When Uncle Byron, Greyson and I went down to the capital of our state, Salvador, to pick up William and Kerri from the airport, we got to eat at a Burger King. We were really happy to get to go. Few restaurants here have free drink refills. Burger King does! And of course, there are Whoppers!
Finding American food in a foreign country can be a difficult task for missionary families. In our house we don't really eat all American food but we don't eat beans and rice everyday either. We eat some of both and some things are crazy inventions based on what ingredients we can find.
So, going to a real "American" restaurant from time to time is fun. One time when we lived in Fortaleza, I heard about the grand opening of the very first McDonald's there. There was an article on the evening news about the big event. My understanding of what was said in Portuguese was that it was a "Grand Opening." In the States, when someone talks about a "Grand Opening," it means that the store will open for business on that day.
Mr. Randy and Mrs. Renee Small were visiting us that month from North Carolina. We all decided to go down to the McDonald's on the day I had heard about it. We weren't really sure what time was the best, but we decided to go at night to take advantage of walking around the crafts fair at the beach. Off we went...
When we arrived we saw people walking around the restaurant but most looked like they were workers. Some did have normal clothes on, but it didn't look like the amount of people that would be at a major store's first day of business. Nevertheless we moved up to the cashier and started looking at the menu.
We went up to the counter and started placing our order. Then when the young lady rang it up, we got our money out to pay. She looked sort of funny and asked us to wait a minute. She called a manager looking person over to the counter.
Someone important looking asked if he could help us. Uncle Byron said, Well, we just want to pay for our food. We've placed our order. He sort of smiled. He said that the restaurant was just open for workers and investors, sort of like a party. There was no money in the registers. We must have all looked sort of dejected as I explained that I had seen about the "Grand Opening" on TV. Then he said that we could have our orders for free and thanked us for coming.
That's when I wished I had ordered a much bigger meal deal!
So, going to a real "American" restaurant from time to time is fun. One time when we lived in Fortaleza, I heard about the grand opening of the very first McDonald's there. There was an article on the evening news about the big event. My understanding of what was said in Portuguese was that it was a "Grand Opening." In the States, when someone talks about a "Grand Opening," it means that the store will open for business on that day.
Mr. Randy and Mrs. Renee Small were visiting us that month from North Carolina. We all decided to go down to the McDonald's on the day I had heard about it. We weren't really sure what time was the best, but we decided to go at night to take advantage of walking around the crafts fair at the beach. Off we went...
When we arrived we saw people walking around the restaurant but most looked like they were workers. Some did have normal clothes on, but it didn't look like the amount of people that would be at a major store's first day of business. Nevertheless we moved up to the cashier and started looking at the menu.
We went up to the counter and started placing our order. Then when the young lady rang it up, we got our money out to pay. She looked sort of funny and asked us to wait a minute. She called a manager looking person over to the counter.
Someone important looking asked if he could help us. Uncle Byron said, Well, we just want to pay for our food. We've placed our order. He sort of smiled. He said that the restaurant was just open for workers and investors, sort of like a party. There was no money in the registers. We must have all looked sort of dejected as I explained that I had seen about the "Grand Opening" on TV. Then he said that we could have our orders for free and thanked us for coming.
That's when I wished I had ordered a much bigger meal deal!
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