Hey guys!! Well here I am in Fortaleza and it's beautiful. Unbelievably hot (easily 30) but the ocean breeze means its never too bad. At the moment i'm sitting in a little cyber cafe with belle, where they charge 1 real (about 25p) for an hours use. Its all crazy prices around here!! Speaking of crazy, the culture shock here has been unbelievable. Whilst Sao Paulo was basically a huge (albeit amazing) city, where I'm staying is just another world. Fortaleza itself is quite a sprawling town (so I'm told), but where I am, a district called Carlito Pamplona, is a small, poor and I guess you could say typically Brazilian community. The focal points are the churches (one of which I'll be working at), all the people know eachother, and kids are up at and down the streets all day long. Last night saw a procession down one of the little streets of about 10 kids with big drums, marching and playing like pros. Turns out they were rehearsing for a parade happening soon, which im told i will see. When I arrived I met Daniel who is one of the guys in charge of the Baptist Church here. Was quite relieved to find out he speaks some English, but I speak Portuguese with him as much as I can. He showed me around the church, a v simple building with a few classrooms for English lessons etc and introduced me to another pastor, Jairo. Later on I met my family. I'm staying right near the church with a lady called Edileusa, her mum, and her 2 sons, Anderson (21 I think) and Arlison (22). The dad died this year so there's a big responsibility on the boys, who are out working most of the day. Edileusa herself teaches a few evenings a week. Edileusa and her mum were both very accommodating, giving me dinner immediately and showing me around the house. It's all very simple: 2 bedrooms (one of which I share with Anderson), a bathroom, small lounge area and kitchen. Still, its lovely. I only saw Anderson and Arlison for a bit before I went to sleep but they both seem like really cool fellas who will hopefully take me out for a night on the town tomorrow! Today Daniel showed Belle and myself around and its all really nice and accessible. Little market etc. He told us not to be out on the streets after 8 but thats kind of a no brainer!! Later on we've got a meeting at the church where we'll be told whats going on in terms of our work. All starts on monday...can't wait!! Miss and love you all to pieces, J x