Journey South

After a very emotional day in Rockville, we left for Dulles Airport at 6pm for our 10pm flight. We were in lines forever and arrived at our gate only about 15 minutes before boarding.  There were moments in our journey- moments you think you’ll never get over, when things seem so intense and then two days later, the perspective on that memory is unbelievably faded.  Maybe they just get fogged over by all of the new memories.  I had moments of intense fear like never before during our flight.  Over the Bahamas we were wobbling back and forth to the point that I was convinced that the plane was going to break in half.  Yikes.  The pilot- who just a few hours earlier spoke softly and calmly about the altitude and weather in Brasil- came on three different times over the course of this turbulent hour and a half to command, “seat belts on” or “sit down and fasten seatbelts now.”  Double yikes.  I am so thankful that my favorite three were all fast asleep. If I had gotten eye contact from Chris I would have lost it and certainly would have been heart broken if the kids had woken up terrified.  My complete exhaustion did nothing to help that bumpy part of the journey.

The kids slept during most of the flight- Teague on me for at least ½ of the time and Fiona with her head leaning on Chris’ leg.  They were excited to have individual screens and didn’t really care about seeing more than the map of the flight course.  The ear buds were a thrill too and then changing the music they heard through them was such fun!  When we started down the runway Teague was groovin’ and when he realized we were moving (while he was surfing through music channels!!) he announced, “I made it move.  Made it move again” He meant the entire plane.  He was asleep within 30 minutes of his safe takeoff and remained so until 7 am.  Yea!

As we landed in Sao Paulo he wasn’t awake more than 3 minutes before singing one of his favorite songs, “King Bidgood’s in the bathtub and he won’t get out…” Fiona joined in.  We had a long layover in Sao Paulo and getting lost on the way to customs only took care of an hour of the 6 ½ we were going to have there.  We looked like a circus parade moving through the airport with 2 full airport carts and a pile of stuff on the back of the stroller.  Luckily our kids earned us a free pass to the front of each line we were to endure.  Families and senor citizens are whisked to the front of any luggage check-in or security line.  It was so helpful and really lovely.  At one point a staff member of the airport escorted us for a 15 minutes walk- first helping us through customs (after we passed about 30 people) and continuing until we found our gate for the domestic flight.  It was a very kind gesture, especially because it involved leaving his coworker to fend for himself at the United baggage claim.  About 15 minutes after thanking (and tipping) him, his coworker approached us with a bag of baby supplies.  It had been left on the plane and he assumed it was ours so he searched the airport for us.  Wow.  We thanked him but told him that it wasn’t ours, that it most likely belonged to a family that was headed to Fortaleza… I have no doubt that he went off in pursuit of them too.  So, for many reasons our first impression of Brasil as a family was great- even the flight attendants on the flight were refreshingly friendly and helpful.

 

After checking our 8 heavy bags onto our domestic flight to Brasilia, we found a place where we could rent a room for a few hours.  It was such a small space that we could barely close the door with all of our carry on bags (8!) on the floor.  It felt so good to stretch out, even if it was on a skinny top bunk.  The kids watched George of the Jungle in Portuguese as well as a bit of Sponge Bob (very tame when you can’t understand it) while I dozed and Chris showered.  Later Fiona and I took a lovely shower- one of the best ever!  I was still a little achy in the arms from the 3 shots I had gotten just 3 days before.  (By the way, DON’T recommend travelling 2 days after having shots- especially typhoid,tetanus, and yellow fever.)  

 

About an hour and a half before our flight to Brasilia, after a quick lunch, we made our way to the domestic gates entrance only to be told to turn back for the proper stickers for our carry on luggage (still 8!).  Back at check in we were told that we had way too much weight to carry on so we checked another 4 bags (for free!) and headed back to Gate 7, the gate # we had been told at both visits to the baggage check in.  We made it to lucky 7 an hour before our flight, told that we would board around 2:15 for the 3:00 flight.  At around 2:45 Chris noticed the plane at Gate 7 pulling away and ran to the flight monitors to find that our flight had been moved to Gate 3.  We ran there to find the flight boarding, the plane already half full.  Phew.  The wait had been long enough, I can’t imagine missing that plane!  Close call, but surely jolted us awake for the last of the trip.  The flight to Brasilia seemed short in comparison, maybe because I landed the lone seat across the aisle from the family.  I read a dear ‘airplane letter’ from a special friend AND started a new book…aaaaaaaah.  I think the 5 minute visit to the bathroom with both kids (yep all 3 of us fit in) almost balanced out Chris’ hour of entertaining them. During the landing the kids were singing “It’s a Hard Knock Life” together, I suppose they could feel the collective sigh aboard and were celebrating in their own way. As we were taxiing to the gate Fiona shouted, “Look, the Brazilian flag!”  Although we had seen many, many in the Sao Paolo airport, this was the first she had seen flying in Brasil.  J  Since the time we took off at Dulles until we landed in Brasilia 19 hours had passed.