Some Brazil Pictures

Two very tired travelers waiting for our bus outside the Sao Paulo airport. We didn't arrive in Brazil on time to catch our connecting flight, so we spent the night in Sao Paulo. It was a

H-U-G-E ordeal but we called it an "adventure" and had fun for most of it! :) And, of course, the more exhausted we got the more slap-happy we got so we had a few good laughs while the good people of Sao Paulo stared at us sympathetically and wondered why the crazy, cackling foreigners had lost their minds.

The airport gave us a voucher for a hotel and--once we got there-- we really enjoyed our first Brazilian meal, a hot shower, and a soft bed! We ended up being glad we had missed our flight.

ON to Annapolis! Our friends Joel and Michawn live in central Brazil, and this is one of the beautiful views of their city. Such a pretty country.

Old meets new :)

Wow, the fruit in Brazil is amazing! Check out these mangos! One thing I did learn was to check said mangos for worms BEFORE taking several bites.

Yes, mangos can have worms. No, I didn't know that either.

Nate hangin' out with Grady. LOVE all the hammocks. :)

Joel is a missionary with Asas de Socorro, which I think is translated "Wings of Help." Their motto is "Giving Wings to Those Who Give Their Lives." Without organizations like this, much of the missionary work in Brazil would be nearly impossible. He took us on a tour of the hanger and Nate enjoyed working with him there several days.

Joel, Michawn and their adorable kiddos Grady, Hadley, Eissa, and Cass showed us such a wonderful time in Brazil! They were incredibly hospitable and they went out of their way to give us a lot of cool Brazilian experiences, like eating at this little market where my love affair with Pao de Queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) began. If I gained any weight in Brazil, it began right then and there.

Nate and I spent a day walking around downtown Annapolis and browsing the little stores and markets. Here he is checking out the tobacco (at least we guessed it was either that or hemp). I convinced him not to buy any.

Mmmmmm another love affair begun, but this time with churros (pronounced "choo-hoos")! THANK you Michawn! Move over, doughnuts. You got nothin' on your Brazilian cousins.

...And, more churros. Filled with creme` de leche`. Wowzers.

Cass, Eissa and I. Love these girlies!

The headquarters for New Tribe's Mission and Wycliffe in Brazil is located in Annapolis. Nate and I enjoyed visiting both places and talking with the missionaries there. We heard SUCH fascinating stories. I wish I could write them all out here. This picture is of a map hanging at NTM's headquarters showing the different known tribes in Brazil and the missionary presence (or lack thereof) in each. There are SO many tribes who have yet to hear!

CHECK OUT THIS PICTURE. This is just one of the tribal translations of the Bible that we got to see when we visited the Wycliffe headquarters. This is a tonal language, so that's why there are 1's, 2's, and 3's above each syllable of the words... to alert the reader to which tone should be used in reading this text. Can you even begin to imagine the type of work missionaries did to translate the New Testament in this language!? It boggles my mind.

This is a doomed chicken. He was very quiet, but kinda' glaring around at everyone like he was not enjoying the ride.

I hated to even think such a thing, but I'm pretty sure he was gonna be dinner that night.

We spent a day hiking to some waterfalls. SO gorgeous, I can't even describe it! Nate couldn't resist jumping into this pool. :)

Joel took us all the way to the top of the waterfall in the background. It was a breathtaking view...

This is one example of the exquisite flowers that we saw all around us. I had a little mini worship service when I saw this one. :) WHAT a Creator we serve!

Joel, Michawn, Nate and I flew to Puerto Velho in Northern Brazil for four days. There's a mission station in a remote area there, and a plane needed repair so Nate and Joel worked on it. It was really cool to see the Amazon and it's tributary rivers from the air. Speaking of Amazon, did you know there are a LOT of bugs in the Amazon jungle?

Yeah. There are.

This blue building was our housing on the mission base. Can you tell how pretty the jungle trees and the red dirt roads and the GREEN surroundings were? Really neat.

...And there were a LOT of bugs here.

A view of the mission compound. So beautiful! But lotsa' bugs.

...Oh and did I mention the bugs? This was a twig bug.  Sort of cute. :)

There are "bugs" and then there are "BUGS." This spider was in the kitchen. I found that a combination of strong Brazilian coffee and a tarantula do wonders for waking a person up FAST in the morning!

Incidentally, there were also some big bugs around that area. This one was dead so I was happy... but then I saw a live one. They call it a whip scorpion and I'm not sure why because it's not actually a scorpion- but it has some NASTY looking claws.

The mission station is located on Wood River.

I just loved this guy. Such a happy fellow, with this big grin, baling water instead of rowing the entire time I saw him. LOL!

We would call it poverty, but it's just normal life there.

The plane hangar on the mission base.

There's my bro!

It was exciting and rewarding for the guys, once the plane was fixed, to take it down to the river and give it a test flight!

Joel and Michawn... such a cool couple.

Anna Laura was one of the native missionary's daughters. She didn't speak any english but we had a blast together. She was SO stinkin' cute! :)

I took a jungle walk late at night with these crazy guys. Was glad a few of them had machetes. :) We saw a few alligators and... oh did I mention the bugs? They seem to multiply at night. I'm still scratching my mosquito bites from that night. :)

Just in case you didn't see the picture the first time.

He was IN OUR KITCHEN.

We're home now! And here is my awesome souvenir of the trip: a beautiful Brazilian hammock hanging in the room. They have these in all the homes in Brazil and they're really fun. Nate helped me to hang it, and I LOVE IT! In fact I'm sitting in it right now. :)

Nate and I made a Brazilian dinner for Mom and Dad, our Grandparents and my Uncle Tim a few days after we got home. It was surprisingly authentic tasting and we had so much fun cooking it together.

And of COURSE I have a few bags of Pao de Queijo mix, so I won't have to go without my Brazilian Cheese bread even though I'm home now. :)