Itu, Safe Arrival, and loving family

We arrived safely in Itu on the 14th. What a crazy weekend. Josh and I were both in Justina and Marshall's wedding on the twelfth just before leaving for Brazil the next day. And on top of that, some of my friends threw me a surprise party to send me off... My friends are top notch for certain.

Itu is a city of 100,000 just like the Abilene, Texas we just left. We arrived as a group of five young adults ready to spend a month here living with Brazilian families, practicing the language, and serving the church we are already starting to fall in love with. Specifically, we are helping do projects and keep the normal routine flowing while Mark and Alli enter into an intense season of bilingual church camp preparation. We are involved with everything from helping the church organize their book collection to building a bunk bed for their house that is now overflowing with inhabitants to following up with English schools to recruit English students for the upcoming bilingual camp in 3 weeks.

I'm staying with a family that speaks only Portuguese, and I speak only English. They are a family of four with an eleven year old girl that is sharing her room with me. They also have a son that is 16. This should be interesting to say the least, but they are so warm and inviting, you wouldn't believe it. Tonight for dinner we had spaghetti with beans... and I don't mean separately. (really good though)

Mom, Itu is a relatively safe city. Because of its size, you are just as likely to run into someone you know at the mall in Itu as you are at United grocery in Abilene. But, don't worry, we still won't be walking around alone at night ;-) Itu was about a two hour drive north from Sao Paulo where we flew in; so, it really is a lot like Abilene (which is about 3 hours from DFW). We will commute on foot as much as possible borrowing rides from those we know with cars whenever we can. My "mom" works as a secretary at the church; so, I can ride in with her if I want to.