Saturday, July 23, 2005

A Day at the Beach


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Originally uploaded by russandval.
Okay, they tell us that we shouldn't let supporters see pictures like this, that we should act like we live in a barren, God-forsaken place, but I just can't help myself. We live in an incredible place. God did a pretty good job when He made Salvador! This beach is less than a 15-minute taxi ride from our apartment.

Most of the team met at the beach this afternoon. The waves were rough, the water was cold and it was no hotter than 85 degrees but the beach was packed. (And it's winter, so what do you expect?) At the beach you spend the day at one of forty or so barracas, full service little cabanas with tables, umbrellas, food and drinks. As soon as you get out of the cab, you're swarmed by guys trying to get you to come to their barraca. We've been to a couple different ones and have yet to notice much of a difference. And it's one seamless line of tables and umbrellas so you're pretty much getting the same thing at each one.

We walked a little, swam a little and sat a lot. As we sat at the table, vendors approached us selling anything you could want, from sunscreen and sunglasses to necklaces and hammocks to mussels and roasted cheese. The cheese is one of my favorites. It comes on a stick and is roasted over coals. For lunch we ate carne do sol, little cubes of salted steak. When I was little the beach meant salt-water taffy and seafood, now cheese and steak are flavors I associate with going to the beach. (There is plenty of seafood to be had, it's just not my thing!)

It was a great day. We've all got a little more color now and we're a little more relaxed. Above all, we're thankful that we are privileged to serve God in these beautiful surroundings.

1 comment:

Heather A said...

Well, whether or not you should show supporters those kind of pictures, that was one of my favorite days of the visit! Although, as you blogged about earlier, I also loved figuring out that I could basically follow a movie in Portuguese, and the all-you-can-eat-meat-extravaganza as well as the Mexican feast for Stacey´s birthday were all huge highlights!! I miss you guys so much already!!! I am here in Brasilia on my overnight layover, and I will let you guys know when I land safely on American soil. I did not want to leave, but now that I have, I would just like to be home! :) Talk to you more soon! Love you!