Friday, I went shopping on Rua dos Caetés, getting socks, shorts, and a laundry bag. Lara and I then started our search for a table for my room, which we got for R$100, about $45. Now my room at least has a table to go along with the bed. The armoire is quite spacious, so I'm not wanting for space to put things; a big room needs furniture though; you'll see in pictures eventually.
This table fits in a corner and has a rounded perimeter (think a quarter of a circle); it was quite a good deal, seeing as all the furniture here, even in the used furnitures shops, is quite expensive. I really don't know how people furnish their houses - it just further reinforces the fact that the class disparity here is quite large. Everyone lives in their own little world, behind gates, and I haven't seen more than one instance of people outside, conversing with neighbors. There's no such thing as a streetfront stoop for someone to sit on, since literally every residence is behind gates.
Perhaps in the favela, there are, but that's the favela. It's a different culture here.
Friday night, I went to Andaluz, a gay bar in Santo Antonio, Rua Congonhas, 487, with a friend of Natália and his friends. Gay guys here are the same as they are in the US; they dress in fitted clothes, move the same way, though I've learned that the American lisp which we associate with gay guys isn't an indicator here in Brazil. I only had a 1/4 glass of caipirinha, and a bottle of water. One of the guy's friends was trying to teach me how to dance, thinking I couldn't move my hips. That may have been true...still, it just takes me a while to loosen up. I didn't pick anyone up that night, but Natália's friend did. Still, I met several cool guys, and got a taste of the gay scene here, which I hear is quite ample.
Here's the bar's website: http://www.andaluzbarcasa.com.br/site/
Saturday, Lara and I went to her parent's house, where I had a long conversation with her mom about the social disparity here, and how to haggle at a street fair, as well as how to dress so that I don't get victimized by a criminal: simply, and stay close to the soldiers of the Policia Militar.
She affirms that so many people here can't find jobs, even with a college degree. This problem has been lamented time and again in the Brazilian press, and the government could probably do a better job of helping. Everyone pays absurd taxes, and the politicians steal a good chunk of the money, so nothing ever really gets done by the government. Sure there are almost 200 million people here, but with taxes as high as I hear they are, the pols could certainly do more.
Lara's father, who came from Japan in 1967, looking for work, I believe, is an agronomist by career, but also a violinist. He learned some Hebrew too, from a Brazilian Jewish friend, so he was showing me his textbook which he mostly used 10 years ago, and playing some Jewish song CDs. His English isn't too bad, either. His Portuguese has a hint of a Japanese accent, as can be expected. It's like a regular U.N. in that house.
Today I've been in all day, my stomach's been acting up a little. Maybe it's the water, though I've been drinking from the filter; apparently, in the whole of Brazil, tap water's not safe to drink, according to Lara's mom. With all the different foods I'm eating, I'm sure I've been exposed to different bacteria and microorganisms here.
Tuesday, I meet Sandra, my university liaison in the exchange program, and Wednesday, programming for the Semana do Aluno Estrangeiro (Foreign Student Week) starts. At that point, I pick my classes. Apparently, some classes may very well begin tomorrow (Monday), but I can't really do anything about it; I'll have to wait until registration is opened up to us during this programming to choose. I hope the classes I want, or similar ones, are happening this semester, and open. (I'm looking to take stuff around politics and economics of Brazil, basically an academification of my observations of the socioeconomic situation here.)
25 February 2007
22 February 2007
Compras (Shopping)
No sentido ao trabalho, a Lara me levou até o Savassi, onde tem muita gente mais bonita, como ela falou, e lojas e informações turísticas pra mim. Ela tinha verdade - o Shopping 5ª Avenida é bem legal, com lojas de roupa, eletrônicas, livros e comida. Ao entrar, de repente fui para uma loja com camisas belohorizontinas, e tagarelava muito com a Marly Moreira, vendedora nela. Tem muita camisa com letra em inglês, mas é inglês errado! «Exploring the Nature» Talvez eu devesse comprá-la. Comi no All Face, um self-service por R$11,23 - salada, arroz e feijão, peixe frito, e mais. Fui a uma papeleria que tinha maioritariamente coisas femininas, mas falava com as moças trabalhando nela sobre o aprendizagem das linguas, e como a lingua mais estudada na secundária mudou do inglês para o espanhol faz uns 20 anos.Depois disso, fui à livraria Leitura, e comprei mapas do BH, e do MG, e também cadernos, canetas, canetas de marca-texto, e um livrinho das rotas dos ônibus, descritas pelas esquinas nos quais viram. Fui à Praça da Liberdade, onde tem a rota 5102, o qual eu posso pegar pra ir prà UFMG. Também experimentei o Museu Mineiro, um pouco chato porque eu não gosto tanto do arte do período barroco, mas deu pra praticar meu português com as legendas, e o homen de vigia que sabia algumas coisas acerca das coleções.
Voltei na direção do apartamento, parando pra comprar comida, Cotonete, e razores de barbear, num Carrefour na Avda. Albuquerque, e voltei pra casa, ainda se levou muito tempo por causa das porradas dos morros e os pesos nas mãos.
Fico muito feliz com este dia bem produtivo!
(Foto: Palácio da Liberdade)On her way to work, Lara dropped me off in Savassi, the neighborhood of beautiful people, as she said, and also stores and tourist info for me. She was right - Fifth Avenue Shopping is quite cool, with clothing stores, electronics, books, and food. On entering, I immediately gravitated to a store with Belo Horizonte shirts, and I chatted for a while with Marly Moreira, the saleswoman there. There were a lot of shirts with English on them, but bad English! «Exploring the Anture» Maybe I should've bought it. I ate at All Face, a buffet for 11.23 reais, about $5 - salad, rice and beans, fried fish, and more.
I went to a stationery store that had mostly girly things, but I spoke with the girls who worked there, about language classes in high school, and how Spanish has become the most commonly studied language, instead of English, in the last 20 years.
After all that, I went to the Leitura bookstore and got maps of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, notebooks, pens, and highlights for school, and a booklet of the bus routes, described by where they make turns. I saw the stop for the 5102 in the Praça da Liberdade, the bus I'll be getting to go to UFMG. I also checked out the Mineiro Museum, a little dull since I don't really like Baroque-era things, but I was able to practice my portuguese with the captions, and the security guy who knew a bit about the collections. I went back to the apartment, first stopping to buy food, Q-tips, and shaving razors in a Carrefour on Albuquerque Avenue. I got back home, but it took a while because of the fucking hills and all the weight in my hands.
I'm quite happy having had such a productive day!
20 February 2007
Achei gente bacana hoje... (I met cool people today...)
Da manhã, a gente foi para o sitio da Ana, uma amiga da Lara. Ela tem um balneario na Lagoa Santa, a uma hora do Belo - vai pra lá os finais de semana. Lá tem piscina, e trouxe a minha sunga. Encontrei a Ana e seu namorado Fideles, Luciana e seu namorado Iván, Cibele (profissora de inglês), Fernanda (propagandista, que passei um semestre da secundária no Oklahoma), e o Michel, que acabou a relação com a sua mulher a sexta passada. Michel é bem interessante; foi para os Estados Unidos, na Califórnia, e morava lá acho um ano. Passou algum tempo como entregador de pizza, e gostaria de voltar pra estudar o cinema quando tiver o dinheiro suficiente.A gente nadou, comeu, e bebeu. Eu só bebi um meio copo de caipirinha; fiquei muito tempo bebendo a Guaraná pra não ficar bêbado. Ficamos lá desde as 2 até as 10 da noite.
Assisti o baile Gay no Carnaval carioca com Lara - é cheio de transvestis (homens com peitos de silicone) - não sei se deveria ser ofendido ou entretido.
This morning, we went to Ana's place, a friend of Lara. She has a weekend house in Lagoa Santa, one hour from Belo. There's a pool there, and I brought my bathing suit. I met Ana and her boyfriend Fideles, Luciana and her boyfriend Iván, Cibele (an English teacher), Fernanda (publicist, who spent a semester in Oklahoma), and Michel, who just broke up with his girlfriend on Friday. He's pretty interesting; he went to California, and spent a year or so there. He was a pizza delivery boy for a while, and he'd like to come back and study film when he has the money.We swam, ate, and drank. I only drank a half cup of caipirinha, drinking Guaraná (a carbonated fruit drink, kind of like starfruit) so as to not get drunk. We were there from 2 to 10 at night.
I watched some of the Gay festivities in the Rio de Janeiro Carnaval on TV, with Lara. It's full of transvestites, which mainly means guys with tits. I'm not sure whether to be offended or amused.
19 February 2007
Gay bars!
This morning, we drove through Macacos, a small town that has, well, macacos (monkeys), and ate at a restaurant. We had some typical mineira food (of this state, Minas Gerais) - frango ora-pro-nobis (chicken with a vegetable like collard greens), angu (a cornmeal pudding, kind of like flan but salty instead of sweet), feijão comum (regular beans). It was delicious, and then we went to Nova Lima, a city of 70,000, where we passed through an intersection where people had two cars blasting rap (Brazilian rap), surrounded by people bumpin' and shakin', and then on to a field with a band singing music that was a bit lighter. 
It was a concert, full of people, beverage vendors, and people picking up the used cans to sell, for 1 real per kilo - Lara tells me that the maid who comes twice a month to her house, used to do that, pick up cans, but quit it because it wasn't worth the effort for such little money. Looking around, I saw people of every shade of beautiful, beautiful brown. At the same time, I felt like everyone was looking at me, but Gil told me not to worry, because they're more likely looking at the three of us, since we were among the whitest people there.
Back in Belo Horizonte, we went to Establecimento, a restaurant/bar with a gay owner, and for that reason, the place has a nightclub below that while not exclusively gay, has a large gay following. The people there were totally different than the people in the concert in Nova Lima - artistic, chic, young and apparently educated, and at least a handful of gay guys (viados, bichas, bibas...a flaming guy can be uma bicha barulhenta or uma bicha de poque-poque, as poque-poque is the sound flip-flops make when you walk). They had caipirinhas and beer, and I just had a lemonade, before we ordered pastries of beef and chicken (pastéis). Lara introduced me to a friend of hers who was helping out the owner in the kitchen, Darlan. Lindo, lindo, lindo...I thought he was cute, maybe not soooo lindo, but cute. We didn't really talk too much, since he and Lara were talking most of the time the 3 of us were together, and I was a bit timid with my Portuguese. I'd like to see him again.
It was today that we had a conversation about how open-minded Lara and Gil are, and that Lara would gladly take me to a gay bar, since she used to go a lot before getting involved with Gil (4 years ago). Gil's not entirely averse to going to one with us, though. I really felt much more comfortable tonight, and Gil said to me, «you probably didn't know what to think about Brazil, about the attitudes here» «exactly!» . So they really made me feel like I can be myself.
In the house, Lara, Gil, and myself sat at the dining room table talking about English and Portuguese. Mostly, the words «anyway» and «by the way». We're dorks.
Tomorrow, we're going to Ana's house, a friend of Lara, and friends of their's, whom she tells me are very cool. (Ana used to go to gay bars too before her boyfriend.) I don't expect any strapping young available men to be there, but it'd be nice. :)
It was today that we had a conversation about how open-minded Lara and Gil are, and that Lara would gladly take me to a gay bar, since she used to go a lot before getting involved with Gil (4 years ago). Gil's not entirely averse to going to one with us, though. I really felt much more comfortable tonight, and Gil said to me, «you probably didn't know what to think about Brazil, about the attitudes here» «exactly!» . So they really made me feel like I can be myself.
In the house, Lara, Gil, and myself sat at the dining room table talking about English and Portuguese. Mostly, the words «anyway» and «by the way». We're dorks.
Tomorrow, we're going to Ana's house, a friend of Lara, and friends of their's, whom she tells me are very cool. (Ana used to go to gay bars too before her boyfriend.) I don't expect any strapping young available men to be there, but it'd be nice. :)
Yes, everyone *is* beautiful here
I think that says it all. I got to Belo Horizonte without a hitch. The flight from NYC to São Paulo was delayed about 2 hours, but I passed through customs in São Paulo - Guarulhos quite easily. I started speaking in Portuguese with the customs guy, and he was impressed, saying that my Portuguese is better than his English (the language we had started in initially). He stamped my passport, and I passed through. Then you remember my lost bag? I went to the baggage people, they told me where the Setor de Bagagen Perdida (Lost Baggage Area, though I never actually saw that name anywhere) was, and once I was in the Delta room (a very small room, full of a few other people and, of course, hundreds of suitcases), I saw my bag immediately. I picked it up, asked where the bus to Congonhas airport was, and went and found it within a few minutes. I was all smiles. :)
In line for the bus, I saw the woman behind me, and I could tell pretty much instantly that she was American. I don't know what gave it away - the red hair, the Google shirt, the frazzled and slightly disheveled behavior with respect to her luggage.
«Are you American?»
And she is, Leslie, as she introduced herself a few moments later.
On the bus, we spoke of revolution, of all things queer...she runs some sort of online workshops on Open Source programs for Google, and a student who found her inspiring, invited her to his graduation from college - in Goiânia, Brazil! She lives near San Francisco, in the heart of Google, and she's a big faghag. We'll stay in touch, definitely.
The flight from Congonhas to Belo Horizonte-Confins was very short - actual flight time was maybe 45 minutes. Deplaning, and getting my luggage, I saw Lara and her boyfriend, Guilherme ("Gil") immediately outside the sliding doors. We got along better and better as I sat in their car on the way to Lara's parent's house, where we had a lunch - pão de queijo (cheese bread), cheese, dumpling-type things maybe filled with fish?, cheese, little curvy fruit-flavored pastries, coffee, mango juice....it was quite satisfying.
After that, we returned to her apartment, but not without first passing through downtown Belo Horizonte, so I could see many of the popular praças, statues, and the things that make this city historic, even though it was only created in 1892.
I chose the bigger of the two rooms, the other saved for anyone else should they need to lodge here - if I find another exchange student who needs to place to stay, I can invite them to stay here. She's charging 400 reais a month, with is about $190. You can see the view that I have from my window - tall condos, favelas on distant hills, other hills and mountains all around, and even a rainbow in the picture that I took yesterday - so it's an incredible steal. I don't really have any furniture aside from my bed though, and a ginormous closet too, whose shelves I'm using as my nighttable.
I'm going to be using her mother's old cell phone while I'm here, which is still around (i.e. cost-effective), because it may not even have any minutes on it; it's pre-paid, so I have to buy a card to be able to make any calls. The phone itself is probably about 5 years old, can receive but not send text messages, and is quite hefty. I might buy a new one, so I have something smaller and more discreet to put in my pockets, but smaller could mean more appealing to thieves. I think I'm too paranoid though, from everything everyone's told me. Lara and Gil afirmed that one just has to be smart - if I'm okay in New York, then I should be okay here. Dress simply, don't carry too much money, etc. (Things a lot of people in New York don't do, though NYC is supposedly one of the safest cities in the U.S., at least Manhattan.)
I called Raquel, one of the young women that Sandra, my contact with the university, put me in contact with, around 9pm (we're 3 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time - I think cuz we're now on Daylight Savings Time here, meaning in the American summer, Brazil might only be one hour ahead). She was very glad to hear from me, as we've spoken through e-mail before I came. She did this same exchange program with Wayne State University, in 2005. She's 30 though, in her second Bachelor's Degree. I think now she's doing a Masters in English Literature, and she teaches English and is also a speech therapist. Quite accomplished, this Raquel. We'll try to hang out after Carnaval.
Natália, friend of Raquel's sister, I tried calling but I think the number's not working. She said she's take me out for Carnaval. I emailed her again last night, to no avail.
Around 10:30 last night, we went out, thinking in restaurants or bars - and ended up going to a wonderful restaurant. We all shared feijão tropeiro (beans, with bacon and some other stuff), rice with garlic, different cuts of beef and pork that are basically like sirloin (picanha), and there was farofa (toasted cassava flour, to sprinkle on) and some kind of salsa. And a peach Lipton Iced Tea, of course (though I could have gotten perfectly tipsy if I wanted). I paid R$12, about $5.50 for all this.
We got home 12:45, and I showed Lara pictures of my family, and gave her the majority of my foster care story, how I get money to be able to have my own apartment, and what kind of people we are (she's pretty disorganized, and I seem to like saying I'm organized, even though I'm actually quite messy at the same time). I got to sleep around 4am. Now it's past noon here, and they're inviting me for a walk.
I do want to do something for Carnaval, but I also still feel pretty shitty. I wish I'd gotten here earlier, so that I could've had some time to adjust before taking advantage of Carnaval, but I'll have to force myself. Carnaval. In Brazil. Oh darn. :)
I'm gonna walk with them. Tchau!
In line for the bus, I saw the woman behind me, and I could tell pretty much instantly that she was American. I don't know what gave it away - the red hair, the Google shirt, the frazzled and slightly disheveled behavior with respect to her luggage.
«Are you American?»
And she is, Leslie, as she introduced herself a few moments later.
On the bus, we spoke of revolution, of all things queer...she runs some sort of online workshops on Open Source programs for Google, and a student who found her inspiring, invited her to his graduation from college - in Goiânia, Brazil! She lives near San Francisco, in the heart of Google, and she's a big faghag. We'll stay in touch, definitely.
The flight from Congonhas to Belo Horizonte-Confins was very short - actual flight time was maybe 45 minutes. Deplaning, and getting my luggage, I saw Lara and her boyfriend, Guilherme ("Gil") immediately outside the sliding doors. We got along better and better as I sat in their car on the way to Lara's parent's house, where we had a lunch - pão de queijo (cheese bread), cheese, dumpling-type things maybe filled with fish?, cheese, little curvy fruit-flavored pastries, coffee, mango juice....it was quite satisfying.
After that, we returned to her apartment, but not without first passing through downtown Belo Horizonte, so I could see many of the popular praças, statues, and the things that make this city historic, even though it was only created in 1892.
I chose the bigger of the two rooms, the other saved for anyone else should they need to lodge here - if I find another exchange student who needs to place to stay, I can invite them to stay here. She's charging 400 reais a month, with is about $190. You can see the view that I have from my window - tall condos, favelas on distant hills, other hills and mountains all around, and even a rainbow in the picture that I took yesterday - so it's an incredible steal. I don't really have any furniture aside from my bed though, and a ginormous closet too, whose shelves I'm using as my nighttable.
I'm going to be using her mother's old cell phone while I'm here, which is still around (i.e. cost-effective), because it may not even have any minutes on it; it's pre-paid, so I have to buy a card to be able to make any calls. The phone itself is probably about 5 years old, can receive but not send text messages, and is quite hefty. I might buy a new one, so I have something smaller and more discreet to put in my pockets, but smaller could mean more appealing to thieves. I think I'm too paranoid though, from everything everyone's told me. Lara and Gil afirmed that one just has to be smart - if I'm okay in New York, then I should be okay here. Dress simply, don't carry too much money, etc. (Things a lot of people in New York don't do, though NYC is supposedly one of the safest cities in the U.S., at least Manhattan.)
I called Raquel, one of the young women that Sandra, my contact with the university, put me in contact with, around 9pm (we're 3 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time - I think cuz we're now on Daylight Savings Time here, meaning in the American summer, Brazil might only be one hour ahead). She was very glad to hear from me, as we've spoken through e-mail before I came. She did this same exchange program with Wayne State University, in 2005. She's 30 though, in her second Bachelor's Degree. I think now she's doing a Masters in English Literature, and she teaches English and is also a speech therapist. Quite accomplished, this Raquel. We'll try to hang out after Carnaval.
Natália, friend of Raquel's sister, I tried calling but I think the number's not working. She said she's take me out for Carnaval. I emailed her again last night, to no avail.
Around 10:30 last night, we went out, thinking in restaurants or bars - and ended up going to a wonderful restaurant. We all shared feijão tropeiro (beans, with bacon and some other stuff), rice with garlic, different cuts of beef and pork that are basically like sirloin (picanha), and there was farofa (toasted cassava flour, to sprinkle on) and some kind of salsa. And a peach Lipton Iced Tea, of course (though I could have gotten perfectly tipsy if I wanted). I paid R$12, about $5.50 for all this.
We got home 12:45, and I showed Lara pictures of my family, and gave her the majority of my foster care story, how I get money to be able to have my own apartment, and what kind of people we are (she's pretty disorganized, and I seem to like saying I'm organized, even though I'm actually quite messy at the same time). I got to sleep around 4am. Now it's past noon here, and they're inviting me for a walk.
I do want to do something for Carnaval, but I also still feel pretty shitty. I wish I'd gotten here earlier, so that I could've had some time to adjust before taking advantage of Carnaval, but I'll have to force myself. Carnaval. In Brazil. Oh darn. :)
I'm gonna walk with them. Tchau!
16 February 2007
I've got confirmed flights!
After probably a total of 8 hours on the line with Delta, over several calls, I got a clean, precise itinerary:
CarrierFlight #
Cabin &Class
FlightSegmentStatus
Departs
Arrives
From
Time/Date
To
Time/Date
Delta 121
Coach (Y)
Confirmed
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK)
8:40pm17 Feb 2007
Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU)
9:35am18 Feb 2007
TAM Linhas Aereas 3220
Coach (Y)
Confirmed
Sao Paulo, Brazil (CGH)
2:35pm18 Feb 2007
Belo Horizonte, Brazil (CNF)
3:40pm18 Feb 2007
TAM Linhas Aereas 3223
Business (X)
Confirmed
Belo Horizonte, Brazil (CNF)
4:10pm15 Jul 2007
Sao Paulo, Brazil (CGH)
5:28pm15 Jul 2007
Delta 120
Coach (K)
Confirmed
Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU)
9:30pm15 Jul 2007
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK)
6:25am16 Jul 2007
For the last 12 hours, there was no real communication between Delta and TAM, and I was waitlisted for like 5 flights, but now, once I forced a representative from Delta to speak with a representative from TAM, I got this. Now, I just have to show up at the airport early enough so they can reprint my paper tickets, which shouldn't take more than 15 minutes.
I'll have to take a bus between the two airports in São Paulo, but they say there's an inter-airport bus that leaves every half hour. I'm calling TAM to double-check on that, and also to ask how long it should take to clear customs.
And since I mailed my cell phone to my foster mom, you might wonder how I'm making calls. Last night, I ran out to Target and got a headset w/ microphone, and I got a Skype account. It's quite nice.
Wish me luck that this flight doesn't get delayed or canceled! Gosh.
CarrierFlight #
Cabin &Class
FlightSegmentStatus
Departs
Arrives
From
Time/Date
To
Time/Date
Delta 121
Coach (Y)
Confirmed
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK)
8:40pm17 Feb 2007
Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU)
9:35am18 Feb 2007
TAM Linhas Aereas 3220
Coach (Y)
Confirmed
Sao Paulo, Brazil (CGH)
2:35pm18 Feb 2007
Belo Horizonte, Brazil (CNF)
3:40pm18 Feb 2007
TAM Linhas Aereas 3223
Business (X)
Confirmed
Belo Horizonte, Brazil (CNF)
4:10pm15 Jul 2007
Sao Paulo, Brazil (CGH)
5:28pm15 Jul 2007
Delta 120
Coach (K)
Confirmed
Sao Paulo, Brazil (GRU)
9:30pm15 Jul 2007
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK)
6:25am16 Jul 2007
For the last 12 hours, there was no real communication between Delta and TAM, and I was waitlisted for like 5 flights, but now, once I forced a representative from Delta to speak with a representative from TAM, I got this. Now, I just have to show up at the airport early enough so they can reprint my paper tickets, which shouldn't take more than 15 minutes.
I'll have to take a bus between the two airports in São Paulo, but they say there's an inter-airport bus that leaves every half hour. I'm calling TAM to double-check on that, and also to ask how long it should take to clear customs.
And since I mailed my cell phone to my foster mom, you might wonder how I'm making calls. Last night, I ran out to Target and got a headset w/ microphone, and I got a Skype account. It's quite nice.
Wish me luck that this flight doesn't get delayed or canceled! Gosh.
15 February 2007
A clima é um chato! (This weather sucks!)
You may be expecting me to already be in Brazil, but nope, that'd be too easy!
I was scheduled to leave on a 3:30pm flight yesterday from LaGuardia, but that was cancelled because it's been snowing frogs. So I called them up, (now would they do anything for me if I hadn't called?), and they booked me on an 8:40pm from JFK. In a way, that was better, since the 3:30 flight had me connect in Atlanta and then Rio de Janeiro, whereas with the 8:40 flight, my only layover to Belo Horizonte would've been in São Paulo.
«flashback»
I got to the airport around 5:45, after 4 subway trains and the AirTrain to JFK. The hardest part was walking to the subway with my (luckily) just under 50-pound-bag (once I took a hat out and put it in my backpack.
For those of you who don't know, the Delta terminal at JFK (terminal 3) is from the 1950's, and hence doesn't have quite all the...shall we say...amenities...of modern airports. Such as, a ticket counter that doesn't form a total mess of a line - not enough ribbon partition thingies, and Domestic and International flights are supposedly separated but not really.
I had been in the line for about an hour (and so, about halfway through), when I was hearing the complaints of people around me who had flights in the next 2 hours to Brussels, Italy, Manchester. The one (out of 10) clerks whose marquee above her head read "International Ticketing / Check-in" realized that some people better be taken care of or they'd miss their flight. She called out Brussels, Tampa, and Brazil, among others - so, I was able to go to the front of the line!
Because they rebooked me, and I had paper tickets (courtesy of my foster care agency, so I'm not complaining), I had to have tickets reissued, so it took about 15 minutes for her to do that. I was polite to her. I sailed through the security checkpoint (of course forgetting to take my keys out of my pocket the first time) and entered the land of internationality.
Since I was starving, I got a roast chicken platter from Sbarro (they were out of pizza due to mechanical problems) for only $9.30. It was the healthiest thing in the food court, aside from, of course, Burger King. I sat down at gate 14 around 7:45, listening to the conversations around me, usually either Brazilians, or Americans talking about how they're learning Portuguese, or how they don't know any. I felt torn between two worlds. This 8:40 flight kept being postponed, and eventually boarded around 9:40. I got some caramels from Starbucks - the only candy available at 9:30, as the Relay shops were closed, and those are the only convenience store-type places the Delta terminal has. Closing at 9pm, they seem kind of oxymoronic. See what I mean about amenities?
Onboard, I prepared for takeoff, putting in my nifty earplugs I bought when I came back from my cousin's wedding in Minneapolis in September. They help a little bit with the someone-is-shoving-really-long-needles-into-my-ear-canals feeling. I took them out when it was maybe 10:30 and we were still at the gate. Apparently, the paths to the runway are all really icy, so they need a "tug" to pull the plane there, but the tugs themselves are having trouble getting around; not all of them are strong enough to get over the icy ramp of wherever they live.
They served peanuts and water around 10:30, knowing people waiting for the in-flight dinner were getting hungry. I ate them, correctly assuming that it'd be a while (or, indefinitely) before dinner came. They started the movie, some American movie about a stockbroker who goes to Paris for business, I think. I put it on the Portuguese dub channel, so I'm not entirely sure what the movie was actually about. I spoke with the man behind me, a Portuguese teacher at some college in Schenectady, I think? We talked in mostly Portuguese, about what my Portuguese classes had done in terms of showing movies, how few students there are in these classes, and what I'll be doing in Brazil. His wife and I bemoaned the delays as the night progressed.
At least twice, the pilot told us, "So, in terms of new information, well, I don't really have any information!" They were waiting for a tug, and we were in that plane until 12:30am before they cancelled the flight. They said that another consideration was that regulations (union perhaps) restrict airplane staff's shifts to 16 hours, and once we would get to Brazil if we waited any longer, we would violate that. They said our luggage should be in Baggage Claim D, so most of us went there. A few stayed at the gate where it seemed they were talking with a staff person - I should have stayed there and listened. On the way to the Baggage Claim, many other passengers from our flight stopped some staff at counters who really knew nothing about our flight. That was for our gate's staff to deal with, they said. "But there was noone there! They told us to come to the Baggage Claim!" many cried. At the Baggage Claim, there were no staff people telling us anything about our flight. The line for baggage information was about an hour long - I didn't stand in it, but went to call Delta from the pay phones (the hotline works 24-hours, unlike the customer service people at the airport).
We had been given a breakfast upon leaving. Before I made my calls, I promptly scarfed up the bagel with cream cheese, banana, and orange juice. The granola bar I ate during one of my calls to Delta. The strawberry jam I neglected. :'(
I talked to a woman who spoke with the baggage info people, and then the people themselves, to find out that we won't be seeing our luggage tonight. There's noone on staff to take the luggage on the plane. Which means that it will be staying on the plane when it next goes to São Paulo - that means tonight, Thursday night. Through various phone calls to Delta, we were are able to at the least get on a Saturday night flight to São Paulo. This means I'm sitting at home right now, without my luggage, and I won't see it until Sunday morning. This has never happened to me before - I guess it's sort of adventure...but that doesn't mean I'm happy.
She said I should ask the baggage people in São Paulo about my luggage, and give them a claim sticker (they give you one when you check luggage). Yet, I'm only connecting in São Paulo, so I may not want to take my luggage then. I really have no idea how the hell they'll get it onto the flight to Belo Horizonte. I'll try calling later tonight to make sure I do have a flight to Belo Horizonte.
There's another problem - I can't call with my own phone, since Elayne (my foster mom) said that there's no use having my phone incur monthly charges while I'm away - she'd like to have it in my absence. I dropped it in a mailbox before leaving for the airport. I should never do that again!
So, here I am, in Brooklyn, with only a half of my possessions, just itching to get into the 80° weather. I could still call from pay phones or neighbors' phones to Delta, seeing if anything's opened up. Basically, the weather cancelled a lot of flights yesterday all over the Northeast, and then for the next few days, all the flights in the Northeast are totally full because of the overflow from the cancelled flights. It really makes me thing of The Day After Tomorrow - I just have to get out of this bitterly icy region, and I can get out the country. I thought of taking Amtrak to Baltimore or DC, but they've told me that all flights out of there in the next few days are booked too. I might go outside soon, but I really don't want to.
I'm not especially in a hurry to get to Brazil, but Sandra, my university contact, tells me that a lot of the students who would have helped me settle in and find things to do during Carnaval, will already have left Belo Horizonte by the time I get there, Saturday the 18th. (Carnaval is the 17th-21st) I mostly just hate this limbo.
I would upload the pictures I took at the airport, but my connector cable is in my luggage.
How ironic.
I was scheduled to leave on a 3:30pm flight yesterday from LaGuardia, but that was cancelled because it's been snowing frogs. So I called them up, (now would they do anything for me if I hadn't called?), and they booked me on an 8:40pm from JFK. In a way, that was better, since the 3:30 flight had me connect in Atlanta and then Rio de Janeiro, whereas with the 8:40 flight, my only layover to Belo Horizonte would've been in São Paulo.
«flashback»
I got to the airport around 5:45, after 4 subway trains and the AirTrain to JFK. The hardest part was walking to the subway with my (luckily) just under 50-pound-bag (once I took a hat out and put it in my backpack.
For those of you who don't know, the Delta terminal at JFK (terminal 3) is from the 1950's, and hence doesn't have quite all the...shall we say...amenities...of modern airports. Such as, a ticket counter that doesn't form a total mess of a line - not enough ribbon partition thingies, and Domestic and International flights are supposedly separated but not really.
I had been in the line for about an hour (and so, about halfway through), when I was hearing the complaints of people around me who had flights in the next 2 hours to Brussels, Italy, Manchester. The one (out of 10) clerks whose marquee above her head read "International Ticketing / Check-in" realized that some people better be taken care of or they'd miss their flight. She called out Brussels, Tampa, and Brazil, among others - so, I was able to go to the front of the line!
Because they rebooked me, and I had paper tickets (courtesy of my foster care agency, so I'm not complaining), I had to have tickets reissued, so it took about 15 minutes for her to do that. I was polite to her. I sailed through the security checkpoint (of course forgetting to take my keys out of my pocket the first time) and entered the land of internationality.
Since I was starving, I got a roast chicken platter from Sbarro (they were out of pizza due to mechanical problems) for only $9.30. It was the healthiest thing in the food court, aside from, of course, Burger King. I sat down at gate 14 around 7:45, listening to the conversations around me, usually either Brazilians, or Americans talking about how they're learning Portuguese, or how they don't know any. I felt torn between two worlds. This 8:40 flight kept being postponed, and eventually boarded around 9:40. I got some caramels from Starbucks - the only candy available at 9:30, as the Relay shops were closed, and those are the only convenience store-type places the Delta terminal has. Closing at 9pm, they seem kind of oxymoronic. See what I mean about amenities?
Onboard, I prepared for takeoff, putting in my nifty earplugs I bought when I came back from my cousin's wedding in Minneapolis in September. They help a little bit with the someone-is-shoving-really-long-needles-into-my-ear-canals feeling. I took them out when it was maybe 10:30 and we were still at the gate. Apparently, the paths to the runway are all really icy, so they need a "tug" to pull the plane there, but the tugs themselves are having trouble getting around; not all of them are strong enough to get over the icy ramp of wherever they live.
They served peanuts and water around 10:30, knowing people waiting for the in-flight dinner were getting hungry. I ate them, correctly assuming that it'd be a while (or, indefinitely) before dinner came. They started the movie, some American movie about a stockbroker who goes to Paris for business, I think. I put it on the Portuguese dub channel, so I'm not entirely sure what the movie was actually about. I spoke with the man behind me, a Portuguese teacher at some college in Schenectady, I think? We talked in mostly Portuguese, about what my Portuguese classes had done in terms of showing movies, how few students there are in these classes, and what I'll be doing in Brazil. His wife and I bemoaned the delays as the night progressed.
At least twice, the pilot told us, "So, in terms of new information, well, I don't really have any information!" They were waiting for a tug, and we were in that plane until 12:30am before they cancelled the flight. They said that another consideration was that regulations (union perhaps) restrict airplane staff's shifts to 16 hours, and once we would get to Brazil if we waited any longer, we would violate that. They said our luggage should be in Baggage Claim D, so most of us went there. A few stayed at the gate where it seemed they were talking with a staff person - I should have stayed there and listened. On the way to the Baggage Claim, many other passengers from our flight stopped some staff at counters who really knew nothing about our flight. That was for our gate's staff to deal with, they said. "But there was noone there! They told us to come to the Baggage Claim!" many cried. At the Baggage Claim, there were no staff people telling us anything about our flight. The line for baggage information was about an hour long - I didn't stand in it, but went to call Delta from the pay phones (the hotline works 24-hours, unlike the customer service people at the airport).
We had been given a breakfast upon leaving. Before I made my calls, I promptly scarfed up the bagel with cream cheese, banana, and orange juice. The granola bar I ate during one of my calls to Delta. The strawberry jam I neglected. :'(
I talked to a woman who spoke with the baggage info people, and then the people themselves, to find out that we won't be seeing our luggage tonight. There's noone on staff to take the luggage on the plane. Which means that it will be staying on the plane when it next goes to São Paulo - that means tonight, Thursday night. Through various phone calls to Delta, we were are able to at the least get on a Saturday night flight to São Paulo. This means I'm sitting at home right now, without my luggage, and I won't see it until Sunday morning. This has never happened to me before - I guess it's sort of adventure...but that doesn't mean I'm happy.
She said I should ask the baggage people in São Paulo about my luggage, and give them a claim sticker (they give you one when you check luggage). Yet, I'm only connecting in São Paulo, so I may not want to take my luggage then. I really have no idea how the hell they'll get it onto the flight to Belo Horizonte. I'll try calling later tonight to make sure I do have a flight to Belo Horizonte.
There's another problem - I can't call with my own phone, since Elayne (my foster mom) said that there's no use having my phone incur monthly charges while I'm away - she'd like to have it in my absence. I dropped it in a mailbox before leaving for the airport. I should never do that again!
So, here I am, in Brooklyn, with only a half of my possessions, just itching to get into the 80° weather. I could still call from pay phones or neighbors' phones to Delta, seeing if anything's opened up. Basically, the weather cancelled a lot of flights yesterday all over the Northeast, and then for the next few days, all the flights in the Northeast are totally full because of the overflow from the cancelled flights. It really makes me thing of The Day After Tomorrow - I just have to get out of this bitterly icy region, and I can get out the country. I thought of taking Amtrak to Baltimore or DC, but they've told me that all flights out of there in the next few days are booked too. I might go outside soon, but I really don't want to.
I'm not especially in a hurry to get to Brazil, but Sandra, my university contact, tells me that a lot of the students who would have helped me settle in and find things to do during Carnaval, will already have left Belo Horizonte by the time I get there, Saturday the 18th. (Carnaval is the 17th-21st) I mostly just hate this limbo.
I would upload the pictures I took at the airport, but my connector cable is in my luggage.
How ironic.
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