Chegamos

We (Esdras, Rodrigo, Jess and I) were a little rushed to get to Sao Jose do Rio Preto last night, but we made it to the bus station about 10 minutes before the bus was supposed to leave. Thankfully it was an hour late, so we bought our tickets and headed out to grab something to eat, knowing we had to be back before 9:30, the new departure time. We got back in time, and it turned out that the bus had already left. Somehow in the time we left, the man who sold us the tickets forgot he´d about us and told the driver to go ahead because there were no more passengers. So the company called the bus to wait, and put us in a taxi so that we could catch up with them. Never a dull moment!

We arrived in Brasilia at 7:30 this morning, after a night of fitful sleep trying to ignore the barulho made by the snorer next to us. The wheel on Jess´suitcase has stopped rolling again, and so she had to carry it through the station. I had to use the non-extendable handle on my suitcase (which forces me to hunch rather awkwardly as I pull it behind me) as I gently pushed our small suitcase (I´m pretty sure one of its wheels is on the way out) in front of me. It was pretty slow going between the two of us, and we had to stop now and then so Jess could rest her arms. There´s no doubt about it. We were a spectacle as we moved. People stared. Shamelessly. The upside, we laughed about later, is that if anyone else tries to take off with our luggage, they´re in for a surprise.

Lu and Marcelo were there to pick us up, except we were waiting where they weren´t and vice versa. So it took us half an hour to meet up. We had breakfast at a bakery and ate the best misto quente (ususally a ham and melted cheese sandwich) I´ve ever had - peito de peru (turkey breast) and queijo minas (a fresh, white cheese). We´re at Lu´s house now, resting and catching up on lost sleep. I´ll keep you posted as things unfold here.