Quick Update

Just a quick update to say that I will have little internet access for the next couple of weeks so I won´t be posting much. I had a great weekend socialising again. Arthur and I went into the centre of Sao Paulo to be tourists for the day and then we went with Zaqueu to a family churrasco (BBQ) at his pastors house where we made lots of new friends. I´ve been asked to sing a solo next week at their igreja (church) which has a pretty large congregation - probably 250+ on a Sunday night. This means I have to rehearse the band and work out all the arrangements in Portuguese. That will be a challenge!

This week I´m working at Casa Elohim (Mon, Tues and Fri). Two of the boys ran away, back to the streets, last night which is frustrating and disappointing for the staff. However, today we took the six younger boys out on bikes to the park and they had a great time. Casa Elohim currently has two sets of three brothers all living together - it can be a challenge but mostly they are really sweet kids.

I´m feeling really at home here now - mostly thanks to people making such an effort to include me and invite me out which is much appreciated. My portuguese is resembling something conversational now which helps! Things will change a little after Sunday when I move in to Casa Semear to live there - much further away from the centre of all my social activities. However, that will now only be for two weeks and I will probably return to live with Dot and Caio again mid-August for the remainder of my trip. This means I can work at Casa Semear every day and still enjoy the social circle I´ve established here already. Thanks for everyone who has sent encouraging messages over the past week - I´ve not had time to reply to them all but they have been much appreciated!