On to Ribeirao Preto

We awoke at 5am and bid Rosangela goodbye. On our way out of town, we thought for sure we would find a padaria open to grab some breakfast. But we didn't, and we were grateful for the cookies and snacks that Rosangela had packed for us.

We made our way back to Sao Paulo through some of the most beautiful countryside that we had been unable to see the rainy night we had arrived. Once through Sao Paulo, we stopped and ate some breakfast and decided to call our wives, who had been worried about us. We had no access to wifi nor cell service while in Curitiba, so once we were back in Sao Paulo, we wanted to let them know where we were. It was 6:30 in the morning for Angenette when I called, and the first thing I did was apologize for the early hour. She was just glad I had called.

We headed on to Ribeirao Preto, passing something like 15 toll stations. Each one charged between $3 and $5, and we felt like we were going to run out of money before we reached our destination.

After driving here in Brazil a few days we have observed the following:

When driving, it's basically a free for all
Lines on the road are just a suggestion
Pedestrians have no right of way - get out of the way or get hit
When climbing hills, expect to be cut off by a semi several times
Smoking at the gas station is ok if you're an employee
Watch out for photo cops - they are everywhere
100 km/hr is not that fast, although it feels like our little car will fall apart at anything over 80

So anyway, we made it to Ribeirao Preto and found the WalMart in the shopping mall there. We looked around a bit and got a few things we needed. While there, I discovered that there was free wifi inside, and so we took the opportunity to call our wives again and post some things up on the blog. From there, we drove around a few of the neighborhoods where I served; Sao Jose and Manoel Penna. I didn't recognize much, and so we decided it would be best to go find Valeria, a girl I helped teach and who was baptized while I was in Ribeirao Preto.

I had gotten her address from my former companion Elder Lane, and we drove across the city to her new house. When we arrived, she was just locking her front door and leaving for work. What a blessing to have arrived just in time! We talked with her for a few minutes and then offered her a ride to work, where we were able to visit some more on account of her arriving early (she usually takes the bus). We arranged with her to get together Wednesday again and visit some of my old areas.

We left Valeria and went to downtown Ribeirao, where we found a small juice stand and ordered some passion fruit juice. It was a favorite of most missionaries here. After some sightseeing and window shopping, we went to the Churrascaria Gaucha for dinner.

When we had finished dinner, we drove around the Jardim Paulista area, which had been assigned as my first area. Unfortunately, nothing looked too familiar to me. We couldn't even find the house I lived in on Joao Bim, but after talking to Valeria, we think it may not exist any longer, razed to make room for other housing and stores.

We returned one last time to WalMart to check our email, and then found the Comfort Inn just around the corner, where we got some much needed sleep.


- Posted from my iTouch