i´m here!

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Hi, Everyone! First let me say if there are any oddly typed characters in this blog, it´s cause the keyboard at the hotel is different! Flying all this way was a real pain! The flights themselves were good. Weather great, but it´s exhausting! Esp traveling overnight! (And, yes, I was fine.) I was sitting in a 2 person row and of course the guy next to me says...."I guess since we´re gonna be sleeping together, we might as well introduce ourselves." Give me a break....I knew the rest of the night would be downhill from there!

Once we got into Rio, a car picked us up. We drove around a little, then went to Ipanema (spelling?) for lunch. Had coconut water there. (Sis, thought of you!). Sat on the beach. The restaurant we ate at was across the street from the beach and the windows went all the way to the floor and were open. It had a pirate type motif. The food was wonderful (as were the 2 alcoholic beverages I had). But (almost) the best was the bathroom. The floor was covered (several inches deep) with a crystal type rock. The sinks were basins that also had this rock in it. The rocks were loose, not glued down. It was very pretty. When we got to the airport, we were really pushing it to make our plane. We had to check the bags as the flight from Rio to Puerto Allegre was not part of the AA trip. The airline wanted to charge us $1,000 to check the bags as they said we had too many for a domestic flight! I told Lu it would be cheaper to dump the bags and buy all new stuff. Anyway, Lu was terrific and talked them out of that. After all, we had come off of an international flight.

Novo Hamburgo is an interesting town (as was Rio). It´s very crowded and it´s not easy to distinguish between the "bad" and "good" parts of town. Lu´s dad and stepmom live in a nice area, but the house is small. Her dad built the entire thing. Most of the houses have tall iron fences and gates. Hardly anyone has air conditioning....even most of the shops. The hotel rooms we have are suites with a kitchenette, living area, bedroom and bath. The AC is in the bedroom, so the rest of the room is warm. It´s nice and clean, tho.

We haven´t done much yet, except run around to some shops....and eat! Last night Lu´s stepmom and dad cooked us a wonderful meal, but I barely ate anything. I think it was exhaustion, the 2 drinks I had at lunch, the 2 more drinks I had at their house and the strain of trying to understand everyone! No one in Lu´s family speaks English, so Tom and Lu were speaking Portugese with them, but not translating for Pat and I. We did a lot of gesturing and I did use the little bit of Portugese I know.

The most fun so far, tho, is riding in cars thru the cities. Aye Carumba! People drive craaazzzy! Tom jumps in driving the rental car with the rest of them. It´s bothering Pat, but I just go with the flow! I think there are very few accidents ´cause everyone drives that way. If you want to change lanes, you just do. No one slows down and waves you in. The motorcycles drive in between the lanes. At least all of the cycle drivers wear helmets.

The people of Brazil are very nice and friendly and helpful. Everyone has a smile. The stores are well staffed. We haven´t had to wait at all while shopping for assistance. Even when they talk to me and I tell them I speak only a little, people still talk to me! I just smile back and nod my head. I find myself falling into speaking the little Portugese I know with Tom and Lu. It´s natural to want to do that and easy to do. I guess it´s cause everyone else around you is speaking Portugese. I can understand a little of what´s going on.

The time is 4 hours ahead of STL, so that has put me off a little. It´s been in the low 80´s and humid. Lu and I were out to a couple of the shops by the hotel and guess what happens......rain! There was no rain in the forecast when I looked on Sunday. My record is still perfect! ;-)

I am taking pics, but don´t have the ability to download them now. You´ll have to wait until I either find a way or when I get back.

NittiC

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