Hello Brazil! Arriving and Getting Settled
by Carmen
So much has happened since the last post on our travels. To be honest, there have been several bumps in the road that have kept me from blogging – including technology snafus, illnesses and lice! However, things have settled out a bit a the moment and I'm finding some time to write.
We left the U.S. on July 7, flying from La Guardia to Sao Paolo. This was by far the most economic fare that I found. Interestingly, flying from Austin to the east coast and then to Brazil was cheaper than flying from Texas to Brazil. What was really crazy was finding a well priced flight that originated in New York, stopped in Houston and then went on to Sao Paolo and being told that if we only flew the Houston – Sao Paolo leg of the flight the price was much higher! Anyway, this worked in our favor since we had many family members and friends on the east coast to catch up with. I highly recommend FareCompare as a great site on which to do your price research.
Our flight was delayed out of La Guardia, causing us to miss our scheduled flight to Sao Paolo. We were put onto the subsequent flight which was then delayed another 6 hours. However, we made the most of our airport time, watching the Michael Jackson memorial service in La Guardia, and setting up camp for sleeping on the airport floor in Miami. Finally, we had a bit of good news as we got on the plane to learn we had been given bulkhead seats.
It is always exciting to board an international flight and immediately feel that you've left your home country as you hear people speaking in the language of your new destination. After 7 hours of trying intermittently to sleep and watching our own personal televisions, I knew I was away from the U.S. when the flight attendant offered Mia (our 8 year old) cafe com leite (coffee with milk).
We proceeded through customs without incident and easily found the airport taxis. Sao Paolo airport taxi service is very impressive and well organized. You request your taxi at a large kiosk outside the airport. They take your destination, give you a receipt for the amount it will cost and summon the appropriate sized vehicle for you. What a relief not to have to wave one down and hope we wouldn't be overcharged.
The taxi ride itself was an adventure. Sao Paolo is an enormous metropolis – one of the world's largest cities. You immediately feel that you are in a sea of never-ending tall white buildings and sky scrapers. The traffic is heavy and the drivers are agressive. The ride to our friend's home took almost 2 hours due to the traffic jams but any pains we were feeling soon disappeared when we were greeted by our friends in their home.
The mother of the home is an attorney. Her office is the first room of the house. The home was a continuous stream of activity from the other attornies, the secretary, the housekeeper and two more house guests who were also visiting. Lunch was served by the housekeeper in two shifts – first for the law firm, second for the family and guests. How different than most American homes!
Although our stay in Sao Paolo was short we were able to stroll down Avenida Paulista (said to be the most affluent street in South America), see a local park, and have an enormous sushi lunch in Sao Paolo's Japanese neighborhood (for more photos of or Sao Paolo visit please go to our Flickr page). We also came to the stark realization that we really had arrived in mid winter when the sun set around 5:30 pm. I can't tell you how grateful I was, though, to be comfortable in my long pants and sweater, knowing that I was missing everyday temperatures in the 100s back in Texas!
After two days we hesitantly boarded our plane wishing we had more time with friends in Sao Paolo but knowing that our final goal lay ahead on the island of Florianopolis.
