Great to be here!

After a short flight to Atlanta and then an 8.5 hour flight to Sao Paolo, we are here! The flight was interesting because it during the day and we saw the Bahamas, Haiti, Santa Domingo and other islands. The flight over Brazil was surprising because for so much of it, it was just green forests, no towns, no mountains, no farms. We did see a very very wide river that had to be the Amazon. Amazing.

Later there were some fires that we suspected were to clear land of the forest. They were small crescents of flames. We saw the lights of Brasilia and the pattern in which the city was designed. Later Tele told us that is the outline of an airplane.

We had our first experience with the warm welcoming Brazilian spirit at customs. The agent asked if it was our first trip to Brazil (it is our second) and asked if we knew any Portuguese (not much at all). He hoped that we would have a good visit with his country. If there was a competition I would expect Brazil to win for having the best hosts!

The airport at Sao Paolo was very busy. When we left the area with our suitcases and went to where everyone was waiting, we could hear cheers (yea!) and sighs (ohhh). They were waiting for friends and big groups and had a kind of cheering section going on. Tele told us that a boyfriend/girlfriend meeting with a big kiss drew a big cheer. Outside there were lots of buses and many cars. There are PanAmerican games in Rio and many groups were flying into Sao Paolo and taking buses to Rio.

Tele drove us to their home in Campinas and we chatted the whole way - about one hour. Maria, Francisco, and baby Clara are in St. Rita.