Iguassu Falls

Someone sent Dave this link which is interesting.  This is Iquassu Falls (which we went to in July) from a helicopter.

http://www.airpano.ru/files/brasil/iguasu/iguasu_eng.html

On our way to the US

We are all packed up.... the pet company should be here very soon to pick up Charlie.  We will have a couple of hours to kill before our driver picks us up to take us to the airport.  Our flight is at 10:20pm.  We will arrive in Detroit about 8:30am tomorrow (Friday).  Charlie will arrive in Detroit at about 4:50.

Last day of work in Sao Paulo

The group had a going away luncheon for Dave today, so I came into work at Sao Caetano with him. 

This is Thais and Marcia.  Thais was working for Dave and is now permanently moving to the US to work at the Tech Center.  Marcia is the administrative assistant.

The group picture in front of the building where Dave worked.

Our Lady Help of Christians

Our last mass at Our Lady Help of Christians.  There were six priests today - Father Brown, the soon to be retired priest, Father Mike, the soon to be pastor of the parish, and four other visiting priests.  They are having a retreat at the church this week for all of the Oblates in Brazil.  There will be 60 -70 priests there for the retreat.

This is Father Tom Brown (will be 85 years old in September):

This is Father Mike Peipelo (new pastor after Father Brown's retirement):

One of the visiting Oblate priests.

These are our new friends who are from Michigan - Donica, Elissa, Dan & Stefan.  Dan has been here for about three months, his family arrived about three weeks ago.  We have gone out with them a couple of times since they arrived.  We first met Dan at church.  Dan works for GM in the financial area.  They will return to Michigan in a little more than a year from now.

Moving again

We have now moved out of our apartment and are back in the Marriott Exectutive Apartments.  Today the movers came and packed up all our belongings which will be shipped back to the US.  Tomorrow, the company will come to pick up our rental furniture and on Saturday Salvation Army will come pick up the appliances (refrigerator, washer, dryer, water dispenser) that were purchased for us when we arrived. 
Charlie has settled in well in his latest temporary home.

Due to the potential temperatures in Detroit, Delta airlines has an embargo on pet transfers from May to September 15, so Charlie cannot fly home with us next week.  Continental, however, has the facilities to handle pet transfers regardless of the temperature.  Unfortunately, Continental does not have a direct flight from here to Detroit.  As we were trying to make his plans, one of the proposals was for him to fly direct to Chicago and be driven in a van to Brighton.  We weren't too crazy about that idea (and neither would the driver of the van listening to him cry the whole way).  In the end, he will fly to Houston, where there is apparently a very nice pet facility, and unfortunately have a 4 -5 hour layover, and then fly to Detroit, where we will pick him up.  He will leave the hotel Thursday at 3pm, depart at 9:30pm to Houston, and arrive in Detroit about 2:30pm on Friday.  We will leave Sao Paulo at 10:30pm and arrive in Detroit at about 8:30am (much shorter trip for us). 
Charlie did very well on the trip here, so hopefully he will do just as well on the way home.

Church

We have been going to mass at the international school (the only english mass we could find).

This is the soccer field for the school (right across the drive from the school where mass is held).

Charlie is now famous

Looks like Charlie is preparing for the return trip to the US

Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida

Ubatuba photos

Basilica de Nuestra Senora Aparecida

We went on what will most likely be our last adventure in Brazil this weekend.  We decided to go to Ubatuba.  Ubatuba is a beach town that all the Sao Paulo people say you MUST GO TO.  Since the weather was supposed to be good this weekend, it seemed like a good idea. 
Ubutuba is about 3 hours from Sao Paulo.  In the same direction, but a bit out of the way is the Basilica de Nuestra Senora Aparecida.  We left on Saturday morning and since we had plenty of time to get to Ubatuba, we decided to make the detour to the Basilica.  The Basilica is the third largest church in the world (St. Peters in Rome is first, a church in India is second).  Here are some photos, I will be posting more about Ubatuba later.
If you're interested, you can read about the Basilica at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Aparecida

Here's what's going on

Thanks to our next door neighbors in Brighton, here is what's going on in our backyard.