Remembrances in Recife

We took off right after breakfast for Recife. Recife is a city of nearly four million, and we saw very little of it. Due to a construction back up, it took almost three hours instead of the usual hour and a half. I was glad I had my thermos of tea.

Our lunch cost R9.99—about $3—for a plate of salads, rice and beans and two meats. Simple food, but very nicely seasoned. "Self-service" usually means they weigh your plate and you pay so much per kilo, but this one was a flat fee instead.

Our friend Milzede had to see the doctor in the morning but thought she would be home between 11 and 12. We showed up at 12, and she had just arrived. We found the number on the street, but the house was down this narrow lane at the back of the property.

Milzede was our language tutor when we first arrived in Campinas, São Paulo, in 1978. She was pregnant at the time with the young man who greeted us at the door today. She is not in good health, and we didn’t stay long considering how far we had come, but it was so good to see her again and thank her for starting us off in this beautiful language. As a former missionary to Bolivia and the widow of a pastor, she is pleased to have had a part in our ministry.

It took much less time to return to João Pessoa (by a different road) between miles and miles of sugar cane fields. Sometimes we got behind a huge truck laden with cane on its way to be processed, but mostly we sped along. 

Pastor Idemar and Brother Rodrigo dropped us at JUVEP Mission for a conversation with Barbara Burns, an old friend of Steve’s from his days of doctoral study. This missions training school is built around a courtyard with this prayer chapel in the middle. 

The school trains workers from a variety of mission groups from around Brazil in anthropology and cross-cultural communications.

Supper was at a place where they weighed your plate and mine weighed too much.But this place specializes in local dishes.

You'll probably be able to pick out the shrimp on my plate. Below it are chicken hearts and a carmelized banana. To the right is a crepe stuffed with dried beef and further over shredded chicken with cheese on top. The yellow cone shape at the top right is a cornmeal sweet. To the left of that is grilled cheese (without bread. Just toasty cheese.) I tried several salads and a couple other dried beef dishes--all delicious. LIke I said, it was more than I needed to stay comfortable.