We are now back in Brazil after 2 months in England spending time with family and friends. We had a fantastic time in the UK but I have to say it is good to be back.

Our journey back here was pretty awful though - it took 25 hours door to door and as we had so many changes, with the long flight during the day, we had very little, if no sleep in that time. It is the first time we have done the long day-flight thing and I would heartily urge against it. A night flight is MUCH better. When we arrived at 2.30am (local time) we were greeted by our enthusiastic dog, who initially was very wary of us and tried to wake up the entire staff team with his barking but he soon recognised us and all was well again.

The weather here is HOT and sticky - we got off the plane at São Paulo at 10pm to a welcoming wall of heat (26 degrees) and humidity.

A lot of much-needed building work happened here at Luzeiro during our time away, especially the work on some drains and a new staff bathroom. We came back to a leaking toilet and 2 rooms without electricity in our house.

I (Dave) went to get some milk from the local fruit, veg and metal-trading shop and loved briefly chatting to an old man on the way there as well as being offered to sample some kind of weird, exotic fruit, which I had never even seen before, in the shop.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY

Recently, I (Beckie), have been thinking about some of the things I really like in the UK, and some of the things I'm looking forward to in Brazil....

Things I am enjoying in UK

• spending time with special people, and catching up again.
• having deep conversations with good friends
• a selection of English books to read
• snuggling under a thick duvet
• putting my card into a cash machine and KNOW that it will give me money
• a cup of tea in bed
• puddings
• the beauty of snow
• understanding everything I hear
• baths
• soft, fuzzy scarfs
• a walk at the beach
• babysitting being readily available
• driving on easy roads

Things I am looking forward to back in Brazil

• sunshine
• warm, friendly people
• an enthusiastic, lively, loving puppy
• Brazilian bananas
• singing in Portuguese
• praying in small groups everyday
• floaty dresses

These are just a few of the things that I love, whether I be in England or Brazil. How easy it is to takes things, people or experiences for granted.