Paperwork will be the death of me.

Today the plan was simple. Go to the Brazilian equivalent of Social Security/IRS, show them our newly attained temporary registration cards and get our CPF. The CPF allows you to do all kinds of business transactions, from renting an apartment to buying furniture and electronics. All necessary things to do. It was supposed to take less than two hours for all of us to do it. In fact, Antenor was so confident of that he made an appointment at 10.

So as we walked up the steps this morning, I looked down at my little card and discovered they had put my maiden name on it. Easy mistake, since my name change on my passport is just from a little amendment in the back, but a major one. Ron and Antenor assured me there was no problem, I could get it changed later. So we headed in and got in the first line-about 30 people. We made it to the front and after a bunch of dialogue I didn´t understand, we received a slip of paper with a number. We headed into a big room to wait with everyone else. Finally our number was called and we headed to the appropriate window. The man at the window took one look at our stuff and disappeared with it. I looked around and the rest of the team (who had gone ahead of us) are making progress. Our man finally returns and Ron also appears to translate. The man was not going to let us have our CPFs. And then he told the woman who was working on Matt and Mary Virginia´s not to give them theirs either. We went back and sat down and waited for everyone else. Soon Randy and Jenn arrived with the same problem. Keith and Stacey, on the other hand, were being served coffee by the lady helping them. So the Parkers got theirs, but the rest of us didn´t. We were told that before we can apply, we must go to the bank and pay 4,50 R$. That´s less than two dollars. But we had to go pay it and then make an appointment for Monday to get our CPFs. We then headed to the bank where, surprise surprise, we waited again. One hour later, we had all paid and we were good to go as far as getting our CPFs. Next week. (One fortunate thing- normally it would have taken four hours to pay at the bank!) So Monday morning, I will go change my name on my card and we will go try again to get our CPFs.

In other news, Travis and Alicia will arrive on Wednesday!!! We have missed them so much!

An interesting tidbit- no one thinks we're North Americans! So many Europeans visit here that they just assume we are something else. Yesterday two people asked if I was Italian! Me! Super WASP-y Val! Stacey was asked if she was French. The other night a cashier spoke Spanish to us, probably assuming we were from Argentina. How fun to be exotic!!!

This has been a good day. I have been to the store twice, once with a teammate and once with Jennifer and Kelton. both times i made it were i was trying to go and made in home a feat i am pretty proud of considering my current portugese skills.

While I was at the store today I had a revelation. You know when you travel sometimes you tend to be a little more relaxed. For example, in Brazil people do not normally go to the store in shorts and t-shirts and on a short visit you might not worry about such things. Today, however, I came to the realization that this is not a visit for me. Every person I meet I can see later. And these are the traditions, this is the culture, and these are the people of MY city and not just some city I am visiting. I am no longer the little tourist who does not have to concern myself with how people do things and what is proper etique here. It is time to remember what Paul talks about in adapting oneself in such a way that the Gospel can be received. Salvador must now become my home. I think i can live with that.

randy

Today was the second of our two days of relaxation before all the hard work begins. Russ and I went on a tour with the Parkers. A bus picked us up at 8:30 and we rode through Salvador, learning about the various beaches. Then we stopped at a little park for thirty minutes. There was a beautiful lagoon and a playground for the kids. After that, we headed out of town, going north on the Coconut Highway. We drove through several towns, finally arriving at Praia do Forte (Fort Beach). This area is home to a renowned sea turtle conservation effort. It was fascinating and there were so many animals to see. Lauren got to touch a starfish, a sea cucumber and some other sea creature we never found out the name of. There were sharks, tuna and, of course, lots of turtles to look at. My favorite was the tank of baby sea turtles. When we’d had our fill, we headed back out into the town to find some sorvete (ice cream), checking out the various kiosks along the way. At the sorvete shop, you get a bowl and fill it yourself. There are tons of different toppings and sauces as well. At the end, they weigh it for you, and you pay based on weight. Even with five different flavors of ice cream (for Russ and I to share!) my bowl was still only 4,36 reais (about $1.65). While we were eating, Keith discovered little monkeys in the trees! We left Praia do Forte around noon and headed to Guarajuba Beach, one of the best beaches in the region. We were given three hours there, to eat, swim, tan or just sit under an umbrella in the sun. There are tables right on the beach, and you can place your order and then go swim until it is ready. Russ and I had carne do sol and of course lots and lots of water. We had a great time, and it was fun to play with Lauren and Brock in the ocean. It’s all so new to them, and very exciting. Finally, at 3:30, we loaded back up and headed back into town (about an hour). What a great day.

Well it looks like we made it. At least it feels, sounds, and taste like we made it. things are going pretty well. We had a little bit of air turbulance on the way down which brought on a little bit of sickness for both Jennifer and I, but we seem to be bouncing back now. There was a question in my mind of whether I ever wanted to eat again, but as one might expect it has all passed. Yesterday was really nice. We had planned to take the first two days to just rest before our pace picks ups and we have to work on getting settled in to the country.

Yesterday was a good day. We seemed to get over a little of the shock of moving to a new country and even got a pretty nice hotel. The one we were originally staying at was not what we had expected, which by our first morning was ok. However, we did not complain when Ron and Georgia, the Continent of Great Cities reps helping us settle in, told us they found a different hotel up the street. This one is nice in that Kelton gets a room seperate from ours and we have a small kitchen both of which we put into use last night.

In the end, i think we are going to do more than just make it I think we are really going to like it here. There are a few things that taking getting used to, but that happens every time you move to a new city. Thankfully we have God that goes with us through every change. Thankfully He does not change, but is always here no matter where we are, a point that makes any move worth making.

A note on this blog. It is our team blog so you will probably see updates from several different people on the team. We hope you enjoy hearing about our lives and experiences. We love you all.

Randy Porter

We took it very easy today. We were all exhausted from the trip and were glad to take the opportunity to sleep in. While we were sleeping, Ron and Georgia discovered a hotel two doors down from ours that had suites with kitchens. The rooms also had much more space than our first hotel- a major consideration given the amount of luggage everyone has and the fact that we’ll be living here for two weeks. Once we got everyone moved, we headed down to the hotel restaurant for lunch. I had camarão a grega (fried shrimp with cheese, served with rice mixed with peppers, raisins, capers and all kinds of good things). Russ had steak with quatro queijo (four cheese) sauce. Both were very good (and cost nowhere near what they would in the US!) After lunch, the girls all went down to the salon to get our nails done. (Also very inexpensive- under $5!) When I left the salon, I got ready and headed down to the beach with Russ. We hung out there for a little while, then walked upstairs and jumped in the pool. After a while, we headed to our room, rested for a little bit and cleaned up. Then we headed to Barra Shopping, one of the big malls in Salvador, with the Parkers and Ron and Georgia. We grabbed dinner at a buffet where they charge you by weight- makes you think twice before you take anything! After we ate, we walked around the mall and went to Lojas Americanas, a store reminiscent of WalMart (but much, much smaller). At Lojas, we stocked up on essential items- bottled water, juice for the kids and beach towels! When the mall closed at 10:00, we grabbed taxis, headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night after a long day.