Hey again! Right now we are in Rio de Jeneiro, walking up to the statue of Christ, and staring into the kind eyes of Jesus. They're not really his eyes, but I am going to imagine it’s him and I have been thinking about a whole lot of things I want ask him and pray for.
One of the things I am hoping to pray for, is my family. I want to be able to find them. But if I don’t, I at least want them to be safe.
If the weather is good, the tour company will organise for us to actually go hang-gliding and helicopter riding around this amazing wonder of the world!
We are now finally standing in front of the statue. We aren’t talking much, some of the adults and older kids even brought their bibles and notebooks. This landmark, for Christians, is quite personal. There are quite a lot of people having their own devotions too. Luckily, the tour guide understands how personal this is for us, and is leaving us be.
Tianna and I find Jonah, the parrot, and Jacob in the crowd, and we walk over to a hill nearby, and sit under a tree there. Since it is such a massive city, Fen, James and Jacobs’s parents said that if we go anywhere, we have to be within their view, and the kids have to go in buddy-pairs. Since Jonah and me are just toys, we have to tag along wherever Tianna and Jacob go, because they are partners.
Tianna and I find Jonah, the parrot, and Jacob in the crowd, and we walk over to a hill nearby, and sit under a tree there. Since it is such a massive city, Fen, James and Jacobs’s parents said that if we go anywhere, we have to be within their view, and the kids have to go in buddy-pairs. Since Jonah and me are just toys, we have to tag along wherever Tianna and Jacob go, because they are partners.
From the tree, where we sit, we have a grand view of the statue, and it is the perfect spot for devotions. By some amazing coincidence, Jonah and Jacob are Christians too, so it is easy for us all to concentrate on God without anyone asking silly and obvious questions or getting bored or distracted.
We decide to pay attention to the New Testament, because that is where we learn about Jesus.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he sent his only son, who died for our sins, so that we will not die, but live for eternal life.”
Matthew 19:13
Some people brought their children to Jesus, so that he might place his hands upon them and bless them. But the disciples told the people to stop. Jesus said “Let the children come to me. Don’t keep them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them.” Jesus placed his hands on them.
We do a few more scriptures, pray altogether, and then say our own prayers. I pray about my family, I thank God for the trip, for his protection upon us all, ask for any forgiveness (I would rather not talk about that.) and I praise him.
Jonah has even brought his iPod, and we all listen to some worship songs while writing God a prayer letter, which we will then fold and stuff each into their own balloons. When we go hang-gliding later, we will take the balloons with us and let them go. So we put them in the balloons, but we won’t fill them with helium yet, because we have a few things to do before the hang gliding session.
Jonah’s dad calls us over for brunch, after which we will all take a look at the statue close up. I am preparing myself to come back drenched in facts.
I feel refreshed after devotion first thing in the morning. I have to admit, I don’t do this often, and so it makes it a whole lot more special.
We have a wonderful brunch of bacon and egg muffins, and fruit salad with ice cream.
But now that we are back to looking at this amazing statue, the facts have begun. But now, they are not only coming from our tour guide, but ALSO from Jonah and Jacob’s tour guide! Jonah and me call our guide 'Tour Guide Double' and Jonah’s, 'Tour Guide Trouble'. 'Double', because double the facts, and 'Trouble' because, well, ...you know what I mean!
“This statue was built in 1931. Construction started in 1922 and was completed in 1931. I took about nine years to build it.” is what Tour Guide Trouble is saying.
“And the cost of the monument all together was $250,000!” is what Tour Guide Double is saying. The two guides get on pretty well, which is not surprising.
Jonah and I have stopped listening, because a family has just come up to Fen and James to ask for directions. We are a little embarrassed when James replies that they don’t know, because we were on holiday here too. We notice that the family has 3 children: one boy who is about 11 years old, a girl who is about 5, and a boy in a pram, obviously 1 or 2.
The older boy is holding a shopping bag, and through the plastic, we can see another stuffed animal. When Jacob and Tianna ask about it, the boy seems embarrassed. He turns red in the face and slowly reaches into the bag, pulling out a stuffed toy dog, dressed like Obi-Wan Kenobi, from Star Wars.
The dog is brand new, according to the price tag, and is smiling ear-to-ear, glad to be out of the bag. The boy says that it is a brand new dog, bought right here, in Rio, and he doesn’t have a name. We all think of names we can give him, and we finally agree on Anakin, because it both suits him, and it would be funny to have the apprentice dressed as the master.
Jonah’s parents offer for the other family to stay, so they do. We find out that the owner of Anakin is Brian, and he has lets Anakin hang out with us so Jonah and I can get to know him. We're having a lot of fun, trying to ditch the tour guides, but they always end up finding us and saying more stuff... Like when we tried pretending to be on a nearby bench reading magazines, they unfortunately noticed, and Tour Guide Double said, “This statue is one of the biggest statue in the world and is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.” And Tour Guide Trouble said, “It takes about 220 steps to see the statue up close. It stands about 38 metres tall and weighs 700 short tons (635 tonnes). The original design was by a man named Oswald. He had designed it to have globe in one hand, and standing over a pedestal symbolizing the world. The design was not agreed on.”
After climbing down all 220 steps from the statue to the city, we have lunch, and then it is finally time for the hang-gliding session. We have lined up, and it's the parents' turn to take off. The younger kids aren't able to hang-glide, so we have a helicopter ride while Fen, James and the other parents are hang-gliding. Of the adults, only Brian’s mom doesn’t go because she is afraid. So she and Tour Guide Double come in the helicopter with us.
All the adults have just taken off, and we are about to start flying too. All the kids are counting down: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! And we are now rising above the platform. Me, Jonah and Anakin are snuggled up to our owners because, to be honest, we are a bit afraid, and it is also cold. “Hey look!” someone shouts, “There’s Dad!” We are now all looking down, out of the helicopter at Brian’s dad waving at us! We wave back, and the tour guide has started again.
All the adults have just taken off, and we are about to start flying too. All the kids are counting down: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! And we are now rising above the platform. Me, Jonah and Anakin are snuggled up to our owners because, to be honest, we are a bit afraid, and it is also cold. “Hey look!” someone shouts, “There’s Dad!” We are now all looking down, out of the helicopter at Brian’s dad waving at us! We wave back, and the tour guide has started again.
“The idea of having the statue with wide open arms was made by Heitor da Silva Costa, and was put together by French sculptor Paul Landowoski. The reason why it was built was to show that Christ loves all, and was built with wide open arms to embrace all that come to him. In October 2006, the statue’s 7th anniversary, Archbishop of Rio Cardinal Eusebio Oscar Scheid consecrated a chapel, named for the patron saint of Brazil – Nossa Senhora Aparecida, under the statue. This allows Catholics to hold baptisms and weddings there. On July 2007, it was honored as one of the New Seven Wonders Of The World.”
The helicopter is going lower and closer to the statue now, so we can take a high close-up look. The pilot tells us a story of the first time that he saw the statue, as he brings the helicopter to land back where we started. I climb out of the helicopter, and feel so happy! I got to have a devotion, have a nice lunch and brunch, and I have been on a helicopter, all in one day!
All the adults are already here, getting out of their gear, and are beckoning for us to come. We are going to either go back to the hotel and relax, explore the city, or both. We have the whole afternoon to do this, bearing in mind that we have to leave for Australia at 5:00 tomorrow morning. Anakin isn’t staying at the same hotel as us, but they can still come exploring with us.
And we did just that. We first went home and got all our stuff ready. Then we went and explored the amazing city, and found a really nice restaurant for afternoon tea. Then we came back to the hotel, invited Brian’s family to come too, and spent the last bit of the afternoon in the pool. We had a lovely dinner of papaya banana curry, Papaya lamb curry, tropical salads and poppadoms. Then we showered, got dressed in our favourite pjs, and watched a movie.
Now as I am getting into bed, after saying goodbye to Anakin, I'm feeling a little sad that I haven’t yet found my family. But that doesn’t matter, because we still have one last stop before we get home, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for that. Anyway, I have had an incredible, but relaxing day. In fact, the only time we had to do any exercise was when we had to climb all 220 steps up to the statue, and when we were playing 'tigi' in the pool. It has been so much fun, and I hope I can do this again next year. Anyway *yawn* I better get some sleep. I’ll check in with you later at the last stop, The Big Banana! And while I am there, I am hoping to have a few chocolate bananas, just a few…
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