Monday, August 3, 2009

BACKSTAGE OUTHOUSES






Funny title I know, but it will make sense when I share the following story: Saturday night Marko and I had an amazing opportunity to go to a Christian Concert with our friend, Josh, whom we came to Brazil with. The main artist, Anna Paula, and her husband, Gustavo, are a very famous Brazilian couple. Gustavo also runs CTMDT where we have spent the last five weeks. Anna Paula and Gustavo are two of Josh and Jussara's best friends. Unfortunately, Jussara was not able to join us in Brazil due to work. Because of Josh's relationship with the family, we were able to get backstage passes to the concert.

Now, you have to understand that I have never gotten backstage passes anywhere, so I admit that I was embarrassingly like a "groupy"! I just figured I might never have an opportunity like this again so I was going to make the most of it! Let's just say that I took a LOT of photo's (I can only post a few so I will post some of Anna Paula, Gustavo, and the other band members.) Josh got a kick out of my childlike behavior and took pictures of me taking pictures! Josh, you see, is considered pretty famous himself, so this was all old hat to him!

So, I was hanging out, taking pictures, eating snacks and drinking juice when I had to use the banheiro. The banheiro's backstage were glorified outhouses. They were not your typical outhouse that we all have used many times before. They actually had a toilet bowl in them and a contraption to flush the toilet! Well, the "contraption" looked like a stick shift so I just pushed it back like you would in a car. To my complete shock, a large amount of blue, sanitizing liquid sprayed all over me! It mostly landed on my jeans and my sandaled foot. I freaked because even though the liquid itself was clean, it came OUT OF THE TOILET BOWL! I mean how clean can it be?! So, here I am walking around meeting famous people smelling like an outhouse! How much more humiliating could one feel? I am exaggerating a little bit in that I don't think I really smelled that bad, but geez-how gross! I had to just get over it and get on with my picture taking because there is no way I was going to let it ruin my night.

The experience was amazing. Anna Paula's band is so talented. Many of them are friends that we have met at CTMDT. There are some really gifted musicians in Brazil. The worship was incredible, and even though I could not understand much of what they were singing, the spirit of God was there. This was a very special concert in that they were doing a live video tape, and Anna Paula and Gustavo are moving to the United States next week for a couple of years to learn English and for Gustavo to go to Seminary. They have a HUGE following in Brazil and will be missed horribly. They made their announcement at the concert to the thousands of fans who were there. It was an emotional night for many. Perhaps all of you back home will have an opportunity to hear her in concert as my understanding is she plans to go on tour in the U.S. with a popular Christian band.

From my limited observation, it does not seem that there is a huge social gap with Brazilians: It is quite common for famous people to hang out with regular folks. I just don't see the same interactions amongst the famous people of the United States, (not that I have first hand experience). I see such humble hearts here in Brazil. People really "get" that all we have, and all we are is because of the Lord, The Maker of heaven and earth. The Christian church here is so dynamic. Sometimes I feel so spiritually frail in comparison. Being here definitely makes me want to grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus. Being away from all of the "stuff" we had in America is a huge blessing. I know I want to go back to my life in America, but I don't want to go back the same. For now, I embrace the life that I have here in Brazil. It is so very different than the one I have at home. Both are a blessing.

1 comment:

  1. When you get excited, you have the most vibrant smile! I can just see you so happy and excited! I was laughing so hard just imagining you with toilet stuff all over you, especially knowing how you hate any germs that are connected to toilets! Ha! LOVE YOU

    ReplyDelete