First Few Days

So I am here in lovely Brazil where the temperature is just right for me and everything is green. I arrived with no problems and Ali and Mark's (my missionary family) best friends were there holding a sign with my name on it. They of course were incredibly sweet and fun to be around. Barbara spoke a little bit of English but she was the only one. Not too bad but I was definitely wishing I had more time in the States to learn Portuguese. After picking me up we went shopping in Sao Paulo, craziness! The streets were packed! It was fun of course and we only stayed for a couple of hours. For lunch we had a traditional/popular sandwich, kind of like a warm ham sandwich but in french bead, very yummy. I was so exhausted though. My flight from Dallas left the 14th at 5:30 am, meaning I got to the airport at 3:30 am haha that was rough. Then arrived in Houston at 6:30 for my 14 hr layover. My friend Stuart picked me up and we played around downtown Houston and met up with some of my girlfriends, fun stuff. The plane to Sao Paulo had two little boys sitting behind me without a mother right there, you can fill in the rest haha no it wasn't too bad. Anyway I was oh so tired and feel asleep with my head hanging out the window. It was great! That evening I met about 8 of the youth group.  They were so nice and tried to translate for me when they could. They were all silly and full of laughs, I already love them :) Now I am at Ali's parents house, which is beautiful. They live in a gated community, security cameras, tall walls with barbed wire at the top, security guards driving around so I was able to go on a short run this afternoon.  All in all I love it here!! Ali and Mark come back from their vacation either Tuesday or Wednesday and then the work begins! I can't wait!!