Ed and I took a weekend to visit Curitiba, Brazil, another city in Brazil where Pão Díario Brazil (Our Daily Bread, Brazil) has their headquarters. We were able to stay with a couple who showed us perfect Brazilian hospitality throughout the weekend. Beto and Monica work for Christian ministries and Beto recently began working at Pão Díario. Their home is lovely and Monica is an amazing cook!
We arrived in the evening and our first morning in Curitiba was spent touring the facility, having coffee (or water in my case!!) with some of the workers, and learning more about what is being done through the ministry here in Brazil as well as around the world.
Somehow we managed to be there during a break time. My mom always tells me about the great parties she has at work up in Grand Rapids, and now I was able to get a little taste of one here in Brazil!
Then we went exploring! We started out at the "Eye Museum",
and walked around the cute downtown full of churches and parks.
As we were walking that evening I spotted a driving school just for women! Naturally I needed a photo.
Another great blessing was the chance to visit my dear friend Josie. Last year I went to a Brazilian church and was truly impressed by this lovely lady´s heart for ministry. I have only attended one wedding here in Brazil, and it was her´s last February. Since then, she and her husband have been living in Curitiba and traveling around raising support to go to Argentina. I hadn´t seen her since the wedding so it was so special to catch up.
Monica came and picked us up at the mall. She drove us around a bit so we could see the city at night. Here is the "Eye Museum" again.
A Mosque
The next day Beto took us all around the city. Here we are at a beautiful glass and wire opera house. It was a gorgeous place!
We were able to tour an Italian´s palace because the gardener was there and let us in. This is the view out of the ballroom balcony.
One of the cute buildings near where we ate our feijoada lunch- a typical Brazilian slave dish eaten on Wednesday´s and Saturday´s.
The Botanical Gardens in Curitiba are beautiful, and the weather is crazy! When we arrived it was sunny and felt like it was in the high 80´s, and within about 15 minutes the wind picked up, it began raining and dropped 20 or 30 degrees! Notice the city buildings in the background on the right. They blend in a bit with the clouds.
That night we went with Monica and Beto to a really expensive mall. The prices on these lovely items are hard to see, but ...
This dress is over R$78,000!! We thought it looked more like an ugly nightgown.
The earrings are R$5,570 and the bracelet is R$122,000!
Monica and I at the mall on our last night.
