Fortaleza

On Tuesday we went to Fortaleza, a beautiful city on the Atlantic Ocean known for its beaches. We had a nice view from our hotel room.

Atlantic Ocean from our room

 We then went out to find some lunch. We found a very nice restaurant that served the best kabob we have eaten.

Look at this smile!

 We then walked along the beach.

Fortaleza, center of happiness

 We stopped at a travel office to get some information. It must be the city of happiness because Evan didn´t stop laughing the whole time we were there.

Evan is on the right

 We continued walking along the beach to get a little exercise.

Fortaleza skyline

On Wednesday we had a meeting with Josemar and Marcio, the two FM supervisors in Fortaleza. We then went around with Josemar to visit five of the buildings he manages.

Josemar with sister Wheeler

Garden inside a chapel

On Thursday we went with Marcio and President Freitas (a stake president who works with FM) to see six more chapels.

This is a tall chapel

 One of the chapels was being remodeled with the roof being replaced.

Old tile from the roof

Pres. Freitas and Marcio

 We had a nice traditional lunch from the area with carne do sol and baião de dois.

Lunchtime

 Several of the buildings had parking under the building.

Chapel parking lot

Friday was our sightseeing day. We walked from the hotel to the center of the city. It was hot and tiring. We stopped at the statue of Iracema, a Tabajara princess who used magic to make a Portuguese sailor fall in love with her.

Iracema

In fortaleza you can see the new and the dilapidated side-by-side,

Where should we live?

 There are several long piers that go out into the ocean. Some have old sections remaining.

Good place for fishing

 We went through the Centro Dragão do Mar, a cultural arts center. There are several theaters and a few art galleries.

Dragão do Mar

 One room in the museum was of particular interest showing the old cowboys of the Sertão (the dry desert area of the interior).

Is this really a vaquero

No, this is the way they dressed

We passed a nice looking monastery on the way.

The monestary

 We stopped by the Municipal Market which had many floors selling everything, especially cashews and clothes.

The concept of multi-level marketing

 There was a forró band playing outside the market.

Anyone for forró?

We went to the Centro de Turismo which was actually a Victorian prison where each of the cells was converted into shops selling art.

Look at those ugly faces

Lacework by hand

Sand paintings in a bottle

 We then walked home, very tired.

Fountain in a park

Local cathedral

Saturday was our anniversary. Diane came down with a cold so we took it easy.

Eating Caju (the fruit of the cashew nut)

Walk through a Japanese garden

A shorebird

 We decided that since we are here on the beach we needed to get our feet wet in the Atlantic
Ocean.

Playing "sneaky water"

Does it look like she´s sick?

Is this getting your feet wet?

 We had training for the Council Technology specialists in the evening. There are two of them in Fortaleza.

The CTSs of Fortaleza (plus a bishop who gave us a ride)

On Sunday we were able to go to church at the Aldeota Ward in the oldest chapel in Fortaleza. We got there before 8:30, but the meetings didn´t start until 9 am. It was the Primary program, which was a lot of fun. Karina Snyder is married to an American and will be moving to Arizona in December. She was excited about practicing her English.

Karina and her daughter Sarah

Aldeota Ward building

We had training for the STSs tonight. It was a good turnout, but the projector was of poor quality. Regina is a female as an assistant technology specialist here in Fortaleza. It was delightful to meet her and hear her enthusiasm about meetinghouse technology.

Regina

Technology Training

Tomorrow we return to São Paulo. We kind of miss being there.