Second Update

“Imagine the way you see yourself seeing. How are you seeing your way? The practice you pursue will determine the quality of your pilgrimage.” Phil Cousineau

Today, I was gently awakened by the singing of the Catholic group worshiping in the chapel. After being awakened, I naturally fell back asleep, only to be awakened again by the loud knocking of Rob on my door. I made my way to the dining room were we had a great breakfast of bread, cheese, ham, and papaya, a wonderful fruit I have just learned to love. After breakfast, we met in the courtyard briefly before we went to our private reflection time (nap time) for half an hour. After doing this we dressed for church and met out in front of the convent. We then crammed into the bus and made our way to the Church of the Redeemer.

This church is extremely simple, but still beautiful. The church service was entirely in Portuguese except for the sermon, which was translated by Ian, one of our guides who is from Brazil. Once the sermon was complete we then had the pleasure of seeing a married couple renewing their vows for their fiftieth anniversary. A member of the vestry was then called up to the front and it was announced that it was his birthday. This was followed by a gift of flowers given to Virginia and a card for our group. We were then presented to the whole church by standing in the front and looking beautiful. We then filed into a back room (like our Ellis Hall) where we ate a wonderful lunch of more beans and rice, with the same type of meat that we had been served for lunch yesterday. After finishing the meal we started playing cards. First we played a game we knew, and then our new Rio friends taught us another game.















Then we had a birthday cake for the vestry member (my birthday is Monday by the way ). The cake was very different, especially the icing which had the texture of pure sugar. Next we traveled to Niteroi to go to a museum, which looked to really be a flying saucer.














Unfortunately it was closed for renovations. On the way there, we passed this mountain surrounded by water, which had a church on top. Finding out that the museum was closed we made our way to a small fishing village where we went and got some drinks and enjoyed the lovely smell of rotting fish.














After piling back on to the bus and heading back it was time for dinner, which was surprisingly beans, rice, and for a change, spaghetti. I personally, once finished, went up to the roof and looked out over the city and at the stars. Then we had our regular Compline and I started writing this. Overall today was a fun day but was extremely simple.
- Will Boswell

We are traveling to Araras today and may not be able to post until Wednesday evening.