How much is that chicken?

This week was a slow week, which we needed. When we go,go, go,

 it's nice to have things be a little slower once in awhile. 

    Tuesday, the elders called to say that they had started

 teaching Rodriguez, one of our guards.  He had expressed 

an interest so we introduced him to the missionaries. He's the 

one that had his whole house robbed while his wife was visiting 

family and he was guarding overnight. He's a really good guy - 

I hope he gets baptized.  In this picture, I took him food while he was 

on the night shift, and he was eating rice with his hands, out of the 

yogurt container that I had given him some food in. I wanted to show

 you that, but when I said I wanted a picture, he immediately put 

it down and wiped his hands off with a rag. 

On Wednesday, Dad and I went to a funeral for Isabel's brother-in-law. He was the youngest of eight kids and was only 38, married, and had four kids. I asked Isabel if he had been sick and she said no, that his son had just called her husband last Saturday to say that the brother had gone to the hospital. He died the next day.
This funeral was at the church so it was a more 'normal' funeral, as opposed to the one that I went to at the hospital. The mother was there (it was a miracle that she's still alive) and she was about 4'6". So tiny and so sad to lose her youngest child...

Thursday, Isabel was busy with a family ceremony at the graveyard and we needed to shop for a wedding the next day, so Sandi and I volunteered to do the shopping without her. BIG mistake!! First of all, I told Isabel to text me the shopping list (she just got texting on her phone - so great!) because I thought it would be easier than trying to translate what she said over the phone. Well, it probably was easier except when I put the list into google translate, I came up with words and phrases like, "a honeycomb of eggs". What the heck is a 'honeycomb'?? I decided that an egg carton looked like a honeycomb so it must mean 'a dozen'. I still don't know for sure..... 

But what we did learn is that we don't know what stores to go to for whole chickens and rice, because we paid double what we should have for the chicken and more for the rice, such that we spent twice as much as we were budgeted for and ended up paying it out of our pockets - about $70 worth! :( Isabel was horrified when we told her! I think she thought that we were expecting the district to reimburse us. When she realized that we were going to eat it and we weren't upset about it, then she laughed and laughed - and told everybody else about it. "Stupid Americans that don't know how to shop smart." You guys know how much I hate paying too much for stuff....oh well.... We just didn't know that there was a difference between chicken dealers. Apparently there is!! Last time we try to do a favor and shop without supervision...;)
What's even more ironic is that before we went 'wedding grocery shopping', we stopped in at a new Chinese store that Mariana had told us about. It was supposed to be cheaper and better. And it was - yippee! This skirt was only $2.66.

 

 

 But of course we later lost our big savings at the chicken dealer.
That night, I had my class and I'm always tired after those because it takes a lot of brain-power for me to understand their Portuguese and teach the English with a Portuguese explanation. Plus, I have to be enthusiastic so they don't get bored or discouraged. Anyway, I was beat but Sandi had dinner for us. Yippee!! She looked online and figured out how to make taco seasoning - something we can't get here - and cooked some hamburger with it. And made tortillas - something else we usually can't get here. Oh man! Dad and I thought we were eating at Taco Bell. It tasted so good to us, but we're very easy to please at this stage of the game.
Sandi and I are always trying new recipes out and sharing our creations with each other. It's so fun!! It really makes a difference having another couple close by. 

Saturday, we had our Seminary and Institute teacher training. It's usually about an hour or so and Dad and I always split the time. But right after the opening song, he got a call from a branch president, Pres. Fombe, who had traveled with his wife and two other couples, to a city that's three hours away, to apply for emergency passports to be able to go to the temple in Johanessburg. On the way, they had a car accident and the car was un-drivable. He kept calling Dad for help and advice so Dad finally had to step out and I had to do the lesson myself. 45 minutes of speaking non-stop Portuguese was a new record! And actually, speaking isn't the hardest part, it's asking questions as I teach and understanding their responses. I got some of it, but not all.
The whole Portuguese thing has been interesting. When I have to speak for church, I can say what I'm supposed to - not the most grammatically (think: KumSook), but they get it. And when I have to speak on the fly, thoughts and words and stories come into my mind. It's a good thing that Heavenly Father is in charge of this. I just ask Him what he wants me to say and then ask Him to help me say it. I guess 3yr. old Portuguese is good enough to get the message across. ;)
Here's some of our teachers getting a ride home with a couple of elders hitching along.

 

On the way home, we stopped to buy food. Shopping isn't fun here. Well, it is when we find something that we haven't been able to get before. But usually no. We go to multiple stores to find things and then have to bleach all the veggies/fruits and wash all the cans off before we put it away. We are SO going to love Costco when we get home. I might ask them if I can spend the night there just so I can soak it all up. ;)

The next day, the ride to church had a couple of close calls. People were darting across the road and one man lost his hat so he ran back in front of us to get it. Dad stopped just in time. Then a boy wiped out on his bike in the dirt and went down right in front of our truck. I had to shut my eyes and had a stomach-ache by the time we got to church. Blech...!!
On the way to Primary - outside in the garage - some of the youth were having an impromptu photo-session by the pool. Yup, a pool. The chapel is a big house that the church rents and it has a pool out back. It's one of the leftover homes from when the Portuguese were here. The pool is a pain because the kids want to play in it during the break and so we always have to monitor it. Anyway, they were having a photo-session and called me over to take pictures with them so I took a few minutes and took pictures with them. Some of the primary kids (the boys) kept jumping in the pictures so I told them that if they were good, I'd take a picture just with them. Photos between Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School - not standard protocol but, pois è? ("why not?")
This is Odette. Until recently, she was the YW President. At 16 yrs old...

 

Some of my Primary kids

Then the YM wanted a pic too:

Ok, here are some random pictures with a transportation theme.
Cars are few, so people hitch rides however they can. It's crazy to watch some of them...
Piled in the truck hanging on to each other:

Not quite enough room to get all the way in the truck:

In the back of the dump-truck. The driver was trying to change lanes so these guys were hollering directions to him of when to get over. Oh boy...

And if you don't have a car to ride in, then just pile the car - or car parts - on a cart and haul it.

Kinda makes you appreciate your little Toyotas, huh?? ;0

Well, that's our week.
Love you more than the number of stars!!
(That's pilfered from The Fault in our Stars, which I just finished.;)
I DO love you!!! ~mom