Because God provides
Today is the feast of St. John Paul the Great y'all!!
Also known as Pope John Paul II..just in case you weren't sure who I was talking about.
There's a quote from him that I think is quite fitting for this post and is something that should inspire us and motivate us instead of terrifying us. Don't be afraid to walk with God.
Right..so where was I?
After 24 hours of travelling, we finally arrived in Rio!
...but not without drama...
I did mention that I had prepared meals in advance right? I had cans of tuna (sounds innocent enough, not so?), some cauliflower wraps, some steamed ground provision, some dried seasoning, some fruits and some stewed turkey wings. Everything was already cooked or canned.
All was well in the food department until we got into Brazil...
Apparently in my research on Brazil, I didn't realize just how strict they were about bringing food into their country. Of course we Trinis are masters at smuggling food in. but I..rather naively I suppose, declared that I had food, but I figured, well it was cooked, so it shouldn't be a big deal right?
EH HEH??
Well, they confiscated my fruits, dried seasoning, ALL MY MEAT, INCLUDING the cans of TUNA. I was left with the cauliflower wraps and I think some ground provision. Of course I protested, in my halting Portuguese, but to no avail. I had to watch an agent spray some blue chemical all over my food and declare it destroyed.
I. WAS. DEVASTATED.
If I could have lain down on the ground and bawl I'd have done it. My food, which was supposed to get me through the first few days was GONE. Not just gone, chemically sprayed into oblivion.
I frantically messaged Rosemary about what had happened, and her ever so calm response was "Don't worry about that, God will provide". If allyuh could have seen my face when I read that eh!! Don't worry that all my food was gone and I was in an unknown country with basically nothing to eat?!! Hello, remember me? The one with the digestive conditions? I can't just run into a McDonald's or a KFC at the airport you know.
Anyway, once I composed myself, and had my cauliflower wraps, (which were absolutely delicious might I add) we got a taxi and tried to give him directions to where we were staying, while also trying to contact our hosts.
The first image we saw of the Christ the Redeemer statue, backlit in the night was absolutely BREATHTAKING! No amount of pictures and videos does justice to actually seeing it in person. I would totally make another trip JUST to go back to see the statue.
We arrived at our place of lodging for the next few days until we were to separate to the parishes/locations to which we were assigned. Excited, we decided one time to take a lil walk around the neighbourhood with our host to check out the area...and not even two stores down the road was a FRUIT SHOP!
I was staying two doors down, from a FRUIT SHOP.
Allyuh hear nah! God mussy was laughing at me for despairing.
We rounds the next corner, lo and behold another grocery, one that opens late and on literally every corner there was a juice bar. Brazilians are health fanatics and their juice bars or Sucos, are world renowned for their crazy flavour combinations. EVERY SINGLE THING in the sucos is fresh; there is no syrup in a bottle being mashed up with ice and being labelled a "smoothie". They have the fruits artfully arranged and you just tell them what combination you want or you choose from their extensive menu.
The next day we went to an English mass at the beautiful Nossa Senhora da Copacabana Church (Our Lady of Copacabana). And then we went to an open air market. Now Brazilian open air markets are not like the ones we know about in Trinidad. First of all, they let you TASTE THE FOOD. Once you approach a stall, they will cut off a piece of whatever you're looking at so you can taste it and show you that it's good quality. Secondly you can pay BY CARD! There were point of sale machines, in the market!
After two days of roaming about Copacabana, it was time for us to head to the Basilica to find out where we would be placed, location wise. We had already been informed previously what general areas we'd be working in. Stevie was in "communications", Akil was in "sections and tents" and I was placed in the "French catechesis sessions" because I speak fluent French. The catechesis sessions were broken down by language to accommodate all of the different countries. Of course I was just super excited about that because I got to speak French all day, something I hardly ever get to do.
Of course you want me to tell you that everything went perfectly; we went to the Basilica and we received our location placement and were whisked off to our new lodgings right?
As the day wore on, it became painfully clear that some of us had no place to stay. The organisers were using a rather rudimentary system (an excel spreadsheet) which contained the placements of THOUSANDS of volunteers. And there were several spreadsheets and they had to find the right one so that we would know where we'd been placed. And some of us were not in the system. Most of us who has been misplaced (ha ha) were in the language section. Evening turned into night and the numbers dwindled. They told us we'd find out where we were placed the next day when we went to collect our volunteer packages. So some people were saying well we'll just sleep in the church. However, the parish priest was having none of that; we couldn't sleep in the church. So of course panic was setting in now! We definitely needed somewhere to stay. Suddenly, this lady showed up and started rounding us up and telling us, we can sleep at her house, just follow her, so I'm thinking, what house could possibly be big enough to hold all thirty-something of us.
So I said, well at least I have somewhere for the night, thank God.
A metro ride and a short walk later we arrive at her 'house'
The woman lived in a PENTHOUSE APARTMENT! With a rooftop jacuzzi and an UNINTERRUPTED VIEW of The Christ the Redeemer statue! If you see that place! Three bathrooms, a massive living room, a huge kitchen. It was unbelievable.
What is the lesson here, class?
Pressed down, shaken together and running over allyuh!
I thought it could write this story in two parts, but clearly a part three is needed!
Stay tuned for the rest of my adventures in Rio!
xo
Renz
Also known as Pope John Paul II..just in case you weren't sure who I was talking about.
There's a quote from him that I think is quite fitting for this post and is something that should inspire us and motivate us instead of terrifying us. Don't be afraid to walk with God.
Right..so where was I?
After 24 hours of travelling, we finally arrived in Rio!
...but not without drama...
I did mention that I had prepared meals in advance right? I had cans of tuna (sounds innocent enough, not so?), some cauliflower wraps, some steamed ground provision, some dried seasoning, some fruits and some stewed turkey wings. Everything was already cooked or canned.
All was well in the food department until we got into Brazil...
Apparently in my research on Brazil, I didn't realize just how strict they were about bringing food into their country. Of course we Trinis are masters at smuggling food in. but I..rather naively I suppose, declared that I had food, but I figured, well it was cooked, so it shouldn't be a big deal right?
EH HEH??
Well, they confiscated my fruits, dried seasoning, ALL MY MEAT, INCLUDING the cans of TUNA. I was left with the cauliflower wraps and I think some ground provision. Of course I protested, in my halting Portuguese, but to no avail. I had to watch an agent spray some blue chemical all over my food and declare it destroyed.
I. WAS. DEVASTATED.
If I could have lain down on the ground and bawl I'd have done it. My food, which was supposed to get me through the first few days was GONE. Not just gone, chemically sprayed into oblivion.
I frantically messaged Rosemary about what had happened, and her ever so calm response was "Don't worry about that, God will provide". If allyuh could have seen my face when I read that eh!! Don't worry that all my food was gone and I was in an unknown country with basically nothing to eat?!! Hello, remember me? The one with the digestive conditions? I can't just run into a McDonald's or a KFC at the airport you know.
Anyway, once I composed myself, and had my cauliflower wraps, (which were absolutely delicious might I add) we got a taxi and tried to give him directions to where we were staying, while also trying to contact our hosts.
The first image we saw of the Christ the Redeemer statue, backlit in the night was absolutely BREATHTAKING! No amount of pictures and videos does justice to actually seeing it in person. I would totally make another trip JUST to go back to see the statue.
We arrived at our place of lodging for the next few days until we were to separate to the parishes/locations to which we were assigned. Excited, we decided one time to take a lil walk around the neighbourhood with our host to check out the area...and not even two stores down the road was a FRUIT SHOP!
I was staying two doors down, from a FRUIT SHOP.
Allyuh hear nah! God mussy was laughing at me for despairing.
We rounds the next corner, lo and behold another grocery, one that opens late and on literally every corner there was a juice bar. Brazilians are health fanatics and their juice bars or Sucos, are world renowned for their crazy flavour combinations. EVERY SINGLE THING in the sucos is fresh; there is no syrup in a bottle being mashed up with ice and being labelled a "smoothie". They have the fruits artfully arranged and you just tell them what combination you want or you choose from their extensive menu.
The next day we went to an English mass at the beautiful Nossa Senhora da Copacabana Church (Our Lady of Copacabana). And then we went to an open air market. Now Brazilian open air markets are not like the ones we know about in Trinidad. First of all, they let you TASTE THE FOOD. Once you approach a stall, they will cut off a piece of whatever you're looking at so you can taste it and show you that it's good quality. Secondly you can pay BY CARD! There were point of sale machines, in the market!
 |
| Check the spread nah! A container of strawberries cost 6 tt! |
 |
| look the mango cut for you to taste! |
 |
| If you see people! |
 |
| Nossa Senhora Da Copacabana Church |
 |
| Front Entrance to the Church |
 |
| At our guest house |
After two days of roaming about Copacabana, it was time for us to head to the Basilica to find out where we would be placed, location wise. We had already been informed previously what general areas we'd be working in. Stevie was in "communications", Akil was in "sections and tents" and I was placed in the "French catechesis sessions" because I speak fluent French. The catechesis sessions were broken down by language to accommodate all of the different countries. Of course I was just super excited about that because I got to speak French all day, something I hardly ever get to do.
Of course you want me to tell you that everything went perfectly; we went to the Basilica and we received our location placement and were whisked off to our new lodgings right?
WRONG!
More drama!
As the day wore on, it became painfully clear that some of us had no place to stay. The organisers were using a rather rudimentary system (an excel spreadsheet) which contained the placements of THOUSANDS of volunteers. And there were several spreadsheets and they had to find the right one so that we would know where we'd been placed. And some of us were not in the system. Most of us who has been misplaced (ha ha) were in the language section. Evening turned into night and the numbers dwindled. They told us we'd find out where we were placed the next day when we went to collect our volunteer packages. So some people were saying well we'll just sleep in the church. However, the parish priest was having none of that; we couldn't sleep in the church. So of course panic was setting in now! We definitely needed somewhere to stay. Suddenly, this lady showed up and started rounding us up and telling us, we can sleep at her house, just follow her, so I'm thinking, what house could possibly be big enough to hold all thirty-something of us.
So I said, well at least I have somewhere for the night, thank God.
A metro ride and a short walk later we arrive at her 'house'
The woman lived in a PENTHOUSE APARTMENT! With a rooftop jacuzzi and an UNINTERRUPTED VIEW of The Christ the Redeemer statue! If you see that place! Three bathrooms, a massive living room, a huge kitchen. It was unbelievable.
What is the lesson here, class?
GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES!
Pressed down, shaken together and running over allyuh!
 |
| Please ignore the snow animation. I have no idea how that got there. Trying to transfer pics from the Cloud via multiple devices results in this weirdness |
 |
| One HALF of the living room area |
 |
| View of Christ the Redeemer from the rooftop My camera didn't do it justice at all |
 |
| My Polish friend and I taking selfies |
Stay tuned for the rest of my adventures in Rio!
xo
Renz
I would have overdosed on strawberries... God really provides indeed..
ReplyDeleteWow what a lovely thing for the lady to do! Looking forward to your part 3!
ReplyDeleteWow what a lovely thing for the lady to do! Looking forward to your part 3!
ReplyDelete