Chaves, cows, criancas, campaigns, clifts, callings, cravings and church

This is a C week I guess. Lets start with chaves which means keys. This week we received the keys to our own apartment. It is wonderful! It is still a little barren with very little furniture - a bed and two desks - but we are making it home slowly but surely. Note the keys. The long one slides out like that to open the door and slides back down when you need to put it in your purse. That one goes to our apartment. The other looks like a Phillips screwdriver and we have found it will work as one too. It goes to the main door outside.

Cows. As I said last week, random sightings of cows are becoming the norm. The crazy thing is this one was on the main drag of a our subdivision.  It seems each area of houses has its own shopping area too. We were walking from our house and had just reached the shopping area when we spotted this.

These aren't cows but they were taken near the cow in the same area.

Criancas means children and last week they have had a "celebration of children". It is actually a holiday. The first night it started with the children on our street coming out of the houses and making a spontaneous parade. They were marching down the street banging pots with spoons.

Campaigns. Yes they do vote here and an election is coming up. They have trucks with load speakers on them playing music and praising the candidates just like on Back to the Future. And down town where we were shopping there was a parade of young people showing their support for one of the candidates. The boys were drumming and the girls skated and marched beside them.

Cliffs. Now that we are in our new apartment we are closer to the water - about 1/4 mile. Each morning, first thing, we walk along the water's edge. It isn't beach in this area but short cliffs. It is a bit barren but beautiful. The waves are so clear and powerful. We just walk along and enjoy the sights and sound of it.

This is the closest thing we have to a green belt. It only goes along the water's edge for about 200 yards but it is nice. The morning I took this it was a little hazy but you get the idea.

On Friday our Stake President came to the office and wanted to speak to Robert. I was at my desk across from him and could hear the two of them talking but had no idea what they were saying. My Portuguese is still muito bad. Well, Robert was called to be on the high council. He was a bit taken back but is excited to work with our Stake President. These young leaders are amazing. It is an honor to be on the first high council of the first stake in a country. As Robert's first assignment, President Teixiera asked us to go with him to Terrafal this Sunday. Tarrafal is on the north side of the island (we are on the south) and you have to travel through the mountains to get there. We are excited to see the other side of the island and everything in between!

Cravings. It is amazing what you want - really want - when you can't find it anywhere. A can opener. Umm. That took 4 days to find. Hot pads. Got laughed at for asking for that. The lady looked at us like we were crazy, picked up a dish towel and showed us how to use it as a hot pad. We did find some 2 days later but they are thinner than those back home. Baking powder. It is amazing how many things require that. Well we finally found it - in packets like yeast. Bouillon cubes. Like with everything else you are looking for you just weave in and out of tiny stores. Seriously most are smaller than a 7-11. This one was back from the street and you have to go down some stairs to get to it. The guy there has been so helpful.  He helped us find mustard and vanilla and now bouillon cubes. All on three different visits. And sometimes when you aren't looking for it, you find something you really want. OREOs for Father's Day. We found a tiny box of them with 4 packs of 4. Dishes in a set. Finally after a week we found a set that actually has bowls in it. Though Robert is convinced he is going to loss weight with them because the bowls are so shallow. Still it is a set of dishes. A couch. Yes we need a couch. The only two furniture stores we knew of had either couches with rug like fabric or were rock hard or were so expensive we wouldn't have them in our house back home. Finally we found a little shop (seriously not much bigger than a 7-11) that had one couch in it. It was comfortable, the right price, and .... bright red. Hey it looks nautical and we are on an island. Clothes. We use a lot of bleach here to do what we need to do with food and just keeping things sanitary. It does mess up clothes . I have a apron  now that is more like a sleeveless jacket. Anyway not knowing exactly what we were getting into I didn't bring a lot of clothes. Consequently when you ruin with bleach one of the few skirts and blouse you bought, you think about where you can get clothes. No where. It is very difficult to get missionary appropriate clothes here. Well maybe impossible and again it requires weaving in and out of stores where the clothes are stacked in piles and you have to pick through things. Daughters - I miss them. But love that I can say go and find this and that and they do and the package will be mailed with a few skirts and shirts.And with a few other cravings - measuring cups and spoons, real hot pads and spices. Salt, pepper, oregano, and basil can only take you so far.

And last but not least church. There is a baptism at 4 every Saturday. Today we had 8 more baptized then went with the sisters to teach a man who has just been coming to church. It was his second lesson and he committed to a July baptismal date. From there we went with them to a part member family and taught the first discussion. The wife was very open to the message and her husband gave an amazing prayer at the end. A igraja e verdadeira - all over the world. :)