The beginning of my trip to Brazil

Days 1,  2, and 3 of my trip to Brazil

So here are some adventures I’ve had already. This is kind of long and has a lot of details, but most of it is interesting so  . . . yah . . .

Day of Traveling

Well, my sister and I took two turns on the way to the airport, but since I insisted on leaving very early I still got to the airport at 10:45am, exactly 2 hours before my flight was to leave. And 15 minutes later I was through security and at my gate, seriously. But those 15 minutes were a little tense. I couldn’t get the self-serve check-in to work and I was so worried that I didn’t really have a flight. My stress was rising. But I asked a woman for help and she checked me in where they also check bags. When I went to weigh my bags I put what I thought was the lighter bag up first. I thought it would be way under the 70 lb weight limit, but it was 68.5! Now I was really worried because I thought the other bag was heavier. It also didn’t help when the lady said she had to put a “heavy” tag on it. I said “Wait, isn’t the limit 70 lbs?” “Yes, we just have to let them know it’s really heavy.” Whew! But I was still worried about the second bag because I thought it was heavier, but nope it was only 64 lbs. Yay! After my 2 huge bags were checked I had to roll them over to where the TSA guys actually take the bags. So with all my important documents in hand (passport, tickets, wallet) and with several people watching me and not offering any help I had to try to roll them over with all this stuff in my hands. It didn’t work. So I had to put all my documents away even though I had to get them right back out again. When I handed my bags over to the TSA guy I asked him if  that was all he needed from me. He said, “yes.” Then he looked up at my worried face and said, “except a smile from you.” I smiled, felt some of the stress melt away, and turned to walk away, but he stopped me by saying, “And you do have a beautiful smile so don’t forget to share it.” God bless that man!

So security was a breeze, no line. And as I go to sit at my gate I see a missionary all alone. I ask him where he’s going and he says Sao Paulo. Yes! I say, “Now I can follow someone around at the airport.” J He seemed happy to know someone who’s going the same place he is too. So I leave to go to the bathroom and when I come back I sit by a girl who I find out is going home for a visit to Philadelphia. We chat for a few minutes and she tells me about the summer she spent working in Recife, Brazil. A while later I leave my seat again and by that time it’s getting close so there are no seats except for one next to the missionary sitting on the window ledge. So I walk over and he smiles. I think he really was lonely. We talk about his family who just dropped him off at the airport (he’s going to the MTC in Sao Paulo), about my family, and about what we know about Brazil. It’s not until we get in line to board our flight that we realize we are on different flights from DFW to GRU. Shoot. Oh well. Good bye Elder Matthews from Provo.

So on the flight to DFW I sit next to a man who is on his way to a week of business in Orlando. He asks me where I’m going and can’t believe that I’m going to Brazil. We are silent the rest of the flight, but at the end when they announce the gates for some connecting flights and we hear mine he nudges me with his elbow and smiles. I smile back. When we stand up to leave he says, “Have fun with your vacation in Brazil!” I tell him to have fun in Florida. 

Now I only have 1 hour to find my gate at DFW. It’s a huge airport and you have to take a shuttle to get to the different gates. But I make it in plenty of time. I call my mom to update her and call her on the phone for the last time. I reassure her that I saw that these kinds of planes have wifi on board so I should be able to text her from my iPod during my flight. They call my flight to board and I get on. I try to connect to wifi, but nothing is listed. I ask an attendant. She says, “Oh, there’s no wifi on international flights. Not on international flights.” Uh oh! I start to freak out because I just told my mom I would be texting her and because I was counting on that bit of connection. So I quickly pull out my phone and send a couple last texts to my mom explaining the situation before I have to turn it off.

Me looking gross during my 10 hour flight to Brazil

As we start to take off I am relieved because no one is sitting next to me (the plane isn’t very full) but I’m also freaking out because I am leaving the country. Really? Brazil? That’s where I’m going? My brain starts going in circles. Are you crazy? Brazil? For a month? What are you doing? Yes, Brazil! It’s going to be so much fun! You’re going to be with family! One month isn’t long enough! And around it goes. Mostly at this point I was completely exhausted. So after eating the in-flight meal of pasta (not too bad) and watching The Adjustment Bureau (pretty good) I decide to use my two seats and try to sleep. So I slept/tossed and turned for almost 6 hours, not too bad. They only woke everyone up 20 minutes before landing, so they shoved breakfast at us and then came back around and threw it all away. And then we were landing. In Brazil. And I hadn’t finished my baggage/customs form yet because I wasn’t sure what to mark. So I said a little prayer and left the plane. 

The view from my window of the sunset

We all walked over to a long line where you get your immigration form stamped. While I was in line I tried to figure out the wifi that was available, but to no avail. A couple you had to register with and even once I did it didn’t work, so what a waste to bring my silly iPod. :) Anyway, after that I had to find my luggage and I couldn’t just follow people from my flight because at this point everyone was mixed together. None of the luggage things had my flight on it and I had to use the restroom so I took a break from being worried and went to the bathroom.  That ended up being a good choice because I saw a girl from my flight! I asked her if she knew where our luggage was. She didn’t know but we decided to find out together. I also found out that her name is Katie and she’s from Kansas and she’s visiting some people that they had at her house as foreign exchange students. So eventually we wandered over to some employees and before we could say anything they said, “Dallas?” We nodded and they said, “Number 18.” I guess we looked lost.  So we found our luggage.  The screen above it which was supposed to say the flight number was blank. Our luggage was pretty much the last of it there. So then we had to go through customs. We thought we had to go declare because we had food in our bags, but when we got over there they looked at our forms and said, “Saida.” So we went to the exit. And through the exit was where everyone was waiting for travelers. I said goodbye to Katie from Kansas and after a minute, there was Rachel! Once all the scariness was over, I was just so excited to be with family, have fun, and enjoy Brazil!

Day 1 in Brazil

            Yay! Ammon was with Rachel and Filho was parking the car. When he got back we headed to the car. We had a lot to talk about and I was just enjoying taking everything in. It’s all so green! There are mountains, but they are completely covered with green trees. And there are palm trees. Yay! I miss them and they always remind me of Arizona. I also was enjoying watching Filho and everyone else drive. They are more patient and relaxed about driving here. If someone just moves into your lane you just let them. If to get around someone or something you need to be in 2 lanes at once that’s ok too. No one seemed upset or anything like that. It’s a nice change. In America we never want anyone to get in front of us and we would be honking if someone did something to slow us down. We always have somewhere to be, fast. 

On the way home we stopped by Frangoassada (literally fried chicken) to eat breakfast. It’s a very large chain that serves food all day and possibly all night. Rachel and I got croissants with ham and cheese. Yum! We also had fresh squeezed orange juice which also reminded me of Arizona. Then we got to Vinhedo. It’s a beautiful little city. It’s really well taken care of and really cute. We stopped by to say hi to Eliane and then we went home. Rachel’s house is really cute. There are a lot of windows and natural light. They have a great view of the city out their family room window. 

The curbs here are painted cute like this.

Ok, so once I got settled in I went on some errands with Rachel, ate lunch (rice, beans, and chicken. yum!), I figured out the internet here, ate some chocolate cake, and then we watched some Law and Order, House, we ate some snacks, and then watched Ever After. And I finally went to bed around midnight. I also had some very nice chats with Rachel, Filho, and all the kids. I am so glad to be here and so grateful that the Silvas are willing to share their home with me. It was a fabulous day!

Day 2

I slept in until 9:30 this morning. It was some much needed sleep. Rachel made waffles for breakfast that were heaven. And this morning Ammon and I went to the park with his friend. I walked around, took pictures, and enjoyed the sunshine while they played soccer. (Katie: my cousin knows who Kyle Beckerman is even if no one in Salt Lake does). Rachel and I ran more errands and I did my first bit of shopping. So far, I love Brazil! Filho keeps telling me about all the other regions of Brazil and I wish I could see them all.  After we picked up Nani from work Nani, Ammon, and I got milkshakes. I got a banana cinnamon one. Very good. We then went to the grocery store to get things for Filho’s birthday tomorrow. You should see the size of the avocados! And now we are watching 13 going on 30. 

Huge avocado!!!