Greetings from Brazil

Day Two of my trip and do I have some Touristic Information for you!
It is a long trip! Katie was a trooper. The worst part of the trip was lugging around all the treats, breakfast foods and other American things that our family requested that we bring. Between the two of us, we had 200 lbs plus 4 carry-ons.

Here is some great Touristic Information about my trip to Brazil. The city is huge! 22 million residents in Portuguese means "tons of people, cars and buildings!"

Our first stop this morning was the MASP art museum. I love the architecture of this building. There are exhibit halls above and below the open air street entrance. Look up the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. He is famous for doing art is perishable media like chocolate syrup, peanut butter, tomato sauce, plastic toy soldiers and trash. The pictures that he takes afterwards were incredible!


Katie was fascinated with the telephone hats that are all around the city.
From the car, she is convinced that people look like space aliens when they are innocently (or not so innocently) talking on the phone.
My parents kitchen is so small, that there is only one sink. Mom's solution was to buy a large plastic tub to use when washing the dishes.

Civil War Rewritten?

The city of Vernon, Indiana hosts a Sassifrass Festival every year. They celebrate their Civil War history and brew vats of Sassifrass tea. (Nasty stuff that smells like cough syrup.)

The highlight of the festival is the two reinactment battles that are staged for the public, one on Saturday afternoon and then one on Sunday. The fighting is fierce, the black powder rifles and cannons are loud and smokey. Thankfully there was a stiff breeze that quickly cleared the field after every volley.

Not all of the dead, actually stayed down. Figeting was common, except for this guy. He died and stayed dead for the rest of the battle. Props, to him.
I was very confused and concerned when after 20 minutes of fierce explosions, advances and retreats the North was routed and several divisions surrended to the South. Last time I checked, Indiana was a Northern state. And while I was concerned about the historical accuracy of the mock battle, I hated to think that they missed the vital fact about the outcome of the war... the North won. Then the announcer invited the crowd to come back the next day. Sunday was scheduled to be the day of deliverance for the North.

The battle was great fun! I highly recommend that you attend a mock battle if there are any in your area. It takes a special kind of crazy to want to wear a wool uniform during the summer.

Ouch!

I had a YW last night express surprise that I was that old (27) and not married. She's planning on being married by 22 with kids by 24. I took the high road and said nothing but went away thinking... "Plans are great. Don't be surprised when it doesn't work out like you think it will."

Young Womens' Service Project

It's not often you hear the words scrapbooking and service project in the same sentence. Last week before the YW General Meeting our stake got together and made cards (2000+) which we donated to the Riley Children Hospital. Patients and their parents have people to thank and those to keep in contact with.

The project was set up in the cultural hall. Each table had the supplies to make 100 presdesigned cards. Here are some of the master pieces that our ward worked on.

Feed Me Money

This is Al the Allosaurus.

He lives at Utah's Natural History Museum. When you drop coins down his throat he talks. This is just as cool now as it was when I was in elementary school. "Ahh! That makes me feel good. My name is Al. What is your name?" Pause. "I am hungry. Feed me money!" Then he ends with a roar. Delightful!

Over Christmas I visited the museum with my family. Unfortunately we forgot our cameras. I made Richard promise to come back and take a picture with our good friend Al. Mom laughed and told the younger kids about how sometimes she would bring us just to visit Al. Sadly the talking dinosaur in the lobby held more appeal than the rest of the museum. He is the coolest part of the museum hands down.

Al may have a new body, which is lots smaller than we remember, but his voice, his roar and his hunger for coins is still the same!

Disclaimer: Richard was a lot more prompt in sending me the pictures than I have been in posting them. Thanks Richard!