This week has been a time of training, discussing ideas for the coming year, getting together with people we will be working with this next year and planning. Also, making timetables for areas such as the big sports court and swimming pool (both very popular).
We have been beginning every day with intercession (as normal), although trying to do it a bit differently. Sometimes it´s easy to always pray in the same way, we were trying to get more creative with our prayer for the community...here are some of the photos (cafezal is the name of the favela where we live)

Today (during homeschooling), we discovered some interesting things about the weather (us Brits just LOVE the weather).
You know we always say that it´s always raining in England? Well....
In Belo Horizonte the average rainfall each month varies between 1.5cm and 32 cm
In Norwich the average rainfall each month varies a little around 0.5cm
Isn´t that crazy? Even in our dry season we get more rain here than in the UK. Which explains why every time my Mum told Josiah and Gideon it was pouring with rain, they responded that no it wasn´t really raining. Although, I do know from living in UK most of my life that persistent drizzle is pretty annoying, I´d much rather have an infrequent blast of real Brazilian rain.
(information found in the world weather information service website)

Here is one of many things that I think is really great about where we live. The wildlife. Often I take it for granted because I seem fairly used to the exotic bird calls and the amazingly coloured butterflies but as we were gardening today Maarten discovered this caterpillar. It is beautiful, poisonous but not deadly, and one of the largest caterpillars I have ever seen. Click on the image to see a larger, more detailed version of this photo.

It is strange to be back, everything is the same (more or less) as when we left, but different to how I (Beckie) remembered. I had forgotten the frustration of not understanding everything that is said (particularly when lots of people are talking at once). It´s strange to stand out as a ´gringo´all of the time. However, it was lovely to be enthusiastically greeted by the girls in my group from last year, the boys that I´ve seen just look up and say "tudo bem?" (you alright?).
I think it will take me a little bit of time to get back into everything.

We are now back in Brazil after 2 months in England spending time with family and friends. We had a fantastic time in the UK but I have to say it is good to be back.

Our journey back here was pretty awful though - it took 25 hours door to door and as we had so many changes, with the long flight during the day, we had very little, if no sleep in that time. It is the first time we have done the long day-flight thing and I would heartily urge against it. A night flight is MUCH better. When we arrived at 2.30am (local time) we were greeted by our enthusiastic dog, who initially was very wary of us and tried to wake up the entire staff team with his barking but he soon recognised us and all was well again.

The weather here is HOT and sticky - we got off the plane at São Paulo at 10pm to a welcoming wall of heat (26 degrees) and humidity.

A lot of much-needed building work happened here at Luzeiro during our time away, especially the work on some drains and a new staff bathroom. We came back to a leaking toilet and 2 rooms without electricity in our house.

I (Dave) went to get some milk from the local fruit, veg and metal-trading shop and loved briefly chatting to an old man on the way there as well as being offered to sample some kind of weird, exotic fruit, which I had never even seen before, in the shop.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

Recently, I (Beckie), have been thinking about some of the things I really like in the UK, and some of the things I'm looking forward to in Brazil....

Things I am enjoying in UK

• spending time with special people, and catching up again.
• having deep conversations with good friends
• a selection of English books to read
• snuggling under a thick duvet
• putting my card into a cash machine and KNOW that it will give me money
• a cup of tea in bed
• puddings
• the beauty of snow
• understanding everything I hear
• baths
• soft, fuzzy scarfs
• a walk at the beach
• babysitting being readily available
• driving on easy roads

Things I am looking forward to back in Brazil

• sunshine
• warm, friendly people
• an enthusiastic, lively, loving puppy
• Brazilian bananas
• singing in Portuguese
• praying in small groups everyday
• floaty dresses

These are just a few of the things that I love, whether I be in England or Brazil. How easy it is to takes things, people or experiences for granted.

I think there is a difference between "culture shock" and "cultural shocks". Let me explain.
Since returning to England, I (Dave) have struggled with a few things like the plenty that is available here and the sheer amount of stuff that people have but do very little with. A culture of hoarding, greed and materialism, maybe. It can sound harsh expressed in this way but seeing your own culture from the outside is an interesting, and not always pleasant, experience.
I have experienced a few, what I call "mini shocks" since being here too. For example, in church today it was announced that someone not only did not need an emergency operation any more but has completely recovered from their serious illness, praise God. I wanted to shout "woohoo" and clap to acknowledge what God had done but it quickly moved on to something else before I was even able to make a noise....strange. This is not a criticism of the church or the person leading, just an observation and a reality check for me in this culture.
Also, I got so used to greeting almost everyone on the street in Brazil that when I came here I really noticed how English people do not like to make eye contact or even say "hi" to the person walking the opposite direction to them on the path. Now I try to deliberately do it with the intention of bringing a smile to a downcast face.
The weather here is cold at the moment.....maybe the culture is too.
In contrast to this, I have been warmly greeted by loving friends and family and I am so thankful to my Lord for this and also thankful to those people too.