Not much happened today

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Not much in the way of tourist stuff happening so far. I did take a few pics out of the windows in my room and another at the restaurant where we ate tonite. Going to a foreign country with someone from the country is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they would know where the best places to eat and shop are, the best times to go places and how to stay safe. On the other hand, there is alot of visiting with family, visiting with friends and personal errands/business to handle. That´s pretty much what we´ve done the last couple of days. We were to go to a wild life park today, but it rained! Anyone surprised? Apparently Brazil is not a very safe place to live. We visited with a friend of Lu´s. The couple have a very beautiful home, but (like everyone else), there is an iron fence and a locked gate surrounding the property. This couple also has a couple of rows of electrified wire above the iron fencing. They have many windows in the house, but all have several rows (depending on the size of the window) of metal bars. It sounds unattractive, but the house is modern, so it really fits into the decor. We also visited a pediatrician this morning as one of the kids has been sick. The doc was really nice and gentle. We got right in. The doc was recommended by one of Lu´s friends. I didn´t see any high tec equipment. The doc took plenty of time with his examination and walked us to the door after. We never say a physician´s assistant or a nurse. Of course there was more eating today. We had lunch at an Italian resturant and dinner at a German restuarant. The big thing with these restaurants seems to be the way they bring in main meals. First there has been a buffet for appetizers, soup and salad. The next thing the waiters do is to start bringing in plates of food. And they just don´t stop! I´ve started calling them "food pushers" because that´s what they do....bring in plates and plates of food asking if you want to try a serving. At lunch it was mostly pasta type dishes. At the German restaurant, it was beef....beef...and more beef. They bring it in on huge skewers and cut you a slice at the table. Not only did I eat beef, but also ostriach and sheep...not lamb....sheep. I did get a pic with one of the food pushers and one of the waiters from dinner. I told the group we need to do more walking to work off this food! That´s about it for now, hopefully tomorrow´s entry will be more exciting, but don´t count on it! ;-)

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