Journey to Brazil- english

In February 2012 I had the amazing opportunity to fly to Brazil for 3 weeks. In my Bible School time I got to know Ariela and Jesuan from Brazil. Together with Ariela I was even sharing a room for a semester. Since that time we stayed in contact via skype and it has always been a dream for me to visit them one day. After my study time of five years came to an end, I had the luxury of a freelancer to excape the very cold winter in Germany (it was down to -4 degree Fahrenheit) to fulfill this dream. It was an incredibly great time.

On my way to Brazil I stayed one night in Lisbon, Portugal and had the chance to explore this city with its faszinating historic center with narrow alleys, huge venues and nice tile paintings.

The first week in Brazil I stayed with Ariela in Rio de Janeiro at friends of the family (family Tchau). What I didnt know when I booked the flight was that at the time, where I was planning on being in Brazil was carneval in Rio. This way I got to experience the city celebrating and dancing.
Having over 100° F Ariela took me to many sights that Rio has to offer- The Christ Statue, the seafront Copa Cabana, the weekly market, a 12 floor Bikini Mall, downtown, Santa Teresa, a mega church called Comunidade Evangelica Internacional Zona Sul and many more.

In the second week the Amaral family invited me to join their family vacation. We went to Angro dos Reis, a city on the southern coast of the state Rio. There we visited different beaches. A special highlight was a day boat trip, where we visited different Islands. This started at a city called Paraty- a city that had most of its architecture still from the 17th century. At high tide the water floods in the alleys. Also when we where there we experienced a little flooding. 

In the third week I stayed at the house of the Amaral family- in Volta Redonde (about 2-3 hours away from Rio towards inland). There the parents of Ariela and Jesuan- Anselmo and Mirjam are pastors of a Methodist church with about 200-300 members. Also when I was there, they spoiled me by taking me to many great places as to a water park called "Alderas das Aguas" ( I think :) and to a waterfall. One really special occasion was that I got to perform a song that I wrote with my Dad together with Ariela and Jesuan in their church. The song is called "God bless you" and Jesuan translated it in Portuguese so  we got to sing it in German and Portuguese- it was so cool!

All in all I can just say that I am so grateful about this friendship and the contact. I was so moved in which way the family welcomed me and spoiled me. A big thank you to the Amarals!