Great news!

There is finally word on the status of my visa! It has supposedly been approved today in Brasilia, and they will send word to the consulate in Chicago, and the Chicago consulate will pass my visa off to my parents, who will then drive it to me in Akron to say goodbye one last time! Hoorah!

It feels very strange though. I have almost gotten settled in here, and since I wasn't sure how temporary this arrangement would be, I decided to fully invest myself here, not wanting to risk losing valuable time for living and being joyful in life. Because I have really jumped in to the community here, it feels very strange leaving so soon. But then again, I didn't do SALT to live in Akron. I did it to work in Brazil:-)

Today, I spent the day at the Material Resource Center once again, where I finally learned how to weave rugs! The rugs are made from old pairs of jeans and corduroys cut into long skinny strips, and also neckties. They are woven together on huge looms, which I have been eyeing ever since I got to MRC. Today I finally asked the kind man (Roy- whose last name is awesomely enough Weaver) if he would be willing to teach me, and sure enough, he was! He gave my my own loom to work on, and I made about 1.5 rugs.

I thought I should post some pictures today, since pictures are the best part about blogs. Although the pictures aren't of tarantulas and rain forests quite yet, they do give you a glimpse into what I've been up to around Akron.

Me and Anya with our Brazilian friends at orientation


Crazy pic with some of the IVEPers and YAMENers :-)


Do you like my hat? (It's Puthehi's from Lesotho)


Music team for the closing service of orientation.

Me with my first rug! (and my faithful teacher Roy)