A word about the fruits and vegetables here in Brazil: they are different. Some of them are very different. Like these:

These are maxixi (mah-shee-shee), a cucumber-like vegetable. Tasty, but a pain to peel.

Also, the best oranges are, in fact, greens:

And the tastiest bananas are the size of my thumb. I call them “thumbnanas.”

Pronounced “fayleesh pashkwah,” like a good Carioca. He is risen!

We celebrated Easter this morning at Union Church with a surprisingly large congregation, including many first-time attenders. There was a breakfast beforehand with pancakes, sausage, and fruit (papayas, mango, melon, pineapple), and a great service with all the good old Easter hymns. We were afraid that the singing wasn’t going to work out all that well, because most of the band was gone and we were scrambling to get it together in the end, but it was great. As I said to one of our friends at church, God can always take whatever it is we throw out there and make it into something beautiful in the end.

In his sermon, Pastor Lucas urged us to remember all the other Christians around the world who are celebrating Easter today, some of them in hiding. It’s great to know that we, our families and friends back home, and all the other members of our faith can celebrate Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection together.

He is risen!

UPDATE FROM TIM: Here are some pictures of Lorraine leading worship this morning, including a shot of the “flowering cross,” a Union Church tradition.

It’s Good Friday today, which means we have a 4-day weekend–and none too soon. Both Lorraine & I are getting over some mysterious tropical bug that has been going around the school. I won’t go into the medical details, but it has been a unique experience. Fortunately, we’re just about over it now, in time to rest up and return to work healthy on Tuesday. And, with any luck, actually enjoy our days off.

This week also marked the end of the 3rd quarter–our first quarter. It required a great scramble to finish all the grading, and then we got to undergo the grand Brazilian tradition (ie required by federal law) of Conselho de Clase. That’s when all the teachers get together and discuss every single student who might be having some kind of problem. It’s a useful time, but sweet jumping jehosephats it takes a long, long time.

We also saw another high school teacher arrive from the states, praise God–the English teacher, this time. So, between the illnesses, the grading, the new arrival and the general pageantry of Easter, this has been a rather full Holy Week. I had hoped to put together a video outlining our life here, but there was just a little too much to do–hopefully next week I’ll be able to do something of the sort.