Paracatu Brazil has a population of 93,862. It is in the state of Minas Gerais. The main economy is from gold mining and agriculture.  Paracatu is a busy city with lots of friendly people.  Nick gets the most stares, we think it’s because he is a 6 foot red headed young man.  Yesterday we explored the neighborhood of our hotel and navigated ordering lunch in Portuguese and did a little shopping for basic essentials.  Today we adventured out to the historic city center which was a 20 minute walk through busy streets and residential areas.   It’s winter here, but nothing like the winters in Colorado as it was in the mid 80’s today.  We visited the Igeja Matriz De Santo Antonio Church. It was built in 1730.  We asked someone to see the inside of the church, and we were so glad we asked because it was magnificent. Our phones would not work well inside so the translation of things was difficult so I would like to go back with someone who can translate for us. Right off the altar under the floor they said many of the priests were buried there.  We were honored that they took us on a tour.  The Case De Cultura is a center for the arts.  We met a 13 year old girl taking violin lessons there and she was eager to practice her English.  She said she started teaching herself English when she was 10.  Her English was wonderful and she was really helpful.  She explained that the Casa de Cultura has many classes in the arts.  The living area of the once house to a prominent family in the 1800’s is now an auditorium.   In 1880 the house became a boarding school, and then turned back to a home in 1931 before becoming the Casa De Cultura and the hub for the arts.  Nick and I wandered through the rooms and we saw music lessons, sewing groups and beautiful gardens. Just on a fun note: my teacher’s voice works even if I can’t speak Portuguese. Nick and I were walking back to the hotel after going to the gym at the same time as the kids from the local school was dismissed.  As we walked through this large group of kids we saw a little girl punching a boy while dragging him toward the street, and then some other fights started happening around us.  In my teacher voice I told them to stop and shooed them away from each other, and they quickly complied.  No matter the language barrier, my teacher voice worked.