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| SB captures my best side. |
July 21, 2014
This
past week has been one thing after another, and Sister B and I are just plain
wiped out. There is a huge cultural and economic divide between our ward
members. We have the very very
rich in the Barra, and the very very poor in the Favela Rio das Pedras. It’s definitely a very different
challenge for me. We are opening
an area in Barra da Tijuca which has never had sisters probably because ½ of
the area and 2/3 of our members live in the favela. I have already worked in really poor areas before, but this
one takes it to another level.
It’s just so sad to see people living so humbly. The other 1/2 of our area (which is
HUGE) is the Barra. Oh. My.
Gosh. Culture shock for me! It is so stinking rich. One of our members is a big oil tycoon
and we ate at his “house” last week.
We had to show our ID. And then be privately escorted to a beautiful
high-rise penthouse. Our lunch (a
4 course meal) was prepared by their personal chef. The interesting thing about
these members is that they came from humble circumstances themselves and so
they are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get to work. They are perfectly willing to help us
teach in the favelas.
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| One our our beautiful ward sisters. |
The
very next day we had lunch again in Barra and the member wasn’t even present so
we chatted with their maid while their cook prepared the meal. It’s all very odd.
Today
was very normal, bordering on laid back.
We’re still living in Recreio/Cumorim, which is a LONG way away from our
area, so we just ended up working in the other sister’s area tonight doing
contacts. We had some great interactions and we both feel like the quality of
our contacts has improved dramatically.
Other
new, I’m feel like I am getting sick.
Shocker. I am sure that it
is related to stress, and filth, and cockroaches, and cold showers. I will survive. What else, we waited about 2 hours
today trying to get pictures sent on the computer. One Lan house wasn’t even open, one’s computers didn’t have
the program needed to read our cameras, and the other one finally worked – but
only had one computer.
Barra da Tijuca (Brazilian Portuguese: (mostly referenced as Barra) is a famous borough in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located southwest of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known for its beaches, its uncountable lakes and rivers, and its highly Americanized lifestyle. Although representing only 4.7% of the city population and 13% of the total area of Rio de Janeiro, Barra is responsible for 30% of all tax collected in the city. Barra da Tijuca is classified as one of the most developed places in Brazil, with one of the highest HDI (0.970) in the country, as measured in the 2010 Brazil Census. Differently from the South Zone and Rio's Downtown, Barra da Tijuca, built only 30 years ago, follows the American standards with large boulevards creating the major transit axis. A mix of modernity, sustainability and nature create the newest side of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The borough's masterplan designed by Lúcio Costa, same urbanist of Brasília, creates a region filled with many gardens, shopping malls, apartment buildings and large mansions. In recent years, due to the development of the Brazilian economy, Barra has received more than 100,000 new residents and many companies' headquarters looking for a more modern address.
Those born in Barra da Tijuca, or those who live there, are called Barristas. The neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca is the cultural, economic, and administrative center of the borough, and is believed to be the safest of Rio's upper-class neighborhoods due to its lack of favelas and plentiful private and public security. Barra da Tijuca neighborhood is well known for being the home of celebrities and soccer stars. Barra, as it is popularly known, will host most of the venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will be the first held in South America.
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| Favela Rio das Pedras. |
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| Favela Rio das Pedras. |
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| I probably shouldn't look so content to be sick. |
July 22, 2014
Well,
I’m sick. Shoot. Thank heavens I have a great companion
who encourages me to rest. I have
already slept 10 hours today and I am still exhausted. It is so hard to just
stop and let your body rest on a mission, especially because there isn’t much
to do at home as a missionary.
Other than that, it was a super chill day. I made cookies for Sister M. Silva and Sister Alcanfera to
thank them for letting us stay with them while we wait for our house to get
finalized. We are supposed to move
next week.
July 23, 2014
I’m
still not feeling very well, but we had a pretty good day of work today. We went to the island again (ie. chunk
of land in the middle of a cesspool.).
We actually had some success there. I think we are going to try to go there at least once a
week.
We’re
struggling to find people to teach, and I can feel my drive and focus
waning. There is a lot more
incentive when you are working for and accountable to other people. Seeing as we are hanging out here all
by ourselves and it is hard to keep the energy level up. This area is really overwhelming. I just feel completely unqualified and
ill-equipped to take on all of its unique challenges.
In
other news, the beaches are really beautiful here, and there are a LOT of
beautiful, dark, mostly naked Brazilians lounging/playing volleyball/walking on
the streets. The poor Elders sure
had a lot of distractions here.
July 24, 2014
We
had interviews with Presidente today and he was running behind schedule because
he was taking a lot of quality time with each person. I really love this new president. He talks and talks and is gentle and kind especially with
the sisters. It was nice to hear an “atta girl” and “keep up the good
work!” As missionaries we
(especially sisters) are often so hard on ourselves that we end up forgetting
that, yes, the Lord is please with us and our work. Presidente helped me to feel special and appreciated.
Afterwards
Sister B and I bought Chinese food and FROYO!!!! It was so good. I had forgotten how very much I LOVE
Froyo.
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| Real life wild capybaras, the world's largest rodent. |
July 25, 2014
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| X-ray machine as old as my parents. |
I am still
not feeling better so I was told to go to the doctors. Normally in the states it would be a simple
thing to do that would not require too much effort on the part of the ill
person. But here in Brazil it is
entirely a different story. First t of
all I live about 1 ½ hours away from the members of our ward so it is
impossible for us to ask for help from them.
So our little trip to the doctor’s started with a 20 minute walk in the
rain to the bus station where we waited 15 minutes for a our first 45 minute
bus ride. We then walked another 10
minutes to another bus station, boarded another bus, rode 20 minutes, got off,
climbed a huge pedestrian footbridge over 4 lanes of traffic, then walked the
final 5 minutes to the hospital. There
we waited 30-45 minutes to see a doctor, another 45 minutes for a blood test,
and yet another 45 minutes for a chest X-ray.
When that was all done, we waited 2 hours for the results. It was quite an ordeal. Sister Burris is a great sport and has really
been sweet and helped to take care of me.
But by the time we reversed the travel and returned home, I was just
plain WIPED OUT. So I am on some antibiotics
for sinusitis and ? fluid in my lungs.
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| Rain and more Rain. |
I have completely lost my voice, even my whisper is almost
gone. We tried to make it through
companion study, but I ended up feeling so tired, and then just caved and slept
most of the day. We did get word that our
house is finally approved and I am so excited to get out of this cockroach
infested cramped space. It will make a
huge difference actually living in our area.
It has been really cold and rainy here. Our ward mission leader's wife is letting us borrow some of her sweaters and they are saving us. We had a missionary photo shoot.
July 27, 2014
Still sick,
but I went to church anyway and got there 30 minutes early to greet members and
organize the sacrament room. It was a
darn good thing because Presidente and Sister Cabral decided to make a surprise
visit to our ward. They saw and sympathized
first-hand with the many difficulties we and other missionaries have
experienced and expressed. They gave
talks in the sacrament meeting and they were VERY direct, tactful, and wise. It
was very good. I was pretty much wiped
out after church and we stayed in the rest of the night.
July 28, 2014
I woke up feeling worse, gosh dang
it. This is just plain obnoxious. We have basically been stuck home for a
week. Poor Sister Burris. I am going to break out some of the
antibiotics that my mom packed for just such an occasion and then try to get
back to work. We are really missing our
work routine. It really does help lift our spirits and give us focus and
purpose to our days. Without teaching,
we are going nothing but twiddling our thumbs.
There is only so many games of banagrams and pass the pigs that two
people can play. I have tried watching
church movies on our little dvd player out of desperation. Aggghhh, I have to
get back to work
I
have been thinking lately about how my post mission life will be. My family, friends, school, etc. I am so excite for that next phase of
my life. I love my mission and
have had some of the most incredibly humbling and life-changing experiences
down here, but MAN O MAN will I be ready to come home. I just wanna hug on my family, go to
the temple, get my teeth cleaned, and spend some time with my horse and piano.
#trunky.
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