And that's how we travelled...Part 2

After a great week and a half in Brazil, it came time for our return trip.

If you've read any of my previous Brazil posts, you'll know that we had an amazing time! We would gladly go back tomorrow.

And before I get into our return trip, I must say that God is in control. On our trip down to Brazil, we had Dave and Sarah with us - veterans to international travel. And they also spoke Portuguese. Along the way home, God provided English speaking people at the exact moment we needed it.  It was also amazing to see that ABWE missionaries played a major role in helping us get home.

When our visit came to an end, we were sad to pack up. With heavy hearts, we purchased our boat tickets to take us back to Tobatinga. The night before our boat trip, two girls showed up at the house to return our money. The boat had broken down earlier in the week and had still not returned. I didn't start to panic yet - I was having a great time and would not have minded staying longer. There would be another boat in a few days. I would just email my boss and let her know I was stuck in the Amazon.

We decided to call the airline office to see if we could move our flights. They were going to charge us a pretty penny to postpone our flights for a couple days. It would have cost us more to get home than we had originally paid for our round trip. So, we began to pray - we needed to find a way home and not miss our flights. We had all day Friday and all day Saturday to get 12 hours up river.

Another ABWE missionary who lived in Dave and Sarah's town is a doctor. He happened to get us a ride with a group of 50 teachers to a city half way. They spoke no English. We spoke no Portuguese. But it was a blessing to  be able to ride on their chartered boat for free to San Paulo.

We said goodbye to Sarah and Evelyn at their house. Evelyn saw the suitcases and kept saying, "Jeremiah and Cindy not leaving!! Jeremiah and Cindy not leaving!!" Then, she saw Dave pick up our bags and she really freaked out. She was glad to hear that her daddy wasn't leaving. (And no, their house isn't foggy. It was my camera being dumb.)

Dave drove us down to the dock.

He waited on the dock until the boat left. We were sad to say goodbye.

The boat stopped at lunch time - but Sarah had packed us a huge lunch! We decided to stay on the boat. We had found a ride half way and were not about to get off the boat!

Later that afternoon, we docked in San Paulo. We were told to look for a tall, white man with a beard. There, waiting on the shore was our "contact." There, we met up with another ABWE missionary - Al Yoder. Al is a missionary pilot. He and his wife Kim had just returned from the States that day. They graciously fed us dinner and allowed us to stay with them for the night. We had never met them before. But we had Christ in common. In all the chaos, I didn't take a picture of their house. You can, however, see it in this video at the 1:47 marker.

They live in an amazing house ON the Amazon River. It is an actual floating house/airplane hanger. After reassembling some things from his plane, Al told us he would try to fly us the rest of the way as long as the weather was ok the next morning. There was also a Brazilian man that had told someone to tell someone else to tell someone else that he would take us up river in his boat. I went to bed, someone at peace, knowing that Al would fly us or this other man would take us by boat.

Through our screened windows, it sounded as if we were going to sleep while listening to one of those rain forest CD's. You could hear the frogs chirping and the water moving.

 It was so nice...However, around midnight, we were awakened to a violent thunderstorm. This is when I began to panic. It's not safe to fly in this weather and I was afraid the boat driver would not show up because of the storm. I maybe slept for an hour total that night. I prayed and prayed and prayed. A verse I had memorized as a child played over and over in my head. "What time I am afraid I will trust in Him."

The next morning, we packed our belongings and decided to wait to see if the boat showed up. It was only lightly raining at this point. Al told us that he could fly in this weather, but last night's storm had moved in the direction that we needed to fly. I kept praying. I was starting to think we were stuck on the Amazon.

Right on time, we heard the boat's horn. I apologize for the horrid picture, but here's the little boat.

Tears began streaming down my face. I'm sure the Yoders think I am an emotional person - but I was just so relieved that we had a way to travel. And I was so relieved that it looked like a decent boat. A nice man and his son was going to take us to the town where the airport was located. Once I got control of my tears, I told Jeremiah why I was so estatic to see this boat - Along the river, I had seen so many Brazilians in their little fishing boats with a small motor off the back of it. They call these boats "Pecky Peckies" due to the noise they make.

 I told Jeremiah, "I just thought we were going to have to ride the whole way in a little boat with a weed eater on the back of it."

We successfully arrived at the port quicker than we'd expected - 3 hours and 45 minutes later. We successfully navigated the Federal Police and taxi drivers. I think our taxi driver thought we were late for a flight - because he drove faster than I thought possible around all those potholes. Once we arrived at the airport, we were finally able to take a deep breath.

We were 9 hours early for our flight, but we were glad to be there! When we arrived, one flight had just arrived. Taxi drivers were lined up outside, hoping to find a customer.

The airport eventually emptied out. At one point, we were the only people in the small terminal.

This was also the same day that the Italian cruise ship wrecked - not the greatest travel day for many people.

At the airport, we ran into another ABWE missionary who helped translate for us when it came time to check our luggage. The Lord continued to plant people along our journey whom we had never met. I am amazed at the bond of Christ - it transcends all cultures and countries.

We had a layover in Panama City -It had now been 3 days since we left Dave and Sarah's - We were ready to get out of the airport. Since we had a 12 hour layover, we found a tour to see the Panama Canal and different parts of the city.

We were fortunate enough to visit the Panama Canal.

It was incredible to watch such a large boat move through the canal.

 

We loved seeing the American influence around the city. They use American currency as well.

But I was also intrigued by the European influence in the old portion of the city.

 

 

Overall it was a great break from the airport.

After 65 hours of adventurous travel, we arrived in Chicago, safe and sound late Sunday night. We were praising the Lord for His provision. He had us in the palm of His hand the entire time. He was in control of our travel plans. He even arranged for there to be English speaking people at the exact moments that we needed it.

Check out our other Brazil adventures here, here, here, here, here and here.
And read about our trip down to Brazil here.

Let's have a slumber party!

I am slowly sorting and organizing my Brazil pictures. I should have this post and one more to finish up our trip review.

Sarah has an amazing ministry - She uses the things she does best to create relationships with the little girls of the village. Cooking and sewing classes draw the girls into her home. Any girl, 6 to 12 years old can attend. At the beginning of each quarter, they pick the project they would like to work on for the next 8 weeks or so.

When it's time to pick a new project, Sarah will invite the girls over for a slumber party. Although pjs and popcorn may be a normal thing for American girls, it is brand new to these Brazilians. Since cooking and crafting is right up my alley, I had a blast helping Sarah plan and prepare for this night.

At Sunday School, we passed out permission slips for the girl's parents to sign. A few girls were waiting at the gate with their signed permission slips before we even got home from church. They were so excited, and I must admit, I was too!

When the day came, we borrowed mattresses from the ABWE hospital down the road. Jeremiah and Dave got some boys to help them carry them down the road.

We borrowed some movies in Portuguese from the missionary, Carolee.

Evelyn previewed Toy Story 3.

We decided to put the girls in groups, rotating activities as the night progressed. To identify the groups, we tied different color ribbons around the girl's wrists.

This also gave me a chance to practice some Portuguese colors. Sarah would tell me what color to use for each girl, and I worked hard to not have to ask her for the color in English. Unfortunately, weeks later, I can only remember pink -- rosa (pronounced hosa). The girls wanted to know the English colors and would repeat the words as I said them.

We wrote the girl's names on cups - they drink like camels! I spent a good portion of the evening filling cups. No one could say they were not well hydrated

After the girls arrived, Sarah explained to them what the next projects would be -- sewing aprons, making crochet pot-holders or cooking. They would have until the next morning to decide.

We had originally wanted to have a campfire for dinner, but the stores were all out of hotdogs. Plan B was individual pizzas. Earlier that day, Sarah and I stopped by the bread store. We purchased hamburger size rolls, enough for dinner and breakfast. Jeremiah and Dave picked up our order later that afternoon.

After planning our schedule, we agreed that one group would make pizzas, one would ice cakes and the other 2 would play kickball. After 15 minutes, we would rotate the groups.

The girls had never played kickball. Even though it was dark and hot, and the bases consisted of cardboard boxes, the girls loved every minute of it. Jeremiah and Dave made excellent kickball instructors.

The pizzas were made by cutting the buns in half - each girl was able to make 2 small pizzas.

After adding sauce and cheese, the pizzas were cooked in the oven.



Pinterest even made it's way into our slumber party plans. I had seen an idea just before we left for Brazil. Mini cakes made in cans.



Pin found here.



Muffin tins are not available in the stores there. Sarah likes to show the girls recipes or tips that they can use at home. Early in the week, we began saving these little short cans that contain cream. Creme de Leite cans made the perfect cupcake tins.

The Brazilians use this cream in so many recipes. We then used Sarah's yellow cake mix recipe to bake the small cakes ahead of time. After greasing and flouring the tins, we were ready to bake. We placed all the cans on a baking sheet to make it easier to take them in and out of the oven.

Since these made taller "cupcakes," we decided to make them mini layer cakes. We pre-cut them into 2 slices.

That evening, one of the missionary girls, Julie Ann  helped me to translate as I instructed the girls how to ice the cakes.

I found that when I couldn't communicate with the girls, I wanted to use my sign language. My ASL teachers would have been proud of my classifiers as I described how to place pink icing in the middle and chocolate on top. The girls loved adding the handful of sprinkles as well.

We set up several tables on the porch for dinner.

The girls enjoyed their pizza and cakes.

After dinner, it was movie time. The girls ran into the house to change into their PJ's. There were girls everywhere.  23 girls means a lot of Portuguese and a lot of flip-flops.

The girls all found their places on the mattress spread across the living room.

We watched "Enchanted" in Portuguese...I, however, sang along in English.

Once the movie started, we popped a lot of popcorn (on the stove, of course). It wouldn't have been a true slumber party with out the popcorn.

At one point in the movie, I looked into the kitchen and saw the littlest girl was making herself at home. She had pulled one of Evelyn's little chairs up to the kitchen sink.

This was her first slumber party  - her mother had finally let her attend. And she remembered to brush her teeth. It was adorable.



After the popcorn - she jumped right back on the chair to brush her little teeth again.

I thought that the movie would make them all sleepy - but that was not the case. The popcorn made them thirsty. The kool aid made them hyper. So, after the movie, Sarah took them outside for a rousing game of Red Rover.

We decided we'd better figure out a game to help them settle down. We took them to the roof to play Heads Up 7 Up. All these American games are brand new to them. They wanted to play over and over and over. We must have played for over an hour.

 I got picked every single time. I felt like a celebrity. On the last round, I put down every one's thumbs. It was so funny to see them all stand up - the look on their faces when they realized they'd all been picked was priceless. 

We herded the group back down to the mattress and put in the final movie - Ice Age.

One by one, they drifted off to sleep...but not for long.

By 6:45 am they were all dressed and giggling.

It was time for devotions. Sarah gave a little devotional challenge the girls on the roof. After morning devotions, the girls got into groups to show Sarah who wanted to make what project.

While Sarah and I got breakfast ready, the girls played another few rounds of Heads Up 7 Up.

I'll admit. I was shocked. Sarah began brewing the biggest pot of coffee ever (or Cafe as they call it).  All those little girls drink a cup each morning! I couldn't believe it.

You buy this little reusable coffee filter, pour the grounds in and then run the boiling water through the sleeve.

They add powdered milk and sugar. Although the girls said we make coffee too weak...Amercians!

We also served the bread we had purchased with butter.

We served the girls breakfast on the porch.

Evelyn made her own little table by pulling her chair up to the bottom shelf of Sarah's island.

Before the girls left, we wanted to get a group picture.

Just at the right moment, Fernanda and her mom Isabelle showed up at the gate. Read about Fernanda's birthday party here.

Isabelle took the pictures for us so that Sarah and I could be included.

It was now time for the girls to head home. We helped them gather their belongings and waived to them as they walked home.

It was a slumber party I will never forget.