Brazil 2008

I have already posted some pictures from our Christmas trip to Brazil, but I had a bunch more I thought I'd share. Basically, celebrating Christmas in Brazil was pretty much like celebrating Christmas in Idaho except that... Instead of hanging our stockings by the fireplace we hung them by the air conditioner...

Instead of going sledding, we went sand boarding...

Instead of having a poinsettia centerpiece, we had a fresh pineapple surrounded by acerola berries...

Instead of having to watch out for snow drifts in the road, we had to watch out for sand drifts...

And they even had donkeys...just like Mary and Joseph did. I would have ridden one on the beach but that would have just been asking for fleas!

Here's the city beach at night. My parents live four blocks away so it's nice to go walking there at night.

This is the Catholic church near a little beach town called Cumbuco. I guess they're trying to appeal to the local fishermen by making the front of the church look like a sailboat with Mary at the helm.

My mom at a local rest stop.

We went to a beach called Morro Branco and rode dune buggies. It was fun even though we all got sunburned.

One of the beaches at Morro Branco.

Mil just chilling after lunch.

We had lunch at Morro Branco. They served the fish like they do in most foreign countries...with the head and tail still attached and all the scales and bones still there. Most of us were eating from the center of the fish to stay away from the scary head and tail. As we finished up eating all the parts of the fish that any normal American would usually eat, Tyler looked over to where the fish plate was and said, "give me that head," in sort of a "you guys are pathetic Americans but I've lived in Africa so I'll eat the head" voice.

Thanks to Lee and Kim endlessly making fun of Tyler for saying "give me that head," the phrase has caught on with our family as what we say to anyone who doesn't finish eating something. For example, Kim might leave a couple of bites of cake or something after Sunday dinner on her plate...Lee will look over, point at the plate and say, "give me that head," and then he'll clean up her plate. So, if you hear members of my family say that phrase, now you'll know why.

Another view of Morro Branco

Ditto

Eating at Habib's, which is a Middle East meets Brazil fast food restaurant. It is very well known among missionaries who serve in Brazil and is a fun place to visit. And their kiddie play land puts McDonald's to shame...let's just say they have a Ferris Wheel.

A bright little cemetery out in the middle of nowhere on the way to Baturite. My camera didn't get a very good picture of it but it was so cool looking...like a miniature little Latino pueblo.

A Catholic stairway to heaven we passed on the way to Baturite.

Check out the size of these peppers! It is weird...all of their vegetables are HUGE except for the potatoes, which are super small.

Flip flops...the national shoe of Brazil. It is a good thing we've been training my dad over the past few years that these are flip flops and not thongs. Little did we know we were preparing him for life in Brazil.

They seriously have more colors, styles and types of flip flops in Brazil than in any other country in the world. My favorite brand are the Havaianas...they are so comfortable and are the cool flip flops to wear. And, thanks to the dollar being super strong right now, they are so cheap (ESPECIALLY compared to how much they cost at Nordstrom's). I only own four pairs so far but I'm sure I'll pick up a couple more each time I go to Brazil.

Until next time...