Studying Portuguese

Foreigners on staff here are given the option to study Portuguese half-time for the first 3 months. At first, I thought I didn't really need this as I already speak decently and can get better just by speaking more, but after giving it more thought, I realized that I have never learned how to read and write in Portuguese, and that is a valuable skill to have that may help me greatly in the long-term here.

I went a public university to take a placement test, and when the professor reviewed it afterward, he said I was right in between the Intermediate II and Advanced classes, but he suggested that I challenge myself by giving the Advanced course a try. I think did so well on the test because my Spanish background helped a lot in the grammar portions even though I have never learned proper grammar in Portuguese.

So I have been in this class for a few weeks now, and think I am surviving, though I feel everyone in the class is better than me! Everyone is either married to a Brazilian and/or speaks Italian, Spanish, or French as their first language, making Portuguese easier. They all speak so well! At first I felt a bit overwhelmed, but I feel the challenge has been good for me and I am really catching up. I am learning how to properly use the subjunctive tenses and everything from my spelling to my pronunciation is improving!

The class has also been good for me in terms of getting outside of the YWAM bubble and outside of the slum, putting me back into an environment much like that I was in during my classes in college, primarily with people hostile toward religion and especially Christianity.

Many YWAMers here are in these Portuguese courses...but I am the only one in the advanced course, so I am on my own in that sense!

Two class discussions have been very interesting for me: one on simpatias or superstitions and the other on social problems and what the government can do to improve things.

The class on simpatias was quite interesting, because we learned about many of the superstitions that people here in Brazil have, many within the Catholic church or spiritist traditions, or a syncretism of the two. There are many things that follow the following formula: if you want x, you do y and z for this saint. For example, Sao Antonio is the saint of romance. In June each year there is a celebration called the Festa Juninha (June/winter Festival), and it is supposed to be a good time to find that special someone. During this time, single women take their statue of Sao Antonio and place it upside down as a "punishment" for the fact that he hasn't provided them with a man yet, then go out to dance, and I guess only turn it back right side up if Sao Antonio comes through in providing a man.

As we discussed this and other various simpatias mostly connected to some kind religion, I couldn't help but think I am SO thankful that it is not like this with the God that I worship - it is different because I have a personal relationship with Him based on who He is. It isn't something that I just use Him to get what I want and just follow a formula to do whatever I need to do to get that. It is totally different! He blesses me not on the basis of what I do, but because of His love for me, and I love Him because of who He is. I don't have a statue of Him that I turn upside down to punish Him if I don't get what I want! Sometimes I struggle to understand if things don't go as I would like or the way that seems best in my eyes, but that does not stop me from loving Him or relating to Him, because He matters more to me than what is happening in my life. What a difference than the simpatias used to get things out of the saints!

The other class of particular interest to me was during our unit on politics. We got into a discussion regarding the main problems facing Brazil and what the government can do about it. Some of the biggest problems identified were poverty and social inequality. We discussed what the government can do to address these problems, and the best thing the class could come up with was improving the education system, yet that has its challenges and shortcomings. Basically, the conversation made me realize that I am here doing what the government can't do to bring about change in these areas. This was an amazing realization for me, because in the past when I have discussed these things it has always been a theoretical discussion, but now it is real, rooted in my experiences, and their are faces and stories I can relate to these large, abstract social issues. We also discussed problems like corruption in politics and the police force. And it reminded me why the kind of character transformation brought about by a genuine relationship with God is so key to broader social transformation. It is the only way to truly uproot social injustice and corruption. People will always find ways to get personal gain and take opportunity of any situation at the expense of others unless moral reasons and personal convictions as to why not to, and without God, people have no reason to hold those kind of convictions.