Brazil Trip Part I. Taubate

Taubate: Our trip started here. (Well, it is interesting to know that American Airlines moved our flight without telling us, so when we got to the airport they said that our plane was leaving in 5 min and we wouldn't be on it, so we had to fly out a day late) Marcia's Dad picked us up from the airport in Sao Paulo and we drove the 2 hours to her house.

Here is Sam sleeping on the plane:


Here is us and Marcia's dad playing with Sam at the local park in Taubate (Marcia's hometown)



Here we are playing cards with Samia and with Marcia's dad. We stayed up till late quite a few times playing "buraco" or "hole" in English.


Also there is the little European village called Campos do Jordao near Taubate. We rode a ski lift up and it was fun to just look around. It was like a little different world inside Brazil. We took a tour around the town, and our guide was very funny. We talked to him and found out that he was LDS and planning on serving a mission.



Here is Marcia's good friend Juliana, her son, and her boyfriend. They were great people and we spent a couple of nights with them. Sam got along really well with Thomas, (her son) who is 10 years old.


This is Marcia's friend Tarsila. Marcia has been friend with her since she was born. Marcia used to hold her in her lap when Tarsila was a baby. Marcia liked eating at Tarsila's house so much that she asked Tarsila's mom to make us a meal while we were there. AND SHE WAS RIGHT! It was good.


This is the nursery for the ward in Taubate (the whole nursery, 3 kids - including Sam). Sam did not want to leave!


Marcia's dad put this shirt on and I thought it was funny, so I took this picture.

The biggest thing about Taubate was the time we got to spend with Marcia's parents. It was great! We got along really well. Marcia's Dad (Pedro), Sam and I liked to have Sumo wrestling fights. (we only watched japanese TV while in Taubate, so we saw a lot sumo wrestling)
Thanks to Marcia's Mom, Teresa, We did a little dancing at the church in an institute activity. It had a live band and was a lot of fun.


We did a lot of visits and had a good time meeting Marcia's friends and neighbors. In the video you'll see Iris and her husband Newton.
One really beautiful place near Taubate was Ubatuba. The city has like 100 beaches, and they are amazing. It is a shame that it was a little cloudy. I did get to try my hand(feet) at surfing. It was fun. Marcia's dad and I had a lot of fun jumping around in the waves. He moves around really well for 71! And of course Sam loves the sand! Then there is a quick shot of us in the car when fog was so thick we couldn't see anything! Lastly there is a quick clip of Tarcila and her family. She made us some amazing food. Man, I love Brazilian food!!