A Night in the Sky

This week Jeyson did 2 more night flights - one with an instructor....

And one with me! I haven't flown with Jeyson in a long time so I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity - maybe even the ONLY opportunity I'll have to fly at night!

Here's what the inside of the plane looks like at night. Everything seemed so different at night!

We flew for 2 hours (I believe the total minimum hours of night flights is 5). We flew over to nearby Goiania and Jeyson did 3 "touch and goes", meaning you land the plane and immediately take off again as you go off the runway. Goiania is a huge city (1.2 million people) and has an actual airport for commercial airlines. It was so strange for our tiny airplane with 2 passengers to come in for a landing right after an airbus!!! It was especially neat to hear the interaction between these huge planes and the control tower.

Since there were so many planes going through the airport, at one point the control tower had us just keep circling around the city until we were scheduled to land. All I can say is WOW! I can't even describe how incredible it was to fly around Goiania at night with windows on all sides (unlike in an airliner where you just have one tiny window if you're lucky :)

Looking at the crazy road system in Goiania, it's hard to believe it's a planned city!

And of course, you can't have a major city in Brazil without a soccer stadium!!

Welcome until 2018

It's here!!! What's here? My permanent visa!!!
You may remember that when I first arrived here in March 2008, we started running after ALL of the documentation needed for my permanent visa here in Brazil. The process even included a surprise visit from the Brazil version of the FBI at our house! I was totally approved and even had my name written in the official books in Brasilia (seriously!). I was issued a temporary, handwritten paper that allowed me to remain in Brazil and I just had to wait 6 months for my official permanent visa identification card to be printed. 6 months?!? Little did I know it would take even longer!

Yesterday, 1 year and 3 months later, my card arrived!!!

It is so strange to see Stephanie, Brazil, and Permanent on the same card.....do I really live in Brazil?!? Very surreal! As you can see on the card, my name is listed as Stephanie Ciotta Braun. It's funny, when we got married in the States, I changed my name to just Stephanie Braun (dropping my maiden name), but when I began the process here, the Brazilian government workers said that my name was too short and that I needed to at least include my maiden name as my middle name! I guess it's because Brazilians have such long names (4 names is normal here) so in Brazil I'm officially Stephanie CIOTTA Braun :) Also, you will notice on the card that it's valid until September 23, 2018 so at that point I'll need to get a new card printed....hopefully it will be a little faster this time! Until then, with this card, I'm welcome in Brazil until 2018!

Night Flight and Other Happenings

This has been a busy, busy week with no extra time for blogging until now. Here's what we've done:

This week Jeyson had to do a night flight as part of his training. Actually, technically, the flight did not HAVE to be a night flight, but he needed to practice "ILS approaches," which could only be done at the extremelly busy airport in Brasilia. The only time available to practice several instrument "touch and goes" is in the middle of the night, around 1 or 2 am. So...Jeyson went to Asas around 11pm, took off with the instructor at 1am, and came back home around 5am! Imagine how challenging it was to drink just the right amount of coffee to help stay awake, but not too much to need to land to use the bathroom during the flight :) During the landing approaches, Jeyson had to use the hood to cover his eyes from seeing out the window. It was challenging, but he did well. This week was also the kick-off for the teens small group at house home. We invited the teens over to roast marshmallows, which grabbed their attention since most had never done this before. Considering the small size of our church, we were very happy that 4 teens came out! After a few ice breakers, the group seemed comfortable and open and interested in the idea of meeting together for small group Bible study every Thursday. One girl, Julia, even said she would like to have the group at her house sometime so she can invite the teens from her neighborhood! On Wednesday we also participated in our church's new small group for young couples. The group was also small there, only 4 couples, but hopefully with time it will grow. There, we met a neat young couple who got married this year and just became Christians recently.

Another busy part of the week included 10 hours of meetings on Friday for our mission to discuss and vote on changes to the leadership structure. Rocindes (below) has led the mission a president for many years and has felt the need for Brazilian pastors and leaders to also be a part of the "board of directors" of Asas. So, after many long hours of meetings, the leadership model will change. Rather than Rocindes be the president, we will be led by mixed group, including members of the mission as well as pastors and leaders who are also invested and effected by Asas de Socorro.

By far though, the most fun part of the week involved the whole Ciotta family and: On Tuesday evening we all met online on a giant conference call from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Mississippi, and of course, Brazil. What fun! The virtual family party involved lots of laughs and catching up. It's hard to imagine life without this awesome, free technology!

2 Years in Brazil

I'm so excited to tell you that today is my 2 year anniversary of living in Brazil!

It's almost hard to believe that 2 years have passed already since we left the States together after getting married. Where has the time gone! It's incredible to see how much has changed and how much I have adapted to my new reality....sometimes it's hard to remember what some parts of life in the States are even like. It just feels so natural and normal to be here. We love being able to serve full time in the place God has put on our hearts....it's just great!

That isn't to say that there weren't days over the past few years that I've felt like this....

..... tiny, weak, fragile, and unable to fly in light of the process of adapting to a new life, language, people, and culture!

And there are days over the past 2 years that I've felt like doing this.....

and high-tailing it back to my comfort zone!

(Great picture, Jeyson! That's the Braun's dog galloping across the lawn :)

But after 365+365 days here, I truly can say that I am so content to call Brazil my home and call what I do day-to-day my life and ministry.

I am so thankful for the many wonderful friends that God has given me to laugh with and depend on (like these two women Camila and Rose who are also missionaries with Asas de Socorro). Even though these women grew up on the other side of the world from me, it's amazing that as sisters in Christ we have SO much in common!

And I am SO thankful to have an amazing husband who has been a constant source of encouragement and support along my journey adapting to a new reality.

And of course you - on the other side of this blog! I am so thankful for your encouragement and interest as we've shared countless stories and feeling about our new lives and work!

2 years down - many more to go!