Wednesday Activities

March 18  Wednesday

Although we still get some sunny days, the overall temperature is getting cooler.  Fall is almost here - and we are sad to see summer fading away.  It is getting dark much earlier in the evening and is almost always dark when we start thinking about getting up.

Today was Ann's day to feed the missionaries (traded with someone so we could go play on Thursday).  Most of the morning was spent in grocery shopping and meal preparation.  David and Ann went to our favorite fruit store for fresh fruit and vegetables and the grocery store for deli rolls, meat, and cheese; I stayed home and did some laundry.

Elder Cooper, Ann, and the
missionary doll

The missionaries arrived around 11:30 a.m. and visited while lunch was put on the table.  Elder Cooper, who will be going home next week, brought a missionary doll he was making for his mother.  All she asked for him to bring back was a doll made in Brazil. . . he didn't find one he liked, so he made one for her. He needed some yarn/thread to give his doll some hair.  Fortunately, Ann had some crochet thread that did the trick.

Lunch was build-your-own deli sandwiches with a creamy veggie risotto I put together mixing left-over rice and chopped veggies the missionaries left us on Monday.  I set a bowl of Dauper chocolate cookies on the table as Merl and I ran out the door to catch the bus to SF de Paula.  We decided to go early hoping that some of the students who go to school in the morning might be able to come for piano lessons earlier in the afternoon.  I bought the bus tickets while Merl ran the Wizard books up the street to Camila.  The bus was 15 minutes late again today, so we arrived in SF at 2:10 p.m. . . our first student came at 5:00 p.m.  (David arrived around 4:45 p.m. to work on the Branch financial audit.) 

Smaller of the two maps
I came back with

While we were waiting, I walked around SF looking for a large city map.  I was interested to see where our piano students lived - thinking that I would like to place a teclado in a neighborhood that had a pocket of students.  When the missionaries stopped by, we plotted out this population group; we found that there are two neighborhoods that most of the students live in - on two opposite ends of the city. 

Still no students so I ventured out to find Merl something to eat; I found a wonderful little pastel/sandwich/sorvete shop just half a block from the church.  I ordered a pastel, and while it was being prepared I had a delightful visit with four young people (ranging in age from10 to 13) who were hanging out there - appeared to be children of the owner (or friends).  It is immediately apparent that I am "from somewhere else."  We draw maps - and I use my limited Portuguese, and they use their limited English learned in school.  Jaison and Ketulin were especially conversant.  I told them that I would try to come back later with Merl for sorvete - probably won't be a problem to get him to come with me as the pastel was delicious.

There had been an uproar in one of our "populated" neighborhoods the past couple of days which led to several of our piano students not coming.  Frequently when the church is growing and flourishing, opposition strikes.  It struck hard here today.  Ironically, the program for integration tonight was the Portuguese-dubbed version of "Meet the Mormons." 

 Danubia and Roseangela brought dinner for everyone tonight - a huge pot of spiral pasta noodles with a tomato/vegetable sauce.  They also prepared a shredded cabbage salad and had plenty of refrigerante (soda pop) for everyone.  On Wednesdays, I think this is dinner for many of the people who show up - sometimes it is popcorn or cookies.  Tonight they had a feast!

While the kids were getting their rides home and the kitchen was cleaned up, I took Merl back to the sorvete store.  It was getting quite chilly, and we certainly didn't need anything more to eat.  But we found the kids waiting for us. . . it was a good thing we stopped in.  We shared a cup of sorvete and said goodbye to our new friends.

Danubia drove the three of us home tonight - arriving a little earlier than we usually do.