Journal Entry #1 Wednesday,
June 20, 2007
Today I awoke to the acrid smell of fresh vomit. It was the early hours
of the morning and we were some where on our way to Brazil from
our Airport hub in Dallas. The sound of snoring was an agonizing
reminder of how valuable sleeping pills and pillows are. The plane
itself was in fine condition as it all the seats and facilities were
up to date and clean, but the ride was a painful ten hours that
seemed to last for days. The plane ride probably wouldn't have
been as bad if we hadn't taken a fairly uncomfortable where
no one sat together and where sleeping was the best option.
After the flight to Dallas we, our group of thirteen, ran to the
next gate tocatch the flight to San Palo. The ten hour flight to
Brazil was greatly improved by the fact that we were all able to
sit together and help support friends who were having a hard
time coping with the dim question that was in the back of
everyone's mind: "what is the airplane food goingto be like?"
We were to receive two meals while on thisflight, one dinner
meal and one breakfast meal. Although
the reviews among the
others were mixed, I found the chicken served with potatoes
dinner to be quite tasty and the breakfast croissant to be filling.
The traveling was pretty hard oneveryone but we all knew that
after it all we would be happy we got through it. After arriving in
Brazil we thought that we would be able to relax considering we
had a four-hour layover. This thought turned out to be nothing
more than an ill-fated dream whose death was obvious upon seeing
the line we had to wait in to check in for the next flight. We waited in
line among the colors and sounds of Brazilian fury for a good two hours.
When all of us finally did check in, we made or way over to the gate of our
next flight and
began to nap wherever we could find room. After some much needed napping,
my friend and
I got permission to get out and explore the airport to get some food. We stumbled
upon a small
little smoothes shop after a couple rounds of walking into stores thatwouldn't
take dollars. While
ordering we discovered that we had no idea what the cashier was saying because
we didn't really have
a great grasp of the language. A colorful mix of Spanish, French, and broken
Portuguese came to the rescue and aidedus in our amusing quest for something
to drink. When we got back we sat down and waited for the plane to come as
it was already a good fifteen minutes late. An announcement in Portuguese
rang over the loud speakers and apparently it said that our gate had been
changed. So we finally entered an empty small plane for was to be our last
flight for two weeks. With the rich mixture of samba and light rock that defined
Brazilian radio playing over the intercom and lack of sleep made it very easy
to doze off. My swirling dreamland was quickly destroyed when a person thought
I was in their seat but this rooster clearly misread his own ticket and then
apologized for his blunder. After a quick hour flight spent mostly in a daze
we arrived in a different part of Brazil. We then exited the airport to discover
that we still had a fair amount of traveling to do, at least a two-hour bus
trip to the hotel. When we found our bus it all turned out to be fine as it
was a very nice bus. The bus was clean, roomy, and all ours. The seats of
the bus reclined to the point where one was able to make a bed by pulling
out the footrest and reclining at the same time. I then slept for the entire
bus trip, which was said to have taken a little over two hours. We pulled
into our lunch stop about two hours late and ate for about an hour. At this
point our group had increased in size as the five group members from LA joined
up with us. The food was pretty good, not great but not bad at all. The food
would have been better if we had shown up on time because it was prepared
for our expected time. The meal included Brazilian soda, different meats,
beans, rice, vegetables, and some irregular stews. After a quick meal we all
met up back at the hotel, whose rooms can only be described as a closet. There
are two beds, a mini fridge, and a twelve-inch TV in every room and not much
else because there isn't much room for anything else. Although the rooms are
pretty small, the bathrooms, showers, and beds were all very nice in terms
of quality and comfort. After a quick series of showers, the group explored
the malls and downtown of the city that we are staying in. Most everything
was as expensive as you would get it for in the United States and the shops
were almost all clothing, home improving, and sports shops. We walked around
town for a couple of hours not buying anything because the bank was closed
and there was nowhere else where we could exchange currency. So after browsing
for hours and not buying anything we had dinner at the same place we had lunch.
The food this time was very good. There were beans, rice, potatoes, chicken,
beef, lettuce, pasta, and the best rice pudding in the world. Dinner was also
nice because we were the only ones there due to fact that they aren't actually
open for dinner and the only reason we got to eat there is because our coach
has a very friendly relationship with the owner. After about an hour-long
dinner outing we went back to the hotel to watch an important soccer game
on TV. Right now it's about halfway done and my roommate is asleep so I'm
going to bed.