Arrival in Brazil

Yesterday arrived in Brazil for my fourth visit after twenty-eight hours of travel. Began Wednesday at 11 in the morning with a ride from my home to the bus station. Got there at noon and waited about 45 minutes. Took the bus to Boston arriving at 2 something. Waited for my next bus to the airport, arriving there at 3. Waited half an hour for friends to bring last minute items for a suitcase i was bringing for a different friend. They had a little tool with a hook that weighs the suitcase. It was about 20 pounds heavier than mine. Got my boarding passes ( did that the night before but irrelevant. Still needed new ones.) and went through security. By 4 am waiting for the plane that will not leave until 6, but "they"say get there 2 hours early. Boarded at 6 and met the most cheerful stewardess i have ever encountered. She could not stop smiling. ( Not a bad thing) The actual flight to New York only takes about 40 minutes but we spent about that in the plane on the tarmac so arrived about 7:30. Waited another ninety minutes to board the big bird to Sao Paulo. Even on international flights the seats are too small for my six-three ( 1 meter 90) height. As usual my knees were jammed into the seat in front of me. This flight took about 10 hours. Sat next to a young Brazilian woman with naturally red hair- very rare in Brazil. Arrived in Brazil Thursday morning and went through customs. They X rayed my suitcases and backpack for the first time. Found my Brazilian airline for the final flight to Espirito Santo. Waited again, this time for about 4 hours in which the gate was changed three times. One needs to keep checking. This flight i was in the very first row, with a mother and 3 year old child. We ended up speaking about my grandson and her daughter. Arrived in Vitoria, and by the grace of God, both suitcases arrived, as did my ride, a brother and friend named Alex. The international flight had given me dinner and a light breakfast, but by 3:30 in the afternoon I was hungry. We went to a classic Brazilian buffet restaurant, where you pay by weight. Finally we went to the home of Alex and his family, and i slept for 2 hours, which took the edge off before the meeting at 7:30