Jabuticaba

Anybody ever seen a fruit that grows on the trunk of the tree?!

Now you have.  It's called Jabuticaba.  It's a sweet, gooey fruit that takes over the trunk of the tree.  You break the skin, eat the sweet, gooey inside and spit the seed out.  The darker and bigger the fruit the sweeter it is.  Those green ones aren't ready yet and are still pretty bitter tasting. 

Wonderful People

 We went to our first Brazilian soccer game, the national team was playing against China. They won 8-0! It was a huge stadium filled with energetic fans and waves of yellow and green. Here we are with our friends Camila, Diogo and Nicole.

One Wednesday night we had a huge group, we talked about Daniel and the Lion's Den, made these bookmarks on which we wrote phrases to help us remember to trust in God

 We helped our friend Riso teach an English class for adults.  Some of them were shy but they also asked us lots of questions and we ending with singing God is so Good.   Afterwards one of her students took us quickly by several different beaches

 We went out to sushi with some of our friends from Portuguese class, we had a mix of Japanese, Australian, French, Colombian and Brazilian friends all speaking Portuguese. 

We had our new neighbors, the three couples from church that live in the same apartment complex, plus a few other friends over for a big mexican dinner. One batch of our enchiladas was too spicy for some of them.  It was a lively night of community and laughter. We're thankful for these friends, they've been helpful with getting us set up in our new place. 

Caetano Veloso

Meet the newest member of our little home: Caetano! He is the most amazing of little cats, and speaks Portuguese! Taking his name from on of Brazil's most famous singers, Caetano Veloso, our little guy has quite the singing voice!

And here's a trailer from the moive that inspired his name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS8uhFa0MYg

This documentary is about Tropicalismo, a revolutionary musical movement in the late sixties that has had a lasting impact on Brazilian culture, even up to this day. I saw it on Monday in theaters and was much intrigued by the music and the passion. I was also excited because it was my first Brazilian national film to see in theaters, and I was able to follow fairly well with my limited knowledge of the beautiful Portuguese language.

Seasons

Happy October! So it's that time of year again... fall. The leaves are changing, the air is getting crisper... and yet here we are, tanning by the pool in the warm summer sun. It's strange not experiencing the fall weather. This will be the first time in my life that this beautiful season won't touch me. It's caused me to pause and think about the rhythms of life, the seasons, the cycles, how we are all affected by the passages of time, even if subconsciously.

Full Moon

And so from this end of the world . . . Happy Summer!

Jovens Retreat

At the jovens retreat in Belo Jardim, a city about 3 hours inland from Recife, it was cool, so we had to bring jackets and blankets and it was still cold.  Not cold, but 55 or 60 degrees. There were about 100 young people, ages 12-30, from all over the state of Pernambuco coming together for 3 days of lessons, praise, food, games and fellowship.  It was an interesting mix since there was a variety of teens and young adults so I felt like I was half participant and half helper.  I helped get our team get into the relays, games, building of spiritual armor and washing dishes. 

We got to spend quality time with people deepening relationships as well as get to know new friends. Annika and I were able to reconnect with some of the people we met from other cities two years ago. There were a few girls in particular I met and spent a good amount of time with, both of them didn’t know many other people, it was a blessing that God brought us there to cross paths and encourage each other.  

Sagui!

At a camp a few weeks ago a young girl asked a group of us if we wanted to go exploring the city during free time and see the monkeys.  My automatic response was "yes!"  I've lived here for 6 months now and the only monkeys I've seen have been caged monkeys in this park downtown.  So we all got ready and set out on our walk.

After walking a little while, we stopped in this little square and I asked her how much longer till we got to see the monkeys.  She looked up and pointed and there above our heads were like 5 Sagui monkeys hanging out in this little habitat in the tree in the middle of town.  Naturally, we bought bananas and tried to lure them down, but they were very skeptical.  Here's a video of the friendliest...or hungriest.

We moved!

Sorry it's been so long.  We've been without internet since we moved almost a month ago.  Which brings me to the exciting news for the day...WE MOVED! After lots of prayers, lots of talking, and lots of trying to decide between practicality and awesome neighbors--we decided to move.  We don't live on that crazy steep hill anymore in the middle of São Lourenço, but in an apartment building about 5 minutes away from the center of town.  There are definite advantages and disadvantages to both of the houses, but I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be living in this new community.  We now have room for people to come visit and stay with us...*hint hint*!