Well the wedding was nice and interesting and long - about 1 hour. Which wouldn't have been so bad except that it was all in Portugese so it was a tad difficult to follow. But the bride was beautiful of course and their faces were beaming so that translates in any language:) The reception wasn't quite 4 hours long - maybe just a couple - but there were definitely many cuts of meat brought to the table just as in a restaurant we went to. It is really neat but a little overwhelming to be eating one piece of meat and then have 3 or 4 more offered in rapid sucession. Plus a huge salad bar and dessert. Whew! It was a pleasure and honor to attend and to see my parents up front as the "parents" for the groom.

Today we are driving to the beach per my mother's wishes and as I am really a guest on their trip, who am I to argue?? I love the beach!! And yes I said driving. We rented a car and I have been the designated driver for the last several days. It has been fun and my driving experience in Ghana has been extremely helpful. Actually the traffic and driving habits here are quite tame compared to Accra. I mean there are lanes marked and people drive in them - other than the insane motorcyclists who do whatever they please - and there are many traffic lights and stop signs and those are obeyed. And I hardly ever hear a horn which is just weird! So the driving itself has been good. It is the navigating that is very challenging. There are many one way streets and it seems like we make circles after circles to actually end up where we are going - even when following a native. The signs are in Portugese which is hard but overall we have done a great job and have enjoyed it. A friend of the groom from the states has been hanging out with us and he is really good with directions and getting us home from places unknown. He is an unbelievably intelligent IT guy from Washington and he seems to already have a map of the city imbedded in his brain. We will all miss his navigational skills when he leaves today.

A couple of days ago the four of us went golfing. I hadn't intended to golf but my mom really wanted me to so I did. It was the first time in about 3 years and I fully expected it to be awful. The first hole was. I kept swinging and missing the ball. Never a good start to golfing. But as we went on and I stayed relaxed about it, the ability to play the game came back a bit and so I really enjoyed it. My dad was happy to have achieved his goal of golfing in another foreign country.

We haven't really done much tourist stuff b/c of the wedding and also b/c of the city we are in. While it is beautiful and clean and interesting it isn't a tourist area. Nonetheless we have enjoyed ourselves and have found the Brazilian people in general to be extremely kind and friendly - going out of their way to help us with directions, reservations, etc. etc. If only I knew Portugese... :)