Jeff & I had our first double date last Saturday the 7th with Roberto & Karine, Tele’s daughter and her boyfriend. We visited a castle. Seriously, there really is a castle in Brazil. Who would of thought? It isn’t medieval built, but its still pretty impressive. It was built by an eccentric old rich guy who probably saw Brave Heart a few too many times. They it chocked-full of antiquated weaponry, tapestries, and very old oddities. Jeff & I hadn’t really had a date since coming down so it was nice for a change.

It was much needed after a busy month of short-term groups and after the first week back to school. School really couldn’t have started better though. God is so faithful! The Holy Spirit was unquestionably leading me through. I have really enjoyed putting together lesson plans and working with the children. It is so rewarding to see them try to communicate with the words that I teach them.

It is so amazing to see them really learn. One example of such happened last week. We reviewed family members from a previous lesson with our preschoolers. After school on Friday, we noticed that a girl’s father was about to leave without her. Karine said in English, oh no look her father is leaving. The little 4 year-old looked and said quickly with concern, “Meu Father!?” - combining her first language (meu is my in Portuguese) with English. They comprehend more and more all the time!

On a completely different note, I saw my first giant cockroach “in the wild” yesterday! It was nearly as big as the palm of my hand and white in color! I’ve only seen ones like that at the Cincinnati Zoo. –The Moraes’ said they’ve never seen one like ever before either (except on Animal Planet), so not to worry if you plan on taking a visit to see us! I think it must have just climbed down from the Amazon jungle (three very large states away). If a cockroach can come down from the Amazon, then a monkey should be able to as well. I do hope to see a monkey in the wild!

It can be such an adventure here. Keep praying for us, especially to learn Portuguese quickly. We haven’t had lessons in longer than a month (on account of the short-term groups and our teacher going out of town).

Lindsay

I Loved seeing the Castle. I was big into castles as a kid and this is the first one that I have ever seen. I hope we get a chance to go back and see it again.

Jeff