Madeline and my 11 week journey started in San Diego on Wednesday, June 9th. My backpack, which I remember being MUCH bigger than it actually is, was half the size of Madeline's, yet the combined weight of all my belongings closly matched hers (Mads backpack - 38lbs + handbag - 7lbs = 45lbs / my ''mini backpack'' (as Mads has deemed it) - 26lbs + carryon backpack - 15lbs = 41lbs).
The flight to Brazil was quite hellish. Rather than bore all you with the details I will give the top three reasons: 1) there was a group of about 40 Southern Christian missionaries that thought it acceptable to yell accross the aisles/rows at one another during the entire flight; 2) they did not give us pillows.... 
Really what inteternational flight does not give pillows!?! 3) the lady in front of us would turn around and complain any time we accidently touched her seat. It got to be quite comical how lightly we could tap it and she would still turn and yell at us. After sleeping a combines total of about 3 hrs in the 15hr trip we landed in Fortaleza, Brazil. Unfortunately that was not our last stop, we still had a 4hr wait until our flight to our final 
destination, São Luís. We were so exhausted, I honestly did not know how we were going to make it. Then, as if it was a mirage in the desert, I laid my eyes on the most magical sight..... La-Z-Boy recliners!!! We took the most amazing naps and woke just as we were about to board.The first few days of our trip were spent visiting Madeline's friend Manuella in São Luís. a small beach town in Northeast Brazil. It was an interesting introduction to the country as it is not
typically what you invision when you think of ''typical Brazil'', but it has been great having a local 
take us around to the best beaches, restaurants, nightclubs, etc... At the beach one day I actually ate crab! I know you're shocked. Madeline claims she is going to break me of my non-seafood diet if it kills her. If she lives and is successful you can all thank her later.The hardest thing about being in such a small town is very few people speak English even most of Manuella's friends spoke only Portuguese so I had to rely on Madeline/Manuella and the few key phrases I learned to get around. After a few days I find that I am able to understand a decent amount thanks to Spanish but I am still far from speaking. This is what I can say from memory thus far (day 5):
obrigada- thank you
não falo portugu ês- I don't speak Portuguese
com licença- excuse me
beijo- kiss
duas cervejas/chopp- 2 beers/draft beer
cadê o banheiro- where is the bathroom
estou com fome/ sede- I am hungry /thirsty
sim- yes / não- no
tchau (pronounced ciao) - goodbye
oi (pronounced oy) - hello
bom dia- good morning
No comments:
Post a Comment