3 Minutes, 3 Situations, 3 Responses

It is about 24 hours since I officially landed in Brasil. The city that I arrived in was Sao Paulo. I had a connecting flight from there to Rio de Janeiro. Right before the plane began its descent, the airline stewardess stopped by everyone’s seat to give them the necessary immigration forms. That is when line 6 or 7 jumped out at me. The question asked me to list the address to where I was going to be residing during my time there. Well, for those of you that are familiar with some of my previous travel/training episodes, you guessed correctly. I doubled checked to make sure I had my visa, passport, bank card, cash, vitamins etc. However, I oddly enough failed to think about bringing a copy of my address. Typically panic would’ve set in, but I quickly decided that I was too far away from home and the Lord would, as usual, take care of this situation (as He has in so many other tight binds I’ve encountered). So I began seeing myself tucked tight in my new bed and I exited the plane in Sao Paulo.

The original departure gate for the flight changed so I was able to patiently find the new gate and realize that the flight was delayed due to technical difficulties. Only thinking positive thoughts, I went to find something to eat. I figured that my later arrival in Sao Paulo would prevent me from possibly eating when I arrived in Rio. I tried to blend in as much as possible and casually look at the menus at this one place, but when I tried to order my selection the store did not have it or something so a lady who spoke some English was kind enough to help me decipher and communicate a chicken salad sandwich…I really wanted tuna, but I didn’t want to press my luck so I went with frango (chicken). Plus, the line was long and everyone was watching this communication debacle that could’ve gotten worse but was quickly handled. So instead of being frustrated with my novice Portuguese communication skills (because I know there will be more instances of communication disconnects), I just decided to be grateful that I had three, tasty mini chicken salad sandwiches to eat.

When I finally entered Immigration and Customs, everything went smoothly without incident and I was greeted by my coach and two players from the team. They rode me around a very busy and festive Carnaval scene in Rio de Janeiro.

About an hour later, Coach Mathias dropped me off with Pamella, one of the players, at a high rise in Copacabana. This is where I will be staying for the time that I am here. It is a nice apartment and I am living with Pamella (18) and her sister Marciella (17). Their mother lives down the hall with their two brothers (5 and 7 respectively).

My morning started with me waking up to the sounds of an average big city. The sounds of cars being driven on wet street and honking horns. However, I knew that this was not Houston, Los Angeles or Atlanta. It was Rio de Janeiro, and I took a picture of the first sights that I saw just for you.

Then, I realized that I left the digital imaging CD in Atlanta. For a few minutes, I was dejected, but after I located a WiFi signal (thank heavens!), I was able to figure out a way to make it work.
In closing, three minutes managed to teach me two very important lessons thus far.

1. Everything has a way of working itself out.
2. You have everything you need to do what you need to do.

I will make sure to keep both of these in mind when I start training tomorrow. Until next time—
Ate Logo! (see you later)