Hello from Brazil!
I arrived with my traveling companions in Sao Paulo at 9 a.m. this morning. We had a brief layover and then took our connecting flight to Londrina. We got here at about 3 p.m. and settled into our rooms. We are staying at a school, a seminary actually. The 8 girls and I are staying in a lovely apartment, the three guys are in another apartment, and our faculty couple have a little cottage, all in the compound of the seminary.
Weather has surprised us! Although we knew we were arriving during winter in the Southern Hemisphere, we anticipated warmer days. At the moment, I'm wearing a shirt, a sweater, and a sweatshirt on top! Apparently, a cold front moved in two days ago. Housing is chilly to say the least. We are making do, having found some extra blankets and thankfully, the water heater was fixed! I had decided to forgo showers as long as possible if we only had cold water! We also were told that the weather is to be cold tomorrow morning, maybe even in the forties, but that it should warm up. I hope so!
This group of college kids are a great bunch. I feel every bit of 30 around them, but they are a goodnatured, friendly group. They have accepted my somewhat nebulous position on the team as a member, but also a semi-leader.
Today has been a long day, but a good one. I am ready for bed, but I'm also taking another graduate class and I have homework to do before I go to sleep. We have an early day tomorrow. We will be spending the morning at a school, participating at chapel for two groups of 400 students, and then we will be going to an orphanage in the afternoon.
I have a feeling the next 16 days will fly by....
