Our Trip to Brazil

Sam's uncle Phil married a Brazilian (we call her Gimminie) in 2002. Because Gimminie's family couldn't make it at that time, they decided to travel to her hometown of Aracatuba, Sao Paulo, to have a wedding ceremony there in front of all her family and friends. Fortunately, they invited us. We couldn't afford to take the kids, and we also couldn't afford to pass up the perfect opportunity to travel back to the country where Sam and I both served missions for the LDS church. Aracatuba is in the northern part of the state of Sao Paulo, about 6 hours from Sao Paulo city. My mission headquarters was in Marilia, about 1 1/2 hours from Aracatuba. Sam was a missionary in the northern part of Brazil--Fortaleza.

Day 1

We (Sam, his dad, and myself) left Salt Lake City on July 28th, and arrived the next morning (Sam's birthday) at the Sao Paulo airport. We had an exchange student (Pamela) from Sao Paulo in 2007, and she and her mom met us at the airport. After picking up our rental car, we followed Pamela's mom to a wonderful Brazilian restaurant owned by one of her family members. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful the food was. It's been 12 years since I've eaten real Brazilian food. It was a buffet, so I was able to taste all the wonderful dishes I had missed. After lunch, and a quick stop at Pamela's house, we got a tour of Pamela's old school and a lovely church that was next to the school. We then hopped on the subway and went to the center of Sao Paulo. A large building, fashioned after the Empire State Building, rests almost in the middle of the city. It used to be the highest skyscraper in all of Sao Paulo. We took an elevator to the top of this building and got an incredible view of the city--all we could see for miles and miles in all directions was skyscrapers. After descending, we walked a short distance to 23 de Marco Street to the mercadao, or market. We got a quick snack and window shopped. 23 de Marco Street is known for its shopping. One exciting scene was watching the illegal vendors grabbing their wares and fleeing the approaching police. They sure could move fast. We had to be careful not to get run over. After the walk down 23 de Marco Street, we walked over to the main cathedral in Sao Paulo. A small marker out in front of the cathedral marked the center of Sao Paulo. After our excursion in the city, we went back to Pamela's house, ate a quick dinner (pizza), and drove to Sao Paulo temple. We got reservations to stay at the dorms there at the temple-- R$10 (Reais) a night. Cheap, clean, and comfortable accommodations. We made a quick trip to Walmart, which was across the street from the temple, and then went back to our rooms. We were so tired from our long travels that we collapsed on our beds for a good night sleep.

Day 2

Early the next morning Sam and I visited the temple. After the temple session, and as we were checking out of the dorms, we met the mission doctors for all of Brazil. We went to the nearby mall and ate lunch with them. One of the doctors was from Yakima, WA. After lunch and saying goodbye to the mission doctors, we made a quick trip to Walmart before our long drive to Aracatuba. We had a GPS, but somehow we still managed to get lost in Sao Paulo. We FINALLY made it out of the city, and we had clear roads all the way to our destination. We arrived late in Aracatuba, but Gimminie's family was waiting at her brother's house to have dinner. After checking in to our hotel (hotel Chamonix), we had a wonderful dinner of lasagna (Brazilian style), and beans and rice. We met many of Gimminie's brothers (she has 7 brothers and 1 sister), sister, and their families. They were amazed that Sam and I could speak Portuguese so fluently. As for me, I believe they were being nice, because my Portuguese isn't all that great, but I think they were genuinely happy that we could communicate with them. I fell in love with all Gimminie's family. They were so warm and welcoming, I felt like I was one of the family by the end of the evening.

Day 3

I had arranged prior to coming to Brazil, to have lunch with my friend Rose Vaz down in Ourinhos, where I spent the first 3 months of my mission. I have already blogged about that awesome day in Ourinhos, so I won't repeat myself. After our drive to Ourinhos, we drove through Marilia. I stopped by a member's house there, who lived a couple of blocks from where I lived when I passed my time there. The husband wasn't home, but I had a quick visit with his wife before heading back to Aracatuba. A delicious dinner was waiting for us at Gimminie's brother Joel's house.

Day 4

After breakfast we went to a river on the outskirts of town. The Veleiro Resort is located there, a place for swimming and recreation, but since it was the middle of winter there (although you would never know it, since we had such nice weather). We meandered around and took a few pictures. There were some people fishing the river. I was surprised to see people knee-deep in the river, since it is a known fact that the river has piranhas. We went back into town and ate lunch at the mall. I bought a few souvenirs for my kids, and then we window shopped in the center of town. For Dinner we went to Gimminie's sister's house, and we met more of her family. One of Gimminie's sisters-in-law brought her karaoke machine, and we all had fun singing into the microphone. I'm sure the neighbors loved it. I sang a few songs, but after the dog started yeowling during one of my songs, and then one of the little nephews vomited during another, I was done for the night.

Day 5

Oh the lovely rain! It seems to follow me wherever I go. We had a lot of rain, but despite the not-so-perfect winter day, we walked around the centro of Aracatuba exploring shops. I needed a pair of shoes for the wedding. We went to Gimminie's sister's house for lunch. I wanted to hang out with the girls, and Sam and his dad wanted to go back to the hotel to rest. I love my "herd" as I call them. Gimminie's sister and sisters-in-law were so fun to be with, and I think they enjoyed my company, too. They followed me around so they could visit with me. I've never felt so loved in my life! I hope they know that I equally enjoyed being with them, and I love them to death. We wandered over to a nearby animal park, where there were supposed to be monkeys, but the monkeys were hiding in the forest, beyond our reach. When I got back from seeing the animals, I decided to teach one of the sisters-in-law how to make chocolate chip cookies. In Brazil, most people don't have measuring cups and spoons, and they use mL to measure instead of cups and teaspoons, so it was 'fun' trying to figure out how to measure the right amount of ingredients. The cookies didn't taste quite like they do when I make them in the states, but everyone liked them anyway, and ate them up. After a delicious dinner, we sang some more karaoke before returning to our hotel for the night.

Day 6--Wedding day (July 4th)

I was so exhausted from all the late-night karaoke, that I slept until 11:30 a.m. It was sort of a slow day, mingled with preparations for that evening's wedding ceremony, which was more like a marriage festival. The family followed the red carpet and lined up around the front of the big banquet hall, which was decorated with red and white tablecloths and roses. The bride was beautiful, and everyone was so happy to be a part of the celebration. Gimminie's brother gave a wonderful sermon (in Portuguese), which brought tears to more than one person's eyes. Gimminie's parents had passed away since their initial wedding in the states, so her brother spent some time talking about them, and the importance of families. After the ceremony, we waited for a while as the bride and groom went to get photos taken by the photographer. They had a karaoke band playing music, and everyone sat around waiting for the bride and groom to get back. Dinner was at about 10:30 p.m. After dinner there was dancing and music. My father-in-law sang a few of songs, and I was able to sing many. The band members kept throwing more and more titles my way to see if I knew how to sing them. One of the guys even harmonized with me. I haven't done that much singing in YEARS. It was so much fun, especially when there was an appreciative audience. I didn't spend the whole time singing, though. I danced a lot, too. We got home at about 1:30 a.m. I was beat, but so happy to have been a part of the celebration. The punch was spiked, and one of the nephews had almost two glasses full before his mom realized what was in them. He was in the center of the dance floor most of the night.

Day 7

Sunday morning we rolled out of bed at an early hour so we could attend church at 8:30 in the morning. During Sunday school, a man sitting in front of us kept looking back at us and fumbling in his brief case. He finally pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to us. It was a letter written to him from a man who used to be a mission president in Brazil. I immediately recognized the name of the man who wrote the letter. He has been friends with my parents since before I was born. When I told this to the man, his face lit up. He was so happy and elated. He had felt a 'prompting' to speak to us. He had been looking for this man for a very long time, and didn't know how to contact him. Needless to say, when I got back to the US, I immediately called our family friend and passed on the info. After church we went to lunch at Gimminie's sister's house and to say 'goodbye.' It was time for us to drive back to Sao Paulo. There were tears shed. I felt like this family was my own. Actually, I call them 'my Brazilian family.' We left Aracatuba and drove back to Sao Paulo. We arrived at Pamela's house at about 9:00 p.m. and ate a very late dinner.

Day 8

We woke up early, and Pam's mom made us tapioca for breakfast. We had some time before we had to catch our plane (it was leaving later that evening), so we went to Bras (a shopping place) to get some last-minute souvenirs. We met Pamela (she had been at school that morning) and went to lunch. We then went to a very large park in Sao Paulo and walked around. Initially we wanted to go to the beach, but we were afraid of getting back too late and missing our plane, so we went to the park instead. That evening we returned the car and went to the airport. Even though we got there early, the lines were long and slow, and we barely made our plane. The flight back was uneventful. My dad and Stuart came and picked us up at the airport. It was great to be home after one of the most memorable vacations I've ever had. . . .to be continued. . .