Our main goal for today was to meet with the local law professor whom Tim was referred to while in Sao Paulo. At 9am, Tim made the call to the professor, confirming our afternoon meeting. (Seeing Tim's ever improving ability to communicate in Portuguese has been amazing and inspiring to me!) It turned out that the law professor was also a local pastor at the Baptist church, and a good friend of the couple whose house we
were staying at. We found this out when Tim asked him were to meet and he said, "Are you at Bob's house; if so, I'll just come by there". This was yet another instance of the amazing ways God has opened doors and worked out details beyond our expectations on this trip!
Once we knew when we had to be back for our appointment, we called a taxi and headed to the waterfront district. Tim really wanted to show me the big open air fish market as well as the docks where all the passengers and cargo load the boats for their trip down the Amazon. Standing on the sea wall looking down to the docks was amazing! There must have been 50 large boats tied up to the one main dock. From every direction, people were coming and going like ants in and out of their hole. Even more incredible was seeing the laborers and dock workers carrying enormous loads on their backs, off the boats, down the planks, then up numerous stairs and ramps that led up to the street level.
The fish market was also quite a sight to see. I've been to open air meet markets in Kazakhstan and Vietnam, but seeing so many varieties off fish laid out was incredible. As we walked up and down the isles, Tim talked about each type of fish (their name, how big they can get, where they can be caught, etc.) The Amazon really has some exotic fish!
After doing a little souvenir shopping, we grabbed a bite to eat before returning to the house. Tim had been looking the whole trip for an x-todo burger, and on this last day in the country, we finally found a little stand that had them. On the journal from day two, I described a great burger that I had in the airport with an extra slice of ham on top, but an x-todo burger has ten times the ingredients! Basically you start with all the standard burger items (beef patty, lettuce, tomato) then you add on sliced hot dogs, ham, sausage, cheese, and a fried egg. It is quite a treat, especially when paired with a Bare (the best brand of carbonated guadanara juice in Brazil!).
After the tasty cultural experience, we headed back to the house and prepared for the meeting with the law professor. He arrived right on time and we sat down at the table as Tim prepared the questions he wanted to ask (prewritten in Portuguese). Although we though that the professor might know some English, it turned out he didn't, but once again God provided. One of the missionary couples staying at the house with us happened to be home at the same time so John (the husband) offered to translate!
Overall the meeting was a great success. The professor asked about what we wanted to do, how we wanted to set it up, and what our time frame was. He also explained about how we would have to set up a corporation in Brazil and have someone in-country be the responsible person on the legal records (working out this detail is a big prayer request!). As an added bonus, John was able to explain a lot of this in more detail as he seemed to have some background knowledge about the laws and regulations in Brazil. After the meeting, the professor gave us his email address so we can begin working with him and ask more questions as they arise.
With the last item checked off our to-do list, we got some down time, then began the process of packing for the journey home. Later in the evening, John asked if we wanted to accompany him to a nearby store where he was picking up some supplies. We readily agreed and got a walking tour to the local equivalent of a Wal-Mart. Tim and I ran round getting some food items for dinner and some small things to take home, then we headed back to the house with John and enjoyed some soup that Robin (John's wife) had cooked up for everyone.
After dinner, I got to sit and talk to John and Robin for hours about their decision to move to the mission field, the struggles of being oversees, and the process of becoming full time residents of Brazil. They were so helpful and so willing to share their experiences with me. They were also very interested in hearing about the orphanage and the calling that we've felt to help orphaned children. At 11:30 PM, I decided I couldn't stay up any longer so I said good night and tried to catch some sleep before the long day and a half of traveling that was ahead.

Watch your in-box for the next trip journal,"Flying Home"