Thursday, July 7, 2011

A Joyful Reunion









Before our 4th of July Celebration, our friend, Claudia, treated us to dinner at her pizza restaurant, Danihlo's Pizza. They make the best pizza in the world and it was our third time eating Jantar (dinner) at Danihlo's in a week!

After our 4th of July Celebration, our old neighbors, Meniho and Gislaine stopped by for a visit. They brought along Pastor Joanzihnio and our other friends, Gislane and Magano. These are friends that we spent a lot of time with in 2009 but whom no longer live in the community. In fact, Gislaine, who is a dentist, is living in the Amazons with an Indian Tribe. She lives a very simple life and is loving it. To get to her house you have to take a 22 hour boat ride up the Amazon River from Northern Brazil. There are smaller, faster boats, but this is the more popular way to make the trip. Our family has been invited to spend some time with this tribe and we hope to do so in the future. Gislaine lives in simple hut with a stone floor and shops once a month for food. She has tried Alligator and turtle which she says taste pretty good. She was not too thrilled with the idea of eating monkey which is another popular food in the Amazon.

Twenty Six Year Old Gislaine loves Gabriella and treated her like a sister. Gislaine is a rare person whose energy equals my crazy daughter's. She and her brother, Maniho, lived next door to us in 2009 and Gislaine would steal Gabriella from me almost every day so that they could wear each other out with their endless energy. Both Gabriella and Gislaine also shared the nickname "G" which further united them as sisters. Gislaine was such a blessing to me. Unfortunately, at almost 43 years old, I do not have a third of the energy that my daughter has. She constantly wears me out with her hyperactive, strong willed personality, and I need frequent breaks from her. Big "G" gave me those breaks while we were living in Brazil and I was so grateful!!

Our visit was short but meaningful. It was so great to reunite with these friends. It was the perfect way to spend our last night in Brazil.




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