Brasilia, Brasil

Brasilia's Youth Hostel
The 26 of us shared 5 rooms. Each room had a private bath. Breakfast came with the cost of the room. There were lounge areas, and the breakfast area could be used for personal use (which we did on several occasions).
It was great accommodations for our group.

One of the two school buses that we used while there.
Since we arrived on a Thursday night and Friday was a holiday with no school, we hired these buses to cart us around for the first few days of our time in Brasilia.

The other school bus we used. A husband and wife team drove us around.

Here's a picture of the Metro that we took to the Mall one night.

At ALEM, Evangelical Linguistic Missionary Association
(Brazilian Bible Translation Organization)

ALEM had a nice program scheduled for us. We sang some songs with some of the students at the school there. They train Bible translators and linguists. After that, we watched a DVD from Wycliffe Bible Translators on the Vision 2025, the goal to have translations teams in EVERY language of the world by the year 2025. It was an amazing DVD and truly touched my heart. We then listened to the testimony and story of a missionary couple who now teach there. We ate lunch with their students, and then came back for some cultural activities and a presentation on who ALEM is and more of what they do. We closed our time there with some free time to interact with their students and a snack.
It was a great experience that touched hearts.

Playing a Cultural adaptation game at ALEM.
We had to learn several words in another language (Japanese) and then follow the directions given. Several blindfolded people had to walk through a bunch of eggs, following the directions in Japanese without stepping on the eggs.

WalMart & Sam's Club
We didn't make it in Sam's Club, but...

Here's WalMart!!!
I think the guy coming out of Walmart thinks I'm nuts. He obviously hasn't lived without a Walmart for very long. HA!

Even the kids were thrilled. They all bought donuts at the bakery area.
You can't get donuts in our part of Brasil.
MKs are so easy to please. :o)

It looked familiar, but not quite the same...
something about that language change.

This is a mall that looked so "American." Everything but the advertising...

Outback Steakhouse at the Mall
We wanted to eat here, but just like in the States, the wait time was about 90 minutes. We didn't have that kind of time so we settled for just looking at other people's Bloomin' Onions.

26 Quarter Pounders & 26 Fries to go!
A meal for champions!
Especially when eaten at 11:00pm.

We didn't get to stop here, but it was fun seeing the sign for it.

The Zoo was a very fun stop. We spent about 5 hours there altogether.
There were signs all around the zoo reminding us what not to do.
This one tells us not to feed the animals popcorn.
Right next to each of these signs was a popcorn vendor.

There were several of these islands in a lake.
Different types of monkeys lived on each island.
We weren't sure what kept the monkeys from leaving the islands and running away. There was nothing keeping them there but the water.

A mama leopard cleaning her cub.

"Hold up that elephant, Nathanael!"

A beautiful butterfly in the Butterfly House at the Zoo.

The TV Tower
You can see the observation deck part way up.
You took a 45 second elevator ride with 23 other people packed together and then emerged into the cool, clean air with a beautiful view of the city.

Looking toward the JK Bridge from the TV Tower
Brasilia is a beautiful city!

From the TV Tower
Looking toward the Three Powers Square

The outdoor market below the TV Tower in the center of the city.
There were a lot of cool booths with TONS of souvenir type stuff to buy.

The International Baptist Church of Brasilia

Curtis, Darlene, Mr. Stewart, Kim, Mishaela, & Rahel
before church on Sunday

Amanda and others feeding the little monkeys that live by the church.

Dennis in the parking lot of the Botanical Gardens.
This place was a bit of a disappointment. There were no flowers, just a lot of brush and local savanna plants. However, there were all these pine trees planted in the parking area.
When you got out of your car, the air was crisp and scented with pine.
It smelled like the Northwest.

This Tin Man was at the Botanical Gardens.
Many areas in the Gardens were under renovation.

This is the JK Bridge.
It is the main bridge across the large lake that runs through Brasilia.

The National Library
This was a great place. We originally went in to find bathrooms, but then ended up taking a tour of the place. It was huge and VERY modern and very high tech. The bathrooms were nice too. HA!

This Saturn looking building is the National Museum.
It was actually closed on the day we went there, but apparently there is not a whole lot to see inside. From what I understand, it is basically a tribute to a local artist who made it big.

Our group outside the National Museum.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia

A statue of St. Matthew outside the Cathedral

AVA HSers sing to the Lord in this beautiful, round Cathedral.
The acoustics were very cool.

Gorgeous stain glass windows all around the building

There were a lot of flower vendors outside the Cathedral. The flowers were all dried and many of them were made of other dried natural materials.

Dennis & Nathanael outside the Senate and Camara dos Deputados (Chamber of Deputies) Buildings. The Senate is the dome and the Camara is the bowl.

Jump for Joy in Brasilia!

No footie pajamas allowed, I guess...Ha!
We often got some good chuckles out of the translated English signs.
This is actually referring to footwear...flip flops, or slippers, as some may call them.

Foreign Affairs Building

The flags flying outside of Itamaraty.
Whenever a foreign dignitary is visiting, the flag of their country is flown.

Waiting outside Palacio Itamaraty, hoping to see President Carter.

Our hopes fulfilled...
Former US President Jimmy Carter
He took time to talk to us, shake our hands, and ask if we were Baptists.

Inside the Itamaraty Palace, the Foreign Affairs Building

A view from of the Senate & Congress Buildings from the Three Powers Square.

A statue of the Tribunal Figures at the Prace dos Tres Poderes (Three Powers Square).

"Yes, Kim, the USA is just right down that road...
well, at least a small piece of it."

Inside the US Embassy
This picture was taken by their official photographer. We were not allowed to take any types of electronics (cameras, cell phones, pen drives, etc...) inside the property, due to security reasons.

Museum for the Indigenous People of Brasil
This place had a bunch of pictures of many different Indian groups here in Brazil, as well as many things portraying their lives.

Nathanael with a statue representing the Indigenous Peoples of Brasil

The JK Memorial is a museum honoring former Brasilian president Juscelino Kubitschek, the man responsible for the building of the city of Brasilia.

Karen & Mishaela before the Symphony at the National Theater.

National Orchestra Symphony of Brasilia

AVA High School & Brasilia Int'l School High School
An incredible mix of young people from the four corners of the world.
~~~
This trip was an incredible trip filled with memories and experiences that will long be remembered. God was present and went before us every day.