3.5 days in Brazil!

Bom Dia! (pronounced: bone gia!)

Well, I have now successfully have lived 3.5 days in Brazil. Can you believe it!?! I am a world traveler. I have even made it down the road (about from 1228 Evergreen to Old Main) walking to the supermarket and BACK with groceries by myself. Joseph is at his first day of work, and I went shopping for the essentials that he forgot last week before I came: ie cream rinse, salt and pepper. But I couldn't find pepper and the thing of salt is hopefully salt. It looks like it and it says SAL on the front. So hopefully i got the right thing. The supermarket is an adventure. they have very limited things - compared to the US and it is in about half the space. there are people everywhere! It is so packed in there that I feel like I am in everyone's way. It is a bit intimidating for a first-timer. But I did it successfully.

I blend in pretty well. The hair dye made a big difference. the white skin is okay because there are lots of non-beachers who are almost as white as me. As for the blue eyes, Joseph says we need to get sunglasses to become invisible (everyone wheres them). The only thing that stands out are my shoes. I have only seen one other pair of chacos and they were on Joseph's feet. All the women wear sandals with heals! now how in the world I am supposed to master that one? sandals aren't my first choice of shoes let alone with heals! I am in for it!. Yesterday I did wear my high heal (about 1.5 inch) to church and got the heal part stuck in the cobble stone sidewalks several times. it will take some getting used to. I am waiting until Joseph comes home to venture out again. It is getting later in the day, so there are more people out and about.

The church is right around the corner from us. It is so great. That has been by far my favorite part of my Brazilian life. We went to church and first was Relief Society. I was nervous to let go of Joseph's hand and go alone, but as soon as I walked in (and got the kiss kiss on each cheek - I wasn't expecting that!) the sisters recognized that I didn't speak Portuguese, so Jenette (pronounced jan-eh-che) came to sit by me and translate everything. She even teaches Portuguese classes! She is the wife of an area seventy as well. Wow, she was wonderful. The Relief Society has at least 31 sisters, I couldn't count the ones in YW or primary of course. And let me tell you, they are by far the friendly-ist people I have ever met. I have several phone numbers and email addresses from sisters who say "Call if you need anything." Isn't that wonderful! They are great!

We got through until sacrament, and it was fast Sunday of course, so I couldn't understand a word of it, but the spirit was so incredibly strong. And it is like a singles ward, as soon as the bishop sits down, about 20 people stand up to bear their testimony. But not like a singles ward where everyone says how great their roommates are, these people tell what they know to be true. It was awesome. Some new friends invited us to go to Sunday dinner with them. Oh my heck, I was already excited to eat Brazil food, but wow, this was divine! Beans, rice (still my favorite part), salad (made up of lettuce, clover-looking-things, spinach, and some other leafy green stuff), mashed potatoes that was almost like soup, and some beef roast of some kind. It was SO good! Oh, I forgot the farofa. it is the spiced yucca root stuff that is fabulous! The food is just wonderful - I wish I knew how to cook it. We have been eating good ole stir-fry and scrambled eggs. :) The juices are so different that they are amazing, especially their mango and lemonade. Wow. I am getting hungry.

After spending the entire afternoon with Jose and Daneilli, we went back to the church for RS choir practise. On the 25th of this month they are going to have a RS production, and so they are practising. Wow, the church is a hopping place. Joseph says that it is a social gathering place for the local saints. It was great to be apart of it. I have no idea what they talked about, but the songs were some of the old YW ones I used to sing.... Walk Tall your a daughter, As Sisters in Zion, and some others that I can't think of right now. The music director has given me a CD to practise to and will meet with me this week to teach me the pronunciations. I am so excited! And tell Amy that I won't sing too loud - even if I sing at all! I can't say - let alone sing Portuguese!

Oh, we live in an apartment that overlooks the bay. It is so beautiful! I love looking out my window everyday. But because we live right on the beach, there is a main road (several actually) that runs right in front. I can handle city life for 3 months but I will sure love the quiet nights and not having to wear an eye-sleeping-cover-thing because of the bright lights. But to get back to my story. We went running along the beach twice now and wow, it was so breath-takings. I am running at the base of famous pictures! Sugar Loaf and the Christ the Redeemer! It is so neat. And even along the running path, there is a place to lift weights. The weights are made of poles stuck in buckets or cans, then concrete poured around it. They are all different shapes and sizes. There are pull-up bars, ab-slantly-things, double bars, etc., all over. And this is a hopping place! The men who are there working out are MACHO huge! so I don't actually do the weight lifting, I am on the other side doing the ab stuff, while Joseph is lifting concrete weights. But, wow, It is awesome!

Well, my stories are coming to an end. I can't think of anything else to say. I am learning Portuguese slowly but surely, Joseph is absolutely great at speaking it. It is so cool to hear. I can't wait until I am bi-lingual. It is so helpful! Well, I am in the middle of deep cleaning my apartment. We don't have a problem with ants or bugs, but I don't even want to give them the chance! So, I have a cleaning schedule. Every three days, some part of the house gets a deep clean. It rotates. Mondays is the living area, Tuesday is the bathroom, Wednesdays is the kitchen, Thursday is living area, etc... So I need to finish it so I can eat some BEANS AND RICE! Yum!