We Are HOME - what a wonderful adventure with such wonderful people

June 14 - If Brazil was exciting, getting through JFK to make - or not make our connections was madness! The last we saw of each other (after Ann got out of US immigration that is (another long story)) was Nola running for her connection, Ann finally getting a boarding pass and taking off and Amy and Heather-Anne still fighting on with American Airlines - and finally getting home way into the night.

But Wow - what a time we had. What will always live in our minds is the people that we met - their kindness and the commitment to the Rotary ideal of "Service Above Self".
June 5
Back to our adventures. Today we went to a Furniture manufacturer - Todeschini - Natural Life. Without the availability of wood, this company made very stylish, modern, beautiful furniture from MDF. Very imaginative! The hosted us for lunch at the plant.

In the afternoon we went to Cassa Ovelia (House of Sheep). Heather-Anne was in sheep heaven! They were working on Agra-tourism. They were promoting sheep farming and all the products that come from sheep - sheeps milk and ice cream, sheep yogurt (excellent!), and wool and for the first time, wool crafts like blankets, socks, sweaters and fleece.


June 4
After yesterday we really needed a REAL day off - so we had a wonderful Monday all by ourselves! We explored the town of Bento Goncalves. We have been living at the Vino Cap - a wonderful place. We are getting to know everyone. But today - we shopped on our own (no Mr. Darci to carry our bags). We even figured our how to order lunch on our own. You write what you want of a little piece of paper. We got a Brazil map, Gramio and International (soccer clubs) pins, shoes, more shoes, boots, and souvenirs. It was nice but we did miss our Rotary friends.


June 3
What a totally wonderful and crazy day we had! This was our "day off" but it turned into one wild ride after another - dancing and eating. Mr. Darci was our host. We were off early in the morning for Gramado and Canela - beautiful area for tourists. Wonderful scenery and SHOPPING! Mr. Darci was so patient and he carried all our bags - what a gentleman! Herding four women through all the shops!

Then off for what we thought would be a quiet lunch but it turned into a Bar-B-Q and dancing when we met with the Rotary Club of Canela. Then to top this off we went up the mountains and dangled over the falls on a chair lift and then down the mountain on an eco-rollercoaster. WoW! What a day out in the country.