Adventures with Brazilians ( 1)

Normally i live an orderly, staid, little life- like standing in a line that moves forward slowly. Yesterday that line was for a roller coaster ride with Brazilians. Some of you may know Brazilians that have lived in the U. S. for awhile. Sadly, many seem to lose a lot of what I call their "Brazilianness", the exuberant zest for life lived on impulse, and always in a highly relational group context. So I went to Natick to drive a 15 passenger van to help my friend Vinci. He and his wife Samia had brought a group of about thirty Brazilians to the U. S. to shop and have fun. My friends Getulio & Ana-Maria accompanied them, and it was wonderful to see them again. First I helped to load a 14' truck with suitcases. I'm a very casual dresser- jeans and a flannel shirt are my usual "style." Brazilians tend to dress more sharply so I had on the shirt Samia had given me, in her honor, with dress slacks and shoes. Not the best attire for heaving heavy suitcases into a truck. This took about an hour and a half. Then I'm part of a caravan of one truck and two vans to the airport. Normally I drive a very small car so this was an adventure in itself. By the grace of God it was not rush hour, and Getulio was a great co-pilot. I get to practice my very broken Portuguese. I'm on the "ride." We actually get to the correct place in the airport and unload the passengers. As anyone knows that goes to U. S. airports, you don't get to wait with a vehicle. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the police don't let anybody hang around. We had a truck, two large vans, and a smaller van. I stay with the vehicles while the other drivers go inside. Some of the suitcases are way over the weight limit, so everyone is unloading and rearranging their luggage. ( $200 for each over weight item.) So we're there 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and I'm anticipating a cruiser any second. I can only drive one vehicle. After half an hour the B's are still sorting out their situation and I think this is incredible. At 45 minutes my friend Marcio brings me a sandwich, saying it's still going to be awhile. Finally at well over an hour the police car comes and we all jet off. I attribute this to the grace of God. We go to Revere, drop off some people, have the typical conference in a language that I really don't understand. Marcio & I finally go to the truck to return it. No, they still need me to drive a van. No problem. We go back through the tunnels, on the Pike to Watertown and drop off the vans. M & I are almost back to the Pike. Oops, we have body damage on one van. Back to the rental place, another conference- they do say that immersion is the best way to learn a language- then back to the Pike- a fascinating discussion of prophetic ministry with Marcio- and finally drop off the truck in Framingham. Then Janaina joins the discussion as we go back to Natick. I pick up my car to go back home. I'm off the ride but still dizzy.