My Brazilian Adventure, So Far

[Sherri]

Well, I have set out on my long anticipated Brazilian adventure to the city where the Alvears live. It's been pretty interesting so far, and I'm not even out of the country yet!!!

My flight out of Memphis was supposed to be at 4:25 pm yesterday. I drove to the airport and got there by 2:30. My flight finally left at about 8:45 last night for Atlanta! Since my flight from Atlanta to Brasilia was leaving at 9:14 pm, I obviously did not make the connection. So......right now I'm stuck in Atlanta, since there is only one flight a day from Atlanta to Brasilia on Delta, which is where my free ticket was from.

At one point in Memphis, they told me that the earliest they could get me to Brazil was Friday!! FRIDAY!!!!! I almost passed out when she said that, but finally through a miracle they got me a seat tonight after telling me it was sold out. So I'm one day later getting to Brazil than I intended.
So instead of a long 27 hour layover in Brasilia, I will have 3 hours there and then catch my flight on TAM (also FREE!!) from there to Maceio tomorrow, hopefully. The problem is that I have no other clothes or toiletries, so by the time I see the Alvears they may not recognize me!

I met a gal from Southern Illinois in Memphis and she happened to be next to me on the flight, where we had both gotten upgraded to First Class (the only thing that went right yesterday). We talked off and on in Memphis and then the entire flight to Atlanta. By the time we arrived, she was my new BFF. Ha! When we went to try to get our luggage (which never came), she got a phone call that her dad had died while we were flying. Of course she fell apart, so I couldn't leave her. There wasn't much I could do except hug her, carry some of her stuff, and pray for her. She had to call Delta and immediately try to rebook a flight back to where she had just come from, all the while grieving and crying and calling relatives. It was very sad, but I feel like the Lord had me there for just that encounter.

Anyway, after we finally split about 1 AM, I went to wait for my shuttle to take me to the hotel that Delta had given me a free voucher for. They never came, so I called them and they told me that sorry, but they were full. It didn't matter if I had a voucher or not! I sort of panicked at this point; I was so tired. I hopped on the first shuttle I saw and thought I would just ride to the Sheraton and beg for a room. Alas, they were full and so was the Westin. I finally called the Hyatt Place number and even though they were technically "sold out", they somehow gave me a room. I will never understand these systems.

So I went back to the airport, got on the Hyatt shuttle and finally got here around 2:30 AM. I fell into my bed, only to be woke up a few hours later when the fire alarm started going off. I was so disoriented, I was trying to shut off the alarm clock, when I realized it was something much bigger and louder screaming at me. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it woke me up for sure!!

Now I am back in my same clothes from yesterday, no toiletries other than what Delta gave me in a little pack, and definitely NO MAKE UP! I am going to take a taxi to the mall and see if I can pick up a few things, like maybe a skirt! I didn't plan to show up at the Alvears in a pair of pants. Oh well......I'm sure she would forgive me. Maybe the no make up is a trade off for the pants. Ha!

I am just praying that my luggage makes it to Brasilia on the flight that I'm on. And I'm praying that my flight actually gets out of here on time, since I have to make that Tam connection in the morning.

God must be having big plans for this trip, is all I can say. It takes a lot to get to me, but last night I was almost ready to throw in the towel and take a bus home. I can't wait to see what He is going to do in Brazil. I just want to go encourage the Alvears and to love on their people. It's what I do best.