Araras Day 1

“Imagine that the task of the pilgrim is to deepen the mystery for himself or herself. If you find yourself facing disappointment, try to ask yourself where your attention has wandered. The real work on the journey has begun. Rejoice that you have come so far.”
-Phil Cousineau

I slowly woke up this morning in a bed with not enough blankets. I was surprised to find that a winter night in Brazil could actually become quite chilly, but the sun soon warmed the day back to the usual temperatures we have become accustomed to in this beautiful country. I was tired from the night before because Will Burriss and I stayed up late talking and becoming friends with the two Brazilian boys that had come to stay with us at the seminary. It was difficult overcoming the language barrier at first, but we still managed to have hours of conversation, and it became a game of deciphering what we were trying to say to each other. Unfortunately for myself, to overcome this late night chat I had to down five cups of caffeine-filled Brazilian coffee at breakfast. After our first meal of the day, we threw a Frisbee around while we waited for more Brazilian youth to join us. Once they came and introductions were made, everyone piled on to our bus and we traveled to my first rain forest nature walk.



















Ever since I can remember I have wanted to travel into the Brazilian rain forest and explore, so this was a dream come true for me. We were shown around by a machete-carrying biologist, and his spear-carrying friend. We did not see very many exotic animals on this walk because 90% of the creatures are nocturnal, and partly because a large group of teenagers typically do not stay quiet very long. We did end up seeing a turkey-like bird after the hike, but alas, to the dismay of all the men, no monkeys have been spotted yet.














After the hike, we returned to the seminary for lunch and enjoyed a brief but exceptional naptime. After our heavenly sleep, we intended to go to a private pool, but we were officially lost an hour into the ride because the bus could not keep up with the lead car. Part of the pilgrim’s journey is overcoming obstacles and accepting unexpected adventures with a willing and happy heart, but this was difficult with carsickness and a lack of public bathrooms. Yet the pilgrim’s way prevailed, and we made it to the pool in good spirits after our two hour car ride through the Brazilian countryside. The house we visited is owned by a deacon in the Diocese of Rio and the pool that we were supposed to swim in was something close to ice water. Only a brave few souls made the jump into the chilling depth while the rest of us watched with amusement and horror as the “brave souls” quickly jumped out again.














Arlinda, the deacon, fed us hotdogs, which was an excellent touch, and we listened to Brazilian music while we watched the day turn into night. One of my most personal favorite pastimes is watching the stars, and the display of the night sky was one of the most impressive I have ever seen. After we returned to the seminary for dinner, we had our usual pre-bed Compline service. Tonight I enjoyed it because Rob asked us to interpret Psalm 84:1-4 and share phrases that had meaning to us. All in all, it was a great day.

By the way, our bus driver Paul is a retired undercover federal agent who is rumored to have been hired by the Harris and Zakas families. Paul is a great guy and a very skilled driver.
Will Kimmell