Atibaia

"Its a small world after all"...

So come to find out my mom's cousin lives down here in Brazil not too far away!  His mom and my Grandma were first cousins, so who knows what that makes us...but we are related!  They had me to their house this weekend and I got to meet their four daughters who are about my age.  We had such a nice relaxing weekend and it was so fun to see a new place!  They live in a place called Atibaia which is just north of Sao Paulo and its in a mountainous area.  Its really beautiful.  I got to stay in "the pink room" which I loved.  I felt like I was 10 again and it was great.  There was even a whole Barbie house in one corner!

 

 Friday we went to their relatives house close by and spent the day at the pool...rough life huh?!

The biggest ant ever was fished out before we went swimming.

 

 In the evening we went for a walk around a lake in their complex and saw this huge bee hive.

There are tennis courts, a park, and some birds near the lake as well.

This is one of the first houses built on the complex.  I thought the tall trees in the front were pretty amazing. My cousin's father-in-law started Word of Life Brazil here on this property and the seminary and family camp are still here.  They have sold a great deal of the land to private parties who built homes and condos.

I was able to meet this man and his wife and watch the sunset while drinking some banana avacado beverage.  Not bad huh?!  He was one of the men who started PACA in a church basement and it was really neat to hear about the beginnings of the school and the philosophy behind it.  He helped purchase all this land and develop it.  Isn't it amazing that now he can live here on top of a hill and look out over all God has done through him?  What a challenge for me!
This man came down from Minnesota with one other man to work with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon. They were the first two white men to come out alive. This took place about the same time as 5 missionaries were killed trying to minister to the Auca Indians in Ecuador.  Later he began the Word of Life Brazil.

 

Saturday night we went out for pizza.

I don't think I have posted much about the pizza here.  They have many different kinds of pizza, and they do not put sauce on their pizza.  This pizza has ham, egg, cheese, and lots of onion!

Today I was able to go to church at Primeira Igreja Batista de Atibaia (First Baptist Church of Atibaia). Afterwards we had a nice Sunday dinner and then I came home.  It was so nice to have Sunday dinner!!  It reminded me of all those great Sunday dinners my mom makes. :)
Oh and one more thing...I rode the metro and bus home alone for the first time!  I haven't taken public alone before...one more step toward growing up. ;)