Thank goodness for google translate (when it works)….We have spent the last week getting to know our new neighborhood. Nick and I have our favorite lunch and dinner spots, a place to do laundry, membership at the gym and a membership to the polio club where there are sports fields, basketball courts and a pool. Yesterday we met with a women at an English school where Nick and I will volunteer to teach English. We are excited for the opportunity to be of service. Next week we will meet with the director of the local orphanage where we hope to volunteer also. We toured the Igreja Nossa Sephora do Rosario and learned it was a church built by and for the slaves in in 1744. We found it by walking a cobblestone street from the 1700’s. It is a beautiful church to see with such rich and painful history. It was great to see on June 24th, Saint Johns Day, the celebration started at this church and then continues for the week rotating through the many Catholic Churches in Paracatu.

We have had some funny things happen to us because things get lost in translation. Nick and I took the laundry to what we thought was a self-service laundry mat until the lady took our laundry away. We figured it out even though the translator was not working, and now we take our laundry to her every couple of days and she gets it washed and dried for us. I feel very spoiled by this service. Last night Nick ordered a calzone at a pizza place (pizza is not what you think here) and we got this huge plate of fries and meat, peppers, onions and quail eggs. I asked the guy what we ordered and he showed me on the menu, and when I translated it a calzone meant exactly what we got. You will see in my pictures a translation from a menu that makes you go huh? Stay tuned for a post about the food in Paracatu.