agosto 31, 2007
happy new year!
september seems to mark a spiritual new year...'bring it' i say. a time to leave behind old baggage im not interested in carrying with me into this next part of the journey and a chance to pick up some new good stuff. so to speak. (thanks for that reminder graham)
i am excited about this next year...there are a lot of unanswered questions, frustrations, things to be discovered and worked out, airports to navigate, uncomfy floors to crash on, backpacks to be stuffed, many miles to move, more of the dream to be glimpsed upon, fears to be tackled, moments to capture, fights to be had in the name of Freedom, skills aquired, and hopefully more inches on the dreads and less on the hips...ahhh the adventure of it all.
august has felt like an anti-gravity tank....suspeded...waiting...seeing but not able to get anywhere very fast if at all. timing is off and upside-down and distorted. but i sense god in the midst of the confusion and think that this happens before a shift.
since first setting foot in brasil over a year ago i have been thinking about slavery....the history of the slave trade...the routes, the countries involved on both ends, what does that look like now - generations later, modern slavery,...and what is my part to play in this fight for freedom...what is god asking of me? my mate danielle has a lot of interesting and challenging things to say about all of this (see blog link). she writes,
"I'm struck by the fact that our 'pleasures' (coffee, chocolate, sex) are what enslaves thousands of people." "Slavery is illegal in every country on our planet. Yet there are more slaves alive today than all the slaves stolen from Africa over four centuries of the slave trade.Dealt a blow two hundred years ago, slavery has recovered well. Human trafficking thrives as it exploits asylum-seekers and feeds the booming sex industry and the constant demand for cheap labour. So the fight for freedom continues."
well said....lets be a part of change again...i feel like something has been brewing in me over this last 15 months...and perhaps now is the time...can i hear a 'bring it'??!!
i recently read 'sex god' by rob bell (good read). i was reminded again that humanity is a creative expression and relection of Christ...and the destruction we see around us...the self inflicted hurt and that which we do to each other is a reflection of our understanding and knowledge of god....cause if we really got it...if we really saw his face in those around us...understood the Love he expressed through his creating the human race....would we still abuse, use, enslave, and hinder another? its all connected...and it all points back to him....when we love here we love him, when we love him we love those around us.
just a few of the many muddles thoughts floating around in my anti-gravity tank.
i am excited about this next year...there are a lot of unanswered questions, frustrations, things to be discovered and worked out, airports to navigate, uncomfy floors to crash on, backpacks to be stuffed, many miles to move, more of the dream to be glimpsed upon, fears to be tackled, moments to capture, fights to be had in the name of Freedom, skills aquired, and hopefully more inches on the dreads and less on the hips...ahhh the adventure of it all.
august has felt like an anti-gravity tank....suspeded...waiting...seeing but not able to get anywhere very fast if at all. timing is off and upside-down and distorted. but i sense god in the midst of the confusion and think that this happens before a shift.
since first setting foot in brasil over a year ago i have been thinking about slavery....the history of the slave trade...the routes, the countries involved on both ends, what does that look like now - generations later, modern slavery,...and what is my part to play in this fight for freedom...what is god asking of me? my mate danielle has a lot of interesting and challenging things to say about all of this (see blog link). she writes,
"I'm struck by the fact that our 'pleasures' (coffee, chocolate, sex) are what enslaves thousands of people." "Slavery is illegal in every country on our planet. Yet there are more slaves alive today than all the slaves stolen from Africa over four centuries of the slave trade.Dealt a blow two hundred years ago, slavery has recovered well. Human trafficking thrives as it exploits asylum-seekers and feeds the booming sex industry and the constant demand for cheap labour. So the fight for freedom continues."
well said....lets be a part of change again...i feel like something has been brewing in me over this last 15 months...and perhaps now is the time...can i hear a 'bring it'??!!
i recently read 'sex god' by rob bell (good read). i was reminded again that humanity is a creative expression and relection of Christ...and the destruction we see around us...the self inflicted hurt and that which we do to each other is a reflection of our understanding and knowledge of god....cause if we really got it...if we really saw his face in those around us...understood the Love he expressed through his creating the human race....would we still abuse, use, enslave, and hinder another? its all connected...and it all points back to him....when we love here we love him, when we love him we love those around us.
just a few of the many muddles thoughts floating around in my anti-gravity tank.
agosto 17, 2007
the deep end
im in it.
started my photography course this week...its a beautiful studio at the base of sugarloaf mountain and right beside one of my favourite beaches here in rio, praia vermelha. i arrived early yesterday and sat on the beach drinking a coconut...and sent up a last minute plea for a major language download matrix style....the course if obviously all in portugues....which is amazing but also amazingly exhausting. im not sure that my concentration has ever been stretched this much. after about 3 hours my brain goes into complete lock-down...and even the great coffee in the studio cafe struggles to revive me back to life....coldplay and the metro ride home usually help.
ive never studied something in another language before...and considering the amount of time ive been here it is completely insane to be doing this....but im enjoying it...and i am learning a lot....there is something about studying in another culture, in another language that makes you feel more a part of it all.
i have spent the day today trying to make sense of the course book...not sure i have much confidence in the online translation sites out there tho...when i typed in 'laminas superpostas' it gave me 'you plate superece of fishes'...im PRETTY sure thats not what the book meant to say. or perhaps im in the wrong class. hmmmm....
i have 6 weeks left here until my visa finishes for this year and i pack the backpack once again for another 6 months. im ready...bring it.
started my photography course this week...its a beautiful studio at the base of sugarloaf mountain and right beside one of my favourite beaches here in rio, praia vermelha. i arrived early yesterday and sat on the beach drinking a coconut...and sent up a last minute plea for a major language download matrix style....the course if obviously all in portugues....which is amazing but also amazingly exhausting. im not sure that my concentration has ever been stretched this much. after about 3 hours my brain goes into complete lock-down...and even the great coffee in the studio cafe struggles to revive me back to life....coldplay and the metro ride home usually help.
ive never studied something in another language before...and considering the amount of time ive been here it is completely insane to be doing this....but im enjoying it...and i am learning a lot....there is something about studying in another culture, in another language that makes you feel more a part of it all.
i have spent the day today trying to make sense of the course book...not sure i have much confidence in the online translation sites out there tho...when i typed in 'laminas superpostas' it gave me 'you plate superece of fishes'...im PRETTY sure thats not what the book meant to say. or perhaps im in the wrong class. hmmmm....
i have 6 weeks left here until my visa finishes for this year and i pack the backpack once again for another 6 months. im ready...bring it.
agosto 01, 2007
santa teresa
yesterday i went to sant teresa to spy things out...walked around, peeked in shops, thought about my dreams for the place and how impossible they all seem at the moment, and picked up important flyers for various events...and of course looked for a good coffee place....the other night my mate handed me a pamphlet about brasilian coffee....as i started reading it (or translating it into english in my head) he pointed to a particular paragraph and said with a smirk on his face, 'thats the important bit right there.' it talked about how many cups of coffee one should drink per day...ha ha...what was he implying? :)
im not sure who wrote the flyer but apparently 3-4 cups keeps you in good spirits, gives you a better sense of humour, prevents suicide and alcoholism...is this because your too busy drinking coffee to drink anyting else?! random.
