Special Delivery and Piano Recital

April 23  Thursday

Where Rodrigo works

On this cold and cloudy day, there was a bright spot.  My computer power cord arrived!  I knew it had been shipped and should be arriving soon. . . but our package delivery here has not always been the best.  I asked David to call Rodrigo Macedo (who works for Sedex) to have him watch for the package. . . he has helped us before.  David handed me the phone, and said I could call him - he and his wife, Danubia, only speak Portuguese.  David likes to force/encourage us to communicate in Portuguese as much as possible.  I spoke with Danubia (Rodrigo's phone is not working) and got enough information communicated to her so that Rodrigo eventually called us back - then David took over.  My power cord was hand delivered by him at 10:30 a.m.  It is great to have such good friends in the right places.

As a token of great appreciation, we gave him licorice, our small Christmas tree we didn't need to take home, and an air mattress we purchased for youth camp.  He was most grateful for the air mattress. 

Closest grocery store

Flowering tree on the walk to
see Cristiano

Most of the day was spent working on the blog, Merl working on his talk for Sunday, packing and repacking (hoping to get everything to fit).  In the afternoon, Merl and I went grocery shopping for items to prepare our last missionary dinner tomorrow.  We wanted it to be good.

More new flowers

We also finally purchased something that Merl has been wanting since our first trip to Brazil - churrascaria spits.  We now have a suitcase big enough to pack them home - with some modification.  After calling Cristiano, we walked to his metal fabrication shop to have two inches cut off the blade - it is nice to have friends with tools and skills.  He sanded off the edges and did a great job.  All he wanted for payment was a batch of American brownies.  That I can do!

Front:  Lauren, Barbara, Ann

Ann had her piano recital this evening.  Several of her students played a song, followed by Ann and I playing our selections.  Ann played "Oh, Danny Boy," and I played "Sparklets."  Barbara had completed the lesson book and had earned her own teclado.  She was certainly excited about that.

I spent the evening making preparations for lunch for the missionaries tomorrow.  I wanted to make it a special American style dinner - our last dinner in Brazil with the missionaries.  I sliced a head of cabbage into fine pieces like the Brazilians do - then added fresh oranges, apples, and shredded carrots.  I will make the dressing in the morning.  I also mixed a big batch of fresh stuffing to set overnight to blend flavors.

Then, we were off to bed.