Masters

Over the past 5 years, every major life event of mine coincides with a significant date. I have no idea what that means. But, I applied nearly 9 months ago to do a Masters program at a theological school in California. I'd been waiting to hear back ever since on whether I would be accepted. Finally, on Ben's first birthday while in Brazil, I got an answer: we're moving to California!

32 hours

That's how long it took us from the time we left the house in Houston until we arrived to the house in Brazil. 32 Hours!@#! Bube was a saint though. Bube's celebrity has also continued here. I submit my evidence:

1. Bube's cousin, Bruno, is 4 years old and goes to school each day. Bruno's mother, Priscilla, walks Bube to the school each day to pick up Bruno, so all the faculty and students know Bube quite well now. Anyhow, the other day we found out Bruno had gotten into a fight at school! Apparently one of Bruno's classmates, a girl, was telling everyone that Benjamin was her cousin. Bruno became highly defensive. Nao! Ele eh o meu priminho! - No! He's MY cousin!! People are fighting for familial relations with my son. That's quite a compliment.

2. Priscilla also has a framed photo of Bube in their house; one that our friend Stephanie - an awesome photog - took of Bube. A friend of Priscilla's was recently at their house and saw the framed photo. "Man Priscilla, you're lazy.. You don't even remove the pictures that come with your frames?"

"No, that's my nephew. I told you he was beautiful!"

Daddy pride..

Gearing Up for Brazil

We leave in just a couple days for Brazil.. Bube will have his 1st birthday there; mom is clearly excited - so am I.. I think Bube will be too because he'll be mostly naked for 2 months. And for me, I'll begin my 2-month eat-and-sweat-fest where I'll lose at least 5 lbs. Also during our stay, I will have a decision from the Masters program I applied to in California, as classes begin in August. More to come soon..

St. Giles Cafe

Without a doubt, the most difficult thing about leaving Edinburgh was the cafe I visited daily - St. Giles Cafe, just around the corner from the cathedral. From the moment I stepped in the first time, I knew that was my home-away-from-home. The employees there became my local family, who would sit down with me at my table and talk with me extensively, almost every day. I loved it there even more because of the diversity of the employees; to my recollection only 2 employees were actually from Scotland.. The rest were French, Hungarian, Polish, and one even from Colorado!

I would be embarassed to mention how much free stuff I was given there, but I loved coming in, sitting down in my usual chair, and finding an ear-to-ear smile heading my way with my drink that I hadn't even ordered yet. The day I left, I got hugs from everyone, and even one employee who said she was about to cry! I was really surprised myself at how bummed I was the day we left, and only because of this little cafe.

Folks

I was bummed when my folks left at the beginning of April. I was proud of them for venturing out and doing things that not even Ana and I had done on our travels.. Namely, renting a car, driving on the wrong side of the road in a seat on the wrong side of the car using a manual transmission with the wrong hand. They visited the Cotswolds in England, and we all drove around the Scottish Highlands together - something I won't forget (especially Bube going about 9 hours without fussing!).

We left our beautiful apartment on the Royal Mile and moved to my next find, a tiny apartment at the bottom of the Castle hill, in an area called Grassmarket. Here we quite frankly rested from our previous month of sight-seeing. But I present to you some random shots of Edinburgh:

Castleview from our apt

Scottish humour

Bube at the Royal Botanical Gardens

St. Giles Cathedral

Hidden Edinburgh

I know I've said this a million times but I'll say it again - European cities are fantastic places to purposely get lost. And Edinburgh is an exemplar for this category. Ana caught a cold one week so I'd take Bube on walks to let Ana rest. One day in particular Bube and I got really, really lost, and ended up heading toward some bridge. As I began crossing it, I noticed far down below was a storybook village. It looked like some of the houses were made of gingerbread - they may have been edible but I didn't try to eat any of them. It was strange, this village living below Edinburgh? This place looked fake.

A tiny official plaque shone on a building toward one end of the bridge that read "To Dean Village ->", which pointed down a little cobblestone street. So Bube and I ventured down this very steep, cobblestoned road that wiggled through beautiful old houses and buildings, to the bottom where there was a large river, some parts with rushing waters. After checking out some of the buildings, we headed down a small path next to the river. The only noises we heard were water, ducks, and wind rustling through the trees. No car horns, no construction, no hordes of people - and we weren't all that far from our apartment.

I later on asked some locals if they'd ever been to this place, Dean Village. They said they'd never even heard of it! This was truly a hidden gem, easily the most naturally beautiful area of Edinburgh, maybe one of my favorite parts of the city, and only came about by getting completely lost. 

London -> Edinburgh

Bube enjoying the view

Just as I was starting to feel that I could have spent even more time in London - which honestly surprised me - we packed up and took a 5 hour train ride north to Scotland in Edinburgh. I was at the same time excited to get back to what I remember as one of my favorite cities in the world. And once again, the apartment I found on the internet was a goldmine. To say it was 'central' doesn't do it justice. It sits not only on the famous Royal Mile but the building is connected to the Scottish Parliament buildings (in fact, its address is Parliament Square). The property was absolutely immaculate and suprisingly large, which 15 ft ceilings or something.

Even more, the windows in the second bedroom and the living room not only face St. Giles Cathedral (the "mother church" of Presbyterianism and Scotland's principal Church site, which dates to 1124), but you could literally hit the cathedral with a rock from one of the windows. We really lucked out with all of our rentals this trip.

Oddities Continue

St. Giles from the living room

Shortly after arriving, I decided I ought to go to Church, and where better to go than outside our window? As I recently explained, I've applied for a Masters program at a university in California, the program of which is called an MASR - Masters of Arts in Science and Religion. Can you believe that the particular service I decided to attend happened to be a 'special' service - on Science and Religion? I say 'special' in that this was the only day, and even the only time that day in which this service was held. In fact, they had a special procession of scientists (complete in all sorts of royal garb, kilts, top-hats, canes, white gloves, etc) from all over Edinburgh - attend this particular service. Even more, all of the readings during the service came not from scripture, as is customary, but as quotes from scientists, including Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman. The entire Church service, including the sermon, was devoted to science. I have to say, I had goosebumps for quite some time that day.

Bruges

The day Ana's family left for Brazil, we took an extended weekend during our London stay to visit Belgium (country #4 for little Bube!). Belgium was, and still is, one of my favorite countries on earth. As I've said before, people are what make a place memorable, and Belgium is no exception. The people are as beautiful and charming as the towns and cities they live in.

When I initially began apartment-searching for our trip in London, I almost got burned by a scam. I found a small-looking but somewhat affordable apartment on Craigslist, communicated back and forth with them for a few days, and decided to book it as everything seemed very much in order. But just before doing so, I did a couple geeky things and discovered that the e-mails I was receiving from them originated in Nigeria, and that their website had only been up for a couple weeks. Turns out it was indeed a scam, as variations of their website had been reported by others.

So, on the train ride from London to Brussels, I started wondering if what I booked was legit. The pictures online are absolutely stunning, is in just about the most central location you can get, and was surprisingly affordable. The more I thought about it, the more nervous I became. "Good Lord I hope this guy answers his cel phone when we get there.." As soon as we got off the train I tried calling the owner to meet us - no answer. This is not good. We took a cab to the address anyway and hoped for the best. As soon as we arrived however, out came a super-personable Belgian. Whew.

The Belfry Tower, a
block from our apt

When he took us into the apartment, it was even more beautiful than the pictures online. A 2-story "penthouse" with a roof terrace (and grill) and perfect views of the Belfry tower. In fact, this was hands-down the most beautiful place we've ever stayed in abroad. I still can't believe how cheap it was for how pretty and central it was. And the owner, Marc, literally could not have been friendlier.. He had prepared for us more than we even needed; more than we could even think of in fact. Including a baby cot, high chair, a changing pad, even baby books and baby food! And for the adults, a large corked Belgian beer, so much Belgian chocolate that I'm still eating it almost a month later, fresh fruit, and more. The apartment was far more well-stocked than anything I've seen.

I could go on and on, but this has continually been our experience in Belgium. Their hospitality is simply humbling. This was a fantastic experience that I'm so glad my parents got to be a part of. I'd been telling them for so long how great Belgium is, and now they get to experientially agree with me!

Sorry with the freaky image arrangement below. Blogger is being an idiot and I'm too tired to try and fix it.

London

Big Ben

It was a blast having some of Ana's family and my family together for the first time. Though Ana, her brother and I played translator between my parents and Ana's mom (which was super fun for me - and an awesome way to learn more), it was two straight days of smiles. Ana Paula came from Italy to visit us as well. She and Ana's brother Emilyo were taking huge bites out of London, which is something I love about Brazilians in general: they love life. I got to pub-crawl with the two of them at night, which, I don't think I have to say, was a blast. And I even got to pub-crawl with my folks in Oxford!

This was our 4th time to London, and for some reason, I hardly recognized any of the neighborhoods there. It was like I'd never been before? I guess I never realized how large London really is. It was fantastic and strange discovering an old city I've visited plenty, but for the first time.

Westminster Abbey interior	Westminster Abbey cloisters	Park behind Westminster Abbey
Pub crawling with Emilyo and Paula	St. James park	St. James park
St. James park

Bube the Family Magnet

It dawned on me today how children can bring family together. Ana's mom left her country for the first time since I've known her in order to meet us in London, rendevouz-ing with my parents there for the first time. I don't know if she would have had the courage to make this trip if she weren't missing little Bube so much. And I don't know when my parents will make it down to Brazil either, so little Bube has brought our two families together for the first time!

While Bube has been playing family organizer, he's also been thriving here. And I had suspicions he would before we left the states. He, like most (all?) babies, needs stimulation or he'll get ticked off. Not constant stimulation, but some. He needs new sensory stimuli every now and then - new places, new people, new sounds, new textures, etc. When we're in one place for a while, it becomes challenging to figure out new places, people, etc to introduce him to. One thing I was excited about regarding travelling was that new stimuli would come naturally, not forcefully. And as I expected, Bube has been eating everything up (literally too). He happily goes 4 hours in a stroller here and apparently even 9 hours in a car!

When we travelled to Brazil, he went on a rampage of conquering baby milestones.. Turning over, grasping things, asking for solid food, and much more. Since we came here, Bube has gone on another rampage of conquering milestones. He learned how to sit up on his own in London, how to crawl in Edinburgh, and is now tinkering with walking. Maybe it's just coincidence, but it's interesting how fast he matures when we're out of the country!

Strange things are afoot at the circle K, dude..

School
Interesting things are happening lately, very reminiscent of the things that were happening to me as I was nomading in my tent through California. And these new things are coincidentally related to California.

 

Those of you that followed me through California will recall a horribly strong and palpable spiritual pull I felt to a little corner of the world in Southern California (San Clemente). Though I can't pinpoint exactly why I felt this, I think some of it had to do with how many incredible people I met there; the rest was just a peace I felt there that I've never really felt before. In any case, it pained me significantly to leave. It impacted me so much after I left that I vowed one day to move there. In fact, early on while Ana and I were dating I let her know that San Clemente was where I dreamed of living one day, but that I didn't know exactly why.

Well about half a year ago a fire lit inside me to begin studying Theology professionally. As Ana and I travelled the world over the past few years I made notes of places we visited with schools I might be interested in attending. My criteria were basically: a reputable school; a degree with a good dose not only of Theology, but also philosophy and if at all possible, the natural sciences; the ability to study part-time; and a program that I would academically qualify for. Of all the schools I researched all around the world, only one school met all these criteria: a school called Biola with a program called a Masters of Arts in Science and Religion (MASR).. My jaw must have hit the floor when I stumbled upon this program one morning. Its Philosophy department (Talbot) is one of the best in the world, combines the natural sciences with Theology (the MASR director has a PhD in physics from Cornell and another PhD in ancient near eastern studies), offers part-time study, etc. Not only does every course in the curriculum match exactly my interests, but even the professors happen to be the authors of some of my favorite books. This degree looks like it was designed solely for me, and I haven't found another program in the world that comes remotely close (feel free to look). I don't need to tell you my reaction when I discovered where the school is - around the corner from San Clemente. But this is just the beginning of the coincidences.

Twilight Zone
I don't usually post super spiritual stuff, but screw it, I'm gonna today. Since I've been studying Theology, one area in particular has been quite hard for me to understand: prayer. I understand that a theist is supposed to pray, how he's supposed to pray, etc.. But I honestly don't understand how it 'works'. Am I really to understand that my prayer is able to "change" the mind of an "unchangeable" God? Further, literature on this area seems to be pretty scant in comparison to other areas of Theology. I have finally decided that it may be one area of a spiritual life that can only be understood experientially.

Well, I finally applied to this Masters program in November of 2011. I had been in contact with admissions as the committee reviewed my application, and we went back and forth in communications as time went on. Much time passed however, and although I would receive an occasional e-mail from admissions that they were still reviewing my application, no decision had been made on me. I don't think a night went by that I didn't pray; and not necessarily prayer to get accepted, but just to be set on the right path, whatever that may be. Well, one night in March - almost 4 months after I applied - I prayed quite differently. It was around 2:30AM London time (Bube was giving us jet-lagged fits with going to sleep) and I'd just checked my e-mails for the last time that night.

My prayer was almost a demand that God end this waiting, and set me off on the right path, once-and-for-all. I almost surprised myself with this demand, but something really strange happened when I did. At the risk of sounding like a nutjob, I 'heard' the words "tomorrow" and "morning", although 'heard' really isn't the right word, as it was more like a clear perception without auditory sense.. And it was me that 'said' them, and at the same time it wasn't me. It's horribly hard to explain, maybe impossible (or maybe I'm just a nutjob). In any case, when I perceived these two words, I literally jolted out of prayer and sat up in bed, wondering what in the world just happened. Part of me wondered if I really was just sleep-deprived. "Tomorrow" and "morning"? Would I really have a decision from Biola the next morning? Was I just deluding myself? 2:30AM in London is 6:30PM in California, well after working hours. If my mind was just playing tricks on me I'd be even more disappointed, as it was just a really dumb suggestion. The odds were horribly unlikely they'd do this after-hours. But I decided this was already one of the weirdest things that's happened to me; either I'd blown a fuse in my head or this was real. I also decided that if I didn't have a decision from Biola the next morning, I was going to be plenty ticked off (and maybe a nutjob).

But I woke up the next morning giddy like a kid on Christmas morning. It felt just like the things that happened to me during my California trek - real.. In fact, more real than most things. I woke up and ran to my phone to check my e-mail.. "If I don't have a decision from Biola, I am going to be seriously disappointed", I thought. I checked into hotmail, and lo and behold, there's the e-mail waiting for me from Biola, sent after-hours, with a decision on my file.

F

Bube in our flat

It appears I spoke too soon. Bube's sleep schedule is totally screwed up, but I have to be honest, it's working great for me.. Since I always work local Texas hours (where my office is), I work here from 2:00PM - 11:00PM. Ideally, I'll be up late and sleep in. Bube has been going to sleep around midnight and sleeping until like 11:00AM or later. Maybe he is just very sympathetic and wants to help dad work?

Ana and Bube arrived here sick, and as they are emerging victorious, I was slowly beat down by the same afflication, yet I am slowly now emerging victorious. I have yet to even find my first pub; it's so depressing.   

Look kids! Big Ben; parliament..



But two days ago Paula arrived from Italy, and yesterday Ana's mom & brother arrived as well.. My mom & dad were also supposed to arrive yesterday, however mom recently caught a cold, which turned into a cough, which turned into bronchitis, which appeared to be turning into something else.. Three doctors she spoke with advised her not to get on a plane in that condition, so they had to re-book their tickets. Luckily, it sounds like they'll be able to leave on Monday, so fate has failed at foiling our plans of finally bringing our families together for the first time. (did I just use 6 f-words in the same sentence? Why yes Batman, I did.)



Sunset from our apt

With Ben on a stroll to
his namesake



A cool looking pub that evaded my
tastebuds, but not for long.

Abroad Again

London Eye at Sunset from apt

Catching Up

Obviously, I haven't been doing so well with keeping up on our blog. But if you missed it, Ana birthed us a boy who increases in girth at an incredible rate, has already got more passports than I, and is now visiting his 3rd country: England! (unless you count all those little countries at Epcot, then he's been to like 10 or so, though it's hard to remember the number fully because they have beer at each country)



A week in Disney

We just got back from Brazil, which had us flying about 16 hours each way, but Ben was a fantastic little traveller for not even being half a year old. Only a couple weeks after coming home we zinged right off to Disney for a week, back home for a week, then shipped off to England. But he's always smiling. We really are blessed, and I am ashamed sometimes for not realizing this enough.

In the days prior to leaving, I came upon person after person who wants so badly to travel to a place like England, yet really is constrained for one reason or another from making it happen. It was humbling, and just yet again makes me ashamed for not counting my blessings. So for those of you, you'll have our first toast at the pub; and for those of you who want badly to travel to a place like England and aren't constrained, what are you waiting for?!

Apt view of Westminster Palace
(on left) and Big Ben (on right)

London

When I think of the British, the first stereotype I think of is their extreme hospitality and courteousness. I always thought it was just a stereotype (see European Vacation), but it's not.. Even all of the intersections with "Look Left" and "Look Right" painted on the pavement, obviously for tourists, are polite. I really don't think it's a stereotype. Er, if it is, it's not a bad one to have, is it? We've only been here a couple days and sometimes it's almost takes me by surprise how friendly the people are.

We will be here in London for 3 more weeks (with a long weekend in Belgium), then a month in Scotland (Edinburgh), then a week in Canterbury. In each locale we've rented an apartment, and if you research it enough, you can find apartments that rent for roughly what they rent for in the States.

Unfortunately the three of us are each a little sick, Ben has had a cough for about a week now, but hopefully he gets better soon. My greatest concern for the little guy was jet-lag, and while we've only been here one night, so far he seems to be only slightly affected. And of course, even when we're too tired to make him laugh, he's still got a smile & a chuckle up his sleeve ready to make us feel better.

Next week we'll have a full apartment here: Ana's Brazilian friend Paula comes in from her home in Italy on Tuesday, my parents the next day, along with Ana's brother & mom (who have never met my family) the same day, along with my parents the same day! Did I say we were blessed?

Earth, Wind & Fire stole my pen

Yesterday Ana wanted to take Ben and I out to the downtown area by the beach, walk around, find a place to eat, etc. We were going to take a cab but her parents wanted to go too, so they drove. There was a pre-Carnaval thing going on however, which made the place a madhouse; streets were closed, parking was futile, etc. So we eventually gave up and decided to find a restaurant more inland, away from the chaos; we ended up getting lost. We then happened upon a bar/restaurant that Ana and I had been to before. The place is like a Disney attraction. Think about when you walk into the Pirates of the Carribean ride, or one of the locales at the Epcot Showcase of Countries - all the different rooms celebrating culture of that particular theme. This place is similar. Inside the restaurant is a Church, saloons, houses, etc. It's quite impressive really.

As we walked toward the restaurant however, I could have sworn I heard what sounded like inner-city afro-american english. That just didn't make any sense though. What would american inner-city dudes be doing in Fortaleza? I dismissed it as we walked toward the restaurant. However when we entered, the place was completely empty aside from one table of black dudes speaking English. I froze in my tracks and just stared at them in bewilderment. It would be one thing if we were in a super-international city like Rio, but an interior restaurant in Fortaleza? I had to know.

"Where are ya'll from?" I asked.

"California. Where are you from?!"

(I always have trouble answering this question these days, but) "Er, Oregon, kinda. What are you guys doing here? Just visiting?" I asked.

"Oh we're performing here tonight. In fact we were just working up tonight's setlist."

One guy looked at me and said "You heard of Earth, Wind, and Fire?"

"Are you kidding? Of course!"

"Well this guy here wrote Let's Groove Tonight."

As it turns out, Earth, Wind & Fire have had like a hundred different members in their history, but these guys were some of them.

Incidentally they were a riot. Even Ana's parents - who couldn't understand a word of what they said - afterwards noted how funny they thought they were. They are, after all, performers, so it would stand to reason they'd be entertaining (in any language). We hung out with them for about half an hour while they had me in stitches, and while Bube watched on in wonder, and while Ana and her parents watched on in hunger. Turns out the restaurant was actually closed, so it was just us and Earth, Wind and Fire together at a table in there.

As it passed Bube's bedtime and none of us had eaten still, Ana and family grew a little restless. However Earth, Wind and Fire didn't want us to leave and did their best to convince us to stay and hang out with them. They fit in really well with Brazil - horribly fun, and are just as warm as family. During conversation each of them must have hugged me 2 or 3 times just because they liked something I said. Leaving took forever, because after you hug one person, another will feel left out and needs one. Then the previous will feel left out and needs another, etc. I think those of you that are Brazilian or know Brazilian culture will empathize.

Each of them gave me their personal business card, one wrote his cel phone number on it, one wrote his local phone number here in Brazil. They gave me a little poster of the night's show and I grabbed Ana's pen in her bag and asked them to autograph it, for evidence that this really happened (the photo above). We finally left, as I had demanded too much of Bube and family.

I walked out wondering what just happened. We came to Brazil and hung out with Earth, Wind and Fire, and they didn't give me my pen back after they autographed my little poster. Earth, Wind and Fire stole my pen in Brazil. But I suppose I can get another one.

Tension and Release

The past few days have been a little tense here. Ana mentioned one night that the police had gone on strike. I thought she was referring to the tiny group of private police that patrol her neighborhood, which didn't seem all that big of a deal. However when I started noticing it was all the news here was reporting on, I knew it was something bigger. Had the police force of the entire city (of 4 million) gone on strike, I asked? Well, no. The police force of the entire state had gone on strike. It became quite ominous here. The streets were empty everywhere. Friends that were going to come visit us all cancelled their plans until this was resolved. Even the public buses stopped running, as it was no longer safe to be on the unprotected streets. Most stores in the city shut their gates to the public as robberies were becoming commonplace. The Brazilian government even sent military forces here, which in America would be called a State of Emergency.

I have to be honest, I sometimes get cabin fever here. Whether my perception is illusory or not, I don't always feel the same freedom to just wander around aimlessly as I'm used to, especially now with Ben. This police strike just added to my cabin fever, which kind of culminated this morning when I just became a heaping Ubergrouch of a Bundt. My grouchiness was only compounded because I was knowingly breaking my own ideal of being able to be happy anywhere; that peace should come from within. The strike finally ended this morning fortunately, but I remained a grouch nonetheless for some reason.

We then came over to stay at Ana's sister's place, where we would meet Vladimir and Karinny, a married couple that Ana is very close with and has known for a long time. Ana has told me for years that she can't wait for us to meet, as she knew I'd love them. They live in Canada now but happened to be visiting the same time we are. They are that couple that you feel comfortable with immediately. We spoke in Portuguese for a while about travel, but when Ana mentioned I had recently applied for a Masters program in Science and Religion, everything changed to English (theirs is far better than my Portuguese) and Vladimir and I unkowingly forsook the women altogether. Vladimir is a fellow programmer who is also in love with theology and philosophy like I. We would have talked until tomorrow if there were no time constraints. The cool thing about meeting someone with these interests is that there becomes immediate brotherhood in milennia of shared thought. I would say even more so, theology and philosophy really being embedded in humans since consciousness began, these interests connect us at the deepest level. I was bummed when they left, but horribly thankful to have met them both.

And just like that, my cabin fever was gone. I was subsequently reminded of my cousin Brandon, whose life has been positively transformed more than I can explain, and honestly I think more than I've ever even heard of. As he explains, it is all only a result of his grasping onto spirituality for dear life. He notes that today his joy is in making new relationships and sharing in that shining light with others. Today proved his philosophy to me.