that's how I feel here - long awaited and loved...
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
wooooow
Dear friends,
You will never guess where I am... at a internet cafe in Puerto Suarez, Bolivia! WOW! We arrived in Bolivia about two hours ago and all this time were searching for someone who could take us to Rincon. Don Silvio had agreed to do it. We went to his house. He was scratching his belly and said that he can't take us there because his car is broken. Then he took us to another don who could take us. But he just smoked, laughed and said no in Spanish. Then we went to one more person but he also said no. So we found a hotel where to spend the night because we will not make it to Rincon tonight. In the first hotel we started to bring our bags in when aunt Undine said: No, we will not stay here because they don't serve morning coffee!!! WOW! So we looked for another hotel. In the next hotel they served breakfast and we decided to stay there. Local taxi driver took us to all these places. A very patient person, although he seemed frustrated at some point, he helped us till the end!
Then we looked for a place where to eat.
But I can't stop wondering about Bolivia. WOW! Total mess! From the moment we crossed the border... everyone can go back and forth. If you go by taxi no one asks for your documents. Roads are awful. We are riding in the taxi and hear how it slowly breaks... People are totally different than in Brazil. They look more like native indians. And they look at me like at a miracle... I guess I am quite white for them.
OK, aunt Undine is waiting for me to finish. She is my Patience teacher!
But I'm alive and well... just in a different place. But tomorrow we hope to go to Rincon. For now, I will keep wondering about Bolivia!
And again, thank you for your prayers! They carry me through all this culture shock. But I like it! Hugs and kisses!
You will never guess where I am... at a internet cafe in Puerto Suarez, Bolivia! WOW! We arrived in Bolivia about two hours ago and all this time were searching for someone who could take us to Rincon. Don Silvio had agreed to do it. We went to his house. He was scratching his belly and said that he can't take us there because his car is broken. Then he took us to another don who could take us. But he just smoked, laughed and said no in Spanish. Then we went to one more person but he also said no. So we found a hotel where to spend the night because we will not make it to Rincon tonight. In the first hotel we started to bring our bags in when aunt Undine said: No, we will not stay here because they don't serve morning coffee!!! WOW! So we looked for another hotel. In the next hotel they served breakfast and we decided to stay there. Local taxi driver took us to all these places. A very patient person, although he seemed frustrated at some point, he helped us till the end!
Then we looked for a place where to eat.
But I can't stop wondering about Bolivia. WOW! Total mess! From the moment we crossed the border... everyone can go back and forth. If you go by taxi no one asks for your documents. Roads are awful. We are riding in the taxi and hear how it slowly breaks... People are totally different than in Brazil. They look more like native indians. And they look at me like at a miracle... I guess I am quite white for them.
OK, aunt Undine is waiting for me to finish. She is my Patience teacher!
But I'm alive and well... just in a different place. But tomorrow we hope to go to Rincon. For now, I will keep wondering about Bolivia!
And again, thank you for your prayers! They carry me through all this culture shock. But I like it! Hugs and kisses!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Greetings from Nova Odessa!
Hello my dear friends!
Finally I got to use the computer. Such a joy.
I'm at aunt Valda's home, she brought me to her shed where she keeps her computer and lets her cats sleep.
My head is so full of everything that has happened lately, I don't even know what to tell in this brief moment I get to be at the computer.
My weekend in Nova Odessa was wonderful!!!
There are so many Latvians in Nova Odessa! Some of them speak Latvian very well, some only understand spoken Latvian and nod, some can say two sentences: 1) That's crazy! 2) I want water! But I could find common language with everyone. The youth of First Baptist church welcomed me very kindly and instantly treated me as one of their own. They took me to a movie theater and to local restaurants. I tried sugar cane juice. They took me to a real Brazilian farm, where they grow coconuts, bananas, avocado, mango, jaca and many other miracles instead of Latvian apples and pears. I don't even remember the names off all the fruit there but I tried EVERYTHING they gave me.
On Sunday morning I went to Nova Odessa's First Baptist Church and I told the congregation why I am going to Rincon. Many people here doesn't understand why I am doing this. I was introduced to soooo many people after church... I remember only few names...
Then was the golden moment! There is a Latvian guy Renāts Stepanovs who has his back yard full of cars and things alike. He owns a Ford Maverick from 1975... and he was driving me around in this car... WOW!!! If take back my words that Thiago is a crazy driver, because Renāts drived really CRAAAZY!But since he is an experienced driver, it is safe :) I added some pretty pictures of his Maverick... then we rode a bike and a sports car. Local youth said it's because I need to get used to crazy life because Rincon will be crazy!
Then they took me to a fantastic restaurant that offers so many salads... there were 39 different kinds of salad, I tried almost everything! And then they brought meat. All the time... lots of meat... I loved it! I ate some pork, some beaf, some goat, some chicken and chicken hearts.
On Sunday evening I went to another church where they had a baptism service. They said it's a modern church because they play drums there! Usually none of my friends goes there.
My host Zinaīda is the nicest lady on the world! She called me Laimiņa (Good luck) all the time instead of calling me Liene. I felt at home, she took such a good care of me. You can see her in the top picture. I had a special friendship with her grandson Oliver. Such a sweetie! He's the youngest boy in my pictures :) They gave me banana cake and coconut cake for breakfast this morning... and many of you know my "love" for bananas and coconuts, so I'm learning to eat new things!
It's raining today, and if it's raining there are rivers instead of streets! But it felt so refreshing after yesterday's +37C (+98F)!
Im drinking the best Brazilian drink Guarana now and waiting for lovely aunt Valda to finish cooking lunch. And then aunt Zinaīda will take me to a cemetery :) Yes!And then we will go to neighboring town Americana where I will get on the bus to Corumba. Different people say me different things about the length of the ride... I hope it will be only 24 hours as they said at the bus station. I will be able to learn everything about Rincon because I will go together with a Latvian lady Undine.Nova Odessa is FULL of Latvians. And they all are relatives! everywhere I go they introduce me to someone and turns out they're Latvian. So I felt like I was in Latvia :)
Finally I got to use the computer. Such a joy.
I'm at aunt Valda's home, she brought me to her shed where she keeps her computer and lets her cats sleep.
My head is so full of everything that has happened lately, I don't even know what to tell in this brief moment I get to be at the computer.
My weekend in Nova Odessa was wonderful!!!
On Sunday morning I went to Nova Odessa's First Baptist Church and I told the congregation why I am going to Rincon. Many people here doesn't understand why I am doing this. I was introduced to soooo many people after church... I remember only few names...
Then was the golden moment! There is a Latvian guy Renāts Stepanovs who has his back yard full of cars and things alike. He owns a Ford Maverick from 1975... and he was driving me around in this car... WOW!!! If take back my words that Thiago is a crazy driver, because Renāts drived really CRAAAZY!But since he is an experienced driver, it is safe :) I added some pretty pictures of his Maverick... then we rode a bike and a sports car. Local youth said it's because I need to get used to crazy life because Rincon will be crazy!
Then they took me to a fantastic restaurant that offers so many salads... there were 39 different kinds of salad, I tried almost everything! And then they brought meat. All the time... lots of meat... I loved it! I ate some pork, some beaf, some goat, some chicken and chicken hearts.
On Sunday evening I went to another church where they had a baptism service. They said it's a modern church because they play drums there! Usually none of my friends goes there.
My host Zinaīda is the nicest lady on the world! She called me Laimiņa (Good luck) all the time instead of calling me Liene. I felt at home, she took such a good care of me. You can see her in the top picture. I had a special friendship with her grandson Oliver. Such a sweetie! He's the youngest boy in my pictures :) They gave me banana cake and coconut cake for breakfast this morning... and many of you know my "love" for bananas and coconuts, so I'm learning to eat new things!
It's raining today, and if it's raining there are rivers instead of streets! But it felt so refreshing after yesterday's +37C (+98F)!
Im drinking the best Brazilian drink Guarana now and waiting for lovely aunt Valda to finish cooking lunch. And then aunt Zinaīda will take me to a cemetery :) Yes!And then we will go to neighboring town Americana where I will get on the bus to Corumba. Different people say me different things about the length of the ride... I hope it will be only 24 hours as they said at the bus station. I will be able to learn everything about Rincon because I will go together with a Latvian lady Undine.Nova Odessa is FULL of Latvians. And they all are relatives! everywhere I go they introduce me to someone and turns out they're Latvian. So I felt like I was in Latvia :)
I have no idea how long BITE will provide me with cell phone service. But it has delivered all the beautiful messages from Latvia so far.
I am VERY happy today! There are great things ahead of me. God knows what they will be.
Oh , by the way, dentist Undine said she has heard talks that in Rincon I will have my own house. She asked me if I'd be afraid to live alone there. Well... if local indians doesn't come to visit me, it should be fine :D
I have no idea when I will be able to use the computer again. But as soon as I can, I will tell you what has happened in my life!
Thank you for your prayers! See you online in Bolivia ;)
Kisses!
Hi!
It is Zanda here, a friend of Liene :) I'm writing on her behalf with her permission :) I talked to her on the phone a minute ago and she asked me to write something here because she doesn't know when she will be able to use a computer again. If everyhting goes according to plan (in Brazil you never know) she will write some more tomorrow :)
Now she is in a small Brazilian town Nova Odessa and the locals are taking very good care of her! She spent the past few days together with the local youth but tomorrow when all the young people will go to work she will spend some time with older people :)
Tomorrow at 5:00pm (Latvia is 4 hours ahead) she will go to the next place. Just in case she doesn't have the chance to be online before she leaves know that on Monday at 9:00pm Latvian time (1:00pm in Houston) you have to start praying for her trip. As long as she is in Brazil she can receive text messages. Thank's to BITE. I think she would be very glad to receive something from you :) So use this opportunity to encourage her directly while she is in Brazil! And hopefully BITE will work also in Bolivian jungle :) If it does, I'll consider changing my cell phone service provider :)
I attached a couple of beautiful pictures from our Botanical garden visit! The task for both pictures is the same - find Liene!!
Now she is in a small Brazilian town Nova Odessa and the locals are taking very good care of her! She spent the past few days together with the local youth but tomorrow when all the young people will go to work she will spend some time with older people :)
Tomorrow at 5:00pm (Latvia is 4 hours ahead) she will go to the next place. Just in case she doesn't have the chance to be online before she leaves know that on Monday at 9:00pm Latvian time (1:00pm in Houston) you have to start praying for her trip. As long as she is in Brazil she can receive text messages. Thank's to BITE. I think she would be very glad to receive something from you :) So use this opportunity to encourage her directly while she is in Brazil! And hopefully BITE will work also in Bolivian jungle :) If it does, I'll consider changing my cell phone service provider :)
I attached a couple of beautiful pictures from our Botanical garden visit! The task for both pictures is the same - find Liene!!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Goodbye Rio!
I'm spending the last minutes at Zanda's and Thiago's home in Rio. This week has been FANTASTIC! I loved every minute of it! And I strongly suggest everyone to visit Brazil. Thiago says, for 1000 lats (2000$) he'd show Rio to anyone!
This day was wonderful. Finally we went to the Botanical garden and felt like in paradise... everything was so, so beautiful! I'll try to add some pictures. The walk through the garden refreshed my soul - seriously!
Thiago was bored at the garden after we saw the first palm tree. Then he took us to his favorite place in the city - a field by the airport. It's the perfect date spot, he says - you don't have to spend money and time, you feel completely satisfied after spending a little time there. We watched planes land and take off all the time... and they were so close. Thiago watches then and says: It's so beautiful, so beautiful...
We were not the only ones there. Time after time other Brazilian men joined us. I guess it's a national thing :D
Then we went to Rio downtown. I almost felt like I was in Europe. We met a friend of Thiago who joined us for pizza. But it wasn't a regular pizza place! There you pay a certain amount and then girls come and offer you 20 or 30 kinds of pizza all night long. Grab and eat as much as you can. Discovery of the night - sweet pizzas! WOW! Strawberry, banana, pineapple, chocolate, cinnamon and other kinds of pizzas... we ate and ate... at the end of night Zanda said that she will deliver a chocolate baby :D
And then we went to say goodbye to Thiago's family. A part of my heart stayed there. Thiago's mommy gave me a pillow and jungle-themed bed linens... and she cried... Thiago's family treated me as their own daughter, I'm very grateful for that :)
The bags are packed. I have to go to the bus station to take the 7 hour ride on the Brazil's hilly roads to Campinas. Then Nova Odessa and then soon I'll arrive in Rincon!
Thank you for your prayers! Keep praying! I really feel that I am carried by your prayers!
And thank you for each comment - they give me assurance that I'm never alone :) Love you!
This day was wonderful. Finally we went to the Botanical garden and felt like in paradise... everything was so, so beautiful! I'll try to add some pictures. The walk through the garden refreshed my soul - seriously!
Thiago was bored at the garden after we saw the first palm tree. Then he took us to his favorite place in the city - a field by the airport. It's the perfect date spot, he says - you don't have to spend money and time, you feel completely satisfied after spending a little time there. We watched planes land and take off all the time... and they were so close. Thiago watches then and says: It's so beautiful, so beautiful...
We were not the only ones there. Time after time other Brazilian men joined us. I guess it's a national thing :D
Then we went to Rio downtown. I almost felt like I was in Europe. We met a friend of Thiago who joined us for pizza. But it wasn't a regular pizza place! There you pay a certain amount and then girls come and offer you 20 or 30 kinds of pizza all night long. Grab and eat as much as you can. Discovery of the night - sweet pizzas! WOW! Strawberry, banana, pineapple, chocolate, cinnamon and other kinds of pizzas... we ate and ate... at the end of night Zanda said that she will deliver a chocolate baby :D
And then we went to say goodbye to Thiago's family. A part of my heart stayed there. Thiago's mommy gave me a pillow and jungle-themed bed linens... and she cried... Thiago's family treated me as their own daughter, I'm very grateful for that :)
The bags are packed. I have to go to the bus station to take the 7 hour ride on the Brazil's hilly roads to Campinas. Then Nova Odessa and then soon I'll arrive in Rincon!
Thank you for your prayers! Keep praying! I really feel that I am carried by your prayers!
And thank you for each comment - they give me assurance that I'm never alone :) Love you!
Friday, January 14, 2011
6th and the last full day in Rio
... because tomorrow I'm going to the next place! Today we went to the huge Rio bus station to buy a ticket for a bus to Campinas. I leave Rio on Friday at 11:45PM and arrive in Campinas next morning at 7:15AM. William Avots will meet me there and take me to Nova Odessa by his car which should take about an hour. There I will stay with a Latvian lady Zinaīda, who will kindly host me for the weekend. On Monday afternoon at 4:00PM I will take a bus to Corumba, which is located next to the Bolivian border. This ride will take 24 hours but the good news is that I will not go alone. A Latvian lady will also go to Rincon together with me. Her name is Undina and she serves at the mission as a dentist. So I will have a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot about the mission in Rincon on my way there! Someone from Rincon will meet us in Corumba and take us to the jungle :) I have no idea when will be the next time I have internet access...
Today we had great plans and also small plans. And they changed all the time. We ate lunch at Thiago's parents'. And Zanda and I could do nothing but sit calm and smile because our four dear Brazilians had heated discussions all the time... One of the plans was to go to a local Botanical garden, because Zanda and I thought that the weather is perfect for that. It was a bit cooler today, about +29C (+84F) and the sun was not burning so hot but gently embracing us with it's warmth. However Thiago said that we can't go to Botanical garden because it's RAINING! That's what Brazilians call the weather when it's lower than their usual +37C (+98F). :) He was absolutely sure that everything will be wet any minute... well, we never saw any rain :D
Some other plans were cancelled. But I'm glad we got to go to the pride of Rio - huge Maracana football (soccer) stadium which was the biggest in the world until Japanese built something bigger. Out of respect for Thiago's passionate love for football we looked at and captured in photos almost anything there was at the stadium. I posted some of the pictures here! We found pins with Latvian and Brazilian flags at the souvenir shop. Of course we bought them with great pride and pinned them to our chests. (PLEASE, don't try to convince me that it is Austrian flag, not Latvian!) :)
Late in the evening we went to a shopping mall and bought A LOT of food and went home talking about going to a pizza place. When we arrived home to put food in the fridge we understood that we don't want to go out anymore... and then we heard the quote of the day. From Thiago, of course! Remember I mentioned earlier that plans were changed all the time? So, here goes Thiago: I don't like when people change their plans so much! And Zanda and I were speechless... we didn't expect to hear it from him :D But we love Thiago and his Brazilian relatives anyway!
My skin feels and looks a lot better! It should be OK in couple of days! Now you have to pray for safety during my night bus ride. It is quite exotic... but everything will be ok! Thiago picked the most respectable bus company! :)
Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, support and comments - it all enlightens me and warms my heart!
Today we had great plans and also small plans. And they changed all the time. We ate lunch at Thiago's parents'. And Zanda and I could do nothing but sit calm and smile because our four dear Brazilians had heated discussions all the time... One of the plans was to go to a local Botanical garden, because Zanda and I thought that the weather is perfect for that. It was a bit cooler today, about +29C (+84F) and the sun was not burning so hot but gently embracing us with it's warmth. However Thiago said that we can't go to Botanical garden because it's RAINING! That's what Brazilians call the weather when it's lower than their usual +37C (+98F). :) He was absolutely sure that everything will be wet any minute... well, we never saw any rain :D
Some other plans were cancelled. But I'm glad we got to go to the pride of Rio - huge Maracana football (soccer) stadium which was the biggest in the world until Japanese built something bigger. Out of respect for Thiago's passionate love for football we looked at and captured in photos almost anything there was at the stadium. I posted some of the pictures here! We found pins with Latvian and Brazilian flags at the souvenir shop. Of course we bought them with great pride and pinned them to our chests. (PLEASE, don't try to convince me that it is Austrian flag, not Latvian!) :)
Late in the evening we went to a shopping mall and bought A LOT of food and went home talking about going to a pizza place. When we arrived home to put food in the fridge we understood that we don't want to go out anymore... and then we heard the quote of the day. From Thiago, of course! Remember I mentioned earlier that plans were changed all the time? So, here goes Thiago: I don't like when people change their plans so much! And Zanda and I were speechless... we didn't expect to hear it from him :D But we love Thiago and his Brazilian relatives anyway!
My skin feels and looks a lot better! It should be OK in couple of days! Now you have to pray for safety during my night bus ride. It is quite exotic... but everything will be ok! Thiago picked the most respectable bus company! :)
Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, support and comments - it all enlightens me and warms my heart!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
5th day
Hi!
This day was full of exciting new things!
In the morning Thiago and I went to by bread at the local store because we didn't have anything to put under ham and cheese. I begged to take the whole grain bread because it's more healthy. But Thiago says: " No, we will take the white bread, because you will die anyway. Doesn't matter if you eat the white bread or the dark one." I couldn't fight back this argument.
We also bought almost half of the fruit the store offered. All kinds of miracles grow here. I have to try everything. We also bought oranges and made orange juice and praised God that we were in South America :)
For lunch I was taken to the local "restaurant". When I entered it took me quite a while until I believed that they really serve food there and that people actually go there to eat! A suspicious, tarnished, hot place... if Latvian inspection saw this place, they would close it down right away and would make them pay a compensation to everyone who ever came to eat at this place. A really dark place :D But if you don't look at the visual appearance of this place then the food was actually good! I added some pictures from the "restaurant" below. In one of then you see Thiago holding their hand written receipt :)
The we went to the MARKET! If you ever thought that Riga Central market is a big loud mess then it's not true. Brazilian market is a crazy, loud, full and amazing place on the earth! You can buy everything you can not imagine!
We went to the market on a train. It was quite exotic as well. Every train has a special car for women only. It's because they are always so packed and some men may take advantage of being so close to women... therefore, women who doesn't want to be touched by men can go on a train without them!
Late in the evening Thiago and I went to eat at his parent's place. Zanda stayed home to do some translation work. Since Thiago had bought some new computer games at the black market, he left me alone and started to explore all his new games at his brother's computer. He left me with his parents whose English skills begin and end with "Hello! Thank you! Good!" And they want to talk sooooo much. And mom can't understand why I want to go to Bolivia... i used a little bit of my Spanish. Thank God, Thiago's brother joined us and his English is a little better that his parents'. So eventually they understood why I am going to Bolivia :)
Please pray for my red skin. It's getting a little better, but it still burns... I've tried many creams and lotions... Somehow I should get my normal skin back by the time I have to go to Rincon! :)
Two more days in Rio, then I'm going to Nova Odessa!
This day was full of exciting new things!
In the morning Thiago and I went to by bread at the local store because we didn't have anything to put under ham and cheese. I begged to take the whole grain bread because it's more healthy. But Thiago says: " No, we will take the white bread, because you will die anyway. Doesn't matter if you eat the white bread or the dark one." I couldn't fight back this argument.
We also bought almost half of the fruit the store offered. All kinds of miracles grow here. I have to try everything. We also bought oranges and made orange juice and praised God that we were in South America :)
For lunch I was taken to the local "restaurant". When I entered it took me quite a while until I believed that they really serve food there and that people actually go there to eat! A suspicious, tarnished, hot place... if Latvian inspection saw this place, they would close it down right away and would make them pay a compensation to everyone who ever came to eat at this place. A really dark place :D But if you don't look at the visual appearance of this place then the food was actually good! I added some pictures from the "restaurant" below. In one of then you see Thiago holding their hand written receipt :)
The we went to the MARKET! If you ever thought that Riga Central market is a big loud mess then it's not true. Brazilian market is a crazy, loud, full and amazing place on the earth! You can buy everything you can not imagine!
We went to the market on a train. It was quite exotic as well. Every train has a special car for women only. It's because they are always so packed and some men may take advantage of being so close to women... therefore, women who doesn't want to be touched by men can go on a train without them!
Late in the evening Thiago and I went to eat at his parent's place. Zanda stayed home to do some translation work. Since Thiago had bought some new computer games at the black market, he left me alone and started to explore all his new games at his brother's computer. He left me with his parents whose English skills begin and end with "Hello! Thank you! Good!" And they want to talk sooooo much. And mom can't understand why I want to go to Bolivia... i used a little bit of my Spanish. Thank God, Thiago's brother joined us and his English is a little better that his parents'. So eventually they understood why I am going to Bolivia :)
Please pray for my red skin. It's getting a little better, but it still burns... I've tried many creams and lotions... Somehow I should get my normal skin back by the time I have to go to Rincon! :)
Two more days in Rio, then I'm going to Nova Odessa!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Nothingdoing or 4th day in Brazil
Today we all feel like boiled, fried and ran over by a road roller several times :D Yesterday's sunburn is hurting for real. We are putting on different lotions and creams and hoping to see our natural skin tone again... maybe a few shades darker :)
There is a thunderstorm outside today... so we don't feel sorry we stayed home. We watched movies instead. The best one of them "The Answer Man" - I suggest you see it!
Tomorrow we are going to a Brazilian market. Doesn't it sound exciting?
Even though our plans changed, it was a very good day. As one smart person said: One who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin... in other words - one who is sunburned calms down and has the time to pray. That's the best part of it :)
There is a thunderstorm outside today... so we don't feel sorry we stayed home. We watched movies instead. The best one of them "The Answer Man" - I suggest you see it!
Tomorrow we are going to a Brazilian market. Doesn't it sound exciting?
Even though our plans changed, it was a very good day. As one smart person said: One who suffers in the flesh ceases to sin... in other words - one who is sunburned calms down and has the time to pray. That's the best part of it :)
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