tchau, sao paulo

it is wednesday nite and i am attempting to pack my things because we leave for lindoia tomorrow morning. i have been staring at all of the stuff piled on the floor and on my bed. where did it all come from? my clean but wet laundry is hanging outside. thais has assured me that it should be dry by morning, but i am afraid i may be traveling to lindoia in my pj~s. but all is well-- i am in sao paulo, brasil!! these last couple of days have flown by. as usual, thais has arranged for us an inspiring tour. today we visited the rotary foundation school(s) in sao paulo. the facilities are beautiful (like everything that we have seen), the cafezinho (pardon my spelling - it is late) is delicious, and we are treated like royalty. most inspiring is the rotary foundation school for the deaf. yesterday we visited the centro de esporte, cultura e lazer. they provide services to all ages of the community at the facility. they also provide all aspects of family support at the single location. i met some wonderful ladies who were doing handwork and painting. of course the day would not be complete until we had bought several of the handcrafted items. the afternoon was spent at the botanical gardens.