Gearing up for Carneval

left to right, Bro. Haslam, Sis. Haslam, Sis Chambers, Me (behind), Sis. Tidwell (her husband is always the one behind the camera), Sister then Bro. Bell, Sis. and Bro. Hunter. 

This week's "senior outing" was to Parraxaxa, a very Brazilian restaurant although maybe it's tourist Brazilian. Housemans say they have taken several general authorities there. The workers wear interesting outfits, sorry no pics, that remind me of girl scouts. They have interesting leather hats. Apparently the food and uniforms are northeast Brazil. It is a Self-serve, meaning buffet-type place. You get a card as you enter, you choose food and then weigh your plate which they enter with your number. There are three scales - for dinner, dessert, soups. They use the number when you order drinks, go back for dessert, etc. and afterward you pay for whatever your number owes. There were many good choices, marinated vegetables, salads, soups, meats, rice and beans of course - they had brown rice! They have interesting decor outside which you can barely see in the photo, eggshells on sticks all around and on the plants. We haven't heard the story but apparently it has to do with keeping away bad spirits. Its a large place, they gave us our own little alcove but there is a large outside dining area and another inside.'

It's pretty much right around the corner from the big WalMart so we also did some shopping, which made for a late night but was good to get done while in that part of town.

There was big excitement in the office Monday as the office elders got to video chat with their families. They have P-day (preparation) on Saturday instead of Monday so the new policy wasn't yet set up locally with our mission guidelines that day, so they got permission and surprised their families.

Sister Bell and I spent time gathering mail and materials for missionaries having new leader training, preparing for the missionaries that depart in March, going over more things I need to know, getting mail and packages from the different delivery guys, etc. etc. We are still working to get the help to do everything on my computer that she can do on hers.

Our biggest excursion of the week was Wednesday when we joined half a dozen missionaries to get our all-important CPF#'s. I was warned to wear my walking shoes. So we met at the office, eventually headed out, and walked a fair distance to the Correos, or the main post office. Turned out it wasn't even open yet so we waited about 15 minutes during which time I got about 6-8 bites on my legs.We thought we just paid the fee there but clerks had to enter all our passport information. We were handed numbers as we came in, depending on what service we needed. After waiting for our number to come up - they have big screens to tell you which number and what counter to go to.
I was sure Elder Price had sent me the pics he took but can't find them. There were Carneval preparations going on all over, big colorful signs and photo spots being assembled along the bridges where it turns into one gigantic party with wall-to-wall people, food, music, etc. Many tourists come and they are spiffing things up for them. It seems they don't stop for Ash Wednesday or anything else, have spread it into about two weeks of partying for many. We hear our street will be fairly quiet and I hope so. Traffic is already heavier. Our preparation is to make sure we are stocked up for a weekend at home.

After we finished everyone, we hiked on to Marco Zero and the Federales somethings where we got more numbers and sat in quite a crowd and waited another hour and a half. Fortunately there was some AC, and I managed to get us in a couple of seats nearer the AC than the open entrance. The Correos clerk had been extremely insistent that he put my full name in the electronic form even though my passport for some reason has a middle initial, and the Federales didn't like that at all. But finally we got all done and he even got happy and wished us well.

Then the hike home in the mid-day heat. I had a chance to push for a taxi but the walk hadn't been too bad. But about the time we got to Atacado I hit the wall and was dripping and red when we got to the office. I went straight to the kitchen which is kept very cold for the computer equipment in there. We usually open windows and doors to be able to eat but I never felt it even cool that day, just eventually evened out.

We are still in the midst of the great internet mess. Sisters Bell and Chambers spent over two hours at one office and Elder Nunez spent another two full hours on the phone at Sister Bells and then another trip to the place with Durk and Sis. Chambers still meant another visit today and we aren't even close to getting it. We thought getting the CPF# was the key but they also want a Brazilian photo ID not a passport or anything we have.

Saturday after internet attempts, Sister Chambers and I went to her hairdresser. To make a long story short, her phone got lost (i don't have one yet and don't even have Durk's number so couldn't help with numbers or anything) and my hair cutting was done in the midst of her panic and the hairdresser assisting with her own phone ...... eventually it was determined that it had been left in our taxi. Panic changed to joy as we got it back while shopping across the street ---at a wonderful little store where I finally found red lentils, basil, and other goodies with surprisingly low prices. I will not need another haircut for quite some time however, as my eyebrows were lowered significantly. Good for the heat and humidity, yes? And I will work on haircutting vocabulary so I will not need Sister Chambers' help!

Some food notes:

I christened these "Campfire Crisps". Durk had Cheetos on his list (not quite like ours, another photo soon) and grabbed these.  When I opened the bag it smelled like somebody came home from a long campout with all their smoky gear. We finally just gave them to the office elders who agreed with the name but ate them all.

Here is the way you buy a lot of cooking ingredients, maybe you can figure out what they all are :)

the tube is from the really expensive fancy store and has "flakes of cilantro"

And our shopping experiment for the week was ice cream. One kind said the flavor was (I kid you not) corn, tapioca, and a third thing Durk couldn't translate. We will have to look for it again and google translate. So the only familiar one was Neapolitan and he figured we might as well be Brazilian, so he chose Acai-guarana ice cream. 

nope, not chocolate

His first reaction on tasting was "its not sherbet". Mine was "it's not unpleasant". Its actually rather like sherbet that not really sweet, and with some Maria cookies it makes a decent snack.

And just to end on an exciting note,

This not-so-little friend was fortunately outside and not inside the balcony doors and I declined to rescue him as he tried to right himself.