A Wonderful Week!

September 6

What a wonderful week!

I am working on condensing the 12 step Addiction Recovery Program into four steps. A mission president requested some scaffolding for interviews with some missionaries. I read a lot of different types of material and realized that the material in the Addiction Recovery Program is so good that it is well worth reading, even for people without addictions. I finished condensing everything on Friday. If it is approved by my superiors, I will go to the Portuguese version of the 12-step Addiction Recovery Program and condense it the same way.

I really like doing this kind of work - it is a lot like writing curriculum, which I did for nearly 20 years. So rewarding!

September 7

Today is Brazilian Independence Day. In Sao Paulo, things were relatively quiet. The big celebrations were in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. But we did have a lot of fireworks tonight. I didn't get to see any because I have a side of a high-rise blocking my view, but I could surely hear them!

September 8

Today was the only sad day this week. Today, Queen Elizabeth died. I was so sad. I read the news about her death about 2 pm, while I was in my office and just kept saying, "No, no, no." She was such an influence on me throughout my life. I was born in 1952, when she became queen. For many years, I had a cup with her picture on it, given to children who were alive when she was crowned. We had it until I married, but then it disappeared. I don't know what happened to it. When I had my sabbatical on the Isle of Man in 2008, I went to an antique store and bought one just like it, so I would still have one. My parents told me that when her coronation happened, they were living in The Cottage in Enstone, in Oxfordshire. They had the only television set in the village, and for the first time ever, the coronation was going to be televised. They told me that they had a houseful of people who watched the coronation. Mother said that she worked hard to make refreshments and to make everyone welcome for such a special event.

Like many people, I felt her influence throughout the years and followed her. At 96, she was only one year older than my parents. When she died, it seemed like the last person who had an influence in my life, who was of that generation, was gone. Aunt Jean, Uncle John, all my grandparents and aunts and uncles, my parents - all gone. Even though I never met her, I will miss her. As Paddington Bear said - Thank you, ma'am - for everything.

September 10

Today, we went to the Mercado Municipal, the city's big fruit and vegetable market. We took the subway to get there - two different lines - and then walked about a quarter mile. We got lost, but a policeman took pity on us and guided us nearly all the way there. It was about 10 am and things were quiet, so I could take my phone out and take some quick photos.

At the Mercado, I got to try all kinds of exotic fruit that I had never eaten before - dragon fruit (refreshing!), kiwis that taste like bananas, jabuticaba (looks like cherries), passion fruit, cupuacu, guarana, cacau, and rambutan. My favorites were the dragon fruit and a combination of dates and strawberries together. Yum!

We had an extraordinary lunch - HUGE sandwiches called Mortadella. I have never seen so much meat in one sandwich. I got a whole one and ate on it for two days. To eat a half of the sandwich took two meals!

Getting back to the subway stop was a challenge! By this time it was around 1 pm and it was really noisy!! The streets had shops lining them, then booths in front of the shops, then individual hawkers pushing merchandise in your face, while sales people were shouting into microphones and playing loud music! It was pure chaos! But a fun, wonderful day!

September 11 (Sunday)

On Saturday night, there was a lot of celebrating for Independence Day, with loud music until 3 am!

And on Sunday morning, the closing song for sacrament meeting was the Brazilian National Anthem, which everyone stood for. I had never heard it before. It is beautiful, but long. And it seemed that every Brazilian there knew every word. It would be the equivalent to our knowing all the verses of the Star Spangled Banner - I was really impressed.