{August 11}

The Brasilian Saga #4

Austin, Janie, Audrey, Stephanie, me, Cameron, Valerie, Mike, Marilyn, Cordell

 

It was a crazy day. Of the 10 of us part of the "YAC team," two were taken to the airport in the morning and would make it to the US ahead of everyone else. It was a mad scramble to get all the luggage out front, make sure they were under the weight limit, and then fit at least 9 large suitcases (I went down with three and came home with 2; most everyone else went down with 2 and came back with 1) as well as 8 carry-ons and whatever miscellaneous stuff we had.

 

I don't remember how many cars were actually in our entourage, but I and two other girls took a taxi. :)

 

We arrived, checked in, grabbed some lunch. This was at least my fourth time in the Maceio airport already that summer and had tried a variety of lunch and snack items. The only way to go out, though, was a pacequita shake--a popular peanut butter candy blended into a shake.

 

The other seven boarded; I would catch a flight a few hours later and meet them in Rio. I remember boarding my flight on the tarmac and being concerned that I would accidently board the wrong plane. Boarding on the tarmac was fun when Audrie and I did it back in June…but the world looks a lot different when you're by yourself. :)

 

I landed in Rio after a short flight, and found the rest of the team. I think by the time I got there, it was only a four-hour layover, but lines take a while, so it wasn't much downtime at all. We boarded the overnight flight and I held my breath. I'd bought my ticket with Audrie, and then the team found my flight when they bought theirs. I had went on to change my seat to match theirs, but didn't know if it had been accepted--until that moment when I sat in my window seat and one by one the team filed in down the row.

 

I picked a movie, or maybe two, before taking Benedryl and enjoying some good (plane-ride) sleep.

 

I remember waking up in Houston, seeing the sunrise and remembering nearly three months earlier when Audrie and I were boarding a plane in Houston at sunset, and thinking about the full circle of this Brazil journey.

 

Houston was a blur of grogginess. It feels like you ride the train for forever--how can the airport possibly be that big?! Then the long wait for the luggage, the whole time we were questioning whether we had to pick them up or not. We were pretty sure we would have to walk them through customs ourselves, but the longer we waited, the more we doubted. Then, finally, the first bag. The rest slowly staggered up the ramp. Another long line through customs, then on the plane to Kansas City.

 

last Sunday in Maceio with the youth group

Kansas City welcomed us at 10 or 11, all our luggage was accounted for, and my Brazilian summer was finished.

 

 

Fortaleza Ocean

Six months ago, and Brazil was winding down. I have a lot of favorite times and memories over those ten weeks, but July 18 (six months ago) is one of the over-all days I count as one of my favorites.

It started early, and I handed Lily a pencil and a piece of paper and she was quiet enough that I got a decent start on my devotions. Eventually the rest of the family woke up, and eventually we began our drive out to the beach. It really wasn’t far away, but I felt like any driving in Brazil added a lot of time to any trip. We stopped to get sub sandwiches—we were planning on buying a snack from the beach vendors, but didn’t want to buy a whole lunch.

Julie and I were chatting away as we round a corner, and there it was. Palm trees lined up on a sandy beach, with the promise of water and sky meeting on the horizon just beyond the trees. 

Suddenly I knew why Pastor Roger had apologized every time we went to the beach in Maceió—it had always been cloudy or even rainy. The ocean does have a certain beauty even under cloudy skies; but now I understood the apologies, for even the beauty of the gray and green ocean can’t hold up to the beauty of the blue and green ocean (remember Sarah, Plain and Tall’s love for the colors of the sea, blue and gray and green?). I was mesmerized.

The sun reflected off the sand, and the tide gently lapped the shore and glittered in the sunlight like a million diamonds gathered up and strung together. 

I gathered a handful of shells and gem-colored rocks, ran to my bag and then went back for more. I remembered to scoop up a cupful of sand to bring home.

 

We ate our sandwiches. We ate the vendor’s fries with toothpicks. We bought ice cream bars and ate them quickly before they melted. I made a sand castle with Lily.

Lily and Levi fell asleep on the short ride home. I hung my laundry to dry quickly in the hot sun, and we ate tapioca with cheese and linguesa (sausage) then Julie and I headed off to shop at the nighttime market by the beach.

Just getting there was an adventure, driving in downtown Fortaleza in a stick-shift and trying to find a parking spot. We finally found one just across the street. I don’t normally label shopping as a favorite hobby, although there are certain times of the year I particularly enjoy it. The Volta has a reputation, however, and it was easy to see why. We walked for hours and only saw a portion of the booths set up. I was looking for a few specific things, such as the sand bottles labeled Fortaleza I was planning to bring home as thank you’s to those who had given me money for the trip. And I also found my turtle box that I immediately fell in love with, the one that almost caused trouble on my flight out of Fortaleza a week later.

When we made it home and into bed late that night, it was with a contented heart. It had been the perfect pre-birthday day.

first video I've posted, so I apologize if it doesn't work,
and because I think it's sideways...