March 30, 2012

The Trip

I arrived in Brazil on Wednesday morning after a very comfortable, though long, flight.  I had 3 seats to myself on my 10 hour flight to São Paulo, which meant 3 pillows, 3 blankets, and 3 TV screens and let's just say, I took advantage of the situation.  I had one TV permanently set on the airplane's progress on the journey, another set on music or a movie and on the one in front of me, I played games.  I slept with my 3 pillows and 2 blankets with my feet up...

Upon arriving in São Paulo, I was shuffled through customs, given my bags to recheck and sent out into the airport without a clue what I was doing or where I was supposed to go.  My checked bags included a giant box from Uhaul full of clothes, two giant suitcases (each weighing in at 70 pounds), a roller carry-on stuffed to its limits, and a backpack full of books and my computer...  Luckily, Brazilians are very nice and when they saw my squishy arms trying to lift more than their 20 pound limit, they were eager to help me get my bags onto a cart.  Without any idea how to transfer to my next flight, I set out to find the desk.  The problem was, with my limited Portuguese vocabulary, my lack of restful sleep, and the fact that deep down I was scared shitless to be in Brazil by myself, my asking for directions involved me saying "Florianopolis, Gol?" to a random cab driver, who sent me upstairs to the Gol counter; a Gol employee, who sent me downstairs to probably the right spot, but I couldn't understand his directions... Another airline employee, who sent me back to customs, and finally a random traveller who sent me to the right desk, which was just around the corner from where I exited customs.  By the time I got to the desk I was soaking with sweat from hauling my 300 pounds of luggage through the entire airport and frantic that I was going to miss my connection flight to Florianopolis and be stuck in São Paulo alone for the night.  Turns out, I'm a bit melodramatic and I was able to recheck my bags without an issue and made my flight with time to spare...

My first impression of Brazil from the airplane window was that the place is amazingly beautiful.  Because I am a crappy photographer, this picture does it absolutely no justice.  The rain and humidity here makes things a different green that you just don't see in California.  Big flat stretches are broken up by big green hills that fade off into the mist in the distance and it is really breath-taking... But since I cannot photograph it, I guess you will just have to come visit me and see it yourself!


Here is a better picture of these hills that I speak of!


1 comment:

  1. What, you, melodramatic??? Unheard of! Lol
    Seriously, that view is still beautiful, regardless of your amateur status as a photographer

    ReplyDelete


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