Itapagipe friends

(Written about Sunday, May 24, 2009; 19th day in Brazil)

I woke up this morning with diarrhea again. I know my readers love knowing about my minute-to-minute intestinal health (NOT!), but as it impacts my life here in so many ways, I think it deserves mention!

Marilene and (surprise) Simone showed up at 8:00 am to take me to church on the bus. I was a little surprised, because I thought she had a car. Anyway, we had to wait and wait, and finally we just caught another bus to Lapa and then paid again for a bus to Ribeira. It seems that even those who have lived here all their lives have trouble making sense of the bus system. Since no bus schedule or maps are published, you just have to wait until a bus passes which has your destination painted on the front. Problem is, by the time you see it, it’s too late to flag down that bus, and you have to wait for another!

We arrived at Igreja Presbiteriano de Itapagipe (IPI) just in time for Sunday school at 9:00 am. Just like at FPC, they started with everyone in the sanctuary, sang a song, said a prayer, then broke into separate classes. Pastor Luiz, married to Aguinelza, took the adult class. Junior Amorim took the teens, and (surprise!) I was asked to work with the 5-9 year olds. This was because their teacher didn’t have much voice. They forgot I don’t know how to play guitar, and didn’t know that I have no songs in my head, especially Sunday-school appropriate songs. So, they brought in a drum, and I sang Amazing Grace accompanied by my drum, then “Jesus Loves Me This I Know” accompanied by the drum. By the end of that one, they were bored and/or embarrassed for me, so they started asking if they could play the drum. Marilene came to the rescue and started a project where the kids will draw pictures of stories from Genesis.

She is a great teacher! She asked them to think about what it might have been like before God created the heavens and the earth, day and night. Their first picture is to be a picture of day and night, but they didn’t get to it today.

There are several kids participating in Sunday school and church who are local homeless kids whose families are all sharing a warehouse shelter at the moment. During the service, Junior had them playing some of the musical instruments. He’s great with kids, too, and they love helping him with music because he is so passionate and talented at playing guitar and singing.

Since I wasn’t feeling very well, Marilene made me some tea and insisted I drink it. I didn’t much like the idea of lot liquid on this hot day, but she said it had natural antibiotic qualities and would make me feel better. During coffee hour between Sunday School and Church, I got to catch up with Nadja, Junior, and Aguinelza. Aguinelza looks so much better than she did a couple of years ago, and gave me SUCH a warm welcome. I think not working at ITEBA has helped her calm down. She is such a tender, loving person. She treats all the kids as if they were her own.

The service is liturgical, but at the same time is laid back. The music they sing is more contemporary, but has real musical quality. The hymns are from their hymnbook, which doesn’t have notes, just lyrics. The hymns are lively, and, from what I can tell, theologically sound. Junior plays guitar and another man plays drum set. The kids augmented the music with tamborim and atabaque, etc. They did a couple of anthems where members of the congregation sang solos. No choir today.

The whole service was run by members of the congregation. Luiz read scripture before the sermon and gave the sermon. But all prayers and other readings were done by others. I’m not sure if it was just today (Pentecost Sunday), or a weekly thing, but there was a special celebration of family. Representatives of families came up with collages, talked about what their families mean to them, and added their art to a board.

After church, Simon’s father drove us to Marilene’s house. (Also in his little VW were Junior, Junior’s wife, Marilene’s son and daughter, Marilene and me!) Marilene lives in São Antonio, a very old neighborhood just next to Pelourinho along the cliff that separates the lower and upper cities.

At Marilene’s house, I met her husband, Carlinhos. She lives in the top flat of a set of flats built on top of her mother-in-law’s house. As usual, as the family grows, the dwelling grows with it. Nadja lives on the second level, and they have a rental property there which I suppose could be taken back for a family member if necessary. Marilene’s mother-in-law, on the first floor, has a very nice, large space. I got to see pictures of all her children which she has set out on a table in the living room. I didn’t realize it, but she is an Amorim, and so is is grandmother (or mother) to Junior. It reminds me of Valley Forge United Methodist Church where just a couple of families make up a significant percentage of the congregation. In the case of IPI, it is the Amorim family and Aguinelza’s family.

Dinner was delicious. We had a great time talking. I learned that on Saturday’s they have a full slate of activities at the church, including guitar, flute, voice, and piano lessons, English classes, and a couple of others I can’t remember. It’s a very active congregation.

After lunch, Marilene, two daughters, Simone, Nadja and I went walking around the neighborhood and they showed me the sights. Because of its proximity to Pelourinho and its historic flavor, there are lots of pousadas (small inns) along the main street through the neighborhood. It’s a pricy area although it looks rather run-down still. The process of gentrification has begun. Along the way, across from the somewhat famous Hotel of the Irmãs Carmo, we stopped at Simone’s house. Simone lives in a very old house which is perched right on the edge of the cliff, so they have a fantastic view of the entire port and bay. Her father works at the port. He used to load and unload containers from ships, but now is an “accountant” who records hours worked and how many containers are loaded and unloaded. He is proud of his job and wanted to talk about it for a long time.

After a full and fun afternoon, despite my upset intestines, Carlinhos drove me back to the Casa, where I collapsed after a very busy weekend.