The Trip to Brazil

A few days before I left Phoenix, I was sent an email giving me the location and some more information on the place where I would be staying. I thought I was going to Brasilia; however, I was just flying into Brasilia. I would be living in a small town called Adadiana, approximately, 150 km from Brasilia. The Church has a large piece of property there which currently houses a boarding school and elementary school. The new institute I am helping them open will be located on that same property because it has enough space.

Ok, so my trip from Phoenix was very interesting. First of all, you know about the weight restrictions for flying these days. Well during packing, I tried to ensure that my bags were within the weigh requirements by weighing during my packing process. Went I got to the airport, each of my two pieces I was going to check was overweight by around 15 pounds. Apparently, my scale at home was defective or I was not weighing my bags properly. Basically at the airport I had to repack my bags and pay for an extra piece of luggage. Thank God the person helping me check-in understanding and that I was somewhat early for my flight.

I had planned to spend a day in Miami before flying to Brazil, to visit friends and family but I did not get to Miami until 2am of the day I was suppose to leave for the Brazil. Nothing went as planned for that day. In the morning I decided to repack my bags because the weight restriction of the airline I was flying with to Brazil were lax. During the process of repacking my bags my zip broke. I had to go and buy another bag a couple of hours before leaving for the airport. Thank God I found one in the first store I went to and I was able to buy the bag quickly. Even though the weigh restrictions were lax I was still worrying about the weigh of my bags because my friend did not have a scale and she felt that they bags were already overweight. That was something I really did not want to think about because I was tired and battling a cold.

I got to the airport , checked in and to my surprise, the person checking me in did not even weigh the bags. He just put on the tags and put them through to the plane. I was relieved and just thankful to God, because I did not want anymore bag drama. While I waited for my flight I wanted to make calls to people to say goodbye and finish my cellphone minutes. That proved to be problematic. My lack of sufficient sleep over the past few nights and my cold led to the loss my voice. I tried to call as many people as possible but it literally hurt to talk. I didn’t know that was possible.

By the time I got on my flight I could not talk. The 8hr flight gave me time to recuperate and make up for all the sleep I had missed over the past week. Overall my flights to my final destination were good. During the flight I got a first hand view into how my not knowing Portuguese would serve as a problem. The flight from Miami had bi-lingual air hostesses, however on the flight to Brasilia I was not so fortunate. I must say however that my knowledge of Spanish helped a little.

I got to Brasilia, around 11 am Friday morning, and as I was waiting for my bag, I saw so much evidence in the airport that Brazil as a country loves football (for the Americans soccer). To show that conveyor belt for the baggage was on, there was a large football advertising an upcoming football competition going around the conveyor belt. The love of football in Brazil is also evident among the people. I think it would be weird to walk on the street and not see something pointing towards football, either through advertisement or by people wearing t-shirts of their favorite team. I have not been here more than a couple of days I have had several persons have asked me if I like football or what team in Brazil I support. In fact, at the school there is an internal soccer competition between students and faculty. Let’s just say I might leave Brazil a football lover.

Anyway folks that all for now check back soon.