Caruaru Monday - Tuesday

Monday afternoon and evening a group of us--Phil, Kim, Me, and Lynette went to the hospital and met some doctors and some other people. We prayed for a lady going in for surgery. Later that evening we went shopping at a grocery store--the Hiper Mart. Hiper meaning big. It has been bought by Wal-mart. Some of the unique things we saw were: a whole aisle of pasta, small cereal section, all sorts of different fruits, avacadoes the size of a small canteloupe, dried meats just sitting out, and sides of beef the size of a suitcase just wrapped in plastic.
When we arrived at the house we ate dinner. Kim was starting to feel yucky so she rested while I went to the church with Justin to teach music. Justin taught some of the kids voice lessons. I showed some of the boys how to play bass guitar. After the lesson we played basketball.

Tuesday preparing for the tea took all day. We broke up into two groups one group went grocery shopping, while the other packed up the car. Phil and I then drove the car up to the village church to drop off the tables, linens, decorations and tea cups for the sha (tea). Kim stayed home since she was still feeling yucky. Phil and I stayed at the church and set up all the tables and put the linens on them to get ready for that evening. On our way, Phil took me to a little place for lunch where we had traditional Brazilian food--rice, beans, beef, a root that tasted like potato and salsa. Have I talked about Guarana? It is a Brasilian soft drink made from a root in the Amazon, it has natural caffine. So, naturally I like it a lot! It is very sweet, kind of like Mountain Dew.
Since all of us would not fit in Phil's car to go to the tea we decided to rent a Toyota--which is an extended Jeep type vehicle. There were twelve people riding in the Toyota which can fit fourteen comfortably; however, Phil says they have fit 30 in the past. We all thought it was like the Indiana Jones Ride in Disneyland, but much, much longer. On our drive we saw many animals on and near the road: pigs, horses, cows, chickens, goats, peacocks, parrots, lightning bugs, lizards, dogs and cats. It was quite an adventure.

The tea went well, there were about 50 ladies from the village Serrote Dos Bois (Hill of the Cows, Sounds like "Say Hoe tay those Boys") and surrounding area. It was a very special time for them because they live simple lives and this was a time just for them. Our team sang "Jesus, Name Above All Names" to open, followed by testimonies from each of the ladies on the team. Justin played interlude music while the ladies drank their tea. And I even got to play my three and a half songs I know on the piano. At the end there was clean-up, fellowship and driving home.