Palaces, Sky Decks, and "cayaque"

This past week, just about every person I’ve talked to has explained the city of Brasilia to me. They have all explained it

differently, but I think parts of this might be true: The city was founded in 1960 to draw people away from the coast (Rio) and to make the capital of Brazil a more popular place to be. They designed it like an airplane and once you know the numbers and patterns, its pretty simple to find your way around.

Since it is the capital, last weekend I got to see the “President’s Palace.” I was hoping for a building that looked like it came from a Disney movie, but this place was still impressive, I guess… (dream big… TIU). They also have these guards by all of the important buildings in the city. It’s apparently a high honor to be chosen as a guard, but if I were a young boy, I would definitely rather dream of being the next Pele(soccer star...duh), Andreas Pavel (Inventor of the walkman), or to follow in the footsteps of some other famous Brazilian!

Me and Janelle (daughter of my host family and student at BIS)

President's Palace... almost like the palace from Aladdin!

From there, we went to the TV tower. This is the tallest building in Brasilia, so they let people go up and get a great view of the entire city. It’s Brasilia’s version of the "sky

deck" at the Willis tower in Chicago with a few little

differences:

1. 1. It is barely enclosed

2. 2. There’s one elevator that fits 10 comfortably but 20 rather uncomfortably and sounds like it’s about to crash through the earth at any point

3. You can in fact spit over the edge (don't worry mom, I didn't do it)

From the tower, we could see one of the Stadiums for the 2014 World Cup (hosted by Brazil) being built.

Just yesterday, we went kayaking (or “cayaque”) on one of the major lakes, “Lago Sul” (the south lake). Because of all of the big boats going by, I got in a little surfing on my kayak also. One very famous landmark in Brazil is the JK bridge which was right next to where we were kayaking. It was probably 80 and very sunny, so I got to get my tan on. Oh yeaaa! J I was also VERY tempted to join one of the many pick up games of soccer going on, but decided against it so that I wouldn't shoot down any of the dreams of the many Brazilian natives who dream of one day being as famous as Pele or Ronaldinho.

The lay of the land

So far, the weather here has been just glorious. It rains off and on, but when it isn't raining I get my tan on! This past weekend, I was able to go and see some landmarks and interesting places in Brasilia (I'm still working on pictures). One VERY unique thing here in Brasilia... every Sunday they shut down the major road that goes all the way through brasilia (kind of like their express way from one end of the city to the other) and have it open for people to run, walk, ride their bike, rollerblade, long board, etc. I started thinking about what it would be like to shut down 294 every sunday for all us Americans to get in a workout. :)

Yesterday was my first official day at Brasilia International School (BIS). I was placed in a 5th and 6th grade classroom in which I am already enjoying oh so so much! BIS is a PreK-12 school and has about 80 total students, most of which are children of Ambassadors, Missionaries, and Teachers from around the world. This morning was quite an experience just watching all of these tiny kids being chauffeured around in government vehicles. #jealous?

I've also been able to try a very wide variety of fruits and vegetables (prepared in ways that I've never even heard of)... I have yet to be disappointed.

I'm in Brazilllllllll!

After 24 hours of traveling, one missed flight, 3 snoring traveling neighbors, one lost piece of luggage, and with the help of two very kind Brazilian women, I made it to Brasilia! Some great things about Brazil so far:

1. they don't make you take your shoes off when you go through security... this was extra exciting because I realized that I put on 2 different socks when I left Chicago on Thursday morning.

2. Homemade ice cream is a normal dessert to have daily after dinner.

3. Its 72 degrees right now, and it's 10pm.

Some no so great things about Brazil:

1. Apparently someone on the airport staff is a fan of ultra touristy- american flag- genuine leather- FANNY PACKS. One of my bags got lost going from new York to Rio. When it was dropped off this evening, it was clearly "searched" and a few things, including the fanny-pack,(which I got as a gift to make sure everyone here knew I was from the US) were missing. :(

2. For some reason, when I go on the internet here, my computer automatically thinks I speak portuguese, so every website I go to is a mini lesson in the portuguese language.

I think blogs are lame, but my mom convinced me to make one

As many of you know, I'm getting ready to venture to the great country of BRAZIL (or as the spanish soccer channels say, bre-seel) in just a few days! Quite a few people have been asking about how to contact me while I'm there or keep in touch about my experiences so I decided this would be the best way!

Also in preparation, I have been encouraged by many to look into this new country and do some research before I get there. Here are some of the most important things that I found. If you have any other tips, PLEASE feel free to send them my way!

-Brazil is home to the widest road in the world (160 cars can drive side by side all at once).

- Brazil has more species of monkeys than any other country.

-Their currency has both horizontal and vertical pictures.

- The popular superfood, acai berry is grown in Brazil. (Kelsey-yes I'll bring some home so we can make more diet pills)

- Brazil has won the World Cup 5 times (more than any other country).

-Brazil has the 9th largest population of millionaires.

All that being said, I am so so so excited to see how God will work everything out. With less than 3 days leading up to probably one of the scariest things I've done in my life, there are still countless things that are up in the air.... It's a good thing we have a God who knows a lot more than we do. One verse that has been especially meaningful to me over these last few months is Proverbs 16:9. There are so many things that are unknown in our lives that we will encounter, but sometimes we just have to try to figure it out as best we can, then give it up for God to work out the rest...
"In their hearts, humans plan their course,

but the Lord determines their steps." -Proverbs 16:9