I'm one of those people who love airplanes and flights! Every time my family and I would travel to any destination, I would push for us to fly there if possible. So as you could imagine, I was uber delighted about this flight to Brazil. I thought "A couple of hours on a plane, no biggie!" Boy was I wrong! The flight delay in Nashville caused us to be late for our flight in Atlanta. I felt like Forrest Gump while running through the terminal trying to find our gate. I'm so glad that my father convinced me to dress comfortable rather than cute for my flight! My running shoes definitely came in handy that day! We finally arrived at the gate with minutes to spare. I was very hungry so I was grateful for the food and movies on the flight from Atlanta to Brasil. Boy, was that a looooong flight!
While arriving at the terminal in Brasil, I was amazed by the "mini mall" that I passed while going through customs. I also noticed that most of the women were beautiful and dressed well. When I attempted to order food at McDonald's, I was fully aware that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. I tried to use my broken Portuguese to order a meal but it was frustrating so I walked away upset. I walked back to the counter because I wanted to try to communicate and I was hungry. The young girl behind the counter was very patient and kind and she quickly found a menu to help me. This has been a recurring theme in my trip so far. Most of the people here are warm, welcoming and willing to help try to understand you. They see that I'm making an effort to speak Portuguese and I appreciate their willingness to be patient with me. From my neighbors and my mentors, to the people on the city bus, I have been overfilled with amazement of their generosity.
It hasn't been an easy transition so far, I definitely experienced culture shock here but the people here have made the transition a little bit easier.
I can't wait to learn more Portuguese and to move full steam ahead on my research! Tchau!
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