My First Full Week

Thanks everyone for the prayers and encouragement - I'm feeling much more at home here. Everything's still at one word stage on my side, but I'm slowly picking things up. The kids talk freely in Portuguese to me and I just nod my head or smile or laugh. As I've always known, actions speak louder. So it's all good. So far I've cleared out the drain - it was totally full of leaves and sand and just everything gross. Had to go shoulder deep in the stuff, trying to pull it out. Sick. But I unblocked it! And what a feeling! Also, really good that I did so, because later that day a pìpe burst or something further up the hill (but still onsite) and so there was a flood of water down that drain. If I hadn't cleared it there would've been a flood all over the street! Haha!

The view from the Refuge - a clear day after much rain resulting in low-lying clouds through the valley.

It's wierd thinking I've been here for a whole week now. I've not been doing loads because it's still raining all the time. We had one day of sunshine, which was beautiful. There are some stunning views her. But the rain has stopped me doing a lot. spent the day shopping for food and nuts and bolts with Joel yesterday - we went to Porto and everything, which is always fun. Also, I saw a slum next to the highway. Totally blew my mind - excitement, but also many questions flooded my mind; what does God want me to do? How to reach them? etc.

Mar took Susy and I to Porto last Saturday, to a big shopping mall called 'Factory' (a factory outlet, you'd never guess) and bought two t-shirts from an offspring shop of Zara for €4, and was very tempted by an orange gilet from Pepe Jeans for €30...

Susy is the other volunteer. She's spanish, and speaks next to no English, and I speak hardly any Spanish, so chatting is difficult. We're both learning, though, which is fun!

We went to see FC Porto vs Leixoes on Wednesday night which was... well, a little boring (being a rugby man...), but great fun. We (Porto, claro) won, 1-0! We were seated right next to the Leixoes fans, so the end was interesting. A whole line of security guards between us and them, and they kept being all macho and trying to muscle through, as were some of the Porto fans. It was funny.

O Éstadio Dragao
1-0! 1-0! 1-0!

Last night, we went to see Benjamin Button again, which is so good. It's FILLED with meaningful quotations, like 'You have to lose the people you love, otherwise how will you know how much they mean to you?' and 'Life is made up of opportunities, even the ones we miss.' Gorgeous photography as well...

Mar's friend Rosa is here - she's getting married in May, so today we went to Porto again. We wanted to go to the beach, but it started to rain. So, the girls spent an hour looking at Wedding dresses, while I went off exploring, looking in shops, taking photos (claro) - there were these two amazing tribal-type guys with drums and pipes and head dresses and all sorts. Then we had lunch (franceçinhas, typical to Porto. They are amazing - sandwiches with steak and ham, and then whatever else you want to put in them (today we had like an English Breakfast, egg bacon and sausages :D), then covered in melted cheese and in served in a spicy tomato sauce), and then went back to dress shopping. It was REALLY raining by this point, so I stayed with the dresses. And I'm glad I did! Rosa tried on about 10, all stunning (I felt like the girliest girl in the world in those shops, and I loved every moment). I can see why girls get so excited - those dresses were amazing! And I was allowed to photograph her as well! We'll see how they come out - the lighting wasn't amazing and I had a 50mm lens in a small room, so...

These guys played such good music!

Francesinhas - typical Portuguese food.
Mar really wants to get married...
Rosa, the beautiful bride-to-be. 35mm photos to come soon...

I finally have my Canon A1 photos...

This is the dress she chose...

I know it sounds like I'm not doing a lot, and just being a tourist. That's probably because I am. But the rain means we can't work outside. A few things need fixing in the bedrooms, like handles and hinges and stuff, but that's it for indoors. So until the rain stops, I can't do much. I'm trying to build relationships with the children in the afternoons and evenings when they're back from school. I have learnt that Jorge has trouble reading and writing, so yesterday I spent a while just going through one page of a simple book with him while he copied it out. Hey, it helps me learn, too! I've also heard some stories of the children here, their backgrounds and so on. Man, it's mental.

I'm feeling at a sort of limbo stage. I guess I expected God to just start telling me what He wants me to do here as soon as I stepped off the plane. That didn't happen. I feel like He's teaching me to just turn my attention back to him - being here gives me a lot of time with few distractions to be able to sit and spend quite a while with Him, listening to Him and studying His Word, which I wasn't doing regularly in England. So, I'm expectant. I just need to wait and persevere. It's exciting.

By the way, check out Proverbs 28 v 19. That really struck me the other night when I read it. Also, I've been trying to keep on my heart Proverbs 4vv25-27. Quality.

Blessings y'all. Thanks for stopping by (San Diego, anyone?)
Aid x

We're here!

To quote a great romcom...

Olá!
Yes, I arrived. Having carried 30kg of bags across London (thanks to Scot and Misty for the ride from the house to the station - I genuinely might have lost my arms walking all that way. I almost did through London!), having to pay 210 pounds for having double my weight allowance, and enjoying a 2 1/2 hour half-empty flight Ryan Air style.

It's been raining non stop here since I arrived. But it's really fine rain, as if we're just inside the clouds. Which is quite probable, because the orphanage is up in the mountains.

So, I met everyone and was told to just chill out and make myself at home. So I unpacked and everything, and then just burst into tears! It had been such an emotional journey, and past few days, and I was just quite overwhelmed by the language and the people, as well as feeling a little lonely. I just needed a good cry. Then I fell asleep for about an hour, before going to Maccy D's with everyone! One of the leaders - Mar- has made friends with the manager or something, and so once a month they give us a free meal for everyone! Amazing! Then Susy (a spanish helper who arrived on Monday, also for 6 months), Mar, Nelson (one of the boys) and I went to see 'The strange case of Benjamin Button' (A-MAY-zing) at the cinema for €2.10! Wednesdays is 2 for 1 night :)

Thursday was spent cleaning up a container with all the tools I'll be using - I have been told that I will be a sort of 'handy man' during the day while I'm here, fixing things and making the place look nice. Then just relaxed with the children and watched TV with them before going to bed. Still raining all day.

I'm reading this really great book at the moment. Read it if you get the chance. It's called, 'The Shaping of Things to Come' by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. It's all about returning to a post-
modern, missional church, like it was at the beginning, rather than the hierarchical, dualistic 'attractional' church we've had in all Christendom. Really inspiring.

Mar is taking Suzi and me to Porto tomorrow to have a day out. That will be nice. We will stay the night in a friend's house before going to church in the morning.

Please keep praying for the language barrier thing. I'm learning Spanish and Portuguese at the same time, which is fun! It's a bit lonely, not being able to speak freely with everyone, so please pray I get to grips with this stuff! Thanks a million. I'll keep praying for you all.

That's all from me for now - not sure when I'll next get to write.
But I'll update you as soon as I can.

For The King and His Kingdom!
A x