Dear Family and Friends,
Things are finally starting to get a little less stressful as I´m learning more and more about Brasil and the language. I was actually able to have a real conversation with the relief society president of the branch yesterday about what I used to do before I came out on my mission, so that was a huge success! This past week has been a lot of walking. I don´t mind it that much, but Brazil has a lot of hills, so I´m usually pretty tuckered out by the time I get home at night. Besides all the walking we had a bit of a slow week this week, so I don´t really have any big news. Therefore, I´d like to tell you some fun things about Brasil that I´ve discovered over the past few weeks:
- We don´t knock on doors here. We stand outside the house and clap our hands. If anybody is home, they´ll come to the door. This is mainly because everybody here has locked gates around their houses, so you can´t get to the door.
- When people say you eat a lot of rice and beans in Brasil, what they mean is that you eat it every day. Seriously. To say that Brasileiros don´t consider the meal to be complete without rice and beans would be the understatement of the century. I haven´t been in Brasil a single day where I didn´t eat rice and beans. That´s another thing. We´re fed almoço (lunch) every day. They love to feed you.
- In sacrament meeting, everyone sings as loud as they can. Sometimes it sounds like they´re having a competition to see who can sing with the most vigor. It´s really awesome.
-There is no such thing as a law against disturbing the peace. Part of the advertisement that is done in Brasil is done audibly. Companies will buy little trucks and pack it with the most powerful speakers ever (the kind used for rock concerts), and then hire people to drive the truck around the city, blasting their advertisement. Because of this, sometimes we´ll be trying to have a meeting or a study or something like that, and then nobody can hear anything but some guy shouting in Portuguese umtil the truck passes by. They do like to play music in between the advertisements, though. Which always makes it an instant dance party whenever we´re not in public. That´s a lot of fun.
-To get people´s attention in the states, we go : ´´psst´´. Not Brasileiros. They go, ´´pseeoo´´ (or ´´psiu´´, for those who know portuguese pronunciation). It sounds like they´re pretending to be on Star Wars, and they´re shooting laser guns. It´s hilarious.
-Never. Ever. Try to tell a Brasilian knock knock jokes. They will never understand. They just don´t get it. I´ve tried.
-The kids like to run up to Elders who look like Americans, and they always ask the same questions every time:
1. ´´Fala Inglés!´´ (Speak English!)
2. ´´Qual é meu nome em inglés?´´ (what´s my name in english)
3. ´´Have you seen Obama?´´
4. ´´Fala isso!´´ (´´say this!´´ or, ´´what is that, in English?´´)
The ´´What´s my name in English´´ question is usually pretty funny, because you´ll ask them what their name is, and they´ll say something like ´´Lucas´´, and you´ll say: Lucas. Then they´ll say,´´No, in English´´, and you have to explain that it´s the same in English as it is in Portuguese. They don´t get it most of the time.
Anyway, those are just a few of the fun things that are going on in São Mateus. I´ll keep you updated with other things going on with investigators and such. It´s hard to talk about the people we teach because half the time I can´t even understand what their name is, let alone say it or remember what it is. I know, it´s bad. We´re getting there, though. I love you all so much, and I´ll see you soon!
-Elder Crapo
One of these is of a bunch of buildings in a square built by the slaves hundreds of years ago. I liked the fun colors.
Another is of the river side, right next to the square.
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