Rio... oops! Niterói!

We arrived in Rio into the loving hands of Adriany & Rev. Antonio Costa's family from Niterói (across the bay from Rio). Marina lined up a wonderful family for us to stay with while visting Rio. Marina had only met Rev. Costa at a church conference a couple weeks earlier and she asked if we could stay with them. They accepted and it was so wonderful how welcoming they all were. Adriany & Antonio have two sons, ages 14 & 16. So, we got to stay with a younger family while in Brazil too.

Since we were up all of Friday night, we relaxed at their home most of Saturday afternoon. Once we slept a bit, Adriany & Antonio took us on a small tour of their city. We also went up to the City park which had excellent views of Rio and the bay. We could see SugarLoaf Mountain and the Christ Redeemer statue.
Sunday, we joined the family for church services in Barra (south of Rio and about an hour from Niteroi). Antonio preached and his wife translated the sermon to us. It was nice to understand what the sermon was about. Sometimes they have so many people attend church that people will sit outside and listen to the sermon through the loudspeakers. In the afternoon, we dropped the boys off so they could do some body surfing. Adriany took us up to another look out point which was also the jumping off point for paragliders and hangliders. It was pretty incredible to watch them go. One gal was about to chicken out of the hanglide jump, but they managed to push her off and away they flew! Kevin really wanted to try it out, but we didn't get a chance the rest of our visit to try it.

MOnday, we spent about half the day at one of the beaches in Niteroi (pictured), Niterói Itacoatiara Beach. It was fantastic becuase the beach was practically empty, the waves were huge, and we felt like we had our own little spot to ourselves. We also tried a little running on the beach. In the afternoon, we joined part of the family and their relatives to see Mission Impossible III. What a great time! AFter the movie, Adriany wanted to buy me a gift, so I now own a cute red dress, compliments of Adriany.

It was absolutely amazing to us how this family could not only bring complete strangers into their home, but also bought gifts and food for us. They even invited us back to visit their beach house during the summer months so we can learn to surf!

I don't think Kevin & I will ever be able to repay all of our guests for their wonderful generosity and incredible hospitality. We both agree that Brazilians are wonderful, hospitable and friendly people. We can't thank them enough for all the wonderful things they have done for us.