Porto Nacional

Today we were picked up by Kleber and we drove down to Porto Nacional, where he had some work to do at his place of business. He runs a wireless internet provider. He drove us by the old house where Jared used to live and where they used to hold church meetings. Since that time, the church built a chapel there. It was while Jared was there that the branch in Porto Nacional grew enough to get permission to build a chapel.

After a quick auto tour of Porto, Kleber dropped us off downtown and went to work. Jared and I walked down the main street and found the supermarket he used to shop at. We went in and bought soft drinks and a snack. We walked on and passed by the old church house and took a few photos, then went on to the Catholic church and park in the center of town. We spent about an hour walking the streets of Porto until Kleber had finished and then we returned to Palmas.

We ate lunch and hung out with everybody at Kleber's all afternoon, visiting and sharing stories. We also finally finished our laundry, which takes forever to dry in this humidity when you have to hang it up on a clothesline outside.

Around dinner time, we all went out to the mall in Palmas to get some ice cream. We stopped at a little kiosk in the mall that sells açaí and caçuapu smoothies. We all got the caçuapu, but I didn't think it was that great. I thought it had a fishy aftertaste, but I downed that sucker so as not to offend.

After the smoothies, we stopped at an ice cream joint that specializes in açaí ice cream creations. Most everybody ordered the banana açaí with granola, but I had tasted açaí on our way to Ribeirao Preto in a drink mixed with guarana and hadn't liked it, so I didn't get anything. I ended up tasting Jared's and liking it, though.

After our ice cream adventures, we went back to the hotel and crashed. These late nights really take their toll, but it's worth it. We won't have these opportunities again for several years, so we've got to make the most of it.

- Posted from my iTouch