Today marks the 10th day here in Brazil. I am finally familiar with my surroundings and feeling confident when I adventure around. We decided not to go to Sugar Loaf on Saturday because it was a little hazy and the locals told us to go another day. So instead we headed to the Botanical Gardens near Lablon. It was only 6 riels (about $3.50) to get into this huge space that could keep you busy for hours. There was an aisle of Palm Trees and this awesome lake that had these huge Amazon lilies that I will show in my pictures. The variety of trees and flowers was amazing and I wish I was a better photographer to capture what I saw. We stopped at a little cafe as well that had fresh fruit juice so I got berries and orange which was great. There are many different fruit drinks down here that I want to try while I am here. Later that day I also got to try my first acai berry snack. They serve it as a pure with granola and it is delicious. You can also get cheese balls which doesn't exactly go together but they were go as well. Sunday consisted of the first day of fully relaxing since I got here. We played cards and made food and it was great. Monday was week two of project and I wanted to go into this week with a better mind set. So most of the weekend I prayed about not needing to be in control and just going with a good heart and opened mind to see what I can do there. This new way has actually worked out very well for me so far. Monday I was able to clean there entire computer room that they got recently so I was quite busy through out the day. Then this morning the director was able to free up some money for us to get paint. This was very exciting because I was able to start repainting the entire play area outside that had graffiti on it. So I think one day at a time is a good theme for me this week and so far my prayers have been answered. I am very greatful and will see where this goes. I want to help in every way I can so if it is slow at CCI it would be nice if I could go to another project some days to keep busy. I guess we will see how it goes.
Fun random details:
Tortilla chips are not a popular item here... who knew
Cold milk is not common and comes in boxes
Men wearing a shirt is rare as well
Motor taxis are a popular way of transportation
There are monkeys and humming birds at the casa I am staying at
