We are almost through the "Carnival" festivities. Our temple president asked us not to go out of the compound Saturday through Tuesday just to be on the safe side. Two Saturdays ago we took a bus to the older part of the city to attend a forum at the major bookstore in town. On the way we passed the park where we use to walk for exercise when we were here before. They were in the midst of having Carnival festivities there. On our return from the bookstore on the bus, at almost every stop, groups of young people were getting on, one even holding a bottle of vodka, asking the driver if he was going near the park. At each stop the youth became louder and louder as their friends boarded the bus. We thought, "Oh, this is trouble!" They finally got off as we neared the park. The bus driver had to stop at an intersection to wait for a band playing Carnival music and a large group of people marching down the cross street, probably a club since they all wearing the same shirts. My thoughts went to a complete contrast as I remembered the youth that had come to the baptistry the day before, clean, pure and dressed in their Sunday best. My heart ached for those young people getting off the bus in the midst of all of the confusion of the day, who don't have any idea who they really are.
Again in complete contrast, last night we were invited to speak about Family History and the Temple ordinances to the young women in one of the stakes here who were at their retreat. During this time of Carnival, all of the Stakes provide retreats for the young men and young women to get out of the dangers associated with Carnival. The first picture is of the Young Men playing around the pool at their retreat and the second and third are at the compound for the girls. The activities there are much like we provide for girls camp. So uplifting and beautiful! Before we spoke, the young women greeted us with a special musical number and provided us with a supper of a green salad, rice, a tasty chicken tart, as well as freshly made pineapple juice . Of course we enjoyed the enthusiasm and the hugs of these special young ladies. I always tell them how much I love their hugs because I miss the hugs of our family so much.
We recently had a new couple from Farmington, Utah join us here. One of the first things they asked about was, "is Recife safe"? Our reply was that you had to be careful about being on the streets at night, and stay out of the areas that are known to be violent, but generally, no problems. Then last night as we were returning from our outing at the girl's retreat chauffeured by a counselor in the stake presidency, when stopped a stoplight, there was a shooting right before our eyes. Two guys on a motorcycle in the lane coming toward us, pulled over and took a shot at two other guys on a motorcycle who were in front of us. Fortunately, the light had changed and traffic had begun to move through the intersection, so as near as we could tell, the shot missed and the riders took off down the street. We just stopped and stayed at the intersection as the shooters did a u-turn and went off towards the other riders. We later thought, "Where were the police"? Oh, we passed them about two miles further ahead. They were standing next to their car in a parking area watching people walk by and chatting with one another.
Now a word about breadfruit... Some of the couples went to an area of the Atlantic Forest outside of Recife for a day of relaxation, and brought back breadfruit, bananas and avocados that they had picked. We consequently awoke the next morning to find that we had received a few avocados and a medium size breadfruit (about the size of a basketball) at our front door. The breadfruit was a challenge. We asked a couple of the Brazilians how to tackle this prickly looking fruit and was told by one to treat it like a squash, baking it in the oven (which we don't have), and the other to cut it like a cantaloupe and just "scoop it out" as we would a pumpkin. The "stuff" that was scooped out is what you would eat. So, we let it set for a a few days and finally decided to give it a try. What we found was that the husk or rind was extremely thick and difficult to cut. We also discovered that there was a layer of latex consistency sticky glue between the husk and the fruit. The edible fruit was a slimy pod surrounding a large seed, about an inch long. Tasteless is about the best way to describe it. The glue was another thing... it appeared to something that the natives would use in building their huts or canoes, and because it stuck to our hands, knife, faucet and everything else that was touched, we wished that we had brought some "Goof-off" with us. Nothing would cut it except Mennen's aftershave lotion and elbow grease. At any rate, it was not worth the effort and ended up in the garbage container outside. If you are interested, want to see a picture and want a good laugh see:
We look forward to this month of many birthdays and talking to many of you on the phone.
