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Great Brazilian Adventure – June/July 2026

 

Sunday, June 29^th

Travelling to Brazil to celebrate Elaine's 
wedding - the highlight of our year

Well here we are sitting at the Toronto, Pearson airport waiting for our two hour delayed  flight to Sao Paulo Brazil.

For our family to get to this point, it’s been a long road. Since our daughter Elaine’s husband Alex passed away seven years ago, we have all longed to see her matched with another suitable companion for life. Thanks to the marvels of the internet, finding one’s perfect match has added another arrow to its quiver, namely online dating. We are grateful that this has allowed Elaine to search for and find a man who matches her not only in interests and Christian convictions, but who has also been widowed and is bringing up two teenage girls. There is the small, but not insignificant matter, that this man, Alessandro de Costa  lives in Brazil. He is pastoring a Presbyterian church in a mid size town (Monte Alto) of 60,000 or so, five hours north west of Sao Paulo in the hinterland of Brazil. He is bringing up Beatrice, aged 17, and Elise, aged 14, and has two older children, who have left home, Isabella and Emmanuel.

L-R Elise and Beatriz

We believe Alessandro and his children are meant for Elaine and her kids and we are joyfully participating in the joining and blending of the two families.

As one can imagine, the process is not straightforward. Challenges abound – language, geography, culture and immigration into Canada issues, spring to mind. Nevertheless, with God all things are possible, and Cheryl and I are enjoying being part of the process and doing what we can to smooth the flow of events. Cheryl and I have started learning Portuguese, as Elaine has told us very few people in Brazil speak any English

We are about to board a plane which will begin our trip to Monte Alto. Elaine and her two kids, Gloria, a family friend of Elaine’s and Julia, our daughter and her three boys are already en route. We will all rendezvous in Sao Paulo. Alessandro will meet us there, with a fifteen seater van and shepherd us through the first part of our trip.

It’s all go – no turning back now.

Brazil is as large as 
the USA, with  230 
million people

While we’re sitting in the waiting area Cher and I are swarmed by dozens of Brazilian teenagers, all wearing similar outfits, as they occupy spare seats all around us. We get chatting. Fortunately, it turns out, they speak English. They are part of a five-month student exchange to Canada from Brazil, in which about 1000 students are participating. We tell them they qualify for a $15 dinner coupon as compensation for our delayed flight. In response the one boy says, “I really like you”. They always say the way to a man’s heart is via their stomach.  By the time we board there must be a couple of hundred of these students all returning home. We were very impressed with the way they conducted themselves and related well with us. I listened to them yabbering away rapidly in Portuguese and realized Cher and I had a long way to go in learning the language.

It’s time to board. I’m not relishing the idea of a 10-hour flight. Cramped airplane seats are not my idea of fun. I fantasize about my comfortable bed at home. Oh well I suppose it’s for a good cause.

Monday June 30^th

Sao Paulo - S. America's largest city
with 12 million people

It was a sleepless night on the plane. This doesn’t typically leave me feeling very inspired, but we arrived to a beautiful azure blue sky and a crisp low twenties temperature in the depth of a Brazilian winter. I could get used to this place, although I get the impression their summers can be extreme to say the least and most folks don’t have aircon.

We met up with Elaine, Julia and their kids who had arrived a couple of hours earlier. Alessandro was also there having driven from Monte Alto in the 15-seater bus since 4am. We needed some cash to draw some local currency, and went to the ATM as we usually do. We quickly discovered the exchange rate on offer was extremely poor, to the point of daylight robbery. We held our noses and drew a modest amount. It turns out most people pay for everything on debit or credit and cash is seldom asked for.  So we enjoyed our first unnecessary and expensive lesson

Tired and bedraggled but cheered up by 
Alessandro's warm welcome to Brazil

We had to make our way through the airport maze while we waited for Sandros, the driver of our 15 seater. For some reason, it took a long time for him to arrive. He had his wife with him, so maybe they had been shopping. Sandos performed a mini miracle by fitting all of our luggage into the van and we were off. First stop was to pick up Alessandros’s mom, Catarina who had been waiting at the bus station for quite a few hours. Finally, we hit the road. It took a while to get beyond the outskirts of Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America, with 12 million inhabitants.

A five hour drive to Monte
Alto - nap time

Once on the road we travelled on a beautiful double toll freeway all the way. The countryside was mainly farmland. Most of it seemed to be sugar cane which is a big crop in Brazil. En route we took a break at a roadside stop and had our first disorienting cross cultural experience. To enter the facility one had to take a large 3 by 4 inch thick plastic tab from a machine which allowed one entrance. This allowed us to go to the washroom and pick anything off of the rather substantial buffet meal on offer. Once we had our plates loaded up we had to check in with a lady whose function was unclear unless one spoke Portuguese. She looked like a cashier and had a wand in her hand to scan and weigh  our various items. I pulled out my credit card to pay and she started yabbering at me incoherently. I kept offering her my card and she kept yabbering and pointing towards the exit. Eventually Alessandro turned up and bailed me out. The lady’s job was to scan our purchases, which were then loaded digitally onto our fat plastic tab. We then had to take the tab to the actual cashier at the exit of the store. One couldn’t leave the building without the plastic tab being cleared by a payment. Whew, I thought I was going crazy.

En Route rest stop a la Brazil - very upmarket
and a good place to watch the home country 
playing Japan - a very tense game

Whilst having our lunch we experienced a more enjoyable Brazilian moment. Brazil was playing Japan soccer in the FIFA world cup. Japan was up 1 to 0. The diners were somber but the game was yet young. Then the Brazilians scored the equalizer and the crowd went crazy. Hope was back on the table. At some point Brazil scored again and the crowd went ballistic. I’m guessing its not safe in these parts to be anything other than a Brazilian supporter.

The rest of our journey was long and tedious. We eventually dragged ourselves into Monte Alto at about 8pm. It was dark and we were yearning for sleep, but we had to do some basic shopping for our Air BnB which of course had no supplies ready and waiting. 

A massive mural of the Last Supper adorned 
the front of the store

This was a surreal experience. The modest sized grocery store looked like most Canadian ones excepting few of the products were recognizable. It took us a while to get some modest supplies to tide us over for the first 24 hours. One remarkable feature in the store on the front wall, was a very large painting of Jesus and the disciples at the last supper. It was refreshing to see such an unashamed depiction of the owner’s Christian allegiances. My spirits were lifted. There is hope.

Our Air BnB is about 15 kilometres out in the bush on a small holding. After our grocery expedition we seemed to be driving to the ends of the earth, with barely any lights to be seen anywhere. Our accommodation was modest but had a large swimming pool which was promising. We were exhausted, ate a quick snack and headed for bed. Tomorrow we would be rested and everything would look different.

Tuesday, June 31^st

We awoke at 7.15am, sinfully late for Cher and I, to a bright sunny morning. Apart from Gloria, no one else was awake. The pool looked too inviting to not go in, so I took the opportunity and enjoyed a few laps of relatively warm water. Remember that this is the depth of a Brazilian winter we are talking about here. We could get used to this.

The horse was a great novelty

Our AirBnB is out in the country and is perched close to the top of a hill. The outlook was gorgeous with a beautiful vista spreading out below us. The hobby farm came complete with chickens, guinea fowl, two cows and a horse. The animals were like a magnet to the kids who have loved having the chickens who provide much amusement. At one point I saw one of the kids resting their head on the horse’s side. Julia and Cher, who are our bird watchers, have been having fun, making new finds. One morning we noticed movement in the trees above the chicken coop. It was monkeys, who had come to see what they could borrow from the chickens.

The AirBnB even had a Guinea
Fowl known by Brazilians as
an Angolan chicken - go figure. 

The first order of business in our day was for Julia and I to rent a car each, so that our group of ten could get around as needed. It required a trip to Jaboticabal a town about 20 kilometres from Monte Alto. Alessandro arrived to pick us up for the ride. We made sure we had our driver’s licenses and all the paperwork needed for our prebooked mid sized SUVs. Alessandro and I sat in the front chatting while Elaine and Julia sat in the back. I enjoyed quizzing him on a variety of all matters Brazilian. Brazilians are very proud of their country, but it also comes with a fair dose of critique about the state of things. One Brazilian lady, welcomed Cheryl to Brazil with a comment along the lines of, “Enjoy your visit  but don’t consider staying”

Each evening the horse from
the neighboring farm would
visit the horse on our property. 

The wheels came off of our pre-booked car rental arrangement pretty quickly once we arrived. The very nice lady asked us for our passports. Well who thinks of taking a passport to rent a car? Alessandro explained that Brazil is a very bureaucratic country. There is a way to rent a car and we shouldn’t try to change the system, we’d be wasting our breath. So, we tightened our patience muscles and drove the 40 kilometers or so back to the farm to get our passports. I felt very bad for Alessandro who had a list as long as his arm of things to do, four days ahead of his wedding.

Back to the rental place and all was well until we came to the paperwork for the second vehicle.  They informed us that we did not have a second booking. The computer had seen two identical bookings both in my name and assumed it was a duplicate and cancelled the second one, without notifying us of that minor detail. They could offer us a second vehicle but the price would be at today’s price because online booking is cheaper and we were now booking directly with them. Our blood pressures rose another few notches, whilst we argued the case back and forth. There was no budging. Rules are rules – don’t try and change the system. We eventually caved and it turned out the price was the same and with a now different exchange rate it cost us just $25 extra for a ten day rental. Some things one just has to roll with the punches.

Julia, Beatriz and Elisa on our first shopping 
foray. Fresh produce was easy. 
Other things - not so much

Next up was a much needed trip to do some groceries. Julia, Elaine, I and Alessandro’s two daughters Beatriz and Elisa were to be our guides and interpreters. The supermarket was much bigger than the one we had visited the night before and easily up to Canadian standards. All labels are in Portuguese and a simple grocery shop became a long-protracted affair whilst we attempted to decipher what was what and where it was. I was dispatched to get milk with Elisa to show me where to find it. She took me to a fridge with boxed long-life milk. I had spotted the regular bagged milk in another fridge and pointed to that indicating we would prefer fresh milk.  Elisa, who understands more English than she speaks launched Into a long explanation in Portuguese of why that was a bad idea. It turns out that the bagged milk goes off within 48 hours, whereas the long-life milk will last months. Who knows what goes into it to make it last that long?

Such is life in a cross cultural situation. Every simple task and chore can become mind numbingly challenging.

The pool entertained us all for hours every day. 

We finally dragged ourselves home for a 4pm late lunch. Cheryl and Gloria were keeping an eye on the younger ones in the party. No problem there. They had been self-entertaining in the pool which has since proven to be a lot of fun for all of us pool and sunshine deprived Canadians.

Alessandro arrived a bit later for our first full new-family meal together. Alessandro’s Mom, Catarina,  was there along with Beatriz (16) and Elisa (13). Alessandro’s two older kids Emmanuel and Isabella were still in Sao Paulo and would be arriving the day before the wedding. 

How many trees have been cut to 
provide beautiful tables like this?

The table at our AirBnB is a cut off log, which stretches about 12 feet long and about three feet wide It is a wonderful piece of furniture, but sad to think of the tree that had to be cut to provide this for us. I don’t know what sort ot wood it is, but it weighs a ton.

It was a slightly surreal experience sharing a meal with our about to be new family members.  We had all met for the first time within the last 24 hours. So much to learn of each other and yet so limited by language and opportunity. We are all beginning a new chapter and we face it with a measure of trepidation, but also gratitude for God’s provision for an opportunity for these two families who have suffered loss, to blend, heal and grow together.

Two families embarking on the adventure of
melding into one. Our first meal together. 

Alessandro and family left relatively early.  We were grateful for an early night as we were still recovering from our long trip. We would see what our journey held in store the next day.

Wednesday July 1^st, Canada Day

This part of Brazil looks like great farm land

One of my jobs in the early morning has been to unlock the two large metal gates which cover the entrance to our property. The second gate is at the top of the hill from which one has a wonderful view of the surrounding farm fields and patches of forest. Each morning as I walk back down the hill I have been greeted by a dog presumably from one of the neighboring farms. She comes running up to greet me and then stands dead still while I stroke and pet her and whisper sweet nothings to her. I have labelled her my guardian angel dog. Her greeting each morning is so personal and so celebratory to be in my presence, she must be a messenger sent by the Lord to greet me.

Elaine and Alessandro chatting to Elaine's 
pastor in Toronto. What a small world we live in. 

Alessandro arrived early this morning to spend a bit of time with Elaine on their own before the busyness of the day got going. They sat quietly together on the lawn under one of the trees. It was a blessing to my grandfather’s heart to note various other children and grandchildren all starting their day quietly, reading their bibles and praying, in different corners of the property.

Our pool had come with no pool toys, so my first mission was to go into town and find some. Julia and Elaine’s phones weren’t working so they needed to buy a different plan. Julia, James and I ventured on our first unaccompanied trip. We found a pharmacy that sold cell phone plans. Julia did well with her starter Portuguese explaining what was needed and with no problems Elaine’s phone was up and running. Julia’s phone however, would just not work. One of the cashiers, Caroline, rolled up her sleeves and helped Julia. She must have spent an hour with no luck. Believe it or not, but part of the process required providing her passport info. Sigh, and we complain about Canadian bureaucracy. Eventually we were given the address of the company who provided the plans and Caroline assured Julia that they would get it working. As it turns out they too, cannot get it working.

Grandson John taking full advantage of 
all the pool noodles. 

Our next mission was pool toys. We followed the directions we had been given in fast Portuguese to no avail. Eventually I spotted balls and floaties at the far back end of a store and we were off to the races. James had come to Brazil with a mission to buy some Portuguese Pokemon cards. Bingo, there in the front of that same store was a nice range of options. James was about to unload about two thirds of his spending money for the whole trip. He was convinced there would be a big demand for Portuguese Pokemon cards by his Canadian friends and he would be able to sell some and make a big killing. We managed to persuade him to hold off on purchasing on the spot as we could always come back later.

I haven’t mentioned about driving in Monte Alto. Firstly, we have to cover about 10 kms of dirt road to get to town. The road is nicely graded and in good shape, but cars hurtle down it, like they are in a race to the next life. Once that hurdle has been overcome, we get onto paved roads which apart from occasional pot holes are not in bad shape. The unannounced terror though is in the significant speed bumps which pop up every couple of hundred meters. Some of them look like they’ve never seen a drop of paint, so spotting them is a bit of an art. I have discovered it is best to watch the vehicles ahead of us, and they are a good clue as to what is coming next.

The other disconcerting and exhausting part of driving in this town is the proliferation of signs that read “Pares” which translated means “Stop”. As it turns out, this is just a guideline and what Pares really means is a combination of “Yield, or at least watch out for other cars, in case they’re coming, but by and large just “drive with caution”. It’s a bit of a guessing game. Monte Alto town is built on quite a steep hill, so water drainage is obviously an issue to be dealt with. At the intersections, the downhill roads basically have an indented drain to carry the water down the hill. They act as an inverted speed bump on either side of the intersection if one is travelling sideways to the hill. Probably 90% of the roads in Monte Alto are one way, so navigating intersections is a bit of a guessing game between figuring out if we have right of way ie a main road, and from what direction the transverse traffic might be entering the intersection and remembering that each intersection holds two speed bumps. I find myself yearning for a simple race down the 401. At least there are no speed bumps and we know which direction the cars are going.

We had no sooner arrived back from our expedition when Elaine announced that she needed to find another hairdresser as the one she had previously booked had cancelled. Cher, Elaine and I drove back into town to visit various options and find someone suitable. We picked up Beatriz, Alessandro’s 16 year old, whose English is good, to be our intermediary and translator. It turned out that Wednesday afternoons are “hairdresser day off”, so our search was long and tedious as we kept driving around the town trying to find someone who could take a late booking, two days later. For me, the driver, it was a stressful exercise – refer to my previous paragraph on driving in Monte Alto. Eventually we uncovered a good-looking prospect and arrangements were duly made over the phone. Whew – imagine sending a bride to the altar without her hair properly seen to.

Elaine and Alessandro practicing
 a few dance moves
ahead of the big day. 

No sooner had we returned from that expedition than we had to leave again for Elaine and Gloria to meet with Alessandro and Patricia who is a member of his congregation and also the florist, who was also playing the role of wedding planner. I dropped them off and decided I’d had enough driving for the day and left them to it. Alessandro would bring them back later. I needed to get back for a swim and to make sure my grandsons knew that I was still a force to be reckoned with in the game of “who gets to keep the ball” in the pool. I must say that these days I hold my own, but each passing year, the boys get stronger and more vigorous and I am headed in the opposite direction. I should probably retire gracefully while I’m up and keep my title unbeaten.

Our day ended uneventfully and we all headed for an earlyish night. We are getting close to the big day and we need our beauty sleep.

Thursday July 2^nd

I was expecting an early drive with Alessandro and Samuel, Elaine’s son, to a town about an hour’s drive away to buy Sam a suit. The suit that had been bought for Sam was very poor quality, so another plan had had to be made. At the last moment it turned out that Alessandro had found somewhere in Monte Alto that rented suits so that made life a whole lot easier.  

Next up was the wedding rehearsal at the church. Patricia the florist cum wedding planner arrived on her Vespa scooter to take charge. Thankfully she did, as there were quite a few twists and turns to consider as we navigated the arrangements, with a lot of translation, facilitated by much animated hand gesturing by Patricia. Eventually we had it all figured out and knew who was walking who down the aisle, in what order and at what speed. Then who was exiting the service with whom and how we were getting all the right people to the reception hall in the right order. I reminded Sam that he was getting an inside look at what really goes into getting married. It’s not just a matter of turn up looking good and cheer the happy couple on.

Back to the farm for lunch and a snooze. Cher and Julia went off on a jaunt into town with her boys to do battle with the cell phone company. As it turned out, the phone plan providers were also defeated and Julia came away with a non-working cell phone having paid for two different plans. Fortunately, Cher’s and my phones are working so we are able to make do. The trip also included a “find a Portuguese Pokemon set” component and the boys came back flush with victory at having found a good deal each.

Beatriz and Sam didn't have much time to 
practice their singing and keyboard
contributions  to the wedding service.
They did well despite this. 

I went into town a bit later with Elaine and Sam to practice the music Sam and Beatriz were leading in the wedding service. I returned in time for a late-ish swim and to do battle with the boys over the plastic ball in the pool. It’s amazing how much energy can be spent on a triviality such as this if one is determined to claim ownership of something insignificant without any justification. It’s reaching the point where the boys have gained the upper hand, especially if they gang up on me. I retired from the game early, claiming I was getting cold. A man has to keep his dignity intact.

We ended the evening with a movie. Pride and Prejudice was the order of the day, considering that romance was in the air. Despite a few groans from the boys, we all enjoyed it and it was time to hit the sack. Tomorrow is the last day pre-wedding. Lots to do, nerves to keep intact and generally keep the show moving along.

Friday July 3^rd

It’s a big day today. All the ladies are having their finger nails done, compliments of one of the members of the church. They had a six-hour session booked to get through all the key ladies. To the male members of the group this seemed excessive, but we were politely assured it was a special bonding moment for the ladies, and we should not trouble ourselves unduly.

What are boys to do when left without ladies to curb their basic instincts? Go on a mystery tour of course? I had unfettered charge of four boys for the morning and had decided to do a visit to the local tourist information office, find out what we could do for the few days we will be here on our own while Elaine and Alessandro were away. I would then take the boys for an ice cream. After a brief  GPS search for the tourist info office, I and the four boys were off. I was impervious to their pleas for me to tell them where we were going. Mystery tour  -no more, no less. The GPS confidently led us to the address the kind lady in the GPS had guided us to. We were outside of a rather grubby looking house – no sign of a Touristico Informacio office anywhere. I was a bit stumped. Where to next? As it turns out there is no such office in Monte Alto.

At that very moment of indecision, Cher called to say that Elaine urgently needed to get back into our Airbnb and I had the keys of the property on me. I needed to return asap. So, I returned the boys to the house, much to their relief. One of them commented, “well that was a waste of an hour, can we swim now?” So much for a nice boys morning out. I guess Grandad’s mystery tours lose their appeal at a certain age and stage.

Catarina, Alessandro's Mom, Eliene and 
Alessandro getting set up for the big BBQ. 

Alessandro was all a go as once the ladies finger nails were done, Brazilian BBQ was next as a pre-wedding dinner. He was the star BBQ chef. It turns out Alessandro is a bit of a foodie and loves to cook. Brazilian BBQ is number one on his list of preferences. He arrived at the house with his Mom, family, and the pastor conducting the wedding all set to go – charcoal briquettes and meat in copious quantities. His mom and one of the ladies were set to preparing a type of finely cut salad which is all typically Brazilian.

Producing the meat is men's work - Andre and 
Alessandro display their handiwork 

The house is built with a special BBQ cook house off of a side kitchen. It opens up to the pool area but the cooking happens from inside, so I guess could be used for accessing meat directly off of the BBQ. It must be unbearably hot in there at the height of their summer.

After about 30 -40 minutes, Alessandro started delivering large quantities of meat to the table where the hungry hordes were waiting expectantly. As the meal progressed, more meat kept arriving – beef, chicken and pork. The final coup de grace, was the outer skin of the pork, which we would call crackling, was delivered, complete with a half inch of fat. This is considered to be very delectable.

Alessandro's piece de 
resistance - Brazilian 
pudding. Delicious

Alessandro’s final moment of triumph was when he produced “pudding” Brazilian style. It mainly consists of loads of condensed milk and looked a lot like what we would call “cream caramel dessert” with a similar consistency to crème brulee. This was the final coup de grace and the hungry hordes were all put to rest. It had been an exceptional presentation of what a BBQ could look like when taken to its limits.

Soon to be married Andre and Eliene (next
week), Cher and I enjoyed an hour
of sharing compliments of Google Translate

I have discovered the delights of Google translate. In the absence of any workable Portuguese it is a wonderful alternative. I spent some time meeting the pastor, Andre, who was to conduct the service tomorrow and his fiancé, Eliene. It’s amazing how deep our conversation was able to go as we both shared our testimonies together and some of the challenges and joys of Christian ministry. Andre and Alessandro had met at Bible College and been friends ever since. Andre had since married and divorced. Eliene’s husband had died a year or two ago and she and Andre had rekindled their friendship from their Bible College days and were now due to be married next week. The fun part of all of this is that Andre is officiating at Alessandro’s wedding tomorrow and Alessandro is going to officiate at Andre and Eliene’s wedding next week.

It had turned into a real pool party and the day ended with a pool full of young folks playing games and just generally winding down in preparation for the big day tomorrow. Alessandro and his group left not too late as we were all feeling the need for an earlyish night. As it turned out, it would not be so for Alessandro. More on that tomorrow.

Saturday July 4^th

The wedding party must be sent off in clean
 cars  - with a 10 km  dirt road to navigate
it was a complete waste of time!

Today is wedding day so it’s all systems go. I needed to ferry Elaine into town by 8.45am for her hairdresser appointment. I then had to return to the farm and would have about 45 minutes to get myself spruced up before we started to ferry the rest of the group to the church. At the last moment a voice whispered in my ear, “ Get properly dressed before you take Elaine, in case something goes wrong”. I decided to act on that still small voice, just in case.

Sam and Rob waiting at the hairdresser

As it turned out, when we arrived at the hairdresser, Beatriz, Alessandro’s daughter, was supposed to be there waiting to interpret for Elaine. We called Beatriz and Alessandro was out, so not available to give her a ride. His older daughter, Isabella, and son Emmanuel, had arrived by bus at 2am that morning at the bus station from Sao Paulo and he had needed to pick them up in the dead of night. They had had a few hours of sleep and it turned out that Isabella had needed a new pair of shoes and Emmanuel needed a belt. Alessandro also needed to pick up his suit which was supposed to have been ready the day before but hadn’t been. So they were all out seeing to chores. The wedding was scheduled for 11am. Sheesh. Talk about cutting it fine. Bottom line, he was out shopping and Beatriz had no way to get to the hairdresser where Elaine needed her for translation. I needed to go and pick up Beatriz, which took about half an hour. There went my 45 minute turn around buffer I thought I would have had.

The hairdresser's garden - a great place for photos

By the time I got back to the farm I had five minutes before we loaded up and headed for the church. I needed to pick up Elaine from the hairdresser. The hairdressing salon was beautifully decorated, and Elaine was upstairs getting dressed. She came downstairs looking gorgeous and we took the opportunity to get some photos before departing for the church, arriving five minutes ahead of schedule. Phew, it had been quite a morning so far.

The beginning of a new chapter for Elaine
and Alessandro who have both experienced
significant loss in recent years. 

I had the privilege of walking Elaine down the aisle and handing her over to the good care of Alessandro. I felt quite emotional. It has been seven and a half years since Elaine lost Alex, her first husband, to a brain tumor. She has been quite self-sufficient, but of course Cher and I have wanted to stand in the gap as much as we could for her while she has been a single mom. I felt happy for her on the one hand and yet sad at losing the closeness we had enjoyed by having her all to ourselves. Bottom line, we are both delighted to welcome Alessandro and his kids into our family circle and vice versa.

The full bridal party (L-R) - Beatriz (17), Esther (14), Emmanuel (early 20/s), Elaine, Alessandro
Samuel 17, Isabella (early 20's), Elisa

A lovely buffet meal was served

The reception was similar to what we are used to, but in some ways quite different. When Elaine and Alessandro arrived they almost immediately did their first dance after which we all settled down to a good meal which was buffet style and delicious. Elaine and Alessandro sat a table on their own. 

Some traditions are the same everywhere

Once the meal was over, the cake cutting took place at a beautifully decorated artificial cake. The actual wedding cake was served as dessert.

Beatriz, Esther and Cher, 
very intent on something. 

Sam had gone to a lot of trouble to come up with a playlist for dancing to, but up until then there was no sign of any dancing. About half an hour after the meal, some folks started to head for home, including the guy with the music mixer. Some of our tech wizards went to work and figured out a way to get music from Sam’s cell phone to the large speaker borrowed from the church. The whole side of our family got the dancing going and we were the source of much fascination by the other guests who spectated enthusiastically. Some of the other guests joined in but eventually we all ran out of steam and the party wound down.

The new cousins and siblings beginning to bond and blend. What a blessing. 

In a strange way because of our particular circumstances, Elaine needed to come home with us to get showered and changed. Alessandro had to do the same on his side and he then came over to the farm with all of his kids to pick Elaine up before they headed out for a couple of days on their own.

To avoid the feeling of let down at the end of all the excitement, our whole blended group gathered to watch the highlights of the Canada v Morocco soccer game in which Canada lost quite convincingly. After that we were pretty much done and all headed for bed.

The blended family group was all good to go and yet it seemed to be too soon to be saying farewells. Emmanuel and Isabella and her boyfriend Caua were returning to Sao Paulo on Sunday afternoon, the next day. We couldn’t bear to be saying goodbye to them all so soon, so made a plan to meet them all the next day, after church for them to show us around the market. I then took them home and we all headed for bed having had a memorable day.

Sunday July 5^th          

Julia, our youngest. 
A special blessing 
to us. 

This was Julia’s birthday. Our gang of eight all gathered around her bed and sang her happy birthday and offered her leftover favor treats from the wedding, which basically consist of caramelized condensed milk with a bit of doughnut on either side to make it less sticky. A perfect pre breakfast snack.

For church we had decided to watch the Unionville Alliance service from the previous week online rather than try and take in a Portuguese only service at Alessandro’s church with him not even being there.

After that we piled into our two rental cars to go and meet up with Alessandro’s kids who had promised to show us around the weekly farmers’ market. We were a bit late by the time we got there so a few of the stalls had already packed up. However the real reason we were there was to sample the “pastel”, which is a type of crispy patty stuffed with a variety of meat and cheese fillings. I gather that pastel is very much a common snack and they were reasonably priced. It is definitely something we will try again.

Pastel - a relatively 
cheap and tasty treat

Most shops here are closed on Sundays, except for ice cream shops.  After that tasty pastel we walked about 15 minutes to the nearest ice cream shop where we almost overwhelmed the system with our varied order for 13 people. When all was said and done it turns out that they had cheated us on the pricing and had added about 50% to what we should have paid. Perhaps they got confused with the variety of our orders along with the indecision of some. Sigh!! Sometimes it’s hard being a gringo.

The boys discovered that they could buy little miniature firework bombs at the ice cream shop. They came away loaded up with mini bombs which explode when thrown on the ground. The rest of us had to endure being plagued with sharp explosions going off in all directions for the next few hours.       

After our ice cream jaunt, it was time to bid farewell to Isabella and Caua her boyfriend, and Emmanuel. They were catching a 3pm bus in a neighboring town. It was sad to be reducing our number so soon after having just met. These are our new family members and despite our different backgrounds, we had clicked, which is something we’ve been praying for.

After the fond farewells we headed home for a nap and a quiet afternoon catching up on ourselves after the busyness of the last few days. With all my running around doing errands my rental car needed topping up. It turns out that most gas stations are also closed on Sundays but I did locate one that was open. They don’t do self-serve in Brazil. The two attendants and I had a bit of a discussion, compliments of Google Translate about whether I needed Ethanol or Gas to fill up my car. They were pretty adamant I needed Ethanol, presumably because it’s a bit cheaper. Alessandro had told me that in Brazil they add 30% of ethanol to their gas which is made from all the sugar cane they produce. In North America the ethanol content of our gas is limited to 10% as it is considered not very good for car engines. Anyway  I decided to take the advice of the two service attendants and fill up with the Ethanol option. So far the car is running fine. I ‘ve always believed in taking the advice of professionals.

Now that Canada had been eliminated from the FIFA competition, we had switched our allegiance to Brazil. We spent a bit of time watching Norway eliminate Brazil 2-1 which was sad, but that’s life in the fast lane I guess.

Grandson John and Rob in another 
hard fought battle

My grandson John loves to compete against his granddad, and his special joy in life was beating me in whatever game we are playing. It’s now got to the stage where I can’t play chess with him anymore. There’s only so much humiliation a man can stand. Cher and I offered to teach John and one or two others how to play Canasta. John has taken to it like a duck to water. I have now played with him three times and each time he has won, much to his glee. I think I’m going to have to retire from active competition. I claimed I was tired and needed an early night and slunk off to bed to plan my next move. I wonder how John would do in tiddledywinks. I used to do ok at that. Tomorrow is another day. I’ll think of something.

Monday July 6^th

Esther, surrounded by her adoring 
cousins and siblings on her
fifteenth birthday. 

Today was Esther’s birthday, the second of three whilst on this family trip. We woke her with the family rendition of happy birthday and more wedding dolce de leite treats. We are eating well on this trip.

We decided to explore the property as we hadn’t had a good look around. We had to keep a leery eye out for the one cow in particular who apparently can be a bit grumpy. They have sharp horns and only speak Portuguese so we were watchful. Fortunately, they were up in a different field, so we could relax.  

The farm sits on a fairly steep hill. At the bottom of it, where the fence marks the property line, the land drops off in a steep cliff. From this vantage point there is a magnificent outlook over what look like very rich farmlands – sugar cane, citrus and possibly some vineyards.

The rest of the day was very relaxed with swimming, reading and card games. Elaine and Alessandro arrived back from their couple of days away and it was good to see them looking relaxed and rested. The run up to the wedding had been busy and stressful for them both, so now they could begin to unwind a bit.

Alessandros’s family came out for the evening as we had a special dinner planned for Esther’s birthday. After the dinner the kids played a game which Beatriz had brought. It was good to see them all beginning to relax in each other’s company. We wound up the evening watching a two minute video of the wedding, which Patricia, the wedding planner, had produced. She will also use it to promote her business. We also watched a brief video of Esther’s final ballet concert at the end of June.

Alessandro’s family left early and Cher and I headed for bed early, leaving the younger set watching a movie. We had books to read and would soon be in the land of nod.

Tuesday July 7^th

Cher and I slept in and woke to find most of the rest of the group up and about. I tiptoed to the kitchen to quietly make Cher and I a cup of tea. I made a strategic error in halfheartedly asking if anyone else would like a cup of tea. It was as if they had all been waiting for this moment and six responses shot back in the affirmative. Sigh – there went my nice peaceful cup of tea with my wife while we eased ourselves gently into the day.

At breakfast that morning I decided enough was enough. I offered a no-charge, as in free, tutorial, after breakfast for grandchildren who wished to learn how to make their grandparents a tea or coffee whenever needed. Sadly, there were no takers. Esther, who is normally one of the less raucous, and least troublesome of the grandchildren commented that “I can’t see any net benefit in attending the course”. I suppose it had been worth a try.

Laundry day - the old fashioned way. 

Today was laundry day. We had been going for over a week and dirty laundry was stacking up. Cher and Julia had found a laundry sink outside behind the kitchen, complete with a washboard. They went hard at it, while I rather feebly put out plastic chairs to hang the laundry on.

We discovered a garbage emergency. Our garbage had been accumulating for a week. We couldn’t leave it outside  as it would have been trashed by critters, so we had put it out of the way into the BBQ kitchen. Cher just happened to pop her head in there to find maggots crawling out of the garbage bags in every direction. Aaaagh!. These are nasty little creatures who can move at quite a good pace. Fortunately, Giselle, the owner of the Airbnb arrived shortly after to feed the livestock. She was not fussed. “Oh, nao problemo – just stack it up in that barrel over there and I will burn it”. She emerged from a storeroom with a blow gun like flamethrower and proceeded to send the maggots to a fiery death. Such is life in the backwoods of Brazil – nao problemo.

After lunch I was subjected to yet another humiliating defeat by Samuel and John in a hotly contested game of Canasta. The problem with John, is he loves to announce to the whole world that he has defeated his granddad. I need to talk to his parents about him toning it down a bit.

Patricia, the church member, who had done the wedding party’s fingernails, had made a special invitation to our whole party to come to her house where she was organizing a tea party. Alessandro said he thought the boys would prefer to go for a boys outing and leave the ladies to enjoy themselves in peace.

Boy's tea party - with Alessandro entertaining
us with his stories

The boys went to a newly renovated very fancy coffee shop which Alessandro said was the best place in town. We all got to order a coffee or pop of our choice, along with one of those very tasty Portuguese tarts. Alessandro is very good with the boys and relates to them very well. We had great fun while he regaled us with stories of his youth and how he had needed to protect his daughters in various ways. It was good practical advice for boys in a world in which being a strong male is too often considered “toxic”.

Patricia had laid on a wonderful spread for the ladies and had gone the extra mile for them. She included an object lesson, which showed how our lives start off clean and simple, presenting them each with a piece of smooth colored gift-wrapping tissue paper. As our lives go, things can get messy (crumpled) and broken  (bits torn off). Then others who have suffered similar hardships  come into our lives and together we are able to bring beauty into each others lives. The object lesson ended with a beautiful multicolored flower each. It was a very touching message as everyone in the room had suffered significant loss, but God is bringing them together as a family to make something beautiful despite the hardships each has experienced.

We were very grateful to Patricia who had initiated this time. The body of Christ is remarkable when we apply our giftings for the benefit of others.

We returned home, thoroughly blessed, for a quiet evening and earlyish night.

Wednesday July 9, 2026

Today we are winding up our time here in the backwoods of Monte Alto. Alessandro dropped off Beatriz and Elisa for a final swim mid-morning, while he went back to work on church related business – he still has a regular job as a pastor to contend with in amongst seeing to the varied needs of his ten additional family members he has married into.

This morning I taught John how to play Canasta in pairs. Elaine and Julia joined us  My strategy was to average him out a bit by connecting him to a partner. Perhaps his partner would slow him down a bit.  It backfired on me badly because he and Elaine could do no wrong and they wiped the floor with Julia and I despite our noble efforts to put up a strong showing. Sigh. I’ll never live this down.

Elisa, James and Peter - cousin bonding time

The big chore of the day was to return our two vehicles to the rental agency. Alessandro mentioned that they were open until 6pm. He had lots to do, so we decided to do the return towards the end of the day. Julia and I would meet him in town about 4.15pm ahead of doing the 20k trip to Jaboticabal where the rental agency was. As we arrived at Alessandro’s I reached for my fanny pack which I had set aside with passport, wallet and driver’s licence – ready for any eventuality should it arise. With horror I realized I had left it back at the farm. Aaaaaagh. We had no choice but to head the 20 minutes back to the farm and then back to Alessandro. It was now 5pm and we still had to drive to Jaboticabal, fill up both vehicles with gas and then get to the rental agency by 6pm. We were under pressure.

We squeaked in to Localiza the rental agency, by 5.45pm. Lo and behold the same two women who had  dealt with us when we rented, greeted us unsmilingly – they clearly considered us trouble. The manager was in charge. She looked up our file and with something close to glee announced that our return was two hours late and we would have to pay an additional day’s rent on each vehicle.. They had sent us an email the day before telling us in perfectly clear Portuguese that the latest we could return the vehicles  was 4pm. I hadn’t bothered to read the email, firstly because it was unintelligible to me, but also because I knew they were open until 6pm. I have to confess, having rented vehicles before that I should have known that I had to return them within the same time range as the rental time. Sigh. Some lessons are best learnt the hard way. I take full responsibility, although I would never admit that to the rather stern looking manager.

Julia had promised the group that we would buy “pastels”, a type of Jamaican patty, as a final night’s treat. Alessandro took us to the place that makes the best ones. The place was full of local folk, who clearly knew what Alessandro knew. The menu was two full pages long – just about any combination of filling one could ever imagine. When we ordered Julia was told it would be a 30 minute wait. We settled down for another unexpected delay. Our little jaunt to return the cars had turned into a major outing. We eventually dragged ourselves back to the farm at 8.45pm four hours after departing. The hungry hordes were waiting expectantly and fell upon the pastels as if they hadn’t seen a good meal in a month.

The party was over. Alessandro took Beatriz and Elisa home, the kids were lining up to watch two different movies, one girlie flavored and one for those a with a preference for a bit more testosterone. Cher and I went to do some fine tuning on our  packing and head for an earlyish night. The van is picking us up at 7am tomorrow to take us to Sao Paulo airport en route to Iguassu Falls, one of the world’s natural wonders.

Thursday July 9^th,

Up at 5am to get the water on the boil for a cup of tea, hopefully without a bunch of free loaders also wanting one. There is no kettle in this Airbnb. It has to be boiled on the gas stove, so its not a fast process.

Once all of my final bits and pieces were wrestled into my luggage, I took a stroll in the pitch dark up the hill to unlock the two gates guarding the property. I wondered if my guardian  angel greeting dog would meet me so early. No sign of her. As I walked down the hill I heard a squeal and a yelp behind me and there she was – sent by the Lord to remind me that no matter the time of day or location, He sees us and we are special to Him. I stopped to pet her and she stood stock still enjoying the attention. I beckoned her “Vamos”, down the hill with me, and went and called Peter who had been keen to meet her.

We all gathered on the massive front verandah to sing our third birthday family greeting of the week to Chris, Julia’s husband, who sadly, had not been able to join us on this trip for health reasons. This time our singing was online, but by now our choir has improved so it was quite a good rendition. We are really sorry Chris has not been able to join us for health reasons.  

We are losing four of our group today, which is sad. Alessandro and Elaine are staying to enjoy a few weeks of marriage on their own. Gloria is returning to Toronto and Catarina, Alessandro’s mom, is flying back to Rio de Janeiro where she lives. Beatriz and Elisa will join the main group to spend a week together with us, taking in Iguassu Falls before we all head back for a couple of days at a beach resort south of Sao Paulo.

Sandros, with his 15 seater van was a blessing
for a group of our size. 

The van arrived at 7am with Sandros the driver. He performed another minor miracle by fitting in 13 people’s luggage and we were all aboard. We had to walk up the steep farm road a bit in case. Sandros was concerned the 13 of us, including the driver, plus luggage wouldn’t make it over some of the bumps in the road.

On this leg we are prepared with all manner of snacks. We had been burnt the first time on our way to Monte Alto at the road stop where our simple lunch had cost us quite a bit more than expected. After a couple of hours of driving Sandros stopped us off for a washroom and coffee break. Sam and I ordered a coffee each. Sam wanted a small and I ordered a medium. When they arrived, Sam’s coffee looked like it belonged in the thimble department it was so small. My medium looked like a small Small by Canadian standards. We had a chuckle and I sent Sam off to order himself a medium.

One of our roadside stops featured a very 
retro 50's and 60's look

The trip passed uneventfully and we were soon at the airport. It had been a flawless day, we were looking forward to our flight and what promised to be a wonderful three days at Iguassu Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world.  

Little did  we know that our day was about to unravel rather dramatically. As we were heading for the airport, Cheryl suddenly gasped and said, “who has Sammy and Esther’s passports? Sam and Esther looked blank as if to say, “don’t ask us. We’re minors. We don’t think about such things”. My experience with the car rental agency had taught me that pretty much nothing happens for foreigners in Brazil, without a passport. Panic set in. We relaxed when we realized that we had digital copies of both documents. A quick call to Elaine confirmed that she had the passports and had forgotten to give them to the kids. She was five to six hours drive away in Monte Alto.

We were about four hours early at the airport, “just in case something goes wrong”, so we had lots of time. We took a deep breath and decided the digital documents would have to work. It’s an internal flight, no borders being crossed. It should be ok. I mean really. How little we underestimated the byzantine Brazilian bureaucracy.

Our group en route to catch our various planes, 
trains and buses. At that point we were still smiling. 

The story is too long to tell in detail, but the highlights are as follows. The lady checking documents as we entered the check in line agreed that the digital documents should be fine. We relaxed. She waved us into an airline line up from hell. It moved slowly at best. As we neared the end of the line up an officious looking gentleman started to call passengers for flights that were about to be boarded and they were all ushered through ahead of us. This began a process of being permanently bumped, for about an hour. We finally got to speak to a check in attendant. This process had taken about an hour and a half. Our airline attendant started off helpful, but things went downhill from there. He finally accepted Sammy’s Canadian G1 Driver’s license plus his digital passport photo, but we had nothing like that for Esther. He dug his heels in with a solid “nao – no possible”. He advised us to go to Terminal 3 where they issue temporary “passports/travel documents”. “It is quick” he assured us in a rather tetchy tone.

We were in Terminal 2. Six of us were on one booking, so we all ran to Terminal 3. We needed to stick together. Along the way Cheryl took a really bad tumble and went sprawling, cell phone went skittering and everyone around took a collective gasp. One doesn’t keep Cheryl down in the midst of an emergency. She gamely stood up, shook herself down and took off again, albeit with a pronounced limp. We arrived at the Emergency Documents desk and lo and behold it was closed and we were told it is now in Terminal 2 where we had just come form. We were beginning to lose heart as time was slipping by fast.  

Back to Terminal 2 at a fast pace, where we finally located a Police Station. No one knew where the Emergency Documents office was. We pleaded with the helpful police officer to authorize our documents and approve us to board the flight. He was sympathetic but could not help. “Go and plead your case with the airline”. Back to the airline desk and we shamelessly jumped the line up. Been there done that. “Sorry, nao possible”, was the response.  

We finally decided that we would send Sammy, Beatrice and Elisa to Iguassu with Julia and her kids, all of whom had working documentation, while Cher and I stayed with Esther overnight, which allowed time for Elaine and Alessandro to drive the five hours to deliver their passports, and then have to drive back to Monte Alto overnight. We eventually opted to do that, and pushed to the front of the line up yet again to be told that they had now closed the luggage loading and it was not possible for the three of them to board. The airline desk glibly suggested we go and change our seats to the morning. They must need special training to do this kind of thing with a straight face.

We waved Julia and the boys off to Iguassu, planning to reconnect with them  the next day. We then proceeded to go to change our flights to the next day. The young man who helped us was very intense and spent at least 45 minutes tapping away furtively on his computer. We then heard him whispering to one of the other service attendants. He finally took a deep breath and said, “It will cost you $5500 to change your tickets and we cannot book Esther because she does not have hard copy travel documents”. We pointed out that when we checked in in the morning we would have her passport. “Nao, you cannot make a booking without a valid hard copy passport. We pointed out that we had made our original booking online with no documentation. “Sorry, it cannot be done”.

At this point, we just gave up. We told Elaine and Alessandro to cancel their plans to deliver the passports, and we made the tough decision that Iguassu Falls would just have to wait until another time for six out of our group of ten. After Iguassu Falls, we had planned to spend three days in Santos, which is a beach resort a couple of hours from Sao Paulo. We contacted the AirBnB we had booked at and managed to extend our stay there, found a Hampton Hilton hotel nearby, which could pick us up and offer us a bed for the night and breakfast in the morning. We would then rent a van in the morning and drive to Santos. We broke the news to Julia when she landed in Iguassu, which was pretty devastating for her, but there was nothing we could do. The system had beaten us.

We went to bed that night with heavy hearts. It had been a tough afternoon and we were shattered. Tomorrow would be a better day. Iguassu Falls was to have been the highlight of our trip after the wedding.

Friday July 10^th

Our rather sad group trying to make he most
of not having been able to board our plane
to Iguassu Falls, one of the natural 
wonders of the world.  

There’s nothing like a good night’s sleep to improve one’s state of mind. We woke up feeling stronger and more at peace. Our situation could not be changed and we must just make the best of it.

We had a great, all you can eat breakfast a la Hilton Hotels, which was a good start. We had pre-booked two taxis to take us over to the car rental agency, which went off flawlessly. The rental company already had all my info on file, so that was a breeze, and we even managed sign up Alessandro as a secondary driver, using only his digital passport. The guy who brought our car to us performed a minor miracle by getting all of our luggage into a rather miniscule seven seater van. It had seven seats but virtually no luggage room. Esther took the back row along with a mountain of suitcases and bags. It was a tight fit.

Our Air BnB was a close to the beach
as one could get - a magnificent view

Thanks to the marvels of modern day GPS we managed to negotiate the freeway system in Sao Paulo and were soon on a beautiful toll road to Santos. It was a good drive, culminating in five or six long tunnels which dropped us down through some mountains to sea level and Santos.

We checked in to our AirBnB, took a quick visit to a local mini supermarket and then had a bite to eat before taking a nap. Yesterday’s excitement had taken its toll and we were all pretty whacked.

After a long nap we took a late afternoon walk to the beach. Our accommodation is literally as close as one can get to the beach. We couldn’t believe how much traffic there was on the main beachfront road. The motorbikes and scooters were zipping in and out at all times. Just crossing the road was a bit of an adventure. Santos is quite a big city with a busy container port and a large beach with very powdery white sand. We stuck our toes in the water and it was warmer than anticipated.

This was where one goes on a Friday evening
to hang out with friends and have some fun. 

We walked on the beach for a while and headed for some bright lights. It was Friday evening and we came across a rollerblade skating rink cum fun fair where half the city seemed to have congregated to hang out.  It was very festive and we hung out there for a while before heading back to our apartment for some supper and to watch, “The Front of the Class”, a great teacher movie, designed to inspire another generation of aspiring educators.

Tomorrow we would rent bikes and explore the very long waterfront by bike.

Saturday July 11^th

There wasn’t much enthusiasm this morning from our four teenagers to leap out of bed and get on with the day, so it was a slow start. Eventually we had everyone corralled and ready to get on with the day by about 11am.

Our first order of business was to find out where to rent a bike. We found  a spot virtually in front of our apartment. Of course, renting a bike didn’t involve talking to a nice Brazilian entrepreneur, taking some advice on where to go and what to see. There was no human interaction at all. We had to download an app and do our booking online. Well naturally if one is a foreigner, the app wouldn’t download. We had to use Beatrice’s phone. In the course of filling out the form one had to fill in an ID number which of course had to be a Brazilian ID number – nothing else would work. We eventually called Alessandro who is busy conducting the marriage of his best friend today, and he emailed over his account details for us to book with. Sigh. Imagine what would happen if the Brazilians put their minds to making things easy for tourists. Their economy might explode and Brazil becomes an economic superpower like the United States. Watch this space for more news on this exciting potential opportunity.

Peter, Julia, James and John at 
Iguassu Falls while we were
digesting the disappointment 
of not being there too. 

Now that we had Alessandro’s account details we knew we could rent bikes, we needed to do some top up shopping, so we did some groceries, and then went out for lunch. We were conscious that a lot of our food choices were very much to our Canadian tastes and that we needed to offer some Brazilian choice for Beatriz and Elisa. Also they are used to having a main meal at lunchtime. We told them we were going out for lunch, and they could choose where we go, so we could all experience some Brazilian cuisine. As it turned out there was a suitable restaurant at the base of our apartment building, which gave us some good menu choices. We had great fun, checking out the actual Brazilian content of our chicken, fries, beans and rice that most of us ordered. We finally decided it was cooked with Brazilian ingredients by Brazilians in a Brazilian restaurant, so we had met our requirement for a balanced representative Brazilian meal.

The menu was in Portuguese and the ingredients
were cooked in Brazil. Voila - A Brazilian meal. 

We left the restaurant fed to the gills and our beds were crying out for us to come and nap. We obliged, and around 3pm began the anticipated highlight of our day, the bike ride along the long Santos beach front. When we got there, there were only five bikes available and there were six of us. We waited patiently for someone to return one, whilst guarding the five we had and fending off other would-be renters. Beatrice began the process of checking us in. At that point she discovered we could only rent one bike at a time per account. There went our bike ride. Sam, decided he would go for a ride on the one bike we had managed to rent. The girls wandered down to the beach and I decided to go for a walk, while we waited for Sammy to return.

Whilst on my walk I saw four young guys play a fascinating game of volleyball with a Brazilian twist. No hands were allowed. Only feet, chests and heads. The ball control these guys exhibited was amazing. Every now and then, the ball would go up high and one would smash it down with his head. It was a pleasure to watch. When Sam returned from his ride, my body clock was telling me it was tea time, so I returned to the apartment to get the kettle boiling whilst the others lingered at the beach for a while longer.

The day ended with games in the apartment and a late night movie for those who could stay awake.

Sunday July 12^th

Esther and Grandad's perfect card combo to 
scam the boy cousins. 

Esther was up early. She has taken to playing Solitaire, or Patience, as we call it, with playing cards whenever she has a few minutes. She and I started scheming. We decided to play a trick on the boy cousins, who would be arriving from Iguassu Falls later in the day. We would arrange the cards in the correct order, so that once the game commenced, every card would just fit naturally into place in the right order. The game would be over in under a minute. This would astound the boy cousins whose competitive tendencies are quite well developed. We had great fun figuring out what the order had to be for the first half of the game and then we ran out of steam. It was fun doing it and we may yet revive that idea.

We did online church with the previous week’s service from Sammy and Elaine’s church. The preacher, Daniel Mills, always does an amazing job and generally delivers an excellent sermon, without any reference to notes. I don’t know how he does it.

Today was going to be a big day. Elaine and Alessandro had not come with us as Alessandro was officiating at a wedding. They were flying into Sao Paulo and then catching a bus from there to Santos. Julia and her boys were having their last day in Iguassu Falls and then flying to Sao Paulo for a 10pm arrival. Cher and I would be picking them up from the airport in our rental van.

Newly minted siblings
doing a team shop together. 
They did well. 

After church we needed to do some shopping as Elaine and Alessandro were arriving in the afternoon and Julia and her boys were arriving in the evening. We needed to do a team grocery shop. We gave Beatriz, Elisa, Sammy and Esther a shopping list for Elaine and Alessandro’s Airbnb. This was to be a team building exercise. We wanted to see how they would manage with a team task. We set them free to figure it out and off they went while Cher and I looked after our own list. It was fun to watch them beginning to work together. Baby steps.

After lunch we were all ready for a nap. Elaine and Alessandro were arriving by bus by around  4.30pm. The kids and I set off in the van to go and find the bus stop, with Beatrice navigating with the help of Google Maps. It was a bit of an ordeal as that nice lady at Google Maps, who generally seems to know her way around, was obviously having a relaxed Sunday and wasn’t concentrating. She kept sending us around in the same never ending circle. We had Alessandro on the line, trying to describe where he was. We finally found that they had been in the center of the circle we had been driving in for 20 minutes. We were all a bit frazzled, but it was good to see them and begin to re-unite the larger family group after a few days apart.

Once we had Elaina and Alessandro and their kids settled into their Airbnb, Cher and I hit the road for Sao Paulo airport to pick up Julia and boys. It was a two hour drive. Parts of Sao Paulo, can be a bit tricky to drive in and frantic at times especially in the dark, but we managed. We arrived a couple of hours early and went to “Bob’s Burgers” for a romantic night out on our own at the airport.

The lady at the counter at Bob’s told us we had to order from the screen off to the side, McDonald’s style. We dutifully did so. Our order for two combo burgers came to about 120 Rials ($35) – airport prices. When we came to pay, the machine refused to accept our credit cards. We finally called the lady over. We asked if we could pay by cash – “Sorry, no”. Oh dear, our nice cozy meal together was on shaky ground. She saw our dilemma and took pity on us. “Wait”. She then proceeded to tap away on her machine, found us the same order, allowed us to pay by cash and lo and behold the price had become 78 Rials, about $25. Sometimes being helpless, and having grey hair, pays off. We sat on our nice airport food court faux leather seats and whispered sweet nothings to each other. It was a moment of peace and quiet for us after being busy and on call to others for the last 10 days. Thank you Lord for your daily provision. As it turned out, the evening was just beginning.

It was nice to see Elaine and Alessandro again
after a few days away. 

Julia’s plane was due in at 9.35pm. Naturally it was delayed half an hour. They finally made their way to the baggage pick up area and there they sat for the next two hours. It turned out the carousels were all not working and hundreds of people were stuck waiting and and additional travelers kept coming. They finally came through at about 12.30am and we dragged ourselves back to Santos by about 2.30am. Needless to say, everyone was ready for bed.

Monday July 13^th

We all slept in, so it was a slow morning. Elaine and Alessandro were out for a morning walk on the beach and popped in to say hi while we ate our breakfast.

The weather was cold and overcast, so the beach was a non starter. We managed to locate a local bicycle repair shop nearby which was willing to rent us some of the “more than slightly used” bikes. Santos does have an amazingly long cycle path on the beach front, so it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

Peter's bike - a bit beyond it's 
best before date

Alessandro walked us over to the bike shop to ensure the arrangements all went well. Elisa had decided not to ride, so he stayed behind to keep an eye on her. The bike shop was an experience all on its own. It was not a main street affair. They were selling new bikes and mini scooters out the front and the further in one got towards the repair area, the grubbier it became. After much back and forth with the arrangements, it was agreed that we could rent 10 bikes for 4 hours for the princely sum of $10 each. A pretty good deal – or so we thought. Out came a mixed selection of bikes ranging from brand new to some which looked like they hadn’t been ridden for years and they were pretty much rusted out. The gears didn’t work on the older bikes. No matter, we were pumped and ready for our bike adventure. We made our way down to the beachfront and main cycle path.

The first thing we had to get used to is that the cycle path is really a cycling commuter path and there is a steady stream of people zipping along at a good clip in both directions. Just like any regular road, there is a middle line and one is expected to keep to one’s own lane. Also, if a pause is needed for whatever reason, one cannot just stop, as would be done in Canada. It is necessary to get right off the path otherwise someone coming up fast behind is going to crash into you.

Esther enjoying the
quintessential 
fresh coconut drink

It took about two minutes before our first mechanical issues. Most were just a matter of getting seats the correct height or getting bikes into a gear that worked and so on. Eventually we all had more or less workable bikes and we could proceed. The path is straight and flat. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long before some of the party were inquiring, “Are we there yet”. It took quite a bit of strong encouragement to keep everyone going. We finally got to a place where the naysayers and foot draggers basically dug their heels in and said, “so far and no further”.  It was rumored that there was an ice cream store on the return journey where one can get a particular Brazilian special kind of ice cream. Alessandro had made a strong case for us not leaving Brazil without having tried a coconut drink, direct from the fresh coconut straight off the tree. With these two strong incentives in mind, and the knowledge that we were heading home, the general level of unrest from the party was stilled and we made our way to the place where we could find both options and proceeded to indulge our appetites to everyone’s satisfaction.

On our return to the bike store, we made a bit of an effort to request a discount as some of the bikes were basically not roadworthy. The response from the shop keeper was less than enthusiastic. He finally relented and a minor discount was applied to the two bikes with the most egregious issues. Considering the price we had paid, we didn’t push our luck too far. I’m certain, that in Canada, it would have cost us $50 or more each to rent a bike for four hours.

We had  had a very short sleep the night before, so we got home, had supper, played a quick game of Canasta and headed for bed. Tomorrow some of us were going to the fish market early and we needed our beauty sleep.

Tuesday July 14^th

Julia and I took the rental van and picked up Elaine and Alessandro for a visit to the Santos fish market. Alessandro loves to cook and today’s main meal was to be fish.

I was driving and the main beach front road was very busy. The lanes are very tight and there is a constant weaving in and out of motorcyclists, making the driving stressful. At one point I needed to change lanes. I did not notice a motorcyclist coming up on my right side and I nearly knocked him off his bike. He was very angry and at the next stop drove right up alongside and let me have it full on. Fortunately, Alessandro was able to calm him down and all was well. Considering the way those guys weave in and out, with barely an inch or two to spare on either side sometimes, I am guessing this kind of thing must happen quite often.

The bounty of the sea was on clear display 
at the Santos Fish Market

The fish market was a sight to behold. It had an amazing variety of fish. It was very clean and I noticed people rinsing and squeegeeing the floor consistently. The sheer volume of fish was astounding and its hard to imagine that all of it would be sold that day. Alessandro was cooking for his family group and Julia for ours, so they made their final choices. Julia couldn’t believe that she bought two medium-sized fish, plus a pile of shrimp, all for less than $20. The fish is beheaded, de-boned, gutted and de-scaled, once one had made the purchase. Its hard to imagine a better deal anywhere.

We returned home for a late breakfast before heading out to do the local mountain cable car ride. It was a beautiful ride to the top of the mountain overlooking Santos and it’s beautiful waterfront. It was well worth the trip.

View of the Santos waterfront from the 
top of the cable car. 

Back home for lunch and a short nap before our first trip to the beach with Julia and her boys. The weather had not been good prior to this and it was our last opportunity. Someone had piled up a huge mound of beach sand and there were a bunch of kids playing on this just like kids do on a pile of snow in winter in Canada. Our boys were drawn to it like moths to a lamp. Eventually John wandered into the water. It looked like he was getting a bit adventurous about how far he ventured out to sea. I thought I should keep him company and Peter joined us. We then spent a good 45 minutes trying without much success to catch waves for body surfing, but it was fun doing that.

Kids don't need to speak the same language 
when there's a pile of sand like this. 

By the time we came out of the water, the other four kids had arrived. I was shivering with cold and decided to head home for a hot shower. The others followed later and we made ice cream sundaes. All seven of the young ones sat around, playing cards and enjoying each other’s company. It was a nice way for them to wrap up their time together. Over the last two weeks, they have spent quite a bit of time in each other’s company and despite language limitations they are starting to feel comfortable with each other. This is an answer to much prayer.

Elaine had spent the afternoon with Alessandro at the doctor. She has developed a bad ear infection. They gave her a shot for the pain, two types of antibiotic and cortisone for the swelling. Alessandro had pulled a muscle in his back and woke up this morning feeling miserable, so they have both been under the gun health wise. They are parting ways tomorrow as we all return to Canada, barely 10 days after getting married. This is very hard for them, but until they can get the paperwork sorted out for Alessandro and his girls to come to Canada, it will be a tough six to nine months. Despite this, it feels like a good foundation has been laid for the blending of these two families. We look forward to how the Lord will work things out for them down the line.

Back at our apartment, Julia cooked us a huge meal of fish and shrimps, using Alessandro’s recipe. It was delicious. We probably have enough leftovers for another full meal, so will probably be having fish for breakfast tomorrow.

Our time at Santos was drawing to a close
Our last evening was a sad but sweet time

After supper we wandered over to the entertainment area by the beach which seems to be the place to hang out in the evenings. The boys spent some of their pocket money on buying rings for themselves. We ordered Churros, which satisfied our yearning for something sweet and Peter excelled himself by climbing to the top of some very tall playground equipment, causing us adults some shortness of breath. It was such a lovely atmosphere, with groups of teens playing capture the flag, volleyball and others standing in a circle keeping a football in the air with feet, heads and their bodies, but never their arms. It was fun to watch. Another group had a sound system pumping out music and a young couple were doing some casual Latin American dance moves. 

It was getting late and time to head home. Our time with us all together in Santos has been too short, but we will have other times. God is good and we count our blessings today and fully expect there to me more as the future unfolds.

Wednesday July 15^th

Today was all about getting bags packed and leaving the apartment on time.

We had been left with a pile of leftover fish from our meal the night before. We couldn’t bear to throw out the leftovers, so we had fish for breakfast, something my stomach normally wouldn’t stand for, but my Scottish genes refused to let that much good food be disposed of.

We had arranged for the two-family groups to have one final meal together before we all took off for Sao Paulo, a two hour drive away, and our evening flights. Alessandro said, “I know a place”. It was one block up from their Airbnb and turned out to be an all you can eat buffet for about $15 a head which was a really good deal and the food was good. It’s hard to beat local knowledge.

Our goodbyes were sad. 
We had enjoyed our time 
of family building together
and seemed too soon to end.

Alessandro had booked Cher and I, Julia and the boys on a coach to Sao Paulo, leaving at 3.30pm. Exercising due caution we planned to arrive at 2.50pm “just in case” a phrase we have come to use more frequently in the last couple of weeks. We got there via Uber and looked for our bus on the TV schedule. Aaaagh – no 3.30pm bus showed up on the schedule. Panic set in. We frantically looked for help and found a very helpful man who figured out that somehow Alessandro had booked us on the 3.30am bus twelve hours later. Frantic running around ensued, seeing if we could get on the 3pm bus. Much relief when we managed to get on the last six seats in the bus. Thank you Lord. This travelling in far off foreign places and languages, sure does keep one on edge at times.

The airport in Brazil was busy. I noticed people peering intently into their cell phones and realized it was the Argentina v England soccer game in the FIFA World Cup. Argentina and Brazil are mortal enemies when it comes to soccer. It seemed that the whole airport was rooting for England. Every time a goal was scored, cries of delight or anguish, were heard across the width and breadth of the building. A deep, quiet collective sigh, took place, when the final whistle went, with Argentina winning 2-1.

Rob and Cher - much blessed

Our large group of twelve gathered together before checking through security, for final goodbyes. It was sad to be splitting up our newly developing family. Now Elaine and Alessandro’s fate is in the hands of the Canadian immigration system as their spousal visa application wends its way through our bureaucratic labyrinth. Ultimately, the Lord holds all the cards, so we are confident the application will proceed without hitch and we’ll all soon be together as one family again.

It has been fun to experience all that we have in Brazil, especially Elaine and Alessandro’s wedding. Some of it we’d rather have left out, but when we step back it has been a wonderful opportunity and we are thankful for it. I am guessing it won’t be our only trip to Brazil and we’ll be back.

Here ends the saga of our Great Brazilian Adventure.