On the 28th of February 2001, Buck and Luciene moved to the Amazon Basin of Brazil. We lived in Macapá, right on the equator. Why would a web designer give up his career and take his family from their comfortable life in Columbus, Ohio, USA, to live on the Amazon River? We came with a vision to save the Amazon, to tell people about Jesus, and plant a Vineyard church. We have planted a church, and we are turning it over to the national leaders, heading back to the States in Sept. 2009.

 
The culture shock seems to be getting less intense. At least a little. There are so many things that I have to teach the kids for survival in the US. I had to show them to put their finger quickly through the water, to see if it was hot, so they didn't burn themselves. We didn't have hot water in Brazil, only cold water.

I have had to show them how to dress in layers to be able to survive the cold weather. When you live on the Amazon River, that is definitely not a concern. We are getting used to wearing all those clothes. Coming from the Amazon, shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops were great. Now we have to get used to wearing three shirts, two socks, long-johns, coats, hats and gloves. We walk around like the pillsbury dough boy or something.

We have had fun seeing the animals that are different than what we were used to in Brazil, squirrels, raccoons, deer, and chipmunks. In Brazil, we would stop and look at the monkey road kills, here it is usually possum or raccoon with the occasional deer. We are having fun with the differences as much as possible, and enjoying teaching the kids about this new culture.
posted by Eduardo Buck at Monday, October 19, 2009