Friday, March 2, 2012

November 27th - Sunday

On Sunday we attended church in the morning in Vera Cruz ( a Recife congregation).
This is a view just outside the church.

Picture taken looking into the church.

There was a catechism class after the service.

The children had choir practice afterwards in a room next door.



For lunch we went back to the ATC (or CTA in Portuguese).


They have a little rabbit den on site.



They have big turtles - so cute!!!


and little itsy bitsy baby turtles.

I love turtles, but holding them not so much - hurry up and take the picture!!! 


After this picture was taken we all made a hurried entrance back into the house.  There was a HUGE (like the size of my fist) killer bee flying around.  If he stings you AND poops on you - you are DEAD.
I'm not sure what the likelihood of all that happening at the same time is but when you see a bee flying around as big as a small bird you don't argue with your guide!!!

In the early evening we attended church with the congregation named Dois Unidos (in Recife).
They meet on someone's back porch.  The owner keeps a boa constrictor underneath the deck to keep the rats away or rather I should say - to kill them.  I'm glad I found that out after the service and not before.
What a country!!!  

Since this was our fourth sermon in Portuguese we were surprised by our ability to understand the main theme and feel what Pastor K.was preaching to us.  
The evening services are very pleasant because it is cooler and thus easier to concentrate.

The house was on a hill and looked down into a valley. 
I had a funny experience after the service.  I became stuck in a hot, steamy bathroom.  I tried for about a minute to unlock the door and couldn't get it so I rattled it alittle harder and started to knock on it thinking that someone would eventually hear me.  I started to sweat from all the heat and wondered looking at the thick walls how I would ever get out if the door was permenately jammed.  Just as my imagination was going further to stories of "Canadian Woman dies in locked bathroom" a lady got the door unlocked for me.
Phew!!! What a relief and a breathe of fresh air as the smell was starting to get to me too. 
It would have been a really funny way to die and very fitting after such a beautiful, comforting sermon from Pastor K.

The road outside the house, going back up to where we parked for the service. 

November 26 - Saturday

This is not real stained glass (I was told after I took the picture - that it is just plastic) but it looked romantic anyway.  We went to visit the Bs in the morning and enjoyed our time with them and their family.

Some foliage we saw by looking from the deck into their backyard.  It's a jungle out there!!!

For lunch, we were invited to a church member's home - she lives in downtown Recife in an apartment with her parents.  As you can see they were very hospitable and we had a lovely time with them and enjoyed many authentic Brazilian vegetables and meats. 

Notice the Canadian flag especially for us???


At the end of the visit we were given these beautiful flowers - too bad we couldn't take them back to Canada!!!

These little pineapple plants are called "Mother-in laws Ear"  (or tongue??) .

We saw these upside down Christmas trees in the lobby for the apartment building.  There must be a story behind that.

On our second last day we are starting to look a tad brown wouldn't you say?

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Life over Winter

Visiting Cousin Iris born on December 29th.
Isn't she adorable???
Nadia seems so big comparably.
We noticed that she had a Faber nose.  For the rest she looks like her mother, InHee.
I love this picture from the summer and I was going to use it on our Christmas card and forgot.
Thanks to the Kooiman's for taking such a good shot. 
I also forgot if I had posted this yet or not so I just did it again!!

And here are some updated shots of the kids who you haven't seem in ages because I've been blogging about Brazil - only 3 days left on our trip to blog!!

So, yes here is proof that the children are alive and well.






These are all mostly from Aleana's camara as ours has been MIA for about 3 months now.
We got it back on Thursday!!!  Now you can look forward to more blogs :) - I hope. 
Greetings and may you have a blessed Sunday worshipping our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ!