Our Last Brazilian Post

We have exhausted our time on the beaches of Brazil! We are getting ready to fly back to Campinas tomorrow, will spend 2 more days at Junior and Roberta´s, then off to Sao Paulo, Mexico, and then VEGAS! Please pray for good weather and safe flights all the way home! We love and miss you all!

The Escape!

If you´ve been following our random posts on Facebook, we spent the last 5 days in Recife...it´s known for its coral reefs which are only visible by plane or helicopter. It rained for the first 3 days, and we spent most of our time at the largest mall in town, Shopping Recife. It´s huge! Over 400 stores a movie theater with I think 15 screens. We watched "legendado" movies, which are the American movies with Portuguese subtitles. We watched almost all of the movies that were in English because of the rain. On our last full day in Recife, Aaron and I played around in the incredibly warm waters of the Atlantic. We visited a place called Porto de Galinhas, which is a place that most Brazilians identify as paradise. Roughly translated it means port of little chickens, but we didn´t have the pleasure of seeing any. So back to my narrow escape and Recife...Aaron and I were playing in the ocean having a grand old time when all of a sudden I feel a heavy jagged force plunge into the front of my right ankle. Keep in mind, Recife is not only know for its reef, it is also know for it´s shark-infested waters. I lift my right foot up and see that the salt water didn´t mix well with whatever happened to my foot. I looked down to see my foot dripping with blood. I checked to see if there were teeth marks, but as Aaron and I swam back to the beach I looked back only to find a random piece of ocean debris; I think it was a piece of wood from a pirate ship...or not :) We finished off the night by eating our most satisfying meal throughout this whole month at a place called Gios and caught the last showing of GI Joe. The local cab driver said it was an Italian place, but it was actually a really nice restaurant/pizzeria with a variety of food. Aaron and I have been eating a bunch of Brazilian flavors, and just wanted a taste of something remotely close to the food served in the states. We splurged and got chips and salsa, chicken tacos, potato skins, a Caesar salad and I opted for a steak. Holy cow! Everything tasted like it was supposed to. As for GI Joe, Aaron says it had good graphics and we both thought the story line was kinda cheesy. I say it was pretty good, but maybe wait for it to come out on Redbox.

Now we´re in Fortaleza. We splurged again and are staying in a super nice hotel. We got so lucky and planted ourselves in the most perfect place for both of us! Our hotel is right between a McDonald's and a Pizza Hut. We´re stoked! We opted for pizza tonight, and to our surprise our food tasted the way it was supposed to again. Not only that, but the Pizza Hut has free Internet! Woohoo! (As long as we eat here.) Not only that but we have a room with an ocean view and we´re right across the street from the beach which turns into a swap meet of sorts in the evening. We´re having fun, but we are also anxious to get back to reality back home. Pictures to come probably when we get back! All is well! We appreciate your prayers for good weather and a safe return to Vegas!

At the Copa...Copacabana!

So we´re in our final hours here in Rio de Janeiro. The day is absolutely gorgeous! This is a wonderful change from the endless rain, dirty clothes and freezing weather...well not freezing I suppose. We found a lavanderia right next door to our hotel and got a chance to wash all of our clothes for a pretty good price. We ventured up to see ¨Christ the Redeemer¨ yesterday and we got nothing but clouds, rain and a cold breeze. It was 0% visability, but we got some pictures of the feet and a shadow of the arms; most of it looked like clouds. Nonetheless, we may try a second attempt to see it today if time permits. In the mean time, we´ve spent most of the day on Copacabana drinking fresh orange juice and coconut water straight from the coconut! It´s been so much fun doing almost absolutely nothing! :) Aaron has been great keeping me safe and well fed. He says his throat is still scratchy, but he feels ok. He hasn´t gotten sick, except for the one flight from Campinas to Curitiba (His stomach flip-flopped around too much in the turbulance and up-chucked in his white hat--this was a few days ago. No worries--we got through the last 2 flights in peace and saftey.)

To keep my family´s mind at ease, I´ve gotten a hold of my resume and have been trying to apply for jobs through the internet. So hopefully by the time we get back I will get a call for an interview. Keep praying! We love you all and miss Las Vegas very much! We will continue to keep you updated!