i used to think i could define normal

I'm pretty sure that for my entire life I've used the word normal quite liberally. I could have described most things in my life as normal even though at no point would I have described myself as normal!

As it turns out, life in Brazil provides a whole different scope of normal. What I love, though, is when I find those little things here that I just can not wrap my mind around, I am immediately faced with a Brazilian who says "what? that's normal!"! (Except they actually say "o que? é normal!")

Here are some things for you to reconsider the normality (yes, its a word now) of:

• drinking out of a 20oz cup at meals
• hot water in every faucet
• peanut butter
• simply smiling as a form of greeting
• cleaning your own bathroom
• eating rice and or beans pretty much only at Los Portales
• driving wherever you need/want to go
• drinking juice at breakfast

Now, what do these things look like in Brazil? So glad you asked!

• drinking out of a dixie sized cup (all the time)
• hot water capability only in the shower (no, not even in the kitchen)
• oh if only Brazil had the wonder of peanut butter
• kissing men, women, children, and dogs on the cheek every time you see them (1st time? no matter, kiss 'em anyway!)
• everyone has a maid. everyone. i don't even know where the broom is in this house!
• rice and beans everyday. everyday. with chicken or beef or lasagna, whatev.
• let me tell you, manning the ônibus system in português is an adjustment.
• drinking juice (real, fresh fruit juice) with every meal-even at restaurants.

BUT, how good is God that I've found most of these things (at most times) fascinating! Brazilians live totally different that I'm used to and yet we're the same. God created them with the same creativity and love that He used in creating me. They have the same internal struggles and desires that I do. They're living life with a different perspective; yet they need God and they won't be complete until they realize that, either! Life is different here, but it's still life, and it's good.