Finally Some Brasil Stories

Well actually for the long anticipated funny ones they have to be told in live person so this is just more going to be about the trip.

It was amazing.

One of my friends asked me if it was life changing or was just a good experience. My immediate response was well it was both. There were parts that were fun and a good experience but there were also parts that were life changing. However, as I have thought about this - really I think it is those parts that seem life changing that are really up to me if they are life changing or not.

Anyway, wether my motivation is to not have to detail this trip 100 times to everyone (not that I don't want to its just time does not allow) or that I would like to document some of the memories and I'm a faster typer than writer at this point either way I plan on posting over the next several days a documentary of our trip.

Day 1 - Day 2 - Up early and for those of you who know me this is not my strong suit getting up at 5 AM immediately getting in a van and driving for three hours where I cannot move around but I survived and there are some adventures with security, stairs at the DFW airport, and sitting by people on the plane that will have to reserved for live conversations!!! But we made it to Sau Paulo and through inspections and customs with some funny stories that again have to be told live but without getting arrested by Brazilian police yelling at us in Portuguese so I would say we made it safe and sound. We then had two goals in mind - get baby Jack some milk (aka Jana nursing him) and change some money. We soon discovered that one of our members could not locate her wallet and after a frantic search it was off to the Brazilian police to report a

missing wallet somewhere between Washington Dulles and Sau Paulo, Brazil. Who knows whose hands that is in but one good thing (that I actually at first was laughing at) she had her passport in one location and her money and credit cards in another so she managed through all of that to still have her passport.

We then made it through another plane ride - keep in mind we are on hour about 36 and I have not had a shower and one other thing we found out in Brazil you can't flush toilet paper and so it was run into the bathroom hold your nose while squatting and then add to the mess in the trash can that yes indeed did not have a lid on it!!!

Once in Recefi and through customs and immigration and retrieval of luggage we walked out and Jana and Baby Jack were rushed by her family. It was so sweet as this is the first time her mom or siblings have seen Jack. In the U.S. Jack does not really like people to hold him but it was like he was home in Brazil; he let all of his cousins touch him and play with him and he was giving them his open mouth kisses and he let Jana's mom and sister hold him. It was a relieve to know he was so comfortable.

We then figured out how to squeeze all of us and our 14 huge bags of luggage not to mention all the carry ons into a tiny car and what I affectionately termed the van mobile. We managed somehow and off to our Pousada (hotel) which I was expecting a plain hostel turned into individual rooms. This is what greeted us:

It was so cute and my room was great; my room all to myself which those of you who know me know I loved having some time alone at night. After unloading our luggage we then went to eat at a restaraunt that is famous in Brasil and if you have ever been to Texas de Brazil then you know where we went although I'm sure it has to be better when local!!! We then went to the beach where again those of you who know me well knew I was enamored by the crashing waves; not so much by the big roaches or the big rats running around the rockwall separating the beach from the street but I survived. Then we went to the local street market and then I crashed into my bed and although it was not soft like my bed at home I was so exhausted I slept like a baby!!!

Our greeting to Recife was awesome and I slept with the excitement of the adventures our next week would bring.

At the Restaraunt and Daniel holding Jack while I entertained him at the street market.