Our Trip to Rio

We returned from Rio late Thursday night, the 28th, and the trip was a success -- so far. There have been many answers to prayer and God has worked many things out for us along the way. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and were blessed to be housed at a Baptist Theological Seminary. Our rooms were like guest apartments, though Nyna's was a little nicer, because it had a microwave, a better refrigerator, a working TV, and better window dressings. (-: We bought some food at a local supermarket and ate several meals in Nyna's apartment. As the days progressed we discovered other places to eat... and on the last day there we finally went to the cafeteria on campus. I regret that we were not able to go there more often! The food was very good and less expensive than restaurants elsewhere. The only bad thing about staying at the seminary was that it was at the top of a long and somewhat steep hill... :-P This was difficult for my still-recovering body, though Nyna had no difficulty with it. She's a very fast walker -- it is a lot of work trying to keep up with her.

Last Friday, when Nyna had her blood test, the paperwork from the doctor authorizing the test was not where it was supposed to be, and we found ourselves facing another hurdle. What do we do now? It was difficult for me to be of any help because I still do not understand the language well, and I wasn't very clear on the process. Nyna eventually was able to call the doctor and the doctor gave the clinic a verbal authorization. While we were at the clinic, we met a nice young lady (Francimara) who worked in the clinic who was from the same area of Brazil that Nyna lives in. So they hit it off immediately, talked for awhile, and exchanged email addresses.

After the clinic we wandered a few streets over and ended up on a beautiful nearby beach. We were on the portion that is called Leblon. Next to it is Ipanema. You may know this name from the very popular song, "Garota de Ipanema" (Girl from Ipanema). We walked in the surf for a bit, but were not dressed for the beach. Also, we also did not have sunscreen on so I got a bit of a burn. Not too bad, but I was red.

We then went to Maracanã, a large soccer stadium in the middle of Rio that hosts many large soccer games. They open it up during the week as a museum of sorts... and you can tour the facility, see the players' locker room, go up to the center of the stadium seating, and go down to be right on the sideline area next to the field. It was very impressive. I took some video while I was there and captured a soccer player on tape putting on a little demo of the skill that these fellows have with controlling the ball using everything but their hands. It is very impressive as well!

Saturday we returned to the beach, but this time we went to Copacabana beach. It was a nice beach, but we liked Leblon better because it is cleaner, less garbage in the water. The beaches are filled with walking vendors selling food, drink, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, clothing, wraps, jewelry, etc. Every 10-15 seconds or so another one would walk by. Some just walk by chanting what it is they are selling. Others make a point to try to get your attention to get a yes or a no. That can be a little aggravating, though... on the first day it was helpful, because we were able to purchase sunscreen and something to sit on from a couple of these vendors. It was also very inexpensive to rent chairs and umbrellas -- a must-have for a gringo in the blazing Brazilian sun.

On Sunday morning we 'happened' to encounter a couple in the center square of the seminary waiting to go to church, and we just happened to be looking for a church to go to. So they invited us along with them. Their names are Carlos and Vania. They were a very nice couple and are involved in a little church plant somewhere in downtown Rio. It was fun to recognize the various songs that they played (by the music, not by the words), though I really wasn't able to sing along very well. They also took us to church using the underground metro train, and that was fun and much cheaper than paying taxi fares. (We spent a lot of money on taxis.) I think you would have to live there a couple weeks or months before you could understand the public transportation system. Rio de Janeiro has many little 'mountains' around the city, so the streets go every which way... and they're all named streets, not street numbers.

After church we went to a local restaurant, and then to a museum, and then they took us to a very large shopping mall that had a very nice view of a portion of Rio. This mall was tall -- maybe 10-12 stories -- and each floor was chock full of stores and restaurants. It was pretty amazing. I'm used to 2-3 stories max. Perhaps places like New York have shopping outlets like this?

Carlos and Vania were a lot of fun to be around, and I know that Nyna would like to see them again. I think Nyna has been bitten by the travel bug. This was her first trip, and she was dreaming of living in Rio.... And she wants to return and visit many other places. I just smile because I know there are two teensy weensy limiting factors: time and money. (-: And after this trip I will not have much of either one... as far as vacation funds or vacation time.

On Monday morning we shopped for food at a local market. On Monday afternoon, Nyna had her appointment with the doctor, and everything went well there. The appointment was in the same building that the blood test was administered. After the appointment we left the building and were walking on the sidewalk when we ran into Francimara, the girl from the blood clinic that Nyna had met on Friday. That was a fun surprise. She took us to the nearby beach and we walked (and walked and walked) all the way down to the point (Arpoador) that gives you a view of two different coastlines (the beaches of Leblon and Ipanema, and the beach Copacabana), and usually provides you with a dazzling view of the sunset. Then we walked all the way back down to the end of Leblon beach. I have no idea how many miles we walked....! It was a lot of walking.

Tuesday was the interview, and it went smooth all in all. I went in to the interview with Nyna and we were interviewed by a woman who was fairly pleasant. She spoke the most plain, unadorned 'American Portuguese' that I have heard thus far. It was so weird. Similar to what you would say about someone speaking Spanglish... Nyna understood her fine, but I was surprised that someone who lives and works around Brazilians would have no hint of "the sound" of Portuguese in the way she speaks. This lady was a little annoying, but ultimately she granted us the visa. Thank you, Jesus.

Tuesday night we spent a lot of time with Carlos and Vania and attended chapel service that they have on campus Tuesday nights. It was a beautiful service. The students sang and worshiped with much heart, and volume -- a real joy to hear so many voices lifted up in song to the Lord. Afterwards we had ice cream in Carlos and Vania's apartment and I listened while they talked and talked until after 11. (-:

Wednesday Nyna and I did the touristy things that we wanted to do, that you have to do when you visit Rio. First we went to Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor), the very large statue of Christ on a very high mountain peak (Corcovado) that overlooks the city. It was a beautiful drive up, with many vistas of the city. Once you get near the top, you have to walk the stairs (ugh... more stairs... more climbing...) to the base of the statue where you have even more wonderful views of the city.

After that we went to Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açucar) which is a gondola ride (well, two gondola rides) up to another peak that affords many views of the city and ocean. It was fun to see these popular sites and everything in between. Rio is a very, very large city with more than you can see in a week. Of course, we saw the things most people see... and maybe a few things people don't always get to see.

We then took a jaunt to a shopping center called Barra Shopping. It is supposed to be the best shopping in Rio. It was okay... We didn't really shop though... we just walked and looked. They have a section called New York City, where they have more American restaurants, like The Outback, and Applebees. We didn't eat in either of them, but I was tempted to see how The Outback compared.

On Thursday, our last day there, we made a return trip to the beach (Ipanema). The only disappointing thing was that this time the surf was very rough and dangerous, so we only waded in the shallows... and got a lot of sun! I tried to hide under the umbrella as much as possible, but still managed to get too much sun. Nyna's Brazilian skin handled the sun much better than my white flesh did.

Thursday late afternoon we flew back to Teresina, and that was that for Rio.

The only real problem now is.... they are mailing us the visa! D-: When I first read about this process, they said that they would distribute the visas the following day or so after the interview. Now they say that they only express mail the visas. This means that there is an outside chance that we might receive it by Tuesday, March 4, the day we are supposed to travel to the U.S.! Please join us in prayer about this. This is the capper.... the final hurdle... It would be disappointing for everything to have worked out well except for this. Mostly because I hate the thought of: 1) paying exorbitant penalty fees for changing 2 international tickets and 2 domestic tickets, 2) having to cancel our flights on Tuesday night and not knowing which day to reschedule for, 3) having to reschedule both of our return trip flights and get seating assignments that are together, for both the trip to Miami and the trip from Miami to Orlando. 4) miss even more work without pay! Life will be so much easier if we can only receive that visa sometime Monday or Tuesday (we fly late on Tuesday night).