Osmel Almaguer's Diary Archives

My Take on Christian Communities in Curitiba, Brazil

I’ve steered clear of those churches that talk too much about money—those that collect tithes and then keep asking for more and more…

When I arrived in Curitiba, the first thing I was advised to do was open a bank account, so I could work officially and receive my payments.

When I lost my job, due to that position I had bet on and that didn’t work out, I had to start looking quickly.

When I arrived at the store where I was going to work, they added a new clause to the agreement we had made verbally just days earlier.

Someone who knows me and is launching a franchise of cellphone accessories and repair shops decided to take a chance on me…

We immigrants are united by a kind of common bond, born of our awareness of the other’s griefs: “I suffer, I miss, I have to limit myself…”

After a year and a half without taking a vacation, the butcher department manager where I work has taken a month off.

I can now afford to pay 170 reais a month for gym membership, but only because I decided to stop spending on sweets and soda.

I haven’t seen my mother in two and a half years. My wife hasn’t seen hers in the same amount of time. My father died while I was away…

A friend of ours still living in Cuba, recently wrote to us, nearly in tears, because his phone fell to the ground and the screen shattered.