a new year - - a new country

oi!

so i'm writing this that must give you a little assurance that i'm alive. this adventure began on the 28th of dec with me arriving at the airport for my flight to miami, only to discover it had been delayed an hour and a half. this didn't bode well for my 50 minute connection in miami. i waited in the line to get up to the desk to find how american airlines was going to get me to sao paulo. the ticket agent handled things without a bit of stress. they put me on a flight to dallas then with an hour lay over i would be on my way to sao paulo. the only thing i missed out on was my kosher meal that i'd ordered for the international flight.

sat in the section of the plane just behind 1st class. i was surrounded by sergio mendes' family, who were all flying down for his new years eve performance with the black eyed peas. didn't get alot of sleep on the flight. actually the first plane i've been on that had a power supply, but the guy next to me dominated the source. not that i had anything to plug into it.

got into the airport around 10:30 in the morning, i think we beat the miami flight. it took about an hour to cleared customs, they had maybe two or three flights that arrived and only two agents for a long time. there were more people at the beginning of the line telling people where to go. collected my bag and found an information counter to grab a map and be pointed to the bus. it was about a 30 minute bus ride into the central part of the city. i had found the street i would be going to at the information counter.

communication here is somewhat of an issue. i can muddle with spanish, but portuguese isn't familiar to me. basically anytime i find an english speaker i have to take full advantage of their knowledge. got to the location where the bus drive had me get out i walked down the same street and noticed the guy i'd just been speaking with had disembarked a bit further down. tried a shortcut through the park. found the complex where i'm staying an boy was it nice. for $25 a day i have a small kitchen a bedroom, bathroom with shower, and a living room with a balcony. there's also cable tv and internet. the story of how this all came about was on the verge of miraculous, i was looking for someplace to stay and hadn't really put much effort in my search until the morning before my departure. i went on craigslist and found one reasonable place, but it had been listed earlier in dec. i gave it a try, sent and email then went to bed. i woke up a few hours later, the tenant had sent me an email 19 minutes before. she left her phone number so i fired up my skype and gave her a call. everything came together perfectly.

so i got here made my way up to the 17th floor and got comfortable. ran out to a market and bought some food. then came back. and poor pathetic me, i've not been out since. the weather hasn't been very cooperative, its been overcast since i arrived intermixed with thunder storms and rain. i've been cleaning house on my computer; responding to some emails, clearing out some of the old stuff. trying to find what my next move will be, currently in search of a car to buy so i can just go at my own pace and off the beaten track. so sorry everyone, i wasn't dancing with brazilian drag queens on new years eve. i was up for all the explosions off in the distance. but manage to get out of the apartment.

but happy new year just the same to all of you!