Hello everybody! Making a second update in two weeks feels great...hope you´re loving it just as much as I am! I just can´t believe I´ve been here almost 2 weeks already.....I feel almost all the way accustomed to being back here. But, I have to say it´s been very different from when we were here last year. I´ve had to meet a lot of new people that we work with and people Katie and Lee Ann have become friends with. I am trying to form relationships that they have known for the past two months! But, all I need is a little time and I´ll be back in the game. :)
This past weekend(my 1st weekend here) went really well. I went to and English school on Saturday, where 8 of our students attend an English course. It was fun to watch someone else teach our students and see how much they´ve progressed! That night, Katie and Lee Ann took me out with friends for my birthday, where we danced the night away! The next morning, (my birthday) Leandro´s family had a bbq for us where we enjoyed a lot of food and conversation! My birthday was enjoyable and I am very thankful for everything God has given me this past year.
We have had a good week with the kids...the first few days were very hot and then we got a lot of rain and it´s cooled down since. We do capoeira and music lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Monday and Wednesdays we have been rotating groups of students between English lessons, morals class, and soccer lessons. Tomorrow (Friday) we will have a "store" open for the kids where they can spend the fake money they´ve earned by good behavior and participation. We will sell things like soccer balls, make up, toys, and clothes.... they love it!
Other than that, I was sick yesterday because of the temperature changes and trying to get accustomed to everything here. I feel a bit better today, but have been trying to take it easy. It´s hard to eat so healthy and be active all the time! :)
Every morning, I walk to Lucas´s house and LeeAnn, Katie, and I have morning prayer. Each time we have intentions, we pray for all you amazing people who continue to support us in the states. Thanks for you love and prayers!
God bless you,
Megan
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
BACK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
WOW....it´s been awhile since I last wrote a blog......let´s play catch up.....
Katie, Lee Ann, and I finished out a wonderful year in Brazil last December. Upon returning to the U.S. we all got jobs and worked hard to raise more money to return to Brasil. The two of them came back in June and I stayed in Fishers all summer, working to raise money.
I finally returned to Telemaco Borba, Brasil this past Monday, the 22nd of August.
I travelled here by myself, but found it to be a smooth and safe trip!
Since returning a few days ago, I have jumped right back in to our routine with the students, capoeira, and friends! The students I had last year were excited upon my return and to my surprise, there are many new children apart of the program! I was, also, very excited to learn that the PETI program, that we are apart of, hired professional teachers to teach and help our students. How exciting!
Since Tuesday, I have been to two capoeira classes (I´m soooo sore!) and two days at the program. We spent yesterday at a school for children with special needs. Our students enjoyed interacting and playing with these kids and it was nice to see them be so helpful and polite!
We have some fun plans for my birthday this weekend, but other than that, I am going to enjoy being back here and living with a wonderful family! (Leandro´s family) I hope and pray all of you in the states are doing well and enjoying the nice weather! I am going to attempt to update my blog every week, as to keep everyone informed about things here.
God bless you and have a great week!
Megan
Katie, Lee Ann, and I finished out a wonderful year in Brazil last December. Upon returning to the U.S. we all got jobs and worked hard to raise more money to return to Brasil. The two of them came back in June and I stayed in Fishers all summer, working to raise money.
I finally returned to Telemaco Borba, Brasil this past Monday, the 22nd of August.
I travelled here by myself, but found it to be a smooth and safe trip!
Since returning a few days ago, I have jumped right back in to our routine with the students, capoeira, and friends! The students I had last year were excited upon my return and to my surprise, there are many new children apart of the program! I was, also, very excited to learn that the PETI program, that we are apart of, hired professional teachers to teach and help our students. How exciting!
Since Tuesday, I have been to two capoeira classes (I´m soooo sore!) and two days at the program. We spent yesterday at a school for children with special needs. Our students enjoyed interacting and playing with these kids and it was nice to see them be so helpful and polite!
We have some fun plans for my birthday this weekend, but other than that, I am going to enjoy being back here and living with a wonderful family! (Leandro´s family) I hope and pray all of you in the states are doing well and enjoying the nice weather! I am going to attempt to update my blog every week, as to keep everyone informed about things here.
God bless you and have a great week!
Megan
Monday, October 4, 2010
Hello!
I want everyone to know that Ball State is finally cutting the strings and kicking me off their system, so I had to change my e-mail address.
My new address is megcrss1@aol.com
Starting today, I will not be able to receive any more e-mails from mkcress@bsu.edu
Thanks and have a great week!:)
God Bless you.
Megan
I want everyone to know that Ball State is finally cutting the strings and kicking me off their system, so I had to change my e-mail address.
My new address is megcrss1@aol.com
Starting today, I will not be able to receive any more e-mails from mkcress@bsu.edu
Thanks and have a great week!:)
God Bless you.
Megan
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
We´re halfway there...........
Well everybody, can you believe that the three of us have been in Brasil almost 3 months!?!? Time sure does fly doesn´t it? I hope you all are doing well and getting back in to the swing of things with school and summer coming to a close. Here´s what we´ve been up to:
1) We started last month with saying goodbye to a close friend of ours who helped us with our project. Emanuel, Manny as we like to call him, plays porfessional soccer for a team in Oman. He had to return to Oman to start training after vacation. We threw him a good-bye barbeque and sent him on his way. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
2) As we were saying goodbye to him, we were saying hello to our students after a long, but well needed break. It was great getting back into a routine and the kids seemed to really have missed us. They seemed to notice that Lee Ann and I have gotten better at speaking Portuguese and they were very excited to converse with us!
3) Since getting back into the swing of things, we have started choosing one student each week who comes everyday, participates, and behaves. This student gets their picture and a poster of information about them on our wall. We, also, had our first store where they can use the fake money they´ve earned. They were so excited about it and had a lot of fun.
Just two weeks ago we started our outreach program and visited a family who is not doing so well financially. We took three of the older students to go with us and take notes about what the family needed. Then they went to a grocery store and price checked everything they needed to buy and then budgeted the $100 we gave them. After they bought the items, the food was delivered to the family. The students did very well and felt good about helping their community.
Two new activities we have started are photography and moral classes. Each Friday we choose four students to walk around town and learn about how digital cameras work and how to take a good photo. Lee Ann and I did this by ourselves last week and had a blast teaching the kids and hanging out with them. I think the students had a good time and learned a lot. We, also, got to practice our Portuguese! The moral classes are on Wednesdays. We decided to start this, because many of these children often aren´t taught right from wrong. This past week we created skits and a 3-step procedure about problem solving. Our students tend to turn to violence when they have an issue and we want to help them see that there are others ways to resolve issues. They really seemed to accept what we were telling them and we even saw a few of them apply what they learned!
4) A few other things we have done recently are: throw a birthday party for one of our girls who turned 15 (a very important age here); attended some craft classes where we learned to sew, face paint, and create decopage; and started to plan for college students from FATEB to spend one Saturday every month with our students (to help our kids have good role models in their lives and to create a better bond within the community).
5) I am now one year older than the last time you heard from me and I´m loving it! The girls set up a scavenger hunt around town for me on my birthday (Aug 28th). Each place I went, I had to find a clue that would take me to a present and the next clue. It was so much fun and probably the best birthday I´ve ever had! Thanks girls!
6) We continue to make the best of every crazy situation and create dares everywhere we go. Lee Ann has earned around $20 from doing dares involving talking to random boys to doing the splits in the middle of an ice cream store! What a hoot!
7) The most exciting thing that happened recently was travelling to Curitiba. Our main purpose of going there was to renew our visas, but apparently we were too early and they wouldn´t renew them. Oh well! Next Monday we will head to Ponta Grossa to try again! The rest of the weekend was spent sight seeing and participating in a Capoeira conference. It was very fun to meet other people who enjoy the sport as much as we do!
That wraps up this issue of the Project Discovery update. We continue to pray for you all and hope that you´re doing well! Take care and have a great week!
Megan
"Time passes in moments
moments which, rushing past
define the path of life, just as surely as they lead towards its end
how rarely do we stop to examine that path?
to see the reasons why all things happen.
to consider whether the path we take in life is our own making or
simply one into one which we drift with eyes closed.
But what if we could stop?
Pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes.
Might we then see the endless forks in the road that shaped a life and
seeing those choices, choose another path?"
1) We started last month with saying goodbye to a close friend of ours who helped us with our project. Emanuel, Manny as we like to call him, plays porfessional soccer for a team in Oman. He had to return to Oman to start training after vacation. We threw him a good-bye barbeque and sent him on his way. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
2) As we were saying goodbye to him, we were saying hello to our students after a long, but well needed break. It was great getting back into a routine and the kids seemed to really have missed us. They seemed to notice that Lee Ann and I have gotten better at speaking Portuguese and they were very excited to converse with us!
3) Since getting back into the swing of things, we have started choosing one student each week who comes everyday, participates, and behaves. This student gets their picture and a poster of information about them on our wall. We, also, had our first store where they can use the fake money they´ve earned. They were so excited about it and had a lot of fun.
Just two weeks ago we started our outreach program and visited a family who is not doing so well financially. We took three of the older students to go with us and take notes about what the family needed. Then they went to a grocery store and price checked everything they needed to buy and then budgeted the $100 we gave them. After they bought the items, the food was delivered to the family. The students did very well and felt good about helping their community.
Two new activities we have started are photography and moral classes. Each Friday we choose four students to walk around town and learn about how digital cameras work and how to take a good photo. Lee Ann and I did this by ourselves last week and had a blast teaching the kids and hanging out with them. I think the students had a good time and learned a lot. We, also, got to practice our Portuguese! The moral classes are on Wednesdays. We decided to start this, because many of these children often aren´t taught right from wrong. This past week we created skits and a 3-step procedure about problem solving. Our students tend to turn to violence when they have an issue and we want to help them see that there are others ways to resolve issues. They really seemed to accept what we were telling them and we even saw a few of them apply what they learned!
4) A few other things we have done recently are: throw a birthday party for one of our girls who turned 15 (a very important age here); attended some craft classes where we learned to sew, face paint, and create decopage; and started to plan for college students from FATEB to spend one Saturday every month with our students (to help our kids have good role models in their lives and to create a better bond within the community).
5) I am now one year older than the last time you heard from me and I´m loving it! The girls set up a scavenger hunt around town for me on my birthday (Aug 28th). Each place I went, I had to find a clue that would take me to a present and the next clue. It was so much fun and probably the best birthday I´ve ever had! Thanks girls!
6) We continue to make the best of every crazy situation and create dares everywhere we go. Lee Ann has earned around $20 from doing dares involving talking to random boys to doing the splits in the middle of an ice cream store! What a hoot!
7) The most exciting thing that happened recently was travelling to Curitiba. Our main purpose of going there was to renew our visas, but apparently we were too early and they wouldn´t renew them. Oh well! Next Monday we will head to Ponta Grossa to try again! The rest of the weekend was spent sight seeing and participating in a Capoeira conference. It was very fun to meet other people who enjoy the sport as much as we do!
That wraps up this issue of the Project Discovery update. We continue to pray for you all and hope that you´re doing well! Take care and have a great week!
Megan
"Time passes in moments
moments which, rushing past
define the path of life, just as surely as they lead towards its end
how rarely do we stop to examine that path?
to see the reasons why all things happen.
to consider whether the path we take in life is our own making or
simply one into one which we drift with eyes closed.
But what if we could stop?
Pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes.
Might we then see the endless forks in the road that shaped a life and
seeing those choices, choose another path?"
Monday, August 16, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Almost 2 months in!
Hello everyone!
Can you believe that Lee Ann, Katie, and I have been in Brasil for almost 2 months?!?!?
I still can´t believe it! It´s been such an amazing trip with so many adventures, I don´t even know where to start with an update for you.
1. Vacation- Our students have been on winter vacation for the past 4 weeks, so we have been off of our regular schedule. We take a bus or have friends drive us to the program every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for Capoeira and English class with the higher level students. It´s been nice to be able to bond with those few students, since normally we have around 35 students at a time and now we only have about 10. They are such amazing people! Unfortunately, no children came to the program today. (we missed the bus last Thursday and when we don´t show up, they forget to come!) We tried making the best of the situation, though, and visited the orphange to say hi and play some games with them. I think they really enjoyed seeing us and we loved playing with them. Thankfully school is back in session starting next Monday, so we´ll be back on our regular schedule with the program.
2. Sao Paulo Group- In our spare time during this vacation we were preparing for a group of teens from Sao Paulo to come to Telemaco to volunteer with children in the outlaying neighborhoods. They stayed in a camp of long houses, which we helped prepare for them. Once they arrived, we went with them on their ventures. They were a very fun and lively group to hang out with. We sang songs, danced, played Capoeira, made balloon animals, and put on plays. A fun time had by all. :)
3. Capoeira- We have been keeping up with Capoeira classes regularly and I think we are making great progress. Katie and I really enjoy trying new moves and practicing with our friends. Apparently we´ve been doing something right, because both of us have had to take pants to the seamstress and have her take them in! :) The instructor we´ve hired to teach our students has come to our house twice to teach us how to play the tamborine and berimbau. These instruments are very interesting and very complicated to play, but we really enjoy it!
4. Funny moments- Yesterday was Brasil´s Father´s Day and at the end of mass the priest asked for all of the fathers to raise their hands....Lee Ann raised her hand! She claimed that she thought the priest was asking us to raise our hands and pray over all of the fathers! :P
One thing that always happens between the three of us is our choices of clothing always clash....Today we were supposed to go to a birthday party and Lee Ann was wearing shorts and a tank top, I was wearing jeans and 80´s top, and Katie wore nice jeans and a teacher sweater! This is pretty common for us, we never consult each other about what to wear and by the time we realize that we all look like we are going to different events, it´s too late.
Another funny thing that we did recently was have t-shirts made for my birthday on the 28th. They are pink and have our new nicknames on them. Katie has been dubbed Snow White, because she has light skin and lots of little people always surrounding her (the children). Lee Ann is now known as Ariel from the Little Mermaid, because she loves to swim and sings more than any person I have ever met! I am now Sleeping Beauty, since I sleep all the time and take naps as often as possible. Also, I´m waiting for my prince to arrive...in November. :)
I think that sums up the past few weeks for us. We are very excited for Friday, because we have decided to have a mini retreat between the three of us. We want to reflect on our experience so far, have some team building time, and spiritual reflection. Very Exciting! And as always, we continue to pray for all of you at home. If you ever have an special intentions you would like us to pray for, please let us know!
God bless you,
Megan
"Every calling is great when greatly persued." Oliver Wendell Holmes
Can you believe that Lee Ann, Katie, and I have been in Brasil for almost 2 months?!?!?
I still can´t believe it! It´s been such an amazing trip with so many adventures, I don´t even know where to start with an update for you.
1. Vacation- Our students have been on winter vacation for the past 4 weeks, so we have been off of our regular schedule. We take a bus or have friends drive us to the program every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for Capoeira and English class with the higher level students. It´s been nice to be able to bond with those few students, since normally we have around 35 students at a time and now we only have about 10. They are such amazing people! Unfortunately, no children came to the program today. (we missed the bus last Thursday and when we don´t show up, they forget to come!) We tried making the best of the situation, though, and visited the orphange to say hi and play some games with them. I think they really enjoyed seeing us and we loved playing with them. Thankfully school is back in session starting next Monday, so we´ll be back on our regular schedule with the program.
2. Sao Paulo Group- In our spare time during this vacation we were preparing for a group of teens from Sao Paulo to come to Telemaco to volunteer with children in the outlaying neighborhoods. They stayed in a camp of long houses, which we helped prepare for them. Once they arrived, we went with them on their ventures. They were a very fun and lively group to hang out with. We sang songs, danced, played Capoeira, made balloon animals, and put on plays. A fun time had by all. :)
3. Capoeira- We have been keeping up with Capoeira classes regularly and I think we are making great progress. Katie and I really enjoy trying new moves and practicing with our friends. Apparently we´ve been doing something right, because both of us have had to take pants to the seamstress and have her take them in! :) The instructor we´ve hired to teach our students has come to our house twice to teach us how to play the tamborine and berimbau. These instruments are very interesting and very complicated to play, but we really enjoy it!
4. Funny moments- Yesterday was Brasil´s Father´s Day and at the end of mass the priest asked for all of the fathers to raise their hands....Lee Ann raised her hand! She claimed that she thought the priest was asking us to raise our hands and pray over all of the fathers! :P
One thing that always happens between the three of us is our choices of clothing always clash....Today we were supposed to go to a birthday party and Lee Ann was wearing shorts and a tank top, I was wearing jeans and 80´s top, and Katie wore nice jeans and a teacher sweater! This is pretty common for us, we never consult each other about what to wear and by the time we realize that we all look like we are going to different events, it´s too late.
Another funny thing that we did recently was have t-shirts made for my birthday on the 28th. They are pink and have our new nicknames on them. Katie has been dubbed Snow White, because she has light skin and lots of little people always surrounding her (the children). Lee Ann is now known as Ariel from the Little Mermaid, because she loves to swim and sings more than any person I have ever met! I am now Sleeping Beauty, since I sleep all the time and take naps as often as possible. Also, I´m waiting for my prince to arrive...in November. :)
I think that sums up the past few weeks for us. We are very excited for Friday, because we have decided to have a mini retreat between the three of us. We want to reflect on our experience so far, have some team building time, and spiritual reflection. Very Exciting! And as always, we continue to pray for all of you at home. If you ever have an special intentions you would like us to pray for, please let us know!
God bless you,
Megan
"Every calling is great when greatly persued." Oliver Wendell Holmes
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
4 weeks down...22 to go (thanks dad!)
Hello everyone!
I´m back and ready for another update!
It has been a wild and crazy adventure for Team Discovery so far, so I´ll try to summarize everything as best as I can.
1. Capeoira-for those of you who don´t know what this is, it´s a Brazilian mix of martial arts and dance......Katie and I have been going to a gym to take Capoeira classes. It is a very challenging and interesting sport. I don´t think I´ve ever been this fit in my life. :) Another good thing about it is that we are meeting a lot of new people and becoming good friends with some of them. We, also, do Capoeira with our students. The project has hired a friend of ours to come every Tuesday and Thursday to teach our children. Many find it difficult, but a few are really getting the hang of it and excelling quite well!
2. English- We have started some English with the children, but it has been very difficult to keep on schedule because the students are preparing for a large soccer match at the end of the month and starting this weekend, they go on winter break for one month! We´re excited to continue that when they get back. On the other hand, we have decided to start teaching English to some friends in Telemaco. Starting next Monday we well have about 6-10 people for one hour in our garage. :)
3. Sao Jose- We have seen many friends from the parish and even Padre Giberto since we have arrived. It has been so comforting to know that these amazing people still remember us and can´t wait to have us over for dinner! We are planning to meet with padre sometime soon to see how things are going with the parish and the other neighborhoods.
4.Social life-Many friends have taken such good care of us since we got here. Lucas, Leandro, Marcela, and their families have been so welcoming and have taken such good care of us! We love being with them at World Cup games, Festa Juninhas, game nights at our house, and whatever else we can come up with! We have been hanging out with other people that we have met throught Capoeira and people who work at Klabin. They are all so good at speaking English and helping us with our Portuguese! Another thing you all would be proud to know is....we are becoming such good housewives! We clean our house, wash dishes, cook, and entertain guests like we´ve been doing it for years! Such a new concept for us! :)
I hope that you all are doing well....we pray for you all the time!
Please feel free to comment or email if you have any questions about what´s going on down here!
"Go from your country and your kindred and your father´s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." Gen. 12 1-3
I´m back and ready for another update!
It has been a wild and crazy adventure for Team Discovery so far, so I´ll try to summarize everything as best as I can.
1. Capeoira-for those of you who don´t know what this is, it´s a Brazilian mix of martial arts and dance......Katie and I have been going to a gym to take Capoeira classes. It is a very challenging and interesting sport. I don´t think I´ve ever been this fit in my life. :) Another good thing about it is that we are meeting a lot of new people and becoming good friends with some of them. We, also, do Capoeira with our students. The project has hired a friend of ours to come every Tuesday and Thursday to teach our children. Many find it difficult, but a few are really getting the hang of it and excelling quite well!
2. English- We have started some English with the children, but it has been very difficult to keep on schedule because the students are preparing for a large soccer match at the end of the month and starting this weekend, they go on winter break for one month! We´re excited to continue that when they get back. On the other hand, we have decided to start teaching English to some friends in Telemaco. Starting next Monday we well have about 6-10 people for one hour in our garage. :)
3. Sao Jose- We have seen many friends from the parish and even Padre Giberto since we have arrived. It has been so comforting to know that these amazing people still remember us and can´t wait to have us over for dinner! We are planning to meet with padre sometime soon to see how things are going with the parish and the other neighborhoods.
4.Social life-Many friends have taken such good care of us since we got here. Lucas, Leandro, Marcela, and their families have been so welcoming and have taken such good care of us! We love being with them at World Cup games, Festa Juninhas, game nights at our house, and whatever else we can come up with! We have been hanging out with other people that we have met throught Capoeira and people who work at Klabin. They are all so good at speaking English and helping us with our Portuguese! Another thing you all would be proud to know is....we are becoming such good housewives! We clean our house, wash dishes, cook, and entertain guests like we´ve been doing it for years! Such a new concept for us! :)
I hope that you all are doing well....we pray for you all the time!
Please feel free to comment or email if you have any questions about what´s going on down here!
"Go from your country and your kindred and your father´s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." Gen. 12 1-3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
