Fish in a Reflection Pool or The Return to Brasília

Esplanada in Brasília would be the National Mall of Washington D.C. It is a huge area with a very open, flat space in the middle of all the monuments. In the dry season the grass dies and dust easily floats across the field. It also serves as the center for any large exhibition from concerts to the World Championship of beach volleyball. Because of the large number of people that will be there, trash in the corners is not a stranger. While walking around some of the reflecting pools that sit near the National Museum, I wasn't surprised to see trash on the bottom. What did surprise me was the 5-6 carp that were living and apparently growing because of their large size.
Even with all the improbability, hope is like carp. It's tough and you find it in unusual places.

How do you describe the feelings of returning to a place that has so defined who you are that it is hard to remember who you were before? How do you describe returning to the place where you had so many trials, so many victories, suffered so much and have never been so blessed? It’s a very complicated feeling.

When we began to descend on the airplane, I began to get a little emotional (I am my mother’s son) and it felt that I was 19 and fresh out of the MTC. As we waited for the bags to come in, I kept looking at the doors and remembering seeing President Pizzirani for the first time. But I can’t describe how wonderful it was to be in the Rodoviara (bus station) and look down the field and see the congress building. It felt like I had come home.

It’s the dry season right now and so the tan, brown fields of Brasília are a stark contrast to the green trees of the rainforest. It reminds me of when I was in Gama and watching every morning to see if a could would appear and for almost two months I didn’t see a cloud in the sky.

Walking the roads and riding the buses again feels like I haven’t been gone a day. I can still find my way around and all the names of the landmarks I used to get around are returning. While I was playing tourist on the Esplanada I actually was asked (and was able to give) directions to people who looked pretty lost.

Alfredo and his family have taken better care of me than any hotel staff ever could. I am so happy to be back with a family that helped me so much and to be able to talk and laugh with them. They still call me ‘Elder’ or ‘Barton’ and that’s okay. I didn't think I would ever miss the title of Elder, until we took the missionaries’ lunch over to them last night. They still live in the same house where I lived at the end of my mission and did trades at the beginning. When I started to ask about Elders I had known they didn't recognize any except for Elder House and Elder Robinson. I'm not even old, I'm ancient, buried mission history. 

Returning to the areas where I served has been one of the most interesting situations I have ever been in. Traveling alone gives me the chance to think and observe without having to explain or share. Walking down the streets I remember specific houses and the people that I met or passing under a bus stop and remembering being stuck there after my umbrella broke or seeing a sand tornado and remembering trying to clean red dirt out of my shirt afterward. It was like living a hundred stories at once. I would look from story to another and it was one of the coolest things I have ever lived.

All has not been fun and games. On Monday I visited one of the areas where I felt that I had the most success. I will be honest, I was pretty devastated. I was able to visit one of the members that had really helped us out and they shared how all of the people I had taught had stopped coming and then disappeared. Others stopped coming the moment the Elders after me started giving them a little more space as they finished the new member lessons.
I know that my mission wasn't based on the number of people, but hearing that news really hurt. It felt just the same was when members of my own family have fallen away. As I was leaving the members thanked me for my service and example. As I rode the bus home I kept thinking "What service? What was the point the if the church didn't grow?".
For the next few days I didn't leave the house as I worked on the 15 page essay for the Kennedy Center to report on my internship and finish a few more assignments. But part of it was also my fear to visit more areas and find the same scene.

Today I went to visit Gama. Gama is the city that I stayed the longest, 5 transfers between two areas that are separated by about 10 blocks. Gama was the hardest city where I served, in all aspects. Health wise I went from 220 lbs to around 170 lbs and I also went senior in Gama. I also had the chance to serve with Elders Fillmore, Craig and Terra, so it was also one of my best areas for companions. We worked so hard, even with all the problems.
While in Gama Leste with Elder Terra, we were going through a rough transfer. Christmas was coming and we were hoping for a Christmas miracle. While brainstorming ideas during weekly planning, Elder Terra turned to me "Elder Barton, we could sing Christmas carols at people's door and ask to come back later". I don't sing. Elder Terra didn't sing. But we were out of options. So we started singing.
While singing in front of one house we received 3-4 addresses. Only 1 really expressed real interest, Conceição. Over the next few weeks it never worked out for us to teach her and her family. Elder Terra was transferred and Elder Craig and I continued on.
Things didn't improve. One day after an appointment fell through, we passed by Conceição's house and I told Elder Craig, "Let's try here one more time". This time it worked out and three weeks later:

The next day I was transferred to São Sebastiao. Elder Craig continued and baptized everyone else in the photo.

When I went to lunch today I wasn't feeling well on the bus. I was trying to think of what I ate and there wasn't anything that was grabbing my attention. After a few more minutes I realized that it was nervousness. I had only heard from others about how Conceição and her family were doing. As we sat down to eat lunch after some very excited hellos, I asked "How are you doing?", dreading the answer "Great, but we don't really go to church anymore". Conceição looked at me and smiled, "Everyone here is firm and we're at church every Sunday and reading the Book of Mormon".
That's joy.
While things aren't perfect or easy, things are going well. Conceição, Roberta (to the left in the photo) and Rinata (to the right) are working on the men of the family and preparing to go to the temple by the beginning of next year. It was a great visit.

Study Abroad-Epilogue

The end of study abroad came so much sooner than I thought it would. How do you write about this last month and a half when so much has happened. But we'll try.
The last month and a half I have:
-traveled to 7 Brazilian states (8 if will count São Paulo next week)
-gone to mass in a church that is older than the United States
-drank more Guaraná than is humanly possible
-been awed by the expanse of the Amazon river rainforest
-held a sloth and a caiman
-been part of a winning Water Polo Football team-the Ravenclaw Raiders
-watched Ronaldinho make a goal
-painted two houses
-walked 7 miles in flip-flops
-met the most amazing people.
The best part of this trip has been the people. Joe, my roommate and the study abroad group have been great and we have had some great times together. Saying goodbye wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. It was similar to the feeling my mission group had together in the airport when we all went our separate ways, you know you'll all meet up again, but you were together for so long.
There was the Jones family that took such good care of us, I hope they have a wonderful time in the United States with their family. They made my time in Recife, especially the time that I wasn't feeling very well, much more like being at home.
Vanessa did an amazing job of coordinating, teaching and taking great care of us. I know I'm not the only one who would be pretty sick if not for her advice and motherly care. Never has so much done by one person.
The sertanejos, the favelados, CCJ, the many people who went out of their way to help us, they all are part of the fabric made up of the amazing people who were a part of this trip. As complicated and different as Brazil is, there is always the warmth and goodness of the its people.
Anne Frank said "It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery, and death."

I believe that this might be one more way to describe the people of Brazil. 
So even though this is the end of study abroad, I can't help but feel that it is only the beginning.  

To touch a caiman

Every muscle in your body freezes up. Your vision starts to focus only on the eyes. Your mind gives its two cents "Those eyes are just like the velociraptors from Jurassic Park". Vanessa's words come into your head "Good idea, bad idea?" and you think, "No, it's a Josh idea". Then there is that split second decision and you go for it. Your hand touches the back of the four foot long caiman. There is an eternal pause before the caiman starts to move and you can't tell whether it will turn to bite your hand or dive and run.
This is the five seconds of what happens during my newest hobby here. Caiman hunting. You attract the caiman using bread or meat and when it gets close you touch it. Or try to catch the small one. It's a really quick way to get your heart racing. DON'T WORRY MOM, NOTHING HAPPENED!
It was one way to interact with nature.

We also had the chance to see two two of the most defining characteristics of the rain forest, the Amazon river and the trees. We went to the point where two rivers-the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes met and officially begin the Amazon river. Because of the differences in the temperature, speed and density of the two rivers for several miles they run side by side.

Afterwards we went up a small bayou/lagoon that feed off the two rivers to eat at a floating restaurant. There were lots of monkeys which I will not talk about, because of my strong feelings against them. If you need a reason, go watch Rise of Planet of the Apes. Just wait!
But afterwards we also went to see a family that has a pet anaconda and sloth. I stayed well away from the anaconda, but the sloth was such an amazing mix of wookie and muppet. It was actually pretty strong and for a few seconds it hooked one arm around my neck and caught my wristband with the other. I thought he was trying to cut my throat with how strong and sharp his claws were, but he didn't, so I'm writing this blog.

I bet the monkeys put him up to it...

Later that day we went on a hike/sauna through the forest for about an hour and a half. It was one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen. There was little sunlight as the trees grew taller and taller. It felt like every pore on my body was sweating and you had to pay attention to the group or you could still be in there.

We didn't see any large wildlife, but it was still amazing to see the bugs and see how dense the forest is. One thing our guide showed us were some ants that can be used as natural bug repellent and scent dampener to hunt. You put your hand on the tree that they live in and let them swarm your arm. You then crush them onto your skin and they leave a smell that hides your scent.I tried it and the feeling of them crawling all over my arm was pretty weird. But it did leave a nice smell. I think that when I have the capital I'll start: Antz Brazil-natural cologne for natural men. I think it will be a big hit.

Up a river with a pink dolphin

The Rio Negro is a very dark river because of all the peat built up by the tons of foliage left in the river from the rain forest. It’s so dark that when you look at your hands they look orange and you can barely even see your toes. Imagine how surprising and exciting it is when a river dolphin comes out of the darkness to see what you are doing in its world.

 The river dolphins are quite different from the ocean dolphins you see at Sea World. The Amazon river dolphin has evolved sharper and longer teeth with a narrower beak to be able to better feed in the dark river. They also have poor eyesight and it looks like they don’t have eyes. Unlike the bottlenose dolphins in Sea World, they also are genuinely interested in seeing what you are doing. We had a time where we able to touch the dolphins while they were fed and then we had a little time to swim around and most of the dolphins stayed close. I touched 4 or 5 just floating around. You almost never saw them, but they would touch your feet and hands. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

                The dolphins feel different from the dolphins from the ocean. Instead of a hard rubber, the river dolphins feel like soft gel. The males are a little darker, but some of the females, especially the pregnant one (her name is Sophie), are a pink-white color. There can be nothing so amazing as seeing them float up to you out of the darkness and for them wanting to know more about you.

                We ended the day with going to a set of movie that was about a rubber plantation. The owner lied and cheated and even killed people to use poor European immigrants as his slave workers. It was a tragic but very interesting story. It reminded me of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. We saw how they collected rubber by cutting diagonal lines and slicing a cup into the side of the tree to collect the rubber sap. They would then smoke the rubber and put it onto other rubber to make a 30-50 Kg ball. The amazing thing is that is actually bounces when you drop it!

 

Random story-the rubber trees of Malaysia and Southeast Asia were stolen from Brazil and smuggled by the English. As the number of rubber trees quickly grew in Asia, the Brazilian market was collapsed by the cheaper Asian rubber. The Brazilian rubber industry creped along until 1941 when Japan invaded Southeast Asia to gain access to the natural resources found there, among them rubber. With the United States and the Allies needing rubber to fuel the war machine, they bought Brazilian rubber to win World War II. Cool huh?

Into the Amazons!

There are days that you won’t forget because of the people, place or event. Those are great and I am a firm believer that every day, week, month and year should have at least one of them involved. I may not be able to able to go to Goblin Valley every weekend, but having game night with my friends can be just as rewarding. Then there are the times that are so completely amazing words just can’t describe the experience.

                The Amazon rain forest has always intrigued me. Home to my favorite animal, the jaguar, it has been a place of adventure in my mind since I pulled out Amazon Trail 3^rd Edition out of a cereal box. Imagine the Oregon Trail, but fishing and trying to collect pictures of all the animals along your journey. It’s time to tell the truth about what you’ve heard…It’s all true! It’s amazing and I don’t even know where to begin.

First, the temple really does sit right on the river. You can see it from our hotel/camp on the other side. 

We passed by it on the way to the pier and it is very stunning.  We crossed the Rio Negro and it took about 20 minutes to get across to our hotel on the other side. About the river, it looks more like a lake than a river. It is incredibly wide. Technically it’s not the Amazon river because the Amazon river forms when the Rio Negro (the river we see right now) and the Rio Solimoes meet together further downstream.

                Our hotel looks like something out of a film. The cabins are built over a small pond with a balcony overlooking the water. Here is a picture of some of our friends that live here in the pond. 

It is pretty hot and steamy so I am always looking for chances to drink water or be in water. After a rousing water polo/football game in the pool, we headed out for our first activity.

                Piranha fishing. No worm here, straight beef cuts . after all that you hear about piranhas you would think it would be pretty easy to catch them with meat. That depends on which boat you went on. Our group was large enough to have three boats. If you were with Fitzgibbon/Ortolano crew, it was pretty easy. If you were on our boat…we only caught 4. But I still had a wonderful time. There are many fish that enjoy beef here, so the trick to catch a piranha is luck (whole principal of fishing, it’s like a lottery).I didn’t catch any but it was amazing to see all the birds and to float into the trees.

                I also watched the other fish carefully eat the meat off my hook without biting. After many attempts of trying to disguise the hook, I decided the fish were just too smart for that. I told the group in my boat “This will make a great Sunday school talk about the temptations and how we think we can eat just what we want without the dangers, but we will get hooked!” An hour and a half later, I was still watching those feet selectively eat off my hook. Moral of the story, you really can do whatever you want and not pay the negative price. 

                After that we went looking for caimans with a light. Our boat didn’t get one, but one of the other boats did and we got to hold it (her to be exact)! It was really still until it got to me and I was surprised at how strong it was for being so small. I was able to hold on, but she peed on me. That made it even funnier and I couldn’t stop laughing that I was holding a caiman. Imagine a leather bag that could take a “bite” out of theft.  

Afterwards we headed back to our hotel in the dark and it was beautiful to see the water fly by. There is a full moon (or at least almost full) and the water looked like glass, broken by our ripples behind us. Pretty amazing. And that was only day 1. Stay tuned!

100% original photo-no alterations whatsoever