Espresso

I quit drinking coffee a while ago, but being here in Brazil coffee has been hard to resist ...actually impossible. You probably know that Brazil is the coffee capital of the world, with bean trees practically on every corner.

What you may not know is that Americans drink coffee differently than everywhere else. We like tall, grande and vente coffee sizes, meaning large, larger and huge. Really these are cups of coffee watered down to make large drinks to suit our large lifestyle.

Brazilians drink espresso, which are small cups of concentrated coffee. These are the shots that are used in frappes and other coffee drinks, but here they drink them straight up with sugar.

Espresso is served everywhere, even in the grocery store. And it's drunk in small plastic cups like the ones below, doubled so you don't burn your hand.



It's not uncommon to see men gathered around the pot enjoying a quick shot and then on you go. It takes just a few minutes, maybe 1or 2 to have a shot...effectively a pick me up.

I like this style of refreshment...you can keep your double shot half decaf black and white extra hot with low fat whipped cream. Too bad I'll have to quit again when heading home...too much caffeine for me! Then again the coffee back home just doesn't compare anyway.


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Flying over Anapolis

Come on...is this the best vacation or what?

Today Jeyson took Stephanie and I on a flight in a 1977 Sessna 172 (Vickie stayed home to watch Elijah, and was perfectly happy doing so ;). This is one of the fleet of planes owned by his mission Asas de Socorro; this one seats 4.








Jeyson piloted like an expert. You wouldn't believe how many safety checks are done for such a short flight. Jeyson gets to count the flight time as hours and we got to enjoy the view. And the views over Anapolis were spectacular.
















As you can see Anapolis, the city where they live, is a small, thriving metropolis. From 1,000 feet you can see the entire city. The green at the far end of the below pic is the edge of the population center where the farmland begins and is visible in all directions.



You can see the runway as we came in for the landing.


A perfect takeoff and better yet landing made for a great time.


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Family time

We hung out on Sunday after the baby dedication with Jeyson, Stephanie and Jeyson's family. It's a common sight to see Stephanie in the kitchen. She makes lots of meals, some Brazilian and some american.


Here are some shots of the backyard too...notice the washer in the back yard. Weather here is comfortable year round so this makes perfect sense.





Jeyson's family and their mutual friends all came over and we enjoyed sitting and talking together, and eating of course.


Meals are an important part of Brazilian culture, but the big meal of the day is lunch! Here is a shot of one of the desserts we enjoyed... sagu is a tapioca with red wine and cream. It's delicious. Of course we also had plenty of chocolate for Vickie too.



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In a foreign country

We are experiencing life here already, attending a Portuguese church service where they had a dedication ceremony for Elijah, and enjoyed some native foods. Pamonha is a sweet corn mixture wrapped in corn husks and fruit drinks made with milk yum. We also tried chowder of various types....Jeyson had the one made with cow stomach, but we of course chose more traditional blends.







Vickie is holding something of interest...this is the standard sized paper napkin, a single 1ply sheet is so small you could never put it on your lap, a whole stack would make up the equivalent of a single dinner napkin in paper. Oh well, life is different here for sure.



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Little Eli

Now that we are partially coming around to the time change we're starting to realize where we are, and who we are with. It is soooo nice to be with family, spending time with Stephanie and Jeyson. Now, we have one more person to spend time with - Mr Elijah.




This little guy is grown up. The fact that we waited to come for 2 1/2 months really made a difference. He is attentive and smiles a lot and coos with eye contact. And the outfits he wears are adorable.
He is such a good baby. I cannot imagine why all three of our older girls have had delightful children since the older two were such pips when they were young LOL, but I fully understand why Stephanie and Jeyson have a good one, since they have such easy going personalities and because Stephanie was such an easy baby (e.g. she slept thought he night from the first day home from the hospital.)
More on him in later posts.
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Cache delivered

We made it to Brazil, safe and sound. Its sooo good to see Stephanie, Jeyson and Elijah. Here's a list of the stuff we brought with us:




9 New York style bagels
Old spice deodorants
Camera and lens
Altoids mints
Plate hangers
Baby jumper
Coffeemate creamers
Salad dressings
iTunes card
Baby Elmo
Craisins
Baby plate and bowl
Children's books
Many baby clothes
Baby jogger
Panda bear
Peppermint and butterscotch chips
Baking chips
York peppermints
Pie fillings
Camelbak water pack
Child Activity table
Large Taco seasoning
Baby wagon
Bibs
Many bike parts
Snack catcher baby cups
Assorted makeup
Sophie giraffe
Many baby outfits
Several different Wombies (they didn't have these when we raised children)
Ranch dressing mix
Poppy seeds 2lbs
Last word game
Ink cartridge
Bike shoes 2 pair
Custom baby quilt
Tire pump
Peeler
Baby socks
Decorative farm signs
Meat thermometer
Rattles
Pacifiers

Oh yeah, and we packed some of our own clothes too.