Marcos

My friend Marcos is visiting me from Brazil. I picked him up at the airport Sunday morning. He commented on the good roads that we have here. The only problem is the traffic. After going to the grocery store to purchase some food, including the Antarctica brand of guarana, a fruit found only in the Amazon, and used to flavor the most popular type of soda in Brazil, we drove home. His English is better than my Portuguese although neither of us is fluent in the other's language. He studied English for three months in Canada in addition to taking it in school. He is a blessing from God for me in this time. In the evening we went to the university church that I have begun to attend. Four of the Brazilian exchange students were there and he was able to meet and talk with them. One is from his home state in Brazil. We went for an exercise walk Sunday and Monday. This type of exercise is not popular among Brazilians; i have met only a couple who like to do it. Marcos was game. Fortunately we finally have warmer weather more like he experiences in Brazil. I did not think that he would like oatmeal, which I usually eat for breakfast, and he didn't, but eggs with a side bowl of strawberries worked well this morning. For lunch i gave him an American tradition, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with a grilled ham and cheese. He enjoyed the semi- Chinese stir fry that our hostess made last night. ( I live with a Christian family) Tonight we will go to a midweek meeting in a home. Not suprisingly, he has many contacts here. One relative is practically begging him to visit; he knows another man and his wife living about an hour away, and a friend in Brazil has put him in contact with another Brazilian in a neighboring state. This morning he asked to go downtown, and he took a number of photos of our little village. Brazilians are amazingly relational and group oriented. We have also had two morning times of Bible study, prayer and testimonies with other brothers.