The Fourth of July

Happy Independence Day (late)!

Because the Fourth is also a Coimbra city holiday celebrating the Rainha Santa Isabel in Coimbra (A Portuguese queen-saint who lived here), we were able to watch a fireworks display!  We’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful fireworks setting – along the shores of the Mondego River, with the skyline of Coimbra rising as a backdrop with our University's clocktower standing tall and proud above it all.  It was at midnight… so Lucas slept straight through to the ending bang!

(Grady & Diego worked together for some great shots)

Rainha Santa Isabel, married to the king that founded our university, had a heart for the poor.  Legend has it that Dom Dinis (her husband) caught her stealing food from the royal kitchens and dispersing it to the poor.  He demanded she open her apron, but when she did God miraculously transformed the food into roses which spilled out over the street. 

(Queen Isabel with her roses)

While we were waiting for the pyrotechnics to start, we dropped in on an outdoor Fado concert.  (Fado is a traditional Portuguese music genre).  Take a listen:

Perhaps not your average Fourth of July weekend (no corn on the cob, BBQ or American flags in sight) but still fun!  Some of the songs were even about the sadness of leaving Coimbra (a common occurrence for graduating students).

We are still waiting on our visas, BUT the good news is our work permits have been approved!  They are required for the visas and took a fair amount of work by our teammates in Mozambique.  Our visa applications should have arrived at the Moz embassy by now, so please pray that they are approved with no delays.

There has been a lot to do as we wait.  Much of it has centered around insurance logistics from Grady’s accident.  After going back and forth many times between insurance and the bike shop, Grady is now being reimbursed for his totaled bike.  We still aren’t sure how he managed to bend the frame in two places but still leave the wheels undamaged!  Grady has also gone through the whole process of listing and selling our car, writing letters to the boys’ schools, and much more.  I have been meeting weekly with one of my professors (one hour of English and one hour of Portuguese: it’s a win-win for us both), studying for a Moz aviation exam, packing and cleaning.

The boys are still in school (although they’ve already had their year-end parties/performances).  We let Diego decide if they should continue these last few days/weeks or stay home and it was a definitive YES to going to school.  We are so thankful to see how far he has come from the continual dread for school he had last fall/winter!  He is already talking about how he is going to “ter saudades” for the jardim de infancia... (a very Portuguese way of saying he will miss/long for his school after he leaves).

(Lucas was a little shy... he cried during his time on stage) 

Grady’s back is slowly improving.  He has the least pain when walking, and the most when sitting.  We have been able to go on a few longer hikes through the hills surrounding Coimbra lately – it’s a joy to watch him marching along with his walking stick!

(Monsanto, hiking down from the castle) 

(Schist village in the hills outside of Coimbra)

Please continue to be praying for our visas to be approved and arrive safely to us.  Also be praying for the upcoming travel to Moz.  Grady is GREAT at entertaining the boys and can hold Lucas for longer periods now, but we’ve got a LOT of luggage to corral.  

Thanks for checking in on us - much love from the Naces