Comments

I've had a couple of people mention that they tried to leave a comment but were unable to do so.  Here's your tip of the day.  If you're a google member (i.e. have a gmail account) you can log in and leave a comment.  If you don't want to sign up for a Google account (and I can't blame you if you don't want yet another e-mail), you can still leave a comment.  At the bottom of each posting, there is a comments link (most say "0 comments").  Click on that, and you will get a box where you can type a comment.  Under the box, there is "comment as" next to "select profile".  Under select profile, at the bottom of the list is Anonymous.  If you click on Anonymous, you will be ablet to post your comment.  We would greatly appreciate it if  you put your name in your comment, so we know who it is from.

Easter

Happy and blessed Easter to everyone!!!

We went to church today at the International school (English mass).  We were greeted by Jose who wanted to make sure we were introduced to the community.  Since we did that the first time we were at mass, we didn't have to do it again, but we spend a bit of time talking with Jose before mass.  He is from San Francsisco and his wife is Brazilian.  She goes to a portuguese speaking church most of the time, so most people don't even think he really has a wife.  Another man, Matt, joined our conversation.  He and his family are from Cincinnatti.  His wife is part of the four person choir.

After we came home, I made my third batch of muffins (again without measuring cups and spoons).  Each batch keeps getting better, so I guess I don't really need measuring cups and spoons!!

After a few phone calls to the U.S., we met our friends Shawn & Nancy and another couple, Deb & Dean, at a restuarant three blocks from our apartment for Easter dinner - Le Manjue.  An excellent dinner, as usual. 

Charlie is now very comfortably laying on Dave's lap.

Trip to Embu

Today we went to Embu with our friends Shawn & Nancy.  Embu is known as an artistic town and is about 30 minutes away.  The local artisans offer their wares at the outdoor market on Sundays.  Today, Saturday, there are still plenty of vendors on the streets and lots of stores.  There are many furniture stores with beautiful woodwork and lots of stores with artwork.  Shawn and Nancy bought two paintings today.  We might buy some but decided to wait until another trip.  Now that we've seen most of the stores we have a better idea of what is available.  Here are some photos from our trip to Embu:

When we got back I told Shawn and Nancy that they had to come up to our apartment for a few minutes.  They did (without question, thankfully) and oooh'd and aaah'd over Charlie for a few minutes.  Of course, he was acting totally adorable!  Then we gave Nancy a present - peanut butter!!!  She had mentioned previously that she can't get peanut butter here and she really misses it.  Well, we found Skippy peanut butter at Casa Santa Luzia on Thursday so we bought a jar for her.  She was so surprised and happy.  Sometimes it's the little things in life!!!



Good Friday

It is a good Good Friday here.  The weather is perfect. 
This morning we decided to go to Paranapiacaba.  All was going well until we missed a turnoff on the expressway.  Our GPS didn't tell us to stay to the right and we ended up going several miles out of the way.  The worst part was that we headed to a toll booth with no choice but to go through - for 18.50 reals - (approximately $12).  Then our GPS took us 7 miles before we got off and turned around.  But about three miles into the trip there was another exit that we could have taken to turn around - we assumed that the GPS was taking us to Paranapiacaba by a different route.  The good thing is that we didn't have to pay a toll to get back after we turned around.
We finally made it to Paranapiacaba (probably 40 minutes later than it should have been).  Originally, Paranapiacaba was owned by the British-owned Sao Paulo Railway company.  There is a replica of Big Ben there.  There's not a whole lot there, but it was still interesting to visit.  With today being a holiday, it was interesting for a lot of people today!!  The parking lot just outside of the town was packed.  We spent about an hour and a half wondering around. 
Here are some photos of our visit to Paranapiacaba:

This is a walking bridge to get to the other side of Paranapiacaba (over the railroad tracks).

The walking bridge.

A train carcass.

Big Ben replica.

Ibiripuera Park

After coming home from our shopping trip this morning, we walked to Ibiripuera park.  The weather was great and therefore the park was packed.  Here are some photos:

Interesting Sightings...

These two vehicles are in our garage.  It is an interesting sight next to all of the other vehices.

Don't know how he gets around the corners in the garage!!!