Black November

*Sorry for the delay. Our newsletter platform (beehiiv) restricted our account accidentally...sort of. It was part of their security measures to prevent spam accounts during the holidays. Since ours is new, we were considered to be Christmas spam. We’ve straightened things out and were back in business again!

Can you believe it’s been a month already? Time flies when you’re in Brazil. Literally, it feels like the minutes move by faster down here.

Announcements

I (Caleb) have a YouTube channel! I’m doing stop-motion videos with Legos. To find it search @CALego.

Just a reminder, we have a family Youtube channel, called JoinValley (like this newsletter). We post fun and interesting things we experience, mostly shorts.

Top 3 Moments

Fred:

1. Going to the top of O Mirante with Rachel.

2. Praying with five young men to receive Jesus on a street corner.

3. The view from Mrs. Zena’s house (she cleans our house).

Rachel:

1. Running around the Batalhão (local Army Battalion). One lap is a full mile.

2. Getting our totes from America and making the house feel like home.

3. Eating at the Brazilian steakhouse.

Caleb:

1. Going to a hamburger buffet where you can order as many mini-hamburgers as you want after you pay at the very beginning. They call it a “Rodizio”.

2. Going to the beach for an entire day with a couple from the church.

3. Finding out Trump won.

Naomi:

1. Going to the beach for an entire day with a couple from the church.

2. Going to the zoo at O Mirante.

3. Running around the Batalhão with my mom.

Joanna:

1. Going to the pool.

2. Going to the beach.

3. Going to the zoo.

Culture

• It is NOT a part of their customs and culture to give servers or service providers (hair stylers, house cleaners, nail technicians) a tip.

• Instead of Black Friday they do Black November! But they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving (obviously).

• Whenever you greet someone, it is rude if you jump right into conversation. You always have to say hello and ask them how they are doing before talking to them about other things. Also, don’t be in a rush to talk to them about other things, be

  prepared to have small talk for a few minutes.

Vocabulary & Phrases

Hi: Oi

How are you?: Tudo bem?

I’m Good: Tudo Bem.

*Yes, How are you and I’m fine is the same phrase. It’s literally:

Person A: “All good?”

Person B: “All good.”

Interesting Facts

• They do not have daylight savings!👏 But this means we are now 2 hours ahead of EST.

• Joinville once had more than 50 consecutive days of rain. They beat Noah!

Opinion

Caleb: It is very action-packed down here. It seems like every day we’re going new places, meeting new people, and trying new foods. There are a lot of things to do in Joinville. I’ve been able to play basketball, go swimming at our pool (remember summer is starting here, HA!), and even started playing the drums during worship at church.

I think that Naomi is really enjoying Brazil, she loves the beach, she loves taking care of the twins in church and loves to run around the Batalhão.

I think/know that Jojo is enjoying Brazi, because if she’s got a pool, she’s good to go.

I believe my dad is enjoying Brazil, he enjoys speaking and learning Portuguese and using it to tell people about God. He also says he really likes the Brazilian STOP signs - meaning, nobody stops. Everyone taps the breaks and keeps on rolling through them. That’s his kinda driving.

I believe my mom is enjoying Brazil, she loves talking to the girls at church. (she’s learning a lot of Portuguese) She is also starting to get the hang of shopping😉

Until Santa Claus is coming to town, Tchau!