May 10, 11

On Sat. we met for service and I had arrangements with a single sister named Sarah.  She is one of the first sisters we met when we arrived.  She is 40 yrs old and shared with me that she has a man friend who lives in Bahrain and they have been dating via skype.  They met two yrs ago at the convention and are talking marriage, but it is very difficult to bring him here legally, and the job market is so poor it would be difficult for him to find work.  She applied for a US green card in 2012 and has not been selected yet.  They would both like to come to the US as he has family there, but I shared that the job market is not that good there.  She is very sweet.  I turned her on to Starbucks. She had never been so she got tea as she doesn't drink coffee, but next time she said she would try a mocha....I feel so evil.  I drink it so seldom at home because of the price, but it is the only place you can get american coffee...so I am hooked til I come home.
We had alot of visitors at our mtg. Sat eve...from Greece, Switzerland, Norway and one other place.  I forgot.   So even tho cong is not large usually we have quite a few.  We comment alot because I think some hesitate because they are still learning english, and if the subject is deep they are worried they don't have good grasp of it.  They are a very loving cong...kiss on each cheek from sis and some bro or a handshake and they try to get to each person in attendance.  Teaches me to widen out.
Today I cooked a roast with carrots, potatoes,  and onions.  Claudia made cole slaw and fruit salad.  We bought fresh bread at the bakery and I made garlic butter.  You should have seen us lugging those groceries up our hill then the stairs.  We had an ikea bag between us along with 5 litres of water.  Talk about aerobic exercise!
We invited an elder and his wife and their 2 children for lunch.  Ben, Linda, Claudia and Daniel.  Such a sweet, loving family.  Claudia is 18 and taking some extra schooling and Daniel is 13.  The parents were special pioneers before they had children and just have led such interesting lives.  They were the only JW in Cape Verde when they began and just the 2 at mtg and they would invite others to a talk he would give.  We really enjoyed our afternoon.
We went for a walk in the evening for an hour, and now I am going to bed.  Today was the first day I really got homesick for mom and the kids.  I always get weepy on May 11 and miss Ron like crazy but all in all it was another beautiful day in Portugal.