First Week of School!!

 We are almost done with the first week of school.  I have 8 students in my class, 3 girls and 5 boys.  Things are going well so far.  My kids are great and my schedule is even better.  The schedule is the same Monday   - Thursday and every Friday we go 1/2 day.  We start school everyday at 7:30.  Monday - Thursday we have class from 7:30 until 8:30 then my kids go to Portuguese class.  At 9:15 the kids go to Merenda (snack and recess).  They come back to class at 9:45.  At 11:30 they go to Art or PE until 12:10, which is lunch.  Lunch ends at 12:55.  Finally we get to go home at 3:00.  On Friday, We have Chapel from 7:40 - 8:30, then Portuguese from 8:30 - 9:15, and Merenda from 9:15 - 9:45.  Then I have my kids for the rest of the day which ends at noon. It really is a perfect schedule.

Here are some pictures of my classroom:

Close up of border around black background.

Close up of border around green background.

Pictures!!!

 This is my bedroom.

This is the bathroom.  The only separation between the shower and the rest of the room is a small step .  OH yeah and you cannot flush the toilet paper.  That is sure something to get used to.

I have green toilet paper.  There is also orange toilet paper available, but green is more fun.

  
These 3 pictures are of my kitchen.  The center one is my clothes dryer.  I finally have food in the fridge because Tara took my roommate and me to Lider (the grocery store) to help us get started with food.

 
 
Yesterday, Saturday, a family whose kids go to AVA took us to the Bosque.  There were all kinds of critters at the Bosque.  The Bosque is part of the rain forrest that has been fenced in so that it won't be touched by construction.  We had a lot of fun running around the rain forrest with Hannah, one of the 8th graders from AVA.
Today we went to eat lunch at their house.  This family has all sorts of critters in the back yard.  They have rabbits, chickens, and dogs.


 

Saturday!

My roommate, Carly, and I went to the Bosque (a rain forrest in the city).  We got to see all sorts of tree and critters.  (I will have pictures soon.)   After we got back, we decided to take on the bus system and go shopping.  Luckily we had our friend Kathleen who had taken the bus before to show us what to do.  We went to a couple stores then to the mall.  The mall is air conditioned, which is one of the few places that is.  Carly and Kathleen were able to find toys and such for their class rooms.  We ate dinner in the food court at the mall at this place where you put the food on your plate and they charge you by weight. Sort of like cafeteria style.  On the way back to the apartment we went to a store "that has the things Big Lots didn't want".  At this store Carly and I were able to find more things for the apartment that we still needed.  We got canisters for rice and beans, clothes hangers, small round containers for left over food, other kitchen stuff.  Carly and Kathleen were able to find other things for their classrooms there as well.  We had lots of bags by this point, so we took a taxi home.  That is interesting since none of us speak any more portugese than to say hi (oi) please (por favor) thank you (obrigada) debit (débito) and we ate "straw potatoes"  (batata palha).  

I'm Here!!!

Yesterday was crazy!  I was to fly from Memphis to Miami then to Suriname and from there to Belem.  Everything went perfectly until I got to Miami.  It took me at least 30 minutes to find the Surinam Airways counter to get my boarding pass.  Once I found the counter the people there told me that I needed a transit visa just to change planes in Suriname, even though I was told that I would not need one.  I had to lug my carry-on bags (50 lbs worth) and get a taxi to take me to the Suriname Consulate so I could get a transit visa.  I spent $15 on the taxi there then $15 on the visa and another $15 on the taxi ride back to the airport.  All this for a visa that I didn't even need, in fact the folks in Suriname never even looked at my passport.  I got into Belem and my ride was waiting for me as I came through customs at about 3:30 am.  They took me to my apartment, which I had to climb 2 flights of stairs to get to.  One was regular stairs, however very narrow, the other was a spiral stair case.  (I will have pictures coming soon, but my camera battery is dead at the moment.)  The next part of crazy is that both beds in the apartment were wet because the rain came in through the window.  So needless to say I had to change the sheets before going to bed. I finally crawled into bed around 4:30am.  I got a few hours sleep and got up around 10ish and tried to take a shower but I could not figure it out.  Then I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out the lock on the gate so I could get out of my apartment. AHHHH!  I finally got it to unlock and I made it to the school, so i could look around and meet people.  

4 days and counting!

I GOT MY VISA!!!!!!!  

After freaking out for the past few days that I did not have my visa yet, I got a call yesterday from the folks up in Virginia who were working on the visa for me that they had received it and that it would be over-nighted to me.  Daddy called around 11 today to say that it was at the house, so no more freaking out.  I knew that God was in control of the situation with whole time, so I don't know why I was worried.  

This week has been crazy trying to see people before I leave. 

Monday --  I went to Chuck E Cheese with Katie and Thomas, I helped Robin with her room at school, Mom and I went shopping. Tuesday -- I went to Pei Wei with Sharaze for lunch, then I helped Diane clean up the house for Habitat for Hope, and Catherine took me  to the teacher store where I got monkeys for my room, then dinner at Grandma's house.

Wednesday -- My favorite sister and I went running around all over the place (Chick-fil-a for lunch, and other stuff)  Robin came over to help me pack (sort-of) -- I did, however, find the books I wanted in the many boxes in the 100 degree attic -- then dinner with Niki at Fuji Cafe.  Mmm sushi!

Here it is Thursday -- I ate lunch with Holly at La Hacienda.  I still have a ton to do i'm going to Chili's with Sarah then Mom is helping me to finish packing (hopefully finish).  

Then there comes Friday, Saturday and Sunday which are all equally as busy as the rest of this week has been.  Maybe I can sleep on the plane!

Step 2!

Today I leave for Pre-Field Orientation.  I have to drive all of 20 minutes down the road to Southaven to get there, but I will be there for 2 weeks.    After orientation I will have only 3 weeks before I get on a plane to go serve in Belem, Brazil. 

God has provided so many people in my life who have been blessed enough to financially support me.  I am still in need of some financial support.    

Ahhhh….. I have so much to do and only 5 weeks to get it all done.

Here we go!!

Hey y'all, my name is Christy Christiansen.  I am beginning a new adventure in my life.  I am preparing to go teach with NICS (Network of International Christian Schools), an organization that has 20 international schools in 16 countries across the world.  I am going to Amazon Valley Academy in Belem, Brazil to teach in the upper elementary grades. 

I decided to pursue this opportunity because I am not currently teaching, which is what I feel God has called me to do. Early this year, I came upon an email I received previously from NICS telling about the job fair they were having in February. At the job fair I learned more about the organization and I spoke with several of the school directors. I fell in love with the 3 schools in Brazil and finally decided on AVA.  I chose AVA because I felt like that's where God opened the doors.  For me, working at AVA is a mission opportunity, not just another teaching position.

Brazil is a wide open door for the Gospel of Christ. There is complete religious freedom. The Vatican claims Brazil to be the largest Roman Catholic country in the world. However, only 70% of the population say they are Catholic and only 12% are practicing Catholics. Spiritism has a major influence in all aspects of life in Brazil. I have been to Brazil once before on a short term mission trip. While there we went to visit a Catholic church in Rio, where spiritism was very evident.  There was a shop where people could buy wax figures to burn on an altar at the church so their ailments would be cured. This is a country that desperately needs the message of God’s love.

Once I accepted the position at AVA, I had several hoops to jump through to get prepared to go to Brazil. First thing I had to do was to renew my passport, a process that usually takes 3-6 weeks.  I had the passport paperwork expedited and received the new one in only about 1 week. Then I had to begin gathering documents to get a work Visa.  These documents had to be notarized, certified and then I had to send them to Nashville to get them authenticated.  I had these documents expedited as well and received them back in only 2 days, which is a miracle considering how long these things can take.  I believe the process for the passport and documents has gone smoothly due to God continuing to open doors.

The next big hurdle is to raise financial support.  I will need approximately $3000 for pre-field expenses:  legal documents, plane ticket, etc. Once in Belem, I will need $700 a month to cover basic living expenses.  I need this because the school is currently unable to pay a full salary, although they are working toward that goal. 

I need financial support in order to get to Belem to serve. However my most important need is your prayers as I take on this adventure.