o meu brasil: september 2001-april 2003.
here's the brasilian national anthem--scroll down to the bottom and play the "lyric" button to listen to while reading this entry. it makes me get teary-eyed.
this month is the 5-year mark since i've been home from brasil, where i served an lds mission. i can't believe it's been 5 years already! i served in the sao paulo interlagos mission--the city was divided into 4 regions: north, south, east, and interlagos (the western corner). i served in 4 areas (itapeva, varginha, cotia, and ibiuna), had 6 companions (missionaries always travel in twos, called a companionship), had three nametags, learned some of the greatest lessons of my life in a short 18 months, and fell in love with the portuguese language and brasilian culture. i had one american companion for a short 6 weeks; all the rest were brasilian, which is what i wanted--if i was with a brasilian companion i would be fully immersed in the language, culture, and idiosyncrasies and learn faster. i was actually very surprised to have been called to serve in brasil. to serve a mission, you fill out a few papers, mail them in to church headquarters, and 3-4 weeks later a big white envelope is mailed back, telling you where you're going to go. one form you fill out describes your education, languages, places lived, etc. by that point in my life, i had lived in italy, learned italian, and taught it as a night course for the community college of baltimore county. i was pretty set on returning to italy for a mission. but i had other things to learn, and wouldn't have learned them in any other arena--brasil was perfect for me!
a missionary is supposed to wear his/her nametag at all times. the first one i received with my mission packet was for "elder markanich", because my first name is michal. i phoned the church mission office and they told me to get a new nametag at the training center in brasil. so my second nametag correctly said "sister markanich". my third nametag was in tribute to my nickname i gained down there, "sister loira" (pronounced loy-rah). in portuguese loira means blond/fair. my hair is very blond, and only gets blonder in the sun. by the end of my mission my hair was practically white. i had an elder buddy who was serving in the office when i ended my mission, and he agreed to make me a new sister loira nametag for my farewell interview with the mission president, and to wear home.
i left two weeks after 9/11 (i was very worried i would be postponed or sent somewhere else to serve my mission), and spent 2 months in the "centro de treinamento missionario"--the training center for missionaries in sao paulo. it was a very long two months of intense language learning and how-to-be-a-missionary learning.
i was "stationed" in itapeva for an unusual 9 months. itapeva is in the "interior"--into the western countryside and out of the city. i guess you typically stay in an area 4-5 months before being "transferred," or moved to another area, with another companion. transfers happened every 6 weeks, and if you were being transferred you and your companion went to the city center, met up with your new companion, and moved to your new area. some moves were definitely more emotional than others. so in itapeva, i was with my brasilian trainer, sister martins (pronounced mar-cheens) for 5 months. she went home and sister stubbs (american) and i were companions for 6 weeks. at that point i was going to be transferred somewhere else, they just didn't know where. so i got to the city, and they ended up sending me back to itapeva to train sister alves. after about 3 1/2 months i was finally, officially transferred from itapeva to varginha--right in the heart of the city.
i loved varginha from the start. it was near the city center and was busy, bustling, lights and music at night, street vendors with grilled corn, coconut drinks, and "sanduiches", smiles everywhere. by far, varginha was my favorite area and i had a great companion--sister leite (pronounced lay-chee). by this point my portuguese was good enough people thought i was a brasilian from the south (germans settled in the south, so it wasn't unusual to find blond haired, fair-skinned brasilians down there). i had a good time telling them i was from "virginia", which was located just up north. sister leite and i were there for 5 months, and then we were both transferred and the area was closed to sister missionaries due to safety concerns.
sister santos and i "re-opened" granja viana, located near cotia, for sister missionaries. sisters hadn't been there for a while. everyone in brasil loves missionaries, but they especially love sister missionaries, so we got a very nice welcome. it was just 2 weeks before christmas, and the ward was very welcoming. this area actually had a ward, not just a branch, and they were so excited to have two sets of missionaries--elders and sisters. i had more of a culture shock going to this area than entering brasil for the first time. varginha was a very poor area where mostly everyone left at 4am to catch a bus for their jobs as maids. granja viana was the area where people employed the maids. huge, gated communities with huge american houses. there was a walmart-like shopping center right down the road from our apartment, which was a huge shock, after having grocery shopped in small corner stores for the last 12-15 months. there was a poorer section to our area, too, and i felt more comfortable there.
i thought i was going to end my mission in granja viana, but there was a surprise transfer for me--with only 5 weeks left, i was sent to ibiuna to be with sister carvalho (pronounced car-vall-yoh). it was kind of an odd situation--i was kind of an odd sister out. we were together for 2 weeks, and then sister tua'one was coming to join us, whom sister carvalho was going to train. a senior couple, elder and sister nelson, were also joining us, and i was supposed to work with them to teach them portuguese, and "train" them. so while they learned rudimentary portuguese the first 3 weeks of their mission, i re-learned english the last 3 weeks of mine. ibiuna was back out in the country, and it was nice to see the rolling hills again and fresh air.
so what have i been doing since i've been home? i worked at a family practice back in virginia when i got home (they "saved" my position for me) until i moved out to utah to be with david so we could date in person; david and i got married june 19, 2004; i worked at a rheumatology office for 3 years in orem; i have worked at a pediatric office for the last 3 years (i worked at both offices for about a year 1/2); i will graduate with my bs in community health in december 2008 (finally--my ten-year bachelor!). that's about it. my portuguese is a little rusty. i still read my book of mormon in portuguese, but that's all. i miss rice and beans (i can't seem to make it quite like it was in brasil); pao de queijo; peruas stuffed beyond a legal limit; sun; putting -inho on the end of words (it's a suffix tacked on when you want express something is very cute, or very small, or the poor little thing, etc.)--bonitinho, baixinho, tadinho, etc.; hanging my clothes in the sun to dry; speaking, thinking, breathing portuguese.
thanks for being a little nostalgic with me!
