To the St. Louis Zoo With the Girls from Brazil

 Earlier this month Vi and I joined my friend Bonnie and her two homestay ladies, Marianna and Erika, for a day trip to St. Louis.  The girls originally contacted me by email because they came across this blog.  They are veterinary students from Brazil who arranged for a one month internship at the MU School of Veterinary Medicine.  Since I had no room for additional homestay guests, I asked my friend, Bonnie, if she would like to host two young ladies for a month, and she agreed to do so.

Gahee wasn't able to join us for the day trip due to too much homework, but the other five of us took George's mini van on a cool Saturday when we were convinced that the animals at the zoo would be fairly active.  We first stopped at the St. Louis Arch...then had lunch with too much fried food at a restaurant...made our way to the zoo for a two hour quick tour...and we ended up at a shopping mall (of course!!) with plans to eat at The Cheesecake Factory restaurant.  Unfortunately, once we were ready to meet for dinner, tons of other people were ready as well.  We decided to just buy some cheesecake to go and then eat elsewhere.  We found an Asian buffet that made Vi extremely happy because it featured some Vietnamese items.

Glad to share some photos of the day:

The St. Louis Arch - October 2012

View from the St. Louis Arch

Viewer looking out at the top of the St. Louis Arch

Vi by the St. Louis Arch - Oct. 2012

Vi - near restaurant where we ate

Vi by Zoo entrance

At the zoo entrance: Vi, Erika, and Marianna

Erika, Marianna, and Vi - St. Louis Zoo Oct. 2012

Our group...chilly but happy after walking around for 2 hours at the St. Louis Zoo Oct. 2012
Vi, Jenny(with a bad sinus cold) Marianna, Erika, and Bonnie