Our new adventure: Olympia and other things of note

Day 5 of the Paraguayan adventure:

Last night our group decided that we were going to go and watch the local football team, "our local football team", "Olympia", play in the first leg of the South America Championship.  At first it was proposed to go to TGIFridays, yes, there is a TGIFridays in Asuncion, but we instead opted to talk to a lot of the locals and after asking them where we should go for the "local experience" and it was recommended by many that we go to go to one of the local malls.  An hour and a half before the game we set off from the hotel to go to the game, Pierre and myself donning the Olympia jerseys of our favorite players (actually we asked around and found out who other people's favorite players are and just picked those ones since we haven't ever seen a game before) and headed to the mall.  We first noticed that something was amiss when we didn't almost die when crossing the street a block from our hotel.  Normally, and without any of the exaggeration that my readers will know I occasionally am suspect of, crossing the street here might be the most dangerous thing that happens to me during my two years here.  There are no cross walks, there are very few rules being followed by drivers, everyone drives very fast and there are wholes all over the place, in the sidewalk, in the roads, everywhere, just waiting to gobble up unsuspecting walkers.  It looks like my streak of being hit by a car in every country I've lived in (+1, Thanks Turkey!) will probably continue here in Paraguay.  Anyway, so we get a block from the hotel, look to cross the road and it is virtually empty.  We stroll across the road and realize that Paraguayans everywhere have already hunkered down for the night to cheer on their team.
When we got to the mall we found the Paraguayans.  All the chairs were taken, people were standing on the stairs, the place was packed.  We managed to find a seat sitting on some stairs in the food court where we could see the two enormous screens that were going to show the game.  Everyone was wearing Olympia colors, most with jerseys on (except for a guy from school who showed up with the Bolivian national team jersey on, I don't know why, he's Argentinian, but anyway) and anytime during the pregame show the screens showed Olympia everybody clapped and shouted and everytime the screens showed Atlético Mineiro, a Brazilian club, everyone whistled (a bad thing here) and jeered.  It was already a great time and the game hadn't even started.  By the time the game was about to start the energy was electric.
The game started and I won't go into full reporter detail but let it be known that both teams came out jittery and I was a bit disappointed in South American football after I'd heard such good things for so long.  After a while though both clubs settled down and it was a really good game.  When Olympia scored in the first half the food court EXPLODED!  People went nuts, clapping whistling, chanting, high fiving neighbors, it was amazing!  And there were Pierre, the other new teachers and myself, not a minute's worth of cheering for Olympia before tonight, going nuts with the rest of them like we were life long supporters.  It was just so easy to get caught up in the energy that we had no choice but to shout and scream and wave our arms like everyone around us.  I will point out that at no point last night, either at the mall or later in the streets, did I feel unsafe, there was drinking but few were drunk, the shouting and cheering was intense but never unsafe.
The second half I was on pins and needles, fist tightly clenched as Atlético tried to come back.  When Ronaldinho went off everyone at the mall shouted at him, probably using words that it's good I didn't quite understand.  Atlético had a really good 10 minutes were Olympia couldn't seem to get a good foot on the ball and I was on the edge of my stair waiting for the doomed equalizer that I felt was coming.  It didn't.  Olympia held off the numerous attacks and finally started to calm down and start counter attacking.  The crowd at the mall felt the shift as Olympia took shot after shot, some barely missing the goal until Olympia had the best counter attack of the night.  Atlético was caught pushing defenders forward and Olympia took the ball and pushed forward with massive numbers.  One of the players faked the keeper, who dived, and passed to another player in the middle of the box, who was covered by the one remaining defender, and then passed to number 16, Pierre's chosen jersey, WHO COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE OPEN IF HE HAD BEEN ON AN EMPTY FIELD IN AN EMPTY STADIUM AND MISSED TO THE LEFT!!!! I found myself holding my head like the diehards, shouting my frustration and blaming Pierre since he was wearing the jersey.  But the thing that happened next is why I have chosen Olympia to be my team for the time I'm here (I mean for the rest of my life, I'm diehard now!), after a minute of everyone feeling frustrated about the missed opportunity they sat back in their seats, and started clapping and encouraging their team on.  I've never seen that at any sporting event I've been to and I really appreciated it last night.  The last play of the game came, we were nearing the end of stoppage time, everyone was happy that Olympia was going to win 1-0, but also feeling a little disappointed that they didn't take advantage of the plethora of opportunities that they had to go up 2-0 or 3-0 when the ref called a foul for Olympia right outside the box and all the sudden the mall was abuzz again.  When #7 put in the free kick, right under the crossbar, in the 95th minute everyone, and I mean everyone, lost it.  People were shouting, screaming, jumping, laughing, congratulating neighbors, standing on chairs, clapping, singing, Max and his wild rumpus would have been proud.  It was amazing.  Pierre kept looking at me and saying, "This is a mall man, A MALL."  It was incredible.
As we walked outside the celebration was in full swing in the streets.  Cars honking, air horns blowing, people hanging out of car windows and sunroofs and off the back of pickups, flags flying everywhere, music blaring, me and my cohorts yelling at the cars and them yelling back at us, high fiving strangers, fireworks going off as we headed off to a local bar to catch up with some other friends.
After hanging out, having a few drinks (water for me thanks) and finding out where the party is going to happen next week if we (I've decided that I've been a fan long enough to start referring to my fellow Olympia fans and myself as, "we".) started walking back to the hotel when we saw that all the cars a few blocks down were stopped because people were holding an enormous Olympia flag across the two lanes of traffic.  Obviously (and you know how much I hate that word so I don't use it lightly), we had to investigate.  Things we saw at the end of that street... lots of fireworks, people banging drums, toddlers being lifted out of the sunroof of moving cars, lots of screaming and shouting (by us as much as by them), an the results of an accident, no one was hurt but the front bumper was halfway off the car, (the way to fix such a problem was certainly the chosen method of kicking the bumper the rest of the way off and sticking it across the backseat of the car and out the back windows on both sides of the car and then driving off, yelling and honking like nothing had happened) and generally the safest and in no way violent mayhem that I've been a witness to.
We walked back to the hotel and each went to bed,  a smile on our face and pride in our heart that our team had performed so admirably.

Other items of note:
- The people I'm going to be working with are amazing.  They are young and fun and we all get along very very well.
- After a few very frustrating days of house hunting, Joana and I have found a place.  We will be living with another couple and their three dogs in a BEAUTIFUL house with a man-cave and a pool.  I'll post pictures and give a better description soon.
- I am loving the fact that the group of new teachers is so active.  We all play a lot of sports and already some of us have played basketball while others have found a great park to go running in.  I got out of the habit of going out to play sports a bit over the past few years and I'm very excited for both Joana and myself that being active seems to be a way of life here.
- I am experiencing a bit of culture shock here.  I haven't figured out what sort of a place I'm living in.  Sometimes I relate this place back to Freetown, with water that I can't drink, holes in the sidewalks and  highly inflated money (4,500 guaranee to the dollar).  Other times it feels more like the States or Portugal, 24 hours of light and water, easy internet access, nice stores and air conditioning everywhere. It's going to take a while to get used to being here and to be fair I have really only been in about a 10 kilometer square section of the city, so we'll see what happens when I get to see the rest of the city/country.
- I'm struggling with the language too.  Spanish is close enough to Portuguese and I've learned enough Spanish in my life, that a lot of the times, if people don't speak too fast I can understand what they are saying.  I however cannot speak Spanish at the moment, like almost at all.  I speak Portuguese in response and sometimes people understand and sometimes they don't.  This is a challenge I want to really work on since I don't want to be an expat on the outside but would rather hang out with Paraguayans and experience their culture from the inside.

So that's the news after 4 days of life in a new place.  I have been extremely proud of Joana, she is doing so well with her first time living in a new country.  We are settling in well and feel like this will be a good place for us to be for the next few years.

God bless,
Justin

A long awaited update

Hi!

I wanted to take a few minutes and say "Hello" to all of you! I realize it's been nearly forever since I last wrote an update about my life, thus keeping you on tenterhooks as to the goings on of yours truly.

There is a lot going on in life and I am overjoyed to say that God continues to bless me in incredible ways.

First, I am still living in Estoril, Portugal. I have been there for three years now and am happier being there now than ever. I have found a place that feels like home, where I have an amazing amount of support, a fantastic life, and a bright future. I am still working at the Carlucci American International School of Lisbon though my role at the school is soon to change. For the past three years I have happily taught 3rd grade. In January I was approached about my interest in moving from the Elementary School to the Middle School to become a 6th grade teacher. While at first I rejected the idea, the more I thought about it and talked with friends the more the idea grew on me until I finally told the school that such a proposition would interest me very much. And so, starting in about a month and a half I will do the unthinkable and become a middle school teacher! I am filled with both excitement and trepidation when I think about what the following year is going to look like and oftentimes am consumed with the desire to run back to school begging to be given my old job, but this next year will challenge me to grow as a teacher and as a person and I welcome the challenge. It helps a lot that both the principal and the middle school coordinator have great faith in my abilities and are encouraging me to do things in my own style, giving me plenty of freedom to play with how things are presented. I will continue to coach at the school, basketball, soccer and cross-country and will be looking for other ways to make an impact once the school year starts since some of my old avenues will no longer be viable.

Secondly, since November I have become involved with an AMAZING church family just outside of Sintra. If there had been any area which had really been lacking for me in my overseas journeys it was that I hadn't ever found a church home where I felt comfortable and welcome. Grace church is so much more than I could have dreamed of. From the first time I visited I have felt welcomed. I have now become a part of the church in several ways. On many Sundays I have joined with others in leading worship either through playing the jembe or singing or a combination of the two. I am a part of several bible studies and prayer groups, which have given me so much more strength and courage as I try, day by day, to live a faith filled walk. I have been doing a lot of hanging out with the youth and some with the children and hope to do a lot more with those groups in the future as they are an astounding group of young people. I thank God for granting me the opportunity to find this church where I am able to nourish a part of myself that has gone unwatered for far too long.

Thirdly, Joana. :) Joana is the BEAUTIFUL woman who is in this photo with me.
Her accolades are far too many to count. Let it be known though that she constantly pushes me to be more Godly, more loving and to be a better pool player as she has thoroughly smacked me down in that game. We met after having seen each other once or twice during a movie night at a friends house. Our mutual friend, Zuzia, called ahead to ask if she could bring her roommate to movie night. I, half jokingly, asked the person Zuzia had talked to on the phone if it was the cute roommate. Lo and behold the two of them walked in the front door and it WAS the cute roommate! I then proceeded to make an utter fool of myself in trying to play it cool while at the same time flirting shamelessly. At the end of the night, though the movie wasn't over and I wasn't really tired, I said that I was and asked Zuzia if I could get a ride back to my house with her and her roomie. I have no idea what the two girls talked about on the ride home as the whole time I was thinking, "I really want to talk to this girl some more. But Zuzia is here and I can't ask for her number in front of Zuzia, what if she doesn't want to give me her number? When will there be time to ask her? Should I ask her now??? No, that would be dumb, they're talking about something. Oops, they asked me a question! What did they say?" "Yep, I agree with that." "I hope that was something I would agree with, but who cares, how can I talk to this girl again?" And so forth on what felt both like an eternal drive and yet was over before I knew it. In the end I ended up giving Zuzia a bottle of wine that one of my students had given to me, while at the same time saying I had gotten it for her as a going away gift (is it bad that this all started out on a little white lie?) so that she would be distracted and I could finally ask Joana for her phone number. She smiled as she gave it to me, (my heart melted a bit with that smile) and we promised to talk more soon. Never having been one to claim patience as a gift, I called her the next day and we set it up to go for a walk on the boardwalk the next day. And we kept hanging out. She is now someone who I share bible studies, church services, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, pool games, stories, happiness and frustrations with. God has absolutely blessed me with someone who first loves Himself and secondly loves me and I could not possibly in my wildest of dreams be happier.

And that is kind of my life right now. I'm in the states looking forward to supporting my amazing sister as she gets married next Saturday. I have been fortunate to spend time with my family and friends.

Lastly, I want you to know that whether it has been hours since we talked or years, I appreciate you. I appreciate the support that you have given to me through ups and downs. I appreciate the prayers, the advice, the phone calls and emails, and most of all the love that I have felt from you, my friends and family. You have made me who I am today and I thank God for each and every one of you and beseech Him to bless you as I have been blessed.

In Him,
Justin Wallace

Reaching out to the world

My kids just started a project last week that I have high hopes for.

We wrote a letter, as a class, telling who we are and asking questions like, "How many people are in your class?" and "What do third graders do for fun in your country?" We then chose 50 countries from all over the world that we would like to know more about. I then spent several hours looking up international schools in each of the 50 countries, (Which was way more interesting than I thought it'd be. I may have some new ideas about where I want to go next.) and copying down their addresses. The kids then practiced their address writing skills as they filled out 50 envelopes, folded 50 letters, placed a postcard of Portugal in each envelope and then carefully sealed each envelope.

We hope to get responses back from each of the schools. We look forward to learning more about others, to making connections with people from all over the world. To learning how other people lead lives that are different from our own. To discovering how much we have in common with people we've never met.

....

At times I find myself in a state of wonderment for the pathways that God has brought me down. I am so blessed. I have so much to be thankful for. There is so much to look forward to.
I hope that I can live up to the expectations that God has for me. I hope that I honor Him with my life. I hope that I make Him proud.

Love

I love grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Before you turn up your nose you must, as everyone constantly says to me, give it a try. The way that the peanut butter melts into the jelly, the warmth and crispness of the bread, the great big goopy mess of everything, the smell that fills the space giving your stomach a wake up call, it is a truely magnificent sandwich.

In Portugal I would be looked at funny for saying that I love a sandwich. I can really really really like the sandwich. I can adore the sandwich. I can say that the sandwich is the best thing ever. But to say that I LOVE the sandwich would instantly set me apart as someone not of this land.

In Portugal (in my experience) you love your family. You love your spouse. You might be able to love your country though I've never tried to say that. Other than those things I'm not sure that you say, "Love" to too much more than that.

Now I can understand the Portuguese mentality to an extent. Do I really love the new book that I just read? Do I really love chocolate? Or the new Facebook application? Does my claiming love for every little thing that pops up in my life cheapen the word? I don't know.

But I miss love. I miss hearing people claim that they care about something other than bloodties enough to say they love it. I miss people loving their job. I miss people loving an activity. Music, food, the ocean. I love a lot of things, certainly not in the same way that I love my family or the spouse that I one day hope to have. But I know that the way that my heart warms when I go to my friends house and their child laughs and reaches for me is more than me really really liking her. I know that the way my spirit lifts when I hear the first few beats of the first dance song of the evening are more than me adoring the individual notes that I hear. I know that, even on my most difficult of days, there is no other kind of work that I want to dedicate myself to and that the feeling that I have in front of the classroom or working one on one is soooo much more than appreciation.

I have conformed. While the word love has moved into one of the rarer words I use, (which makes me very very sad to type) I will happily look about the world I live in with love that hopefully pours out in my actions, my language, my very eyes, to the point that when people want to describe me to others they will be forced, despite nationality, custum or habit, to use the word... love.

The fight

Last night I went to Rock n Rio. A concert/fair/music explosion of sorts. I was looking forward to watching John Mayer and maybe checking out the Shakira concert as well. I had decided to go alone and just appreciate the music and the freedom to have some time to myself, with several thousand screaming people.

John Mayer was amazing. He can play a guitar, wow, like no one I’ve ever seen. Including at one point him laying the guitar flat on the ground and kneeling over it and then playing it without even holding the thing. It was ridiculous. When he sang “Why Georgia” I thought I was going to bust a vocal cord. It was so much fun and I had wheedled my way close enough to the stage that had I had a baseball John Mayer and I could have played catch. Which would have been fun.

After John Mayer finished (doesn’t he just seem like one of those people who you ought to say their first and last name, even when you’re talking to them) I made my way through the crowds to the rollercoaster that had been set up. I was so psyched because even though this had nothing on the Vortex or the Great American Scream Machine it was still a rollercoaster and it had the added bonus of cars that spun around in circles as you went up and down the tracks. Oh, yeah, and the cars were mice, one of whom was smoking a cigarette. Ok, so a little strange, but they were from Spain, so… whatever ;) Since I was on my own I ended up in a car with the two ladies in front of me, one of whom was probably about 13 and I am convinced had never ridden a rollercoaster before and the other, her cousin/sister/I don’t know who was decidedly cute and about my age. The car had some buttons on it that would add special effects and I asked the girls if they wanted to press the button and the younger girl said, in a no-time-for-a-breath-but-I’m-still-talking-somehow stream of consciousness in no uncertain terms, that she absolutely positively didn’t want anyone thinking of pressing the button. So I did… no not really, that would have been mean. And then the ride started and the girl started screaming and her friend and I started laughing and the ride started spinning and then a cat ate our car and there was a constant flow of what sounded like appeals to a higher power from the girl and more laughter from us and then the ride was over. As I asked the girl if she was ok as she shakily got off the ride she said that she was, in-between her continuing flow of unbelieving statements about how that was craziness to get on something like that. I thanked the ladies, waved and walked off to go hear Shakira. Which is when the craziness began…

I am leaning against a building. A man stumbles, steps on me while spilling beer on me. Words are spoken. Then the crowd begins to perk up. Heads turn. Bodies scramble away. A woman is knocked into and collapses at my feet. Suddenly where there was once a crowd, people are now shoving each other to get away. I see a man with no shirt on come out of nowhere and a vicious head-rocking right cross is thrown. There is blood. And screaming. More fighters show up. We are standing toe to toe. I don’t know what to do but Shakira has long since been forgotten. Angry women are trying to hold the men back. Beer is thrown on the shirtless man. And then I am surrounded by security. The man who threw the punch and the man who spilled beer on me have disappeared. The security talks so fast, asking what happened, I don’t understand and shrink back into the wall that I was leaning against before all this happened and try to disappear as well.

And then I left. Because security didn’t care about me, they were trying to figure out what happened with all the people who were fighting around me. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and after listening to some more of the concert, which was surprisingly good, Shakira puts on a good show, I decided it was time to get home. I walked away with slightly sticky feet from having a drop or two of beer spilled on them, a smile because I’d very much enjoyed my time, aside from watching a fight break out around me between some very intoxicated men, and a story, which is always a good thing.

We both made it out with our wallet and only one of us was hit by a car...

Turkey was amazing! My friend Nick and I flew out of Portugl on Friday afternoon, had an uneventful flight and arrived in Istanbul Friday night at about midnight. Nick's friend, Chadis, I think that's how that is spelled, met us at the airport and we set out on our adventure.

After briefly getting lost on the highways of Istanbul we successfully drove through the ridiculously think fog to Chadis' mother's house in Edirne. Although we arrived after 2 in the morning his mother and sister were still up to greet us with large amounts of food and his friends even stopped by to see everyone and share in the food consumption. Everyone was really friendly even though there was little English spoken round the table. The highlight of the night was when one of Chadis' friends was leaving and after having spoken only a word or two of English throughout the whole evening/morning he poked his head around the doorway he'd just left through to say, "I must go now...because I'm married". Being that almost the only thing I'd understood for the previous hour was the nearly constant ribbing he'd been given over his being married and needing to be accountable for his hours it was really funny.

The next morning we woke up to a feast of a breakfast complete with Turkish tea. Being a non-tea drinker I was a bit apprehensive but drank through a glass with the help of two sugar cubes. It wasn't too bad, but I politely declined a second glass. After breakfast we all, mom, sister, Chadis, Nick and I piled into the small family car and drove to the grandparent's place. As we drove Nick and I learned about how to great the older generation with respect. So when we met the grandparents we both took their hand, kissed the back, touched our foreheads to their hand and then gave lose hugs with a kiss first on the right and then the left. After that we were treated like family. They were wonderful people and, while I once again didn't understand most of what was being said, we all got on very well. At one point during the visit each person was given a small cup of Turkish coffee. I have consumed even less coffee in my lifetime than tea and managed to take a few sips before realizing that I just couldn't get through it. There was no problem though, Gulce, the sister, (it's supposed to have two dots over the u but I don't know where that key is) nicely dumped my coffee but brought back the cup with the residue in it. We were told that mom could read our fortunes and that we ought to flip the cup onto the saucer. A few minutes later I learned that I will soon come into a large sum of money, that I will be taking a big trip in either four days or four weeks or four months, she wasn't sure about the specific time and that currently I am thinking of courting two young ladies and I would be better served to make a decision. The whole experience was done with a sense of seriousness that let me know that while it wasn't concrete it was still taken with some level of respect within the family.

After visiting the late father's grave, which was my first time in an Islamic graveyard, they have raised graves that are covered with soil so that families have planted flowers on the graves, we all went to the Eski Camii. The Eski Camii is an enormous mosque in Edirne. It was amazingly huge and absolutely spectacular. As with most old cathedrals that I've visited there was an overwhelming sense of awe of how many hours went into building such an amazing place for the sole purpose of honoring and worshipping something greater than the people who built it.

After the mosque the five of us walked around town for a bit before going to a local restaurant that is famous for it's local quisine. Our new friends didn't feel the need to tell us what we were eating until we'd already devoured half a plate of whatever was put in front of us. It turns out we were eating fried liver. And loving it. The drink was something that Nick and I didn't go back for seconds on, a sort of salty yogurt. I never imagined I would like liver more than yogurt, it even feels weird to say, but man that was a great meal.

After leaving the Chadis' mother and sister in Edirne with hugs, well-wishes and hopes to one day see each other again the three of us went back to Istanbul. We spent a few hours seeing the Hagia Sofia, an ancient cathedral turned mosque, the Blue Mosque and a basilica, which we all decided had something to do with holding water but we weren't really sure what we met up with another of Nick's friends for dinner. After dinner we drove to the Asian side of Istanbul, (I've now been to Asia!!!) to rest and get ready for a night out. As we were driving around I was struck with the immensity of this city, it is easily the largest and most confusing place I've ever been. Nick and I quickly realized how fortunate we were to be traversing the city with people who knew their way around.

That night we went out for drinks, before Chadis, Nick and I went to a rock bar. It was great fun. We were out dancing till just after five in the morning. The band was great and I even tried to sing along at one point. I'm not sure I sang any of the right words, being that they were Turkish, but we gave it a valiant effort. I then got to drive home, being the non-drinker of the group, which was cool, I've now driven on five continents, before we all crashed at Chadis' place.

The next day we went walking along the Marmara Sea. It was nice looking out over Istanbul, just relaxing a bit. Even though we'd woken up at two we all decided we could use a nap before going out that night. We later met up with Nick's other friend again for dinner and drinks and had a nice relaxed evening.

The next morning we woke up early, made sure our bags were packed and went back over to the European side to check out the Grand Bazaar. Nick and I agreed we were expecting more of an outdoor market but it wasn't that at all. It was kind of like an ancient mall with lots of small shops selling lots of very traditional Turkish type things. I managed to pick up a little magic genie lamp, which is now residing among my "trophie collection" of knick-knacks from around the world.

After the bazaar we walked around for a few more hours before heading off to the airport.

I really had an amazing time in Turkey. The people were all very friendly, the city was amazing to behold and it was a fun adventure. One I would certainly recommend to anyone looking for something very different from the norm.

Oh yeah, and the car thing...

We were walking down to the ferry port and weren't sure which way to go. For some reason, which I definitely don't remember now I stopped in the middle of the road to look at a sign, not that I could read any of the signs but I must have thought it a good idea. Anyway, the driving in Istanbul rivals that of Freetown for the craziest drivers I've ever encountered and stopping in the middle of the road is unadvisable. I heard the briefest of "heads ups" shouted by my friend before I found myself flat on my back and a car wheel rolling up on my foot. I was more surprised than anything else at the moment and popped up laughing like an idiot. I think it was my bodies way of dealing with the stress. I limped off the road, waved to the man who looked aghast at hitting me that I was o.k. and trudged off down the road. I was and am fine, my leg ached for a bit and my shoulder was sore, but I'm fine and can now say that I've been hit by a car in Asia.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Last night was about as close to being perfect as it could be.

I went to Lisbon last night for the Salsa class that I'm taking now with an incredible instructor. He's really cool, does a good job teaching and just in general is a really great guy. Last night he brought his children, who were probably less than two and maybe four, and the kids were running about the class. Since I had shown up early for the beginner class I took it upon myself to entertain them for a while so others could focus on the steps they were being taught. We had a good time playing around in the hall, watching some guys playing basketball in the gym downstairs, "Uma bolla!!!", and in general just having a good time. Then it was the intermediate groups turn to dance and so after playing with kids for an hour I then got to dance for an hour. I'm not real sure what could be better than two hours with two of my favorite things. It was funny because a few times while I would be dancing with someone the little boy would come up with arms upstretched and wouldn't go away until I picked him up. I then was able to dance with him and my partner, who luckily thought it was fun rather than being annoyed by the disturbance. Anyway, all that is to say that I had a wonderful time last night in class.

This morning I recommited myself to getting in touch with God. I have once again become remiss in this and want to make myself more available to Him. So from now on, instead of reading random books on the bus on the way to school, I'll be reading His Word. This morning I read the first 7 chapters of Matthew. As I was reading the first chapter and reading the geneology of Christ I was struck with the fact that each of these men, and the few women mentioned too, are not just names in a book but at one point walked around on this earth. These people faced trials and tribulations, stubbed their toe, admired sunsets, loved their children, were frustrated by noisy neighbors, and all of the rest that goes into living a life. These people also lived their lives for God. There were three series of 14 generations which is like 30 something generations (or something like that, it's still early) and while I read their names in the span of a minute or two their lives spaned thousands of years. Thousands of years worth of stubbed toes is a lot of stubbed toes. Thousands of years worth of devoting their lives to God, stumbling, rededicating their lives, falling again, making good again, is a lot of years worth of what I am going through in my own life. It helps me to know that I am not alone in this. The things that I struggle with have been struggled with for years. The welcoming arms that God opens to me have been opened for years.

Pretty amazing...

Catching up

So, there aren't any months in between July and mid-October, right?

Ok, so lets see, what's been going on?

I feel my biggest crime is that I went to the Açores and somehow didn't right about my time there. Unforgiveable! I had a blast! I went with several of my friends from here in Portugal and was able to meet one of my friend's family who live in San Miguel, which is one of the islands of the Açores. The most beautiful island if rumors are to be believed. We stayed for five days and traveled the island over. It was absolutely amazingly beautiful. There were black beaches, waterfalls every few miles, amazing vistas over green rolling hills, hot springs which we layed about in for hours, and lots of happy cows. The Açores are actually known for their happy cows. I often wondered what made them happy but when I saw the amount of lush green grass that they had available to them and the relative ease with which they lived their life then I kind of understood better. My friends family was wonderful. They welcomed us in and spoke very slowly for me, which helped a lot as their accent made Portuguese even harder to understand. We even went whale watching and saw two or three Sai whales and a pod of bottle nosed dolphins, which I was able to watch play at the front of the boat as I hung off the front by my toes, or so it seemed at times. That was fantastic!

Since returning to the mainland life has resumed in it's normal busy manner. School resumed and I, for the first time ever, am teaching the same grade for two years in a row. I have 16 students this year, which seems like half the number I had last year, even though it is only 6 less. I have 5 students who are in ESL1 or English for the first time and a student with MS, so there is a lot of planning lessons with differentiated aspects to do. My kids are pretty cool this year though. I'd forgotten how far my students from last year had progressed throughout the year and so was a bit surprised at the level of my new students at the beginning of this year, but we've figured things out pretty well in our first six weeks. I'm now the fourth and fifth grade basketball coach for the school, which has been a lot of fun. Trying at times, but overall very rewarding.

Outside of school things are going very well. I continue to dance with the Historic group that I started with last year. We have a performance in the Castele San George in Lisbon. It is great to be working with them again as they are a great group of people and we tend to have a lot of fun in our various adventures. They help me out with my Portuguese a lot to and are generally very patient with me.

In addition to this I have been going to a Lindy hop lesson that has just started in Lisbon. I am really excited about this since I have wanted to learn this style of dance for years. The woman teaching it is really cool and has become a fast friend. Actually I've gone up to Porto a few times to see all of my new friends up there and to work on learning Lindy as they have a group that's been established up there for about a year. The people up there are great and I love the city, if we could move our school I think I'd be game for living in Porto.

I've continued playing football/soccer with the group I played with last year and continue to love doing that. They are a lot of fun and have helped me to learn the kind of Portuguese I should not be learning from my students. :) I occasionally get to play on the offensive side of the field now, which has been fun as I've been a defender pretty much the whole time I've played. Still haven't scored a goal yet, but I had a "brilliant" cross for an assist in our first game of the season and that was pretty exciting.

I am still single, which, as I just told a friend I'm talking with on Facebook, is o.k. because it gives me the freedom to fill my hours with all sorts of things and make snap decisions about where I want to go and what I want to do without checking in like a lot of my friends have to do. Having said that I will admit to having joined a Christian online dating website and have talked to a few people. If nothing else it's fun talking to new people. I continue to want to be a father and have continued to do research into adopting at some time in the future, which I think will be absolutely amazing, when it happens.

So I'm thinking that, if everything works out, I'd like to stay on in Portugal for a while longer. I really like my work and have found several niches that I feel I fit in well with outside of school as well. Add to that the fact that I am now, finally, getting to the point where I can hold brief if not totally correct, conversations in Portuguese and it all adds up to making more sense to stay on here for a while longer. If I can straighten out the details I have nothing to complain about.

I'm looking forward to going to Turkey at Thanksgiving. I've heard a lot of amazing things about it and my friend and I have a lot that we already want to jam into the few days that we are there. I have some friends from college coming over at new years. They will be my first official, "International Visitors" but I'm hoping to get many more. My parents have said they are coming out in the spring and I am superpsyched to be having them, they are going to love it! I specifically rented a place that is too big for me so anyone else who wants to visit and have a free place to stay, this is a not so subtle hint that you're invited! :)

I'll write more soon (as in more soon than two and a half months later)!

Hope you are all well!
God bless,
Justin

p.s.

I bought an old man hat the other night at the fair by my house. It's awesome. That's all. The end.

In the interim...

Bulgaria...

I loved the fields of sunflowers and am working on a creative way of describing the beauty of filds upon filds of the yellow flowers that lay at the feet of mountains.

I learned that these flowers are called girasol. When I proclaimed to one and all that they were missing the beauty around us they politely took note and then went back to their conversations. One friend though took it upon herself to make sure that a field wasn't passed that wasn't brought to my attention and so for the next three hours to our destination and the entire four hours on the way back to the airport a few days later anytime a sunflower was spotted a cry of "girasol" was announced from the depths of the bus.

Our dancing went well, we danced in an old castle along the banks of a river that seperated Bulgaria from Romania to an enthusiastic crowd. We were able to meet new friends from all corners of Europe and I witnessed forms of dancing that I was previously unaware existed.

I was able to lose all of the weight that I'd put on in the states during our five days in Bulgaria. The food was slightly less than wonderful, but the bread and butter were good.

I had a really great time with the group though and was able to get to know my fellow dancers a lot better. My Portuguese improved as that was pretty much all that was spoken. They did take mercy on me and when I had the truelly lost look in my eyes would make sure to catch me up on what was being talked about.

I was able to make a self observation during our trip. A few years ago I took an improv class wherein we talked about different levels of humour and comedy. While on our trip to Bulgaria I realized that at this point in my life, at least here in Portugal, I am at the most basic elementary level of humor. I am constantly using physical, almost slapstick type humor to make people laugh. I'd like to think I'm more sophisticated than this and that it's my limited language that is causing me to act this way but I can't say diffinitively. Just another thought with no point but which will give me something to think about in the future.

I'm back in Portugal now. And I'm really excited to be here. I've been coming into school for the past couple days, slowly getting things together for the next year and trying to brainstorm different ideas that will make me into a better teacher. It's been nice, quiet, and it's o.k. if I get sidetracked with things like facebook and infrequently updating my blog.

My house is clean. Like for real. Like I even did the windows. It smells all nice and clean like too. It's a habit I'd like to get into, this keeping a clean house. I feel a lot better when things are clean and now that it's clean I'm finding that it takes a lot less effort to keep it clean rather than when it got ridiculous and then took days to clean. So, this is my official announcement... Justin Wallace will now be keeping a clean house! For all the naysayers out there, you're probably right, but I'm going to make an effort, which is more than I've said for myself, well... ever.

So I'm sitting outside of a Starbucks in Augusta, Georgia when a guy at the next table pulls out his sitar...

Speaking in broken tongues

Yesterday my sister said something to me that I didn't quite hear and I responded with, "O que?" As in the Portuguese for, "What?"

In the airport in France the other day a man was speaking with me in French, I think I responded in a strange Portuguese/English/Krio mix, just trying to find something that he would understand.

I am at this moment reading an article in Mens Health Portugal about the form of self-defense that James Bond or Jason Bourne uses. I'm understanding parts of it but feel like I'm in first grade again where you kind of word call until you get to something you understand and then see how that word might illuminate the parts of the sentence that were glazed over a moment before. If I was doing a running record for myself I would have so many "repeated phrases" marks that the score card would probably look like a game of shutes and ladders.

Today at the mall an Asian man asked me in hesitant English if I wanted a massage. I replied with, "Nao, obrigado" which translated from Portuguese means, "No, thanks". I'm pretty sure I didn't consciously think that a random Asian man in the Augusta mall would speak Portuguese, but that's what popped out.

Estrango/strange

This is an unexpected complication in my world tour. How many different bits of languages can my brain hold? It would be different if I was fluent in each, but I'm not. And I'm thinking that unless I decide to stay in each place for longer than two years I am probably not going to be reaching the fluency level in any of the places.

(3 days later)

Life is good.

I've been in the states for a bit over a week and am really relishing my time with friends and family. Despite the fact that this will be a shorter time in the states than previous visits I am squishing in together time with different people so as to make up for lost time. It's like a three week long round of speed dating (not that I've tried speed dating... I'm just saying it's what I think speed dating would be like...).

"Hey! How's it going?"

"Great, what have you been up too?"

"Not much, pretty much the same."

"Cool"

"Where are you going next year?"

"Staying in Portugal"

"Cool"

"Cool"

"Cool"

"Ummm, see ya next year."

None the less, broken conversations kind of match my broken language right now so it all works out.

Photo's of the latest

Leslie and João at Montemor-o-velho


Me at Montemor-o-velho

And again at Montemor-o-velho
Dancing with Rita and Leslie at our espectaculo (show).
One of the beautiful side streets in Coimbra

At Fatima, a religious pilgrim destination.

Lady Leslie in her renaissance dress.

The much awaited photo. Me in full renaissance mode.

Portugal vs. Sweden world cup qualifier.


(p.s. There are a lot more photos of the latest on my site http://www.flickr.com/photos/15104001@N00/ Enjoy!)

What's up

Lots of things...

Today I have reached the status of grandma. (Yes that is in fact a sentence I never thought I'd say) This morning one of my students (8 years old) told me to go to youtube to see this music video. Then she says she knows another one that's really good but I shouldn't go to it because it has bad words. I can just remember saying the same thing to my grandmother not so long ago.

I am really enjoying my tango classes. I've been going to and three times a week and feel like I'm starting to catch on. It's a bit frustrating because some of my teachers are speaking a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish which means I don't understand at all. The teachers who speak only Portuguese are a lot easier to get. (Which I think means my Portuguese is getting a lot better)

Monday I went to do another voice reading in Lisbon. I am really enjoying this opportunity and I think that they are happy with my work. However, you know at the end of the movies when they show the bloopers? Looks like a lot of fun right? Well the first few times it is kind of funny. After about the sixth time it is no longer quite as humorous. I had one line that I just flubbed over, and over, and over... but we finally got it right. Anyway, they were talking about another job either right before I leave for holiday or when I get back in August so that's cool.

Third grade is studying space right now. I know that I'm a social studies teacher but we had to move some things around so that we could cover all the things that we are supposed to before the end of the year. So I get to teach space! Which I LOVE!!!

The weather has FINALLY turned for the better! As of last Thursday we are finally having the weather I dreamed of in Portugal. The days are hot, sunny and beautiful. Lots more playing outside, lots more beach time and at least this past weekend lots more sunburns. Doh!

I have a conundrum. I was just told yesterday that the historical dance group that I am a part of is going to Bulgaria (I just realized I've been mistakingly telling people Belgium) for 4 or 5 days in the middle of July for a performance festival and that the city of Sintra is paying all but 200 euros of each person's trip. This would be an incredible experience for me. The uncertainty lies in whether or not to go as I was planning on being home for all of the month of July. Being that I don't get home very often I am hesitant to cut the trip home short. I have looked at the calendar though and decided that if I leave the day after school gets out instead of the week after I would only be cutting of my trip by a week. Then I could possibly have time to travel around Europe a little bit before school starts back and see some friends who I haven't had the chance to see yet. So I don't know and I think I have to decide by this afternoon or tomorrow.

(Insert an hour pause here as I play around on the internet looking at flights)

O.k. so...
I think I'll probably go to the States from June 20th to the 15th of July then fly back to Lisbon. After that I'll go with the group on the 17th to Bulgaria. We'll stay there till the 22nd of July at which point they will fly home and I'll fly to Frankfurt (hopefully without my costume) where I hope to crash with friends for about a week (Julie if you're reading this I hope you're going to be around from the 22nd to the 29th of July). Then I'll fly from Frankfurt to Paris and stay with some friends there from the 29th to the 6th (Sofia if you're reading this I hope you'll be around from the 29th to the 6th). After Paris I'll fly to Amsterdam and spend a week there (Hanneke and Sandra if you're reading this I hope you'll be around from the 6th to the 13th of August) Then I'll fly back to Lisbon and have a few weeks to get my class ready before meetings and kids come back. All for the low low cost of 1,212 Euros. ($1,620)!!!
So that's the plan as of this minute! We'll see how that works out. There may well be some rearranging going on depending on availability but we'll see.

Oh, so this past weekend I went down to the Algarve with some friends. That's the southern most part of Portugal and it was BEAUTIFUL! We had a really good time, stayed in my friends apartment and spent a lot of time at the pool. Then Saturday, Leslie, a friend and fellow teacher, and I came back to Lisbon and went to a big dinner and dancing night with our historical dancing group. It was SO MUCH FUN! We danced swing, waltz, cha cha, foxtrot, tango, merengue, and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting. It was amazing!

That's the news from over here. I hope everyone is well. I look forward to seeing you soon!!!

Randomness... Singing in the shower is one of my favorite pasttimes, it's impossible to dance too often, I still haven't taken the Christmas reigndeer down from the television in my classroom, the song "The Circle of Life" is really funny to sing on Singstar because one person says "Himinya way himinaminyawe (or something like that) for the whole time.

someone loves you

• That's what the note in my wallet says.
  
• It's been there for at least five years.
• On a small green post-it note.
• It came from a friend who now lives far away.
• And while our lives have changed drastically since the note was given.
• I know that our love for each other,
• while our lives may look different,
• remains as strong as the day she wrote it.
• The thing about the note is that,
• while I look at it nearly everyday
• and I think fondly on the friend who gave it to me,
• it doesn't only remind me of the giver.
• Rather, as I glance upon the note each day,
• not really needing to read it anymore
• because I know what it says
• but mearly seeing it's presence in my wallet
• reminds me of all the people who love me,
• of the adventures we've had,
• of the prayers they offer for me,
• of the kisses and hugs, tears and laughs that we've shared.
• And I know in these moments
• that I am beyond fortunate.
• That I am blessed beyond comprehension.
• That whereever I am
• Whatever I'm doing
• No matter how old I am
• or how long it's been since we've talked
• someone loves me
• and most fortunately for me
• lots of someone's love me.

So much I could say right now...

I like this blogging thing. I've just spent the past half an hour reading over previous posts, smiling at pictures from Sierra Leone, reminiscing about where I was when I wrote the different things I've written. Lots of amazing times. Lots of hard times. Lots of experiences that I'm glad I have chronicled.

When I look back on this past weekend I look forward to the smiles it will bring. (Note to future self... "Hey")

So I knew going home on Friday that the weekend was going to be jam packed. I actually wasn't sure that everything was going to happen that needed to happen but I was looking forward to all that was planned. So rather than going out with some friends whose Friday tradition is to go to a local pub I instead went to the new cafe that has opened a stone's throw from my house with a heavily burdened bookbag and began marking papers. I was still there marking when, an hour later, a man came in who was either drunk or not carrying a full deck. He proceded to walk around the cafe with drink in hand and talked to himself. At one point he came over to my table and started picking up some of the pictures my students had drawn and mumbling something in Portuguese. I waved off the horrified cafe worker as, at that point, he wasn't really hurting anything. Eventually he moved off, my stacks of paper none-the-worse for the experience and I went back to grading. As he was finally ready to leave a man in the cafe who was trying to help him to leave realized he didn't have enough money and the GNR (police) were called. At this point I worried a bit just because I was hoping they wouldn't ask me anything. I've picked up a bit (stress a bit here) of Portuguese but certainly wasn't up to explaining the odd behaviour of my fellow cafe patron. Luckily they didn't ask me anything and the evening ended uneventfully.

The next day I woke up early and went to meet my teammates for our trip up to Porto. Our club was going to play a rival club in a football match that has been going on for nearly thirty years (note the game hasn't been going on that long as games don't actually last for thirty years, rather the rivalry has been going on at least that long). Our trip up was great, I was able to get to know some of my teammates a lot better. Then we played our game and won! Which is good because our club hasn't won in a few years from what I understand. We played really well, worked well together, and were really aggresive. It was a lot of fun!

After the match we hung out for a few minutes before going to a World Cup qualifier match between Portugal and Sweden. On the way I managed to pick up a 76 euro ticket for not swiping my metro card at the appropriate place. I've since talked to a lawyer friend of mine here who seems to think I should be able to get out of it (let's all collectively cross our fingers right... NOW!). When I finally did get to the game it was amazing. The stadium was incredible and the players were amazing. We were crazy close to the game and I saw Christiano Ronaldo do ridiculous things with a football. Unfortunately we came away with a draw which is REALLY bad for Portugal. Craziest part of the game though was the teenage girls behind us who swore like sailors at the top of their voices throughout the game. I felt fortunate at my lack of Portuguese understanding but still understood enough to know that it was not good at all.

After the game we went for dinner and then drove back from Porto at three on Sunday morning. It was an uneventful trip despite the fact that our driver was bent on breaking land speed records. It was actually the fastest I've ever been in a car, maxing out somewhere around 200 kph (125 mph).

Sunday was really cool too. I slept from six in the morning to twelve and then woke up to go to a dance performance. It was my first time dancing with the Historical Group that I've found myself a part of. I still laugh everytime I see myself in my costume in a mirror. In the below picture I'm the guy in blue in the center of the picture. Anyway, I managed to withhold the laughter for the most part, enjoyed dancing in an amazing garden setting with turrets surrounding us, and am now able to say that I've been part of a tourist attraction.

I ran out after the performance ended to catch a train, to catch a subway, to run a kilometer, to get to my Tango class. Unfortunately the class was ending as I got there so I wasn't able to get in on that and didn't really feel like going through the rigamarole (spelling?) of asking people to dance so I instead walked about Lisbon and talked to family back in the States, which was just as nice.

And so another weekend has passed. Five more school days till spring break. Good times.

Justin

Random thoughts: I haven't done random thoughts for a while, I should be doing report cards, I wonder if luck is real or not, I have had a blessed life.

Lately...

Lately

Things have been going well.

School continues to be a place that I look forward to coming to. The kids come in each morning and without my needing to say anything other than a "Good morning" along with their handshake they know what to do and how they are expected to come in each morning. They are constantly doing or saying things that make me laugh and we seem to appreciate each other. I had parent conferences the other day and everyone seemed pleased with how the year is progressing.

I am dancing several times a week. Around four or five if I keep going with the new classes I've started. Tango on Sunday. Historical on Monday and the occasional Wednesday. Contemporary on Tuesday and Thursday. Clubbing on Friday or Saturday if anyone is going. It's a good life.

I get to play football (soccer) two to three times a week, which has been wonderful. Two weekends from now we are traveling to Porto, in northern Portugal, for a tournament. Then we are going to go and see a World cup qualifying match between Portugal and Sweden. It should be a really great weekend as I get to know the guys from my club better.

As I sit here trying to think about what else is going on I'm kind of hard pressed to think of anything. As I tend to do I have kind of filled up my days. Which is good. And I am continuing my lifelong pursuit of balance. Sunday morning I woke up early, went to a nearby cafe, ate my breakfast while listening to a sermon on cd and grading papers. It was a very nice morning followed by a football game and then some good beach time.

Speaking of beach time!... I have just recently found out that it is possible to rent a smart car for a euro a day! In case you don't know what these look like I've added a picture below.

Can't you just see me bebopping around town in one of these! Anyway, my new plan is to go rent one and drive it up and down the coast for a day. This way I can get to see more of Portugal without relying on when my friends decide they A)want to go somewhere and B)want me to go with them. Plus it will be a TOTAL BABE MAGNET!!! Ok maybe not so much be there's no harm in trying? I guess we'll see.

So that's my life at the moment. Hope you're well

Singing Tree

Singing Tree

I never knew a palm could coo
a morning's greetings to me and you
But as I walk to school each day
a tree I pass greets me this way

I've gazed among it's branches green
the source of the coos I've never seen
And so with confidence I say now
that it must be the tree, though I know not how

What do I do with a tree that sings
What do I make of it's joyous feelings
As it calls to the sun and it shouts to the sky
The low setting moon gets a soft lullaby

To stop, to sit, to listen a spell
to all that my singing tree's trying to tell
In this way perchance I might happen to see
the things that before have escaped from me

If a tree can sing what else have I missed
rocks that have shouted or waves that have kissed
As here I am, there I am, all over bound
I wonder what treasures keep the earth turning round

My chance is upon me I hardly dare wait
while the years stretch before me it isn't too late
Now I must learn there's no reason to rush
I'd do better to slow down, I'd do better to hush

I walk now with a smile, my spirit set free
all due to the cooing of a tall green palm tree

Justin Wallace
2-22-09

Living the dream

Hokay so...

A few weeks ago I wrote 25 things about me. I really enjoyed the exercise as it gave me a lot of time to reflect and try to decide what 25 things I wanted to share. I could have put out an entirely different list of 25 things about me or I could have put out a list of 25 things I hope you don't know about me, but I feel good about what I shared.

Anyway...

The point of my bringing this up again is that a week after my list went out a friend of mine here at school, who hadn't read the list, forwarded me an e-mail. The e-mail was from a Portuguese company who needed a reader with an American accent to come down and read some things for a book they were contracted to record. I ignored my students for the minute it took me to immedietly respond to her e-mail saying that I would LOVE to do this and it is something I have always wanted to do. A few days later I was contacted by the company and details were worked out on our meeting and what would be asked of me. I was informed that I was to go to Lisbon where I would be picked up and then taken to the sound studio. There I would read a script for a book for Portuguese students learning English. For my efforts they would compensate me 150 Euro!

So, I made it to Lisbon, met the people at the studio, all of whom were really really great people, read a two page script about MTV, listened to myself, then re-read a few hiccuped spots (luckily I didn't actually get the hiccups, that would have been tragic!) and thirty minutes later I was done. Everyone seemed really pleased with my reading, which is comforting as it's something I've had lots of practice doing. The sound editor lady talked about how hard it is to find a reader with an American accent here in Portugal and expressed that she would like to work with me again in the future! As I was being taken back to the train station the guy who drove me said that he was impressed that the sound lady had taken to me so well as she is normally a hard person to please and reitterated that he hoped to get in contact with me in March or April to come back and do some more reading!

As I got back on the train to head off to my dance class I had a hard time fitting through the train door with my ginourmous smile!

The longest week...ever!!!

So this week the other third grade teacher has been absent. He hasn't been feeling well. Along with most of the pre-schoolers and a large number of other teachers. Since we don't really have a large substitute teacher pool to pull from I told the principal on Tuesday that I could take both classes for the day. The kids were great on Tuesday so dispite the 42 children I had sitting on the floor of my classroom the day would have to be considered a success. Wednesday morning dawned and I arrived at school to find out that my fellow third grade teacher still wasn't around. The principal had found a parent substitute for the day but as the morning bell was ringing asked if I could put together work for the class to do. Rather than running around trying to do this I just said that I'd take both classes again.
Unfortunately the novelty had worn off and while I am blessed with two classes full of relatively well behaved children, they are still two classes. I found myself being slightly less patient and slightly more harried by little concerns. I was thoroughly frustrated with some things that are outside of my control and it took a late night call last night to one of my teacher friends before I could put my mind to ease that I'm doing the best that I can do.
This morning I came in to find out that my fellow teacher is still ill and that I still had fourty some odd children. Again, they are generally well behaved but the juggling of the two classes who have different schedules and are at different points in what they are studying caused me to be a bit less patient than I normally strive for.
I have just heard that tomorrow will be a return to normal as my fellow teacher intends to come back.
Sweeter words could not have been uttered.