On the 8th of January a very close friend of ours - Liene - came to visit us and stay with us for one week. She is on her way to Bolivia to do some mission work in the jungle! It is amazing how excited Brazilians get when they have a chance to be hospitable and to welcome other people at their house! When Thiago's dad found out that my friend is coming, he was almost as excited as we! He made it clear that he has to come with us to take Liene at the airport and we need to eat lunch at their house as often as we can. One day, when me and Liene were watching TV because another of our plans had been just canceled, my wonderful father-in-law was talking on the phone with his friend. After a while he understood that his friend speaks Spanish and since Liene had some Spanish classes for 3 month, she was put on the phone with his friend to "talk about life". When me and Thiago just came, I had to go to many, many churches because his dad wanted to "show me" to everyone. "See, how lucky my son is!" Very flattering :) And even before Liene came I had a feeling that there is the same destiny for her :) Here, in Brasil, it is normal to go to several services and even several churches on Sunday. And my father-in-law is exception of all - he has a service or church meeting to attend EVERY NIGHT of the week. So, he was very sad and crushed when on last Sunday night me and Liene didn't show any signs of excitement when he invited us to join him on his "church tour".

Liene and Thiago at the Rio International Airport. The Latvian flag you see in Liene's hands is decorating our car. Thiago is so proud to be half Latvian now! Everybody asks him - "Which soccer club has this flag?" And the doors are open for hour or so long conversation with the new "best friend" :)

 Lienīte with Thiago's parents, brother and super annoying dog Victoria Bomfim.

Me and Lienīte at our church - The Baptist Church of Meier.

GRUMARI BEACH

I just love the fact that I have my favorite beach in Brasil! What makes it so wonderful is the combination of everything - Atlantic ocean, sandy beach, jungle and mountains. We took Liene there on her first day with us. After a few rainy weeks the weather finally was perfect again. After applying many layers of strong sun block, Lienīte and me were ready for some fun in the ocean! Swimming here is crazy, because the waves are so big and so strong. It is not possible to swim like we do it in the Baltic sea or how you would do it in a pool. Basically all your swimming is jumping over or braking under the waves. At first I was teriffied because few big waves had grabed me and dragged under the salty water, but once you master this skill, it is quite a fun! And - how could I be scared of ocean if standing next to me I have my own proffesional "bay watch" :) The most important lesson according to my husbendinho is "don't be scared of ocean" :)