Throughout the twenty-nine years that my parents have lived here in Brazil, they have cared for a good number of guests in our home. Sometimes these guests only stay for a meal, sometimes they stay overnight or longer; some folks come in groups, some alone; and some make do on a very limited income, while others are quite wealthy. But there is one thing in common among all these Brazilian guests -- when it comes time to bid these folks goodbye, and the final round of handshakes and hugs are being given, the guest always mentions three little words: desculpe qualquer coisa (dez-cool-pe kwaul-care koi-zuh). Most often, this expression is muttered in a hurried, off-handed way, but it is always there.

What does this tiny little phrase mean? Although it is hard to translate the phrase into just three English words, the meaning behind it is, "I'm sorry for anything I may have done to offend you."

We have had some folks stay in our home who have been wonderful blessings and a great encouragement to us, while other guests have a difficult time seeing the brighter side of life. I can understand perfectly well why the latter guests would mention those few words to their hostess on their way out the door, but why should the folks in the former category follow suit? This past week, I typed the phrase into Google, and half an hour later, I had found an explanation. Stephen Kanitz, in an article written in Portuguese, states his belief that this particular custom dates back to the time of the Inquisition. During this 300-year period, as it was essential to be always on one's guard (for even a minor slip-up could put your life at risk), Kanitz explains that by continually apologizing for "anything that may have offended" the opposite party, a person was freed from the danger of having his actions or words brought against him.

Although the Inquisition was declared to be endend well over a century ago, that dark era still manages to stretch out a finger and tap me on the shoulder every now and again. Intesting, isn't it?

Yes, as you all guessed, I have been staying pretty busy. But! Dad did write up a very nice, informative, easy-to-read paper a few weeks ago about how the Easter holiday is celebrated here in Brazil. So I'm going to cheat and use someone else's hard labor to fill my blog. Hehehe. Just so it doesn't look like I'm am completely leeching off others, I will post a picture that I took and uploaded myself. Do I hear any applause? No? Well, in that case, I will fast-forward to the Feature Presentation:

THE EASTER SEASONS IN BRAZIL
by Calvin Gardner

I do not think that a detailed lesson is required for me to historically relate what goes on here in Brazil during the Easter season.  There are history books and encyclopedias to give you the origin of the word ‘Easter’, the Easter egg, the Easter Bunny, the Easter season in different countries and miscellaneous facts.  However, being in Brazil for almost 30 years, and witnessing the event of Easter both in the Metropolis of São Paulo’s 15 million people and then in small cities in the country, I have a few impressions that I would like to make as to how the Easter season is observed in Brazil.

The Easter season actually begins back in February with Carnival, or as you Americans call it, the Mardi Gras. I am sure the setting of the date for Carnival has to do with the moon, although I am not sure exactly which phase of it is important.  I am sure however that the Easter season culminates on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows Carnival.

Carnival precedes Lent.  And Lent precedes Easter.  It works like this: Carnival is a three-day period of getting the lust of the flesh all used up so that a proper celebration of Lent is possible. Then, Lent season is a period of humbling the body so as to be able to properly celebrate Easter.  The greater the sacrifice of the flesh equates greater religious sentiments. And greater religious sentiments translate to better worship, and of course, better worship brings greater recognition of God to he who has great religious sentiment and sincere worship, and this of course means more merit for inheriting heaven.

Easter season is a wonderful opportunity to exercise religious sentiments.  Since during the Passover Christ portrayed His greatest sufferings, the Easter season is a wonderful opportunity for a religious man to capitalize on his portraying very intense religious sentiments.

To maybe better understand the reasoning in all of this, maybe it would be good to look at it in reverse. According to the religious and cultural teachings of Brazil, to achieve the possibility of entering heaven it is necessary for a man to win God's recognition. To obtain God's recognition great religious sentiments must be stirred up (for example: Easter Season). To make room for the stirring up of intensely forceful religious sentiments the flesh must first be purged of all that is contrary to those religious sentiments (announcing: Lent and Carnival).

In summary, if the religious man will re-enact Christ’s greatest emotion that occurred at His death and burial, while endeavoring to stir up his own great sympathy, empathy and compassion, God will be pleased, and man will gain merit before God. However, before the religious man can stir up his religious feelings to their best, he must first empty all fleshly desires from his body.  It is during the Lent season that the religious man afflicts his life.  For this month of Lent season, the religious man takes on a vow to abstain from something usually dear to him (example: red meat).  However, to facilitate his abstinence, the flesh must first be purged.  This is done during Carnival when prostitution, crime, drunkenness, gluttony and raucous partying are culturally accepted. Once his sin nature is purged, he can then observe Lent properly, which in turn enables him to observe Easter properly.

So you see, Easter is the culmination of a period for the religious man trying to win God's favor. The last week of Lent is especially important.  Additional abstinence is practiced and religious sentiments are intensified during this “Holy Week”. On the Sunday before Easter, multitudes carrying palm leaves walk in special Sunday morning processions. Then, throughout this last week of Lent, known as Holy Week, all-night prayer meetings are carried out. Fish is substituted for red meat during this week as the religious man endeavors to empathize with Christ's suffering and death by his diet. On Friday of this Holy week, which is a national holiday, public theatrical presentations of Christ’s betrayal, judgment and crucifixion are given before massive audiences. On this night, Catholic churches promote special mass with extensive mournful processions in the streets, usually commencing and ending at the Catholic Church. The procession includes carrying an image of Christ's body still nailed to a cross through th streets. Devote praying of the rosary accompanies it all.

On Hallelujah Saturday, dummies wearing old clothes and stuffed with hay, to represent Judas Iscariotes, are hung from a tree or light post throughout the city. In the late morning, children beat the dummy till it falls down when it is then fired and consumed. That’ll teach him!

On Hallelujah Sunday morning, at the break of dawn, loud and forceful fireworks are set off by the Catholic churches to imitate the rolling of the stone away from the sepulcher and Christ's Resurrection. Final early-morning processions are organized, church bells ring, and choirs sing and a final special mass is celebrated thus ending the Easter season.

Thus the sincere religious man feels satisfied that he has done his best and now he sincerely hopes that God will somehow be merciful to give him merit and perhaps bless him with the forgiveness of some of his sins.

While the religious man stimulates his religious sentiments during this season, commerce is bustling to stimulate the consumer’s attention to spending. Here in Brazil it is NOT the custom for the ladies to wear a new dress to church. They do this during the religious holiday of December. Nor are there Easter-egg hunts, for any age group. Too bad isn’t it? But, let not commerce be slighted, the chocolate Easter egg IS in vogue! Thousands of tons of chocolate Easter eggs are produced, promoted and pushed onto the consumer. The underlying message of commerce is: “everyone who is anybody either receives or gives an Easter egg at Easter”. And since everybody wants to be a somebody, chocolate Easter eggs are heartily exchanged between those who find status and peer group ratings important. Baker's and their bread stores also produce special bread for the occasion thus giving Easter an atmosphere of festivity.  

Isn’t it ironic that even as the religious man endeavors to abstain from indulging his sweet-toothed appetites, innovative commercial propaganda stimulates the satisfaction of those very same supposedly subdued appetites?

Since the main religion of Brazil is Catholic, many of the national holidays are for religious purposes. Therefore, when a man is converted out of Catholicism, he desires to cut links with all that smells of the former enslaving religious master. This includes Easter too. Evangelicals in Brazil very rarely wish anyone a “Happy Easter” or a “Merry” ‘what-have-you’. However, I do not know if this is supposed to squelch the evangelical’s possible craving to purchase a delicious chocolate Easter egg now or from having a banquet of turkey and ham later on, or not. I am rather sure that all who load up their shopping carts with those tempting colorfully wrapped chocolate Easter eggs in the super market are not just those of the Catholic faith. Most likely many “Evangelicals” cave in to the culinary delights of the season while steadfastly denying to observe anything that resembles a religious celebration.



Daniel and David are trying to look like they are enjoying the first batch of hardtack that we made for Daniel to take on his trip down south. As an alternative to eating the hardtack, David demonstrates how to wear it.

This past week, a new Brazilian school year began, and with it began our sewing lessons again. While I really enjoyed the month-and-a-half break, I really enjoyed getting back to class. Sure, I make mistakes and have a good amount of seams to rip out and redo; drawing paper patterns can be pretty tiring and time-consuming; and the sewing maching doesn't always cooperate; but there are just as many things to look forward to in sewing class.

#1. The Teacher -- Mrs. Cida Faustino is quite the accomplished seamstress and there are precious few vacancies in her school. The Lord really blessed with Charity and I being able to get in, as well as being able to have our classes together. Cida is also really flexible. A lot of the students are interested in making the clothes that are considered to be fashionable nowadays, and Cida has a lot of experience in this area; but for us, she respects our standards of modesty and kindly offers to teach us what we want to wear and not just what she wants to teach.

She also gives us occasion to giggle every now and then. Dona [Mrs.] Cida has a one-track mind, so when we ask her a question about our projects while she is thinking about another student's project, we have the perfect conditions for getting a funny answer. Last December, for instance. Dona Cida was all caught up with the preparations for her daughter's wedding, and during a free moment in class, Charity asked her if we students would be given a school break. "Oh yes, honey," she replied, "in February, because nobody wants to come to class in January." Huh? We just smiled knowingly at each other, giggled inside, and continued drawing our patterns.

#2. Less Stress -- Brazilian ladies like to wear their clothes tight and short. Therefore, when we go to a seamstress and explain what we would like for her to make, she doesn't quite understand our specifications. We're often left to haggle with the lady:

Me: "Couldn't you please raise that neckline?"
Her: "But that looks good on you!"
Me: "I'd really like it if that neckline weren't so deep."
Her: "But it's not that deep."
Me: *striving to hold on to a polite smile* "I really want this neckline raised."
Her: "Okaaaay."

Or, most recently:
Me: "Couldn't you loosen these sleeves? They're awfully tight."
Her, slipping a finger into the cuff of the short sleeve, "See, it's not that tight."
Me: "But it feels tight and will be very hot to wear during the summer."
Her: "Oh, no! Just see how the material stretches!"
This time I didn't press it any further, but took the Tight-Sleeved Blouse home to hang in my closet until winter, with its 50 and 60 degree weather, arrives.

Since Charity and I are learning to sew, we've been able to make skirts for ourselves and Mom, and thus blissfully bypass the commonly stressful time with the seamstress. Since we are learning how to make blouses this semester, I believe it is feasible to hope that we won't have to go to another seamstress for a long time.

#3. Savings -- While we girls delight in the fact that we don't have to depend solely on a seamstress now, Dad's pocketbook is happy that we won't have to pay a seamstress for awhile, too. Most Brazilian seamstresses charge about U$7 to make a skirt and U$10 for a blouse, provided that we supply all the material, thread, buttons, and zippers. Seven to ten dollars doesn't sound like such a great expense, but when there are three of we girls to clothe, these little seamstress fees to add up. It's nice to now see that money going into another area of our lives.

Having the opportunity to learn how to sew clothes to fit me the way I want them to, for a really great price, and with such a versatile teacher to boot, is more than enough reason to enjoy the return to class, wouldn't you say?

Weekly Mug:

Here's Daniel tickling the ivories in his few spare minutes, as he has been doing for the past couple of years. What amazes me is that Daniel does it all by ear. Whether it be a hymn, a common ditty, a movie soundtrack, or one of his own, the song just seems to flow from Daniel's mind to his fingers.

A couple of months ago, my parents asked me to start researching accordions, as they felt one would be very useful in the services that Dad holds in Brazilian homes. I started checking out what the Internet had to offer, joined the forum at www.accordionist.org, asked a lot of questions, and was finally able to get an idea of just what size of instrument would meet our need.

Then, early last month, I saw a notice in the newspaper about a Mr. Wilson who was interested in selling a used accordion. We checked the instrument over, poured a lot of prayer into the matter, and finally purchased the accordion on December 19th.

My brother, Daniel, has been playing the piano by ear for a couple of years now and I have been playing by sight for about eleven years, so we figured playing the accordion was going to be extremely simple for us. I mean, you play keys and chords on the piano and the accordion, so the only difference is the bellowing technique that the accordion requires, and how hard can that be?

I found out just how hard playing an accordion can be just a few hours after we purchased it. I discovered that it is no easy matter to keep one's left hand efficiently managing several chord buttons AND the bellows, nor is it easy to operate the bellows so that a smooth, pleasant sound is produced. Above all else, this accordion has terrific volume; we can easily serenade the entire neighborhood without leaving our backyard.

That first practice session with the accordion was quite stressful, but, once again, Daniel came to my rescue. He printed out an article for my benefit; and for your benefit, I'll post it here tonight.

HOW TO PLAY THE ACCORDION -- A Primer for Beginners
Posted by John Ferree 1997

1. Get an accordion. The cheaper the better because they all sound the same. Do not tell anyone what you have done - it will only cause them to worry. They will find out soon enough.
2. Take the accordion out of the case and strap it on. It is better if the accordion rests on your chest instead of your back but, for the first few weeks, it doesn't really make that much difference.
3. For sounds to be produced, three things must happen: The bellows must be moving in or out. One or more of the keys or buttons must be pressed. All potential weapons within a one mile radius must be collected and secured. The third is the most important.
4. The buttons on the left side are chord buttons. The "C" button has a dimple or nipple so you can find it without looking. (This is a safety feature. Before it was invented, thousands of accordionists suffered painful and sometimes disabling injuries - much to the delight of the general public). Never use more than three buttons. "Professional" accordionists appear to be using lots of buttons but they are actually just desperately trying to find..."C". "Professional" means they have learned to smile while they do it.
5. Play the black and white keys. The high notes are at the bottom and the low notes are at the top. (That arrangement isn't supposed to make any sense. Accept it.) Note: If you find the high notes at the top and the low notes at the bottom, you have either put the accordion on upside down or you have tried to repair it yourself. If the former, turn the accordion over. If the latter, pack your acordion up with thousands and thousands of dollars and mail it far away for a long, long time.
6. Continue playing until someone begs you to stop or threatens your life, whichever comes first.
7. Put the accordion back in its case.
8. Order an accordion tee-shirt and wear it to the Mall.

The following is an excerpt from "FAQ for the absolute beginner", by "Glenn", 1997:

Q: My accordian is a half step lower than the other instruments in my band. The other musicians keep complaining. What do I do?
A: Undoubtedly, you've thrown your lot in with a group of unappreciative people with little or no talent. However, if you wish to humor them, walk several hundred yards away from the group. At the beginning of your solo, run rapidly toward them while playing your accordian. The doppler effect will make it seem that you're in tune with them.

Daniel also found me several humorous definitions involving this instrument:

What do you call an accordion player with a beeper?  An optimist.
What's the range of an accordion?  Twenty yards if you've got a good arm!
If you drop an accordion, a set of bagpipes and a viola off a 20-story building, which one lands first?  Who cares?
What's the difference between an accordion player and a terrorist?  Terrorists have sympathisers.
What is a gentleman?  Somebody who knows how to play the accordion, but doesn't.
What's the difference between an onion and an accordion?  No-one cries when you chop up an accordion.
How do you protect a valuable instrument? Hide it in an accordion case.
What's the difference between a road-killed skunk and a road-killed accordian player? The skid marks in front of the skunk.



Here is Daniel and I with the dear accordion. Thankfully, in the weeks since we purchased the accordion and tonight, a Brazilian pastor friend came along and gave us some very helpful pointers about playing this instrument. Although I still need a lot of practice, I'm thankful that playing this instrument doesn't seem to be as impossible as I once thought it to be. And, by the way, this Brazilian also showed us how to lower the volume by working the bellows at a slower rate; our neighbors are forever in his debt.

Several months ago, I helped Mom straighten up her collection of cookbooks. The cabinet Mom keeps all her recipes in was filled to overflowing and it tooks us awhile to sort out and rearrange everything. While cleaning, we came across the set of cookbooks my mom inherited from my Great-Grandma Gardner, who worked as a nutricionist at a hospital. We also rediscovered one of the first cookbooks that Mom had when she was just a little girl. Besides the cookbooks, Mom also has a very large stash of recipes that have been clipped from magazines, recipes on index cards, recipes on scraps of paper, and recipes on just about any writing surface available.

Although we have not had the time to try out each recipe in our home library, Mom has put her books to good use in teaching both Charity (my sister) and I how to make a great variety of things. Cakes, cookies, pies, breads, casseroles, pasta dishes, vegetable combos, salads, omelettes, sandwiches, sauces, soups, stews, and most everything else we manage to put on the table, can trace its way back to Mom's collection of recipes.

Mom's cookbooks have also been our passport to other countries. Over the past few years we have discovered several recipes from other nationalities, and with them in hand and a just a sprinkle of imagination, we can travel the world without leaving our kitchen.

First stop, Egypt! "Kusherie" is a combo of cooked lentils and rice, served with natural yogurt and/or red sauce, while "Tabikh" is made from various vegetables cooked in a red sauce as well.

China is the next stop, with the "Chinese Savory Beef" recipe that I will always remember my dad making. The title gives away the whole idea of the recipe, so need to describe it any further.

Next is Russia. The recipe that Mom found for "Chicken Borscht" is my all-time favorite stew and it calls for cabbage, chicken, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, seasonings, and cream. The best way to warm up on a cold day, in my unbiased opinion.

"Pakistani Kima" is one of the newest international recipes we have come across. This recipes includes vegetables and curry in its list of ingredients.

From Portugal we get our recipe for "Bacalhoada", which is very popular here in Brazil during the Lent season. Many Brazilians know how to make this dish, and it was a Brazilian that taught us how to fix the cod fish with potatoes, olives, and onions.

Next in line is Mexico, with its great tasting "Crusty Mexican Bean Bake" and "Taco Salad". When you live in a country that doesn't have a single "El Chico" or "Pancho's", recipes like these that can be made at home are an enormous comfort to this family!

And, last but not least, Brazilian cuisine. "Pudim" is a dessert made with condensed milk, eggs, cornstarch, milk, and burnt sugar, and it ranks among Dad's favorites. Another Brazilian cook also shared with us her recipe for a "Torta Salgada", which literally means "Salty Pie". These "pies" are made with vegetables, cheese, and some type of meat, and are much easier to put together than our American sweet pies.

As the old saying goes, "Variety is the spice of life!"