At breakfast, I gave the team their postcards, and of course we had hugs all around. 5 of us were going to the airport together, with 4 of us on the same flight to Rio.
We got checked in at the airport with no problem, I even got to check my little suitcase, that I was planning to carry on, for free!! Then we had to wait a few hours, because we left early enough for one coach to catch a flight before the rest of us.
The students had planned to meet us at the airport, but time was getting short and they weren't there!! We found out that first the bus was late, then it had a flat tire to change at the school, THEN it broke down on the highway on the way to the airport. I was so nervous that I wouldn't see my students the last time! They ended up shuttling in vans from the school. They got there about 45 minutes before we had to go through security.
They gave me a box full of pictures of the team:
There was a note under the lid. It reads: Hey Em!! We would like to thanks you for all. You are some important to us, thank you for change our lifes, we are sure that now we are diferent people, in this program we don't learn only english, we learn to have patience , to have more love, to know to wait! Thank you for all Emily, you will be in our heart forever! We love you <3 <3.
And cue the tears.
Here are the pictures that they included:
| On the field trip to the nature preserve and in our class room. |
Also, Matheus Lira, the tall one in the photo above, gave me these earrings!
The only problem with this box, is that I had already checked my bags, so I had to carry it with me all the way to Omaha. It fit in my backpack kinda, but made it uncomfortable to wear. Still, they were so sweet that I will always cherish it!
Security was insane...in how simple it was. Put your bag on the x-ray belt, then walk through the metal detector. No getting undressed, no taking out the laptop, nothing. I felt like, "is that all?" I was crying still, and the students were cheering for us the whole way through.
The plane ride from Maceio to Rio was about 3 hours. I sat next to a couple from Rio who were vacationing in Maceio. He spoke English, "More or less" and I spoke Portuguese "More or less" so we got on a bit...they asked me a question that was interesting, "When people are in university, do they also work, or do they only go to school?" I explained that most people have to work to afford school, since it was so expensive in the U.S. I explained internships too. They were nice.
In Rio, we had a few hours to kill, 4 or 5 I think. There was an airline rep. who led us through the airport. She was great. We ate at a chicken place in the airport. I had to be careful because I didn't take money out the whole trip. I only used the stipend we were given for meals. I saved a lot by eating cereal in my room for lunch, or sleeping through it! But when I got to the airport, I had like R$17.00 left-not much for the inflated cost of airport food. After dinner, I had like R$.90, so less than one real (Brazilian dollar) left. I took a coin to give to my brother and gave the rest to Paul, who was staying in Rio for 6 more weeks! We saw Paul off, then headed to our terminal. Elena and Jacob were heading to Houston, then Denver. But I had to go Atlanta-Omaha. Luckily our gates were close, so we hung out in the terminal for a bit.
When I got to my terminal, I sat to wait for a bit. It was so nice to hear unaccented American English! I sat by a woman who was from D.C. and worked in Rio for a week. Let me tell you, a week in Brazil is NOT worth the length of the flight there. I was talking about my ear-water troubles, and she gave me brilliant advice about what she does: take an ear cleaning/rinsing kit with you! DUH. I will do this next time I travel internationally, because it never fails that I get an ear ache when I go.
On the plane from Rio to Atlanta, (about 9 hours of flying), I sat in the middle of the middle seat-so I had a man on either side of me and the aisle next to them. One was a man from Rio going to Dallas for work, he didn't have confidence in his English speak it with me, so I got a last chance to speak Portuguese. On the other side was a gut from Oklahoma City who had been on a mission trip. They both said it would be OK if I slept on their shoulder. I didn't take them up on it.
I watched a few movies and tried, to sleep but didn't really. I didn't expect to, like I said. I had to get up and walk around at one point because my legs felt all tingly which freaked me out! I was OK in the end.
So, I landed in Atlanta and had to go through customs. It was crazy busy! So many lines to stand in, most which I didn't know why. Still, mad props to the Atlanta airport staff, they did a great job! It was so hot in there, I wasn't expecting to be so sweaty inside buildings once I got back too the U.S. My shirt was actually wet to the touch under my backpack-so gross!! And so smelly.
I got through customs with no problem, which was nice. Then we had to check our bags again and go through security-the serious one this time. There was a man behind me from somewhere in Africa-I couldn't glimpse is passport well, I only saw the "African Republic of..." part. Anyway, we were next in line and I noticed he was wearing a belt AND had stuff in his pocket. I gave him a heads up and he was really appreciative.
I had a couple hours there before I left for Omaha at like 9 a.m. I don't remember what I did, hah!
When I finally got to Omaha, Scott and I had a movie-like reunion. I literally RAN to hug him. I couldn't let go of him, which made it hard to pick up my luggage :P After the airport, we went straight to Jimmy's Egg so I could get real American breakfast-pancakes, bacon, and so much FREE WATER! Although I have to admit, the tap water tasted super bad after a month of only bottled water. I got over it after a couple days, though.
Rhodey was so happy to see me of course! I still have 6 more weeks of work with the kids-ending the last week of August.
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