“The blessing of Jehovah is what makes rich and he adds NO PAIN with it”

Unless that is, you’re unfortunate enough to get Dengue Fever.

Victim #1

Victim #2

19 days in, Ben gets bit.  It’s a virus that’s spread by mosquitos and occurs in epidemics (yes both our roommates, the wife of the couple who was here before us and half the congregation have had or currently have it) usually during the hot, rainy season.  We got this definition from a medical book we brought called “Where There is No Doctor”.  This book also calls Dengue: Breakbone Fever.  This is an apt name because symptoms include high fever with chills and a throbbing headache but most unique to its affects are severe body aches.  Mostly in the back, knees, and behind the eyes.  Ben said even his TEETH hurt at one point.  The only remedy is to do nothing for a full week, take Tylenol every 3 hours for the pain and drink lots of liquids.  They say that you know it's almost over when you break out in a full body rash.  Well after just a few days someone broke out in this rash....

Meg!  Turns out in (my) case, the rash was the START of Dengue.  At that point, to make sure, we both walked across the street to the local hospital.  By then, Ben was starting to get better and was full of Tylenol so he didn't have a fever and no rash yet.  The nurses and doctors dismissed him.  However, they were keenly interested in me because I had both a rash and a high temperature.  I was given a strong  pain medicine (story of that is found bellow) and two bags of saline.  They took a blood sample and confirmed dengue.  They gave me a prescription for super strong Tylenol and sent us home to rest.  

My friends, you haven't lived.  You haven't lived until you're in a third world hospital with a stern looking nurse, large needle in hand, shouting at you to bend over and pull your pants down.  You'll keep saying to her "I don't understand!!" but not because you don't understand what she's asking.  It's because you don't understand how on EARTH you ended up at that moment, in that situation.  It is the worst.  The worst.

Alas, we are alive and well and at the beach on vacation, recovering.  A happier blog about that is soon to follow :)

New Kingdom Hall

  When we arrived, the Kingdom Hall was in this building (sorry, the photo was taken at night):

The owner, is an older couple named Idite and France, both witnesses.  They also own and live in the house right next door.  France is originally from this area but met Idite, a sister from Sao Paulo, and the two of them lived there for a while once they were married.  After some time, they moved to Sao Sebastiao as the need was great here and France had these properties that could be utilized by the friends.  So, for the past ten years, completely free of charge, this building has been used as the Kingdom Hall in Sao Sebastiao. 

The NEW Kingdom Hall

So why the new KH?  Well the story has been a bit difficult for us to understand, but in a nutshell, about two weeks before we arrived, France announced that he was selling the existing KH to his children (something about changing his will around) and therefore, the friends needed to arrange another place.  This was a big change for the friends and they needed to decide by a vote whether they would combine with a congregation the next town over OR all pay for a new KH of their own.  Either option would be a change for them financially because they either had to pay bus fair each way to every meeting or they had to pay monthly rent.  In the end, they voted to stay in town as a separate congregation and pay a monthly rent.

A view in & out.

City Service

Ben Onega in action.

Marcelo LOOOOVES babies.  Here he is with "Pedrinho" = little Peter.

Thursday service group, stopped to rest for a bit.

A typical street.

We study with these four kids.

Nature's Dryer

 Flavia has an old washing machine that fills with soapy water, spins the clothes, drains.  Then fills again with water, spins, drains.  The only part that's missing is the spin cycle AFTER the water drains.  So in the end you're left with clean, really wet clothes you then have to wring out and hang on the line.  This process takes a while but there is admittedly something nice about hanging the laundry outside.  

Some Animals of Sao Sebastiao

Tadjinha.  Our other roommate.

kittens.

????

These little pups followed us around all day in the rurals.

Bull.

Jaca

This is the strange and new fruit we've discovered here:

It grows on trees (as shown above) and resembles both in taste and texture, a mix between a mango and a banana.  You cut the large fruit open and there are dozens of these slimy pockets of fruit inside, each containing a large seed you must spit out.  Manoel brought one over the other day....

 

Service in the Rurals

Out of "town" there are over 100 rural areas.  They are sort of like villages.  There is a real need to work these areas as they are far away (as in too far to walk) and no one but Manuel has a car.  They have worked an estimated 40 of the 100 villages in the last nine months that Manuel and Menice have been here.  Here are some typical photos:

First day of service.

Downtown Pedra Preta

Marcelo.

backdrop: baby sugar cane plants.

At the end of this conversation woman asks, "What language are you speaking?"  Meg responds, "Uhhhh....Portuguese?"  Woman says, "Oh!  THAT'S why I was understanding some words!"   

The road home.

M & M

As mentioned in the newsletter, M & M started pioneering together January 1st.  It's been a blast and quite frankly a blessing having these two in the hall.  They are zealous and fun.  Menice (Men-ee-see) has a pretty incredible life story we're sure will be in the Watchtower some day.  She finished a sign language course the society offered before she got married.  Now, she and Manuel work together to reach as many deaf as possible and teach them basic truths using a binder full of photos and corresponding signs. We just love them!

Headed out in service with Manuel and Menice.  

The Oliveiras

Flavia and Marcelo Oliveria.  Our roommates.

You can imagine our surprise when our first night, she gave him a pedicure.

The surprises continued...

                   Flavia coloring Menice's hair......                Marcelo finishing it.

Marcelo crocheting.  His favorite pastime.

Home is Where the HEAT Is

Welcome to 54 Father Cicero Street.

In the front photo you will notice Ben standing in front of a gate.  Most homes have an exterior gate that leads to a one-car garage.  The front door is then off the garage.  Both gate and front door remained locked at all times. When visiting a home (like we do in service) it’s customary to clap outside the gate.  You’re typically greeted by a smiling homeowner and the sound of keys jingling.

Our backyard is called the “quintal” and is well… brown.  It’s not actually rock, just really hard, compacted earth and no grass.  Marcelo sweeps the quintal every morning.  He sweeps up fallen leaves and other debris into a pile that gets burned every few weeks.  Imagine sweeping your backyard every morning?  So strange.

That back porch area is actually where we spend most of our time when we’re at home because it’s the coolest.  We sit out there on two beach chairs and study/read or just talk...