November, if you are unaware, is National Novel Writing Month–the challenge is to write 50,000 words in thirty days. Back in 2006, I wrote a little story that eventually turned into After the Service. This year, I’m writing a sequel to that book–and I’ve got company. I’ve managed to con three other teachers (including my lovely wife) into undertaking this remarkable task along with me. Fully one half of the secondary core teaching faculty is going to be cranking out 1,666.67 words every day for the entirety of next month.

Most of my NaNoWriMo (as it is affectionately known) blogging will be done at a brand new website–the Goddard Publishing Blog. I hope you’ll make your way over there and watch the creative process unfold, but regardless, you can keep track of my progress towards the goal with this nifty little widget here. Wish us luck!

Sure, it seems like a silly holiday, and it occasionally strays into less-than-savory territory, what with the witches and all. But it turns out that Halloween serves a vital role in the American calendar.

Here in Brazil, they don’t really celebrate Halloween–their costumed holiday is taken care of by Carnaval in February. And what that means is that there is no barrier preventing them from hauling out the 40-ft Christmas trees on October 20. Or filling Wal-Mart with tinsel, fake trees and enormous boxed fruitcakes when there’s still 17% of the year to go before the big day.

Also, in most parts of the US of A, people resent Christmas decorations being put out before the weather is behaving at least a little Christmassy. Of course, here in Brazil, it never gets Christmassy, so that’s not a barrier, either.

And so I find myself, one who is typically happy to crank up the carols immediately after Halloween, flailing helplessly against the onrushing tide of wreaths, angels, fir trees and snowmen. Yes, snowmen. In Rio de Janeiro. In summer.

This is a strange country, sometimes.

It’s been way, way too long since we posted anything, so I’m going to give a quick recap of the more interesting events of the last month or so:

• The US Dollar went crazy. Economic crisis? Not for us. When we got here in January, one US Dollar was worth about 1.8 Brazilian Reals (pronounced “HAY-ice”. No, seriously.). Over the course of the year, it slowly but steadily dropped, bottoming out at 1.55 or so about the time we arrived back here in August. It bopped around at about 1.55-1.65 for a while, until it suddenly went insane. It peaked at R$2.40, and today is at R$2.12. It has made living here much, much more affordable, which has been a major blessing.
• Speaking of blessings, lots of people have been very generous—thanks so much to all of you who are helping us pay for our transportation. We’re good now on paying for the (surprisingly expensive) flight out here, and are well on our way to paying for our eventual flight back. There are thank you postcards waiting to be mailed.
• We finished First Quarter. It doesn’t seem like we’ve been here that long (hence the unmailed postcards), but we have. Crazy.
• Goddard Publishing has its second book out—Edelsha by T. James Belich. It’s high-quality fantasy—geared for young adults, but enjoyable for those both older and younger. And if you prefer mystery to fantasy, my own After the Service is still available.
• Lorraine’s guitar is not fixed yet, but she is still able to play it. She played it for worship last Sunday, for the first time in Brazil.
• Last week, I went to a Brazilian national team soccer game at Maracana, Brazil’s most famous soccer stadium. (Lorraine did not go, because the game started at 10 pm on a weeknight, and she is more sensible than I am.) Soccer here is like a religion, and Maracana is The Temple. It’s a remarkable eperience: loud, festive and—recently—incredibly frustrating. Because Brazil, apparently is incapable of scoring a goal at home. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. That’s right—90 minutes of soccer, and nobody scored. One of the teachers here has been to three games—each one of them ending in the same ignoble way.
• We’ve started taking Portuguese classes at the school—after school, Mondays & Thursdays. This has been nice, because, while we’ve learned plenty informally, it’s nice to have a time set aside to actively learning a language–and to have someone we can ask questions about it. Lorraine’s skill at pronunciation is beginning to overtake my Spanish-enhanced vocabulary. Today at church, she startled a woman by telling her that she didn’t speak very much Portuguese. The woman, with whom Lorraine had had an conversation last week, had assumed she was Brazilian! (This rarely happens to me, but I suspect it has less to do with my language skills, and more to do with my… lets call it my melanin phenotype.) In related news, I got a Portuguese-English interlinear Bible, which has been really cool.
• Lorraine just baked a pie. Mmmm… pie.

I think that pretty much sums things up. We’ll try to do a better job keeping you all posted over the last part of 2008. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us–we need plenty of it. God bless!