Lazy Thursday in the Fog

Januaray 8  Thursday

Today, David and Ann made the trip to Porto Alegre to meet with the Policia Federal to get an extension on their Visas.  After a bus ride to the PA airport and a taxi ride to the government office, they presented their paperwork and then sat for three hours.  They were getting concerned that something might be wrong and they wouldn't be approved.  When the officer came out, he apologized for the long wait (their computer system had gone down) and gave them their passports and paperwork back - all approved for a new departure date of April 27, 2015.  As our visas only allow us to be in the country for 90 days at a time, we will need to go through the process early in March.  Someone told us the approval can depend on the one who is working with you.


Merl and I slept in a little bit today, and then studied a little and talked on Skype with Curtis.  Merl was looking out the window and thought something big was on fire - smokelike clouds were drifting by.  It turned out to be dense moving fog.  The mist and fog cleared, and we decided to walk into town to get me a notebook for my language homework and to go by the bank to withdraw some cash.  When we came out of the papelaria (paper store), it was lightly raining.  We didn't have our guardachuva so we quickly walked to the bank. 

The fog had settled in on the park across the street, but families were still their playing.  It really started raining while Merl was in the bank. I took a very poor shot from outside the bank trying to capture the interior where there is a separate section for regular banking customers.  That room was packed with people sitting on benches waiting to be served.  I later asked David about this; he said banks are very egotistical and make it difficult for people to work through financial issues.

We met a lady under the awning of the bank while we waited for the rain to stop.  She was from Florinopolis (my favorite place in Brazil) and was diving back today.  She spoke English very well - lived in California for 12 years and is moving to Hawaii in September to get her PhD.  She asked us if we felt safe here in Brazil - we answered that we did.  Her response was surprising. . . this is the only place we would be safe.  In speaking with David later, he said most Brazilians don't have a lot of trust in their government and are very critical of police type agencies. 

D&A arrived home shortly after we did.  Report was that all went well. After a couple of hours of rest/study, we walked in the rain to the church for Integration night which was to start at 7:30 pm.  We were the only ones who arrived.  About 8:15 pm, we walked back home, had a little supper, and went to bed.