Brazil-Salvador

LAST BRAZIL DESTINATION: BEACHES of SALVADOR

We guessed we would need a bit of vacation from our Brazil vacation so we hit the beeches last. It was a good call. We were both exhausted and feeling the effects of the "cuisine" by this time so a nice lawn chair by the ocean was a quite welcome respite. We arrived in Salvador after another long flight on TAM and after a golf cart driver drove us to our room, Q headed strait for the hammock on our porch.

It was a nice resort but much to the chagrin of Quinn, it was a family resort. Hence, not many hot Brazilian bikini babes. Oh, there were plenty of bikinis, but they were definitely NOT on hot babes. I must add that I ascertained not a little satisfaction from Q's predicament. I was thrilled! I told him he couldn't complain much because I am his wife and I was sitting right next to him. FYI: A Brazilian swimsuit consists of a string or two and is stretched across ANY size of body whether male or female (GROSS!). The pools were awesome though and so warm.

This was the point in the trip when I couldn't handle anything but watermelon. I ate nothing but watermelon for three days. It was all I could bare to choke down. Q, on the other hand, tried everything whether he felt queasy or not. He paid for it though. He contracted some horrible virus that we thought was a parasite. It put him in a miserable state of pain and out of commission for an entire month after we returned to the states and he had to see several doctors. Things were bad for me too but nothing near Q's suffering state. In Brazil, every restaurant is a buffet and sanitation is not a priority.

We were at the resort during New Years and flew out on New Year's eve so it was packed and people were ready to party. In Brazil, especially Salvador, everyone heads to the beach to celebrate. By the time we left, it was crazy. The freeway to the beaches was backed up for miles and miles with people trying to get here. We were so stoked to get a normal meal on AeroMexicana that we weren't sad at all to leave just before the big celebration (now that's desperation). It was a great trip, but it was exhausting!

Q loved the beeches. The finest sand for yards and yards out into the ocean. It was a nice beach. People stared at us though because we were wearing so much fabric. I was the most modest person on the beach by a long shot... including the men who wear tiny itty bitty speedos. The kids only wear bottoms (girl or boy) and the flesh fest was disgusting. Still, not as bad as when I lived in Spain where all the women go topless. I will not be taking Q back to Spain any time soon. He'll have to make due with fat old people in stringy bikinis. Oh how I love modesty!

Our check out was a little tricky. Good thing Q is fluent in Portuguese. Honestly, there is absolutely no way you could vacation or survive Brazil without a linguist. Maybe this is why we were the only foreigners in most of the places we went. The airport was an hour away from our resort so it was an ordeal to get anywhere. Just as we were leaving, our pet Iguana came out to say good bye.

HOME SWEET HOME!

This Starbucks hot chocolate is my first real food in over 17 days! I was so excited and sat right down there on the LAS airport floor to enjoy the spoils of America. This, incidentally, was just after we looked out the window and saw a Hawaiian Air flight take off. At that moment we decided two things:

#1) We would only take domestic vacations for the next two years.
#2) We would book a vacation to Hawaii as soon as we got home.

So far we've held true to our word. We were in Hawaii 2 months later. I kept humming the Battle Hymn of the Republic all through the airport and was tempted to kiss American soil when we got off our flight. In fact, we cut our Mexico City day short and booked an early flight back to the states. Brazil was great- a true adventure, but oh how I love America.
Pictures from our recent Hawaii trip to come!

We stopped at an American grocery store before we went home which is why Q looks so happy. He knows real food is on its way. He's also stoked about his fury face which he can never have in the real world because of his job. This is only a week's worth too because I made him shave for church in Brazil.

...And that, my friends, is our Brazil Adventure in a nutshell!
One more item to cross off our bucket list*.

*Bucket List: Things to do before we get a kid and have to face reality.

Brazil-Cefer

CEFER:

Our last day in the Porto Alegre area was spent in Cefer. We figured out the public bus system and rode it to the very very last stop in the city. Cefer is in the mountains and it is quite dangerous (especially for a couple of gringos who look lost and confused).
{Above} Q at the bus stop/Q at Cefer's version of "Walmart"

{Below} Once the bus driver kicked us off the bus in the middle of ...who knows where, we traipsed around some ifish barrios to try and find a family he used to live with. This was probably the most miserable part of the trip for me because of the heat, humidity, and hills. Before I knew it, Q would be blocks ahead of me and I could tell we were being watched from porches and windows (with no glass). It was kind of scary, especially after we found out about some muggings at gun point that happened recently on the exact street we were wandering.
Finally some cute girls (naked and peeing in the street) showed us a house the men in black with name tags go to and we gladly gave them some cookies in return for their directions. They were delighted!

This is the family Q used to live with. He lived on the top floor {above} and I was left speechless. He says they don't send sister missionaries to this area. Overlooking this part of the city, Q showed me endless hills he tracted every day. At this point, just when I thought I couldn't be impressed with him anymore, I developed a profound and total awe of Q. I repeatedly asked him, "HOW DID YOU DO THIS?!?!"

The Lacerda family is AMAZING! Slowly almost all of them have become active with temple attendance and goals. We sat in this entryway the entire day while they talked with Q. This little boy is Gus (3) and he is crazy and so cute! He kept asking me questions and trying to talk to me. He just couldn't figure out why the American girl wouldn't answer him in a language he could understand.

I had a difficult go of it this day because of heat and hydration. We sat in the entryway for over 7 hours. Q was a bit mad that I let it show but I told him I'm just glad it didn't end in me being unconcious. I can't believe the humble circumstances these people live in and yet they are so happy and full of contentment and joy. I also could not believe them when they said it actually gets hotter! We sat for hours and hours in the heat while I sweated half my body weight off and everyone else (including Q) appeared as though it was all normal, nothing wrong. I am amazed by them.

{Below} They insisted on driving us to see the temple and back to our hotel. We were so worried because their gas tank was a empty and we knew they didn't have any money to get back home. I couldn't believe their selflessness. They didn't care what happened to them, they only cared about Q and helping us. Their faith is inspiring and unmovable. Their tears at the temple grounds were so touching. I wish I could be more like them. It was difficult for Q and I to step back into our 5-star hotel room after spending the day in humble Cefer. The guilt gave us both a restless night. We did leave them some money for gas but we wished we had more cash on us. We gave them all we had and it still didn't feel like enough.

Brazil-Ipenema

Sunday in Ipenema:

It took an extremely long and expensive taxi ride across Porto Alegre to get to Ipenema (one of Q's mission areas) but it was worth it. We got to church and discovered that Relief Society and Priestood were first. I bravely told Q that I would be going to R.S. on my own and, even though I couldn't understand a lick, the spirit of the Brazilian sisters was palpable. Twenty minutes into the meeting Q popped his head in and pulled me out. The really AWESOME missionaries wanted us to walk with them to contact an inactive family Q baptized and see if we could get them to come to church. Q was so excited! Have you ever tried to keep up with the missionaries in a million degrees going up a hill into the barrios? There were a few times I thought I wasn't going to make it!
{Above} The missionaries let Q do the knocking. When the family inside asked who it was, they said "missionaries," but when they opened the door and discovered just which missionary it was, they screamed joy to high heaven! The mom kept saying, "I just knew something good was going to happened soon!"

{Above} This is one of Q's favorite families. We talked for over an hour and yes, they did agree to come with us back to church! The youngest boy was a baby when Q baptized them.

They changed into their Sunday best and walked to church with us. This is a new church right at the bottom of their street and they haven't been to church in so long, they had never been to this building. Q couldn't get over how nice the chapel is.

{Below} At church, Q met up with some other member friends (who were all SO excited to see the family we brought with us). This is Q with Emerson who talks to Q on facebook and Mano (Vladmir)who graciously drove us around Ipenema after church to see of Q's area.

{Above} This is a man Q baptized that we found after church. He is now remarried to a woman whose parents were once baptized but they are inactive.

{Above} Q is most proud of this missionary apartment which he is responsible for securing on his mission. He says that when you go from a moldy, rat infested basement to this, you are really living. Then he followed by saying, "Just so you know how nice it is, the sister missionaries now live here."

After driving around Ipenema in Mano's car (a blessing!!!) he drove us an hour back to our hotel. We were so thankful for Mano because there is no way we could have tracked Ipenema by foot. Just to see Q's old church would have been impossible to walk to. Q says his old stake president used to rent a bus for members to ride to church in on Sundays.

...and the best part (well, sort of): Q took me to McDonald's for real food after it all.
I can't believe I just called McDonald's "real food."
Seriously though, McDonald's is a NICE restaurant in Brazil... and super expensive too.
Worth every penny to take a break from beans and rice.