Sophie's New Dress

So, I decided to take a few snapshots of our Sophie Love in her new dress.  I bought this dress yesterday at a boutique.  Today, she went to the groomer, so she is nice and clean and white and pretty.  Ok... I can admit that the hat is a little much; it's not really her style.  She is a PINK girl with a lot of SASS like her Mamma!

Paul is a little tired of the puppy wardrobe, but Mamma thinks it is too cute.

Day 21: Home Again

Ahh!  We're home!  We had two seven hour flights home.  One from Rio de Janeiro to Panama City and then to L.A.  We had a wonderful time.  We strengthened friendships, made new friends, experienced the culture, experienced food and enjoyed a second honeymoon while we were in Brazil.   Our trip was amazing and unforgettable. 

We're happy to be home though.  

The next few weeks are going to be very busy with Sara setting up her classroom and both of us going back to school. 

We're grateful to all the families who shared their home with us, who fed us and who spent time with us in Brazil. We love you all!

Now it's back to reality.  Here we go!  

Day 19: Rio de Janeiro

Today was our last full day here in Brazil.  We had a driver take us up to the Redeemer Statue, where we took pictures and enjoyed the view.  The weather today was perfect.  It was about 85 degrees with very few clouds. 

From the Redeemer, we drove to a place where we rode a cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain.  From Sugar Loaf Mountain, there is an amazing view of Rio de Janeiro; the beaches, the city and the favellas.  We ate an ice cream and walked around the top of the mountain.   

Our driver took us to a mall because we wanted to do some last minute souvenir shopping.  Mall shopping wasn’t really what we were looking for, but I found a really cute dress.  We took a taxi back to our hotel, and right in front of our hotel was a block full of street vendors selling souvenir type things.  Ugh!  We could have skipped the mall. Oh well.  We still found the perfect things to bring home. 

We went to the beach and put our feet in the water.  The sand is so clean and light feeling.  It is a completely different feeling to walk in the sand here than in Cali.  I got a coconut on the beach, and we went back to the hotel. 

We spent some time lounging by the pool until we were ready for dinner.  We ate at a pizzeria. We had to make one last stop before we go home.

We are looking forward to being home and seeing our family.  Tomorrow we will fly out of Rio at 12:00 P.M.  We will arrive in LA at 12:00 A.M. 

Days 16, 17 & 18: From Foz Do Iguacu to Rio De Janeiro

We woke up extra early to pick up Carlos and Fabio at the train station, with plans to go to Argentina to shop for a cuya and bomba (the cup and straw for the tea they drink here).  The two dodo birds forgot their passports, so our plans changed.  We visited a friend of theirs, who served us breakfast.  Then we were off to visit the bird park and the waterfalls.  The waterfalls are so massive and overwhelming; that none of the many pictures we took could do them justice.  It was raining most of the day, which made for a pretty foggy view.  Despite this, the experience was beautiful.  We ate at an Arabic stand, that served a pita bread wrap served with chicken or beef, pickles, onions, tomatoes and French fries.  After resting a while.  Carlos, Fabio and some of their friends picked us up to do some shopping at the street markets.  We found some good deals on coconut rings and a few other things, but for the most part, it’s the same stuff we see in Mexico.  We then went to eat at a pizzeria with this group of friends.  This was a dang good rodizio pizza place!  Then it was off for some sleep.

On Thursday, we slept in and went to an awesome bakery.  We then went to the waterfalls again.  Paul and I walked the path to the waterfalls because it was a much clearer day, which made for some great pictures. 

We took a boat tour to some of the waterfalls. This tour started with a jeep trip through the jungle.  We then walked about half a mile through the jungle to get to our boat.  This was a beautiful hike!  We got on our boat and started out for the falls.  I thought the waterfalls were overwhelming from far away, but it is a complete different experience when you’re practically underneath them.  The tour takes you to the smallest waterfalls and lets you stop for pictures, then up close to them to get drenched!  It was a very adventurous and romantic experience.  We had so much fun. 

We bought a hammock on our way back to the hotel to clean up for some dinner.  Paul was very thoughtful about which hammock to buy because of quality and the way we would have to get it home.  We picked one that is just our style.  I love it.  Oh yeah… our air conditioning got fixed, so our room was perfect. 

Dinner was at a churrascaria that wasn’t so great, but we still had fun.  We walked the mall and then went to bed.

Today, we took some time to make some space in our luggage and do a good job packing.  Our flight for Rio was scheduled for 4:30.  We checked out at noon and did some last minute shopping.  We found a soccer jersey for Sophie Love.  We ate another lunch at a churrasco.  Finally, I found some fried mandioca (yucca root)!      I think I’m ready to be a vegetarian when we get home. J 

Our flight was late, but overall went ok. It was after the flight, at the airport that things got stressy.  Our luggage was delayed an hour because we were coming from a place that borders Paraguay and Argentina, so many foreign items come in people’s luggage and it has to be scanned.  Then, our hammock didn’t get sent out with our luggage, so we had to go track it down.  Paul then had to walk very far to find a cambio to exchange our traveler’s checks.  What a slow start.  We finally got a taxi to our hotel.  The driver freaked me out! 

Luckily our hotel was even better than we expected.  It’s right on the beach and we have a balcony with a beach view.   It is so beautiful!  We walked to a hot dog stand for some dinner and found a little street fair with live music and food.  We ate a fried pastry and listened to music.  We stayed a bit and Paul got antsy because it was getting late.

We’re settled in now and are gonna get some sleep for our tours of Rio tomorrow.  Only two more nights until we’re home.  Yay!

Day 15: Foz Do Iguassu

Ugh! It's so late (1:30 A.M.), but I promised myself I wouldn't miss another day of writing.

Today, Marli made us a huge breakfast with fresh eggs from her family's ranch.  Yummo!(I hate Rachel Ray!)  Miled and Marli took us to a pet store where we bought a brazilian hoodie and hair bows, and a dress for Sophie Love.  

We still had to pick up the dress that Zeni and Dona Maria made for me, so we drove over there before going to the airport. Wow, we had no idea they had been working all morning on lunch for us.  Unfortunately, we had to be on a plane in an hour and could not stay to eat with them.  We felt so bad! (They didn't tell us though!)  Anyhow, we tried to apologize as much as possible, but we know they were dissapointed.  The dress is very cute; black and white floral print, cotton, t-length, wrap boddess.  Most of all it is the generosity that is so special.  They put a lot of time and love into this project and I feel very lucky to be the recipient of that.  

Miled and Marli went with us to see us off.  They are amazing people; hard working, generous, loving and fun.  We had such a great time at their home last night and spending time with their family.  We love them!

Our flight was fine.  Only a one hour flight, but we got a meal.  Better than a flight in the states!  We had luck getting an automatic car and traveling well to our hotel.  We havent' had much luck with our hotel rooms, unfortunately.  We can't seem to be able to find a room that isn't smoking, has only one bed, doesn't smell like urine, and has a working air conditioning.  We're in our third room for the night, and are hoping we will be moving back to our 2nd room tomorrow when the air conditioning is fixed. 

We went to a cultural dinner show tonight.  Lots of show girls with boobie tastles and glittery thongs!  The place was not as good as we had hoped, yet we still had a fun date night.  

We're obviously having a fantastic time, but we are both looking forward to being back home and with our family.  

Day 14: Curitiba

I'm all caught up.  So, today we drove back to Curitiba to have lunch with Miled, Marli, and Monica.  Another churrasco, which is no problem for us.  We were able to get to know Monica better today, and love her already.    She took us to a great mall, where we found some gifts for her parents and a few random stuff for ourselves.  

We stopped by Mauricio and Karin's house because they had called to tell us that they bought us a wedding gift.  It was a key hook that is the shape of a house.  Really sweet!

Marli made stroganoff, paul's favorite for dinner.  For dessert. it was a fruit salad with Avocado, papaya, and pineapple.  I am starting to get used to this sweet avocado stuff.  

We're staying at Miled's house over night and will leave for Foz do Iguassu tomorrow.  Boa Noite!

Day 13: Ponta Grossa

On Sunday, we packed up and drove to Ponta Grossa to meet with Anna Paula’s family.  They fed us lunch and we hung out.  They were really generous. 

They have a very large family, so when Paul told stories about their family, I always got people confused.  So meeting them all and putting faces to names was a relief.  It was great.  

Day 12: Curitiba

Paul and I walked to the bus stop a few blocks down from our hotel to catch a bus to the train station for our trip to Morretes.  Morretes is an old village that is known for barriado meat, which is cooked for 24 hours.  So, we barely missed the bus and did not have time to wait for the next one so we started walking and looking for a taxi.  None were open.  We ran back to the hotel to get our car.  When they brought out our car I noticed there was a scratch on our rental car.  We didn’t have time to deal with it because we were about to miss our train!  We ended up being the last people to board the train with two minutes before they left.  Even worse, Elisene’s whole family was waiting for us because we had everyone’s train tickets.  Phew!  We barely made it. 

The train ride was three hours and through the jungle.  Our view of the jungle was breath taking.  When we got there, we went straight to the restaurant where they taught us how to mix the ingredients for the meat.  Umm… I don’t like it but Paul does.  I enjoyed the view we had of the lake and the town, and the company of course! 

We all of a sudden saw Mauricio in the restaurant.  Paul had invited them, but they never said yes or no about coming.  It was a great surprise.  We shopped and walked to town together. 

Mauricio and Karin invited us all over for dinner, and of course we accepted.

We took a bus back to Curitiba and slept all the way home.  When we got back, Paul and I walked to the world market and bought the stuff to make guacamole for the dinner.  Mexican food is non-existent here.  Most everyone has never had any kind of Mexican food.  Ugh!  It’s actually the first thing we want to eat when we come home.  Also, avocado here is eaten sweet, like in smoothies.  They had never had avocado salty.  It was a hit! 

Karin made a chicken wrapped in cheese and ham and covered in a creamy tomato sauce, rice, beef, and broccoli.  We sat around eating candy and talking until really late.

We took Elisene and her family home.  This was a very sad goodbye.  Paul developed a very strong friendship with their family while on his mission and they have kept in constant contact over the past four years.  This week, I was brought into that relationship and I love them.  I too built a strong bond with them and had a very difficult time saying goodbye because we don’t know when we’ll see them again.  We all stood in the front of their house hugging and crying and talking about how much we love each other.  Above all experiences while being here in Brazil, getting to know them was the most special. 

Paul and I went back to our hotel very heavy hearted, but grateful for the opportunity to have been reunited with them.

Day 11: Curitiba

Friday I had another interview, which went really well.  I was glad I went through with it.  After the one on Wednesday, I didn’t want to have another interview ever again.  This one seemed promising; its for a classroom just like the one I worked in last year. 

Later we visited friends, Luciano and Rubia after running into them at Elisene’s apartment.  Elisene fed us canjica, a homony and coconut milk dessert.  We stopped by Mauricio and Karin’s home.  They have three beautiful children, who we hope our kids look like.  Their kids gave us the traditional kisses on the cheek and refer to us as tio and tia.  We adore them!

We ordered pizza and stayed really late eating and talking.  

Day 10: Curitiba

On Thursday, we ran errands in the morning to pick up clothes and buy tickets for our train ride on Saturday. 

In the afternoon, we went to a ranch that Marli’s parents live on.  Paul and I immediately mentioned to eachother that the ranch reminded us of grandpa because of the beautiful garden.  They grow a wide variety of vegetables.  They have cows (two of which are baby twins) and chickens.  We toured the ranch.  The house is higher than the rest of the land.  From the house, it is trees as far as you can see.  We took lots of pictures.  We picked pinhao and roasted them.  We drank chimarrao, which is a tea that traditionally is passed around in the same cup.  The herbs are packed down into the cup and you drink through a straw that has a filter at the bottom.  Even Paul liked it!

This was another very late night, but very much enjoyed.