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Published: April 19th 2007
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Thoughts from my flight to Brazil:
10 days from the Big 2-5. 😊 Still not super-excited. Right now I’m on my way to Brazil. I’m trying to remember it’s about the journey, not the destination and here's why: it’s 6pm. We were supposed to leave @ 4:25pm. And then 5pm. I’m supposed to get there around 7. Not gonna happen. I showed up at the airport 3 hours early and there was a line snaking around the check-in terminal. It took almost 2 hrs just to get a boarding pass and check my bag. Security is a joke. I’m on an international flight and they just put my carry on(s) through the xray machine - no looking for liquids or computers or shoes. I didn’t even have to take off my belt. Crazy.
This is so frustrating!! But, all things happen for a reason I just don't know the reason at the moment. Trying to find my calm zen. Relaxing the shoulders, closing my eyes, deep breath. Ewwwww. The smell of the rather large older dude sitting next to me. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it’s hot as hell and there’s limited A/C. I’m not smelling so
sweetly either, if I’m to be perfectly honest. The guy sitting next to me is married but oh by the way he has "wives" in cities around the world and would I like to meet up in th States for a bottle of wine… My response was, Wow, I wouldn’t want to be the wife that had the ring! His retort: She doesn’t have to know. - Ew—Why on Earth would he think I would be interested in “getting to know him” in that manner. Yeah, dude. I want to be one of your many women throughout the world. I don’t think so. Men are so bold sometimes. Everyone is up and walking around the plane. Chatting. Ridiculous. I am so freaking annoyed but trying to chill. I mean, there’s nothing I can do or say to make it better. But I don’t like traveling in the dark, alone, in countries I don’t know and that's exactly what's going to happen…
Thoughts on Brazil (April 20-22):
I finally got to the hotel to meet up with a friend of a friend (Gareth a.k.a G) who's working in Brazil. We had such a good day! First we got some
really good sushi. Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan, so you get some tasty sushi here. SP is the 3rd largest city in the world, with a population nearing 11 million. It’s CRAZY out here. We went to Ibiracua Park (I'm certain I spelled that wrong) - walking around, going to 2 exhibits.
The first one was Corpo Humano - the human body exhibit. We saw splayed muscles, cross-sections of brains and bones, and replicas of the central nervous system and circulatory system. It’s the exhibit I wanted to see in Atlanta, but never got around to going to - and I saw it in Brazil. Funny. From there, we walked around a bit, sat by the water, got into a good conversation about religion and moral values. After discussing all this, we ended up at the Afro Museum, which is a tribute to the large black population in Brazil. According to their map, the slave trade brought 0.4-0.5 million slaves to the United States, 0.3-0.5 million slaves to Europe, 4-5 million slaves to Brazil and 4 million slaves to the Caribbean. In Brazil, there seems to be a more inclusive nature about the people,
leading to more intermixing and less segregation. However, I do believe, if I looked, the lighter skinned people would still be coming out on top more than those with darker skin. Though, maybe I’m wrong. I wouldn’t mind being wrong.
We went out that night with the docent from the museum, who is also G’s friend. It was SO much fun! We ended up on this block of bars where everyone was sitting outside, drinking beer or a caipirinia, chatting and laughing with friends. It was such a great experience. The people here are so welcoming and friendly. They try to speak a bit of English, and can understand some of my Spanish/English, so we got a little conversation going. G’s totally outgoing and doesn’t mind fumbling around for words for the sake of communication. It’s a little further than I generally take myself, but I can learn from it. Why shut down when you can open up?
I have been surprised at how expensive things are here. In Argentina, the exchange is 3-1 and things are priced normally, for the most part, so it’s not so bad. You’re eating what would be an US$18 steak for US$6
or whatever and they charge A$18. Here, the exchange is 2-1 and they’re charging twice the price so you’re spending a regular amount of dollars. For example, we went to a movie yesterday and it was B$20 per person, so US$10. That’s even more expensive than some places in the States for a matinee movie!
We went to one jazz club that was closed, so over to another one called Bourbon Street. It’s supposed to look like a New Orleans-style place, they serve Creole food, and they play jazz. The house band played 2 sets and then it was “black music” night, which is what they call hip-hop in South America. But it wasn't exactly hip-hop, either. It was a cover band that played everything from Outkast's "Hey Ya" and Prince to "Holiday!" Folks were moving, dancing, and generally making merry, so we had a good time.
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