Brazil #11: HOME STRETCH

Today is Friday July 14. We leave next Friday night and arrive in New Orleans on Saturday morning the 22nd. The summer has been long but has gone by fast at the same time. We had a going away party a few nights ago for the Brazilian students. Streed and I were able to go for a little while. Most of the students I knew have already gone home since they have taken their final exams. I am looking forward to coming home and going to see my doctor--since I am almost 8 months pregnant. However, I am dreading the heat with every fiber of my being. It is about 80 degrees here and I am dying. I am sure I will adjust.

BRAZIL #10: The Progression

There was a power struggle over taking a picture in Streed's new hat.
1. Refusal
2. I'll do it my way
3. Surrender

BRAZIL #9: Rio de Janeiro

We spent the weekend in Rio. Our hotel was on Copacabana Beach. We toured the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Brazil #8: OUR HOUSE

This is where we have lived for the past few weeks. It is a pretty good set up. We are in walking distance to most everything we need. There is even a park right around the corner. I actually like being able to walk to the grocery and pharmacy. It is a nice change from the necessary reliance on a car in the States.

Brazil #7: JUST BEING STREEDY

This is Streed last night as I was getting ready for bed. Here he is propped up on a pillow, legs crossed, journaling about the day I guess. I mean, it was his first World Cup match.

Brazil #6: BELLY & THE FAMILIES

As much as I hate to do this, I am responding to requests to see how BIG I have gotten. I am 27-29 weeks depending on which due date you choose. So, I am basically 7 months pregnant at this point. No, this is not a maternity shirt and Yes, my face is fat. By the way the baby still has no official name. She has plenty of options, just nothing definitive.

The top picture is of us and the Dowdy's, we all went out to dinner after the big game. They are Jeff, Amy, Braden, Simon and Lucy. They usually live in Belo Horizante and work with Campus Outreach. However, they moved here for the summer to help with our ITP. We are very grateful for their sacrifice and service.

Brazil #5: WORLD CUP-GAME 1

BRAZIL 1 CROATIA 0

We are in Brazil at an exciting time. If you are in the US you most likely have no idea the World Cup is taking place right now or even what it is for that matter. However, this is not the case here. Yesterday was so much fun around town as everyone was wearing some sort of Brazil paraphanalia. Throughout the day you would here an occassional burst of fireworks. School was out and most businesses closed early. We had a party at the students house that drew quite a crowd. I guess that happens when you mention projector and big screen.

The top picture is of Alan, Chip and Streed. Alan is a student in Belo Horizante who came here for the summer and is living with our team. He is serving as one of two translators. Oh, and he LOVES Streed.

Brazil #4: PICTURES--ALRIGHT ALREADY

PICTURES: ALRIGHT ALREADY

Some of you have so patiently waited for pictures. Here are a few.

1. The team at New Orleans Airport before departure--May 16
2. Streed on the plane--May 16
3 & 4. Day 1 at a restaurant--May 17

OK, so the numbers and picture order are messed up. Sorry.

Brazil #3: RETREAT

We returned this morning at 4am from an investigative retreat put on by Campus Outreach Brazil. We took 10 Brazilian college students with us to the retreat. Counting staff and Americans there were 240 people at the retreat. (There are three other groups like ours (Internation Training Projects) in another town.) The theme was "What Moves You?" All of the talks revolved around this question and others such as "Why are you moved by this?", "Who moves you?", "Who is Jesus?", "Are you willing to search for the truth?" etc. After two of the talks the schools were broken up into discussion groups to talk about the questions. This seemed to be a real positive experience for those who came with us. One guy in particular is Agnostic. He said the talks and discussion groups really helped him to begin thinking. Pictures later.

Puppies

A few weeks before we left for the summer our beloved dog Chloe had puppies--10 of them. The timing was impeccable. They were born at the end of April and could not be given away until June 5. We were leaving May 16th! Thankfully we had a family who would be staying in our house and agreed to get rid of the puppies for us. This one was my favorite. They were just starting to walk when we left.