Adventures in Brazil: 24 Hours

Wednesday afternoon Vinci brought me to the airport in Vitoria about 4pm. ( There is a 3 hour time difference between coastal Brazil and Eastern Standard Time. 1:00 EST) We talked for a little while and he had a small coffee. This is usual in Brazil although i am told by many that Brazilian coffee is stronger than in the US. I don't drink coffee so i don't know) Another close friend joined us, and he left. Apparently in Brazil the biggest Christmas celebration is actually New Year's Eve. He was expecting 35 people to his home that night, people in the church who did not have family to be with. The information on the boarding pass said gate 5, so i waited and got in line. By the grace of God the man checking the passes realized that I was in the wrong line, and should be at gate 3. Both planes were going to Sao Paulo but there are 3 different airports serving the biggest city in Brazil. Again by grace the other plane had not departed. The plane was only half full and i had three seats to myself. Upon landing in Sao Paulo I needed to figure out how to get to the next gate. I tried one place, and the attendant told me to go to Terminal 3. I really do not know how someone who does not speak and understand some Portuguese could function by themselves in an airport. The woman who gave me the boarding pass in Vitoria was the first one to use any English with me and i still got into the wrong line. Kept walking and looking until i finally found the American Airlines representative in a far corner. She doubled as a security person and asked the standard questions about whether anyone had given me anything to take with me, in English. I then went to the customs area. This was much quicker than i remember probably due to the large numbers of foreigners coming to the recent World`s Cup soccer championship. A young woman asked for my passport, and entrada, a form one receives upon entering the country, which must be returned in order to leave. She also asked me the number of my flight, which, by grace i understood in Portuguese. Then i purchased a seltzer water and pastry, with the usual rigamarole about exact change, a ongoing hassle that i still do not completely understand. After waiting several hours boarded the plane to New York, which was quite full. I had a window seat in a row of three, which meant that I was basically trapped for nine hours. Have never been able to sleep in something moving like a plane, bus or car, and this was no exception. The person in front of me put their seat back, crunching me in an almost immobile position, and the person behind me was an adolescent male in perpetual motion. Finally in New York before six, which meant that we had to remain on the plane because the US customs workers do not begin until then. After the original purchase of my tickets, the airline had changed the flight time, giving me 45 less minutes to catch the plane to Boston. An airline representative gave me a priority envelope, including boarding pass, which allowed me to circumvent part of the first customs line. This went smoothly. Then i waited for my luggage. The belt stopped and started several times. Finally all the luggage was off the plane but not mine. This discovery took considerable time. I got the attention of an airline rep, who eventually informed me that my suitcase was in Miami. By grace everything of value was in my backpack, which i always keep with me. So I went through the second customs line without difficulty, went from the first floor to the third, and eventually got into a long line waited to go through the TSA security. After awhile i got the attention of another airline rep, with my red priority envelope, and was brought to the head of the line. Hoping that the gate number had not changed I went to gate 8, where the final boarding was taking place. Made this half full flight with maybe 3 minutes to spare. This was a short flight. Took the silver line to South Station, managed to purchase a bus ticket without having to wait hours for the next one. The bus was considerably fuller than usual. On the two hour ride I almost fell asleep. Arriving in Springfield I was met by a brother and his wife. By then it was noon and he wanted to have lunch on the way back. Immediately i had to adjust because in Brazil the midday meal is normally about 2pm. I was surprised at how many people were eating at a McDonalds on Christmas Day. Finally a little after 1pm, after 24 hours of travel I arrived home. Final observations about my time in Brazil will appear in the next post.