35 Years Ago...

...I remember it like yesterday. A new adventure is hard to forget. We arrived looking quite white from the ravages of Minnesota's winter, but it wasn't hard at all to ease into the balmy weather in Brazil. The first week is most memorable because we stayed at the Editora Betânia with my sister and family. I had my first taste of sugar cane juice. I thought it was terrible; it looked dirty and had pieces of the cane fibers mixed in with the juice, but I drank it obediently like new missionaries should. I don't know if that was my Waterloo, but shortly thereafter I developed Montezuma's Revenge. My sister, who is a nurse, treated me with packets of white powder dissolved in milk, and I would obediently take my medicine to get me through the days. We were wined and dined at several other missionaries' homes, and every day I was taking my white powder which was a lot like putting the plug in the sink. My sister and husband treated us to a fancy dinner in a fancy restaurant called "The Hungarian" that looked like a castle. We sat in medieval, stone-walled booths, and in the low lights the swords and shields created a Camelot atmosphere. I am sure it was God that led us to the particular booth we choose that night because about half way through the dinner, I only had time to make an Olympian dash to the bathroom that was situated only a few feet away when Montezuma hit with a revenge. If you want to know the truth, that's what I remember most about my first week in Brazil.