Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Day 1

OK,

So I have actually been on a REAL vacation for a few hours but a lot has happened. Our flight was a bit delayed right at OHare and we left about an hour after we were originally supposed to. The flight itself was a bit hard on me since I can't sleep sitting up. Ilyusha and I had one seat between us that was empty and so I tried to contort myself into all (and I mean all) types of positions to fit. They had to check everyone’s seat belts every time the seat belt sign was turned on (and that was very often because our flight was very bumpy) and the sleep did not come easily. All in all, I would say that I got about an hour. They also kind of starved us. I didn't have their dinner (I bought a much healthier alternative in O’Hare, but their breakfast was all carby and tiny. Thanks for the beef jerky :-).

We finally got to Sao Paulo and were put on the next flight. We didn't really have to wait so it was pretty nice. I sat with a Lebanese guy who was from South Africa. He was pretty interesting to talk to. He speaks no Lebanese but knows the alphabet. The flight from Sao Paulo to Rio was about 35 minutes, but bad things awaited us when we arrived. Olya's bag did not make it. Thankfully Olya and Sereja packed both suitcases with both of their stuff so that they both still have clothing and everything they need. The bag is supposed to arrive tonight from Sao Paulo. Our guide waited for us since 11 am (we got there around 1:45) and I caught him right before he gave up on us and left (don't ask me why he just couldn't look up the flight online).

Our hotel is very nice and we just had sandwiches for lunch. Also we now know why you said that I couldn't get money out. It is a very complicated process that took us 2 banks and 20 minutes between us to figure out. If you look on the back of your ATM card you will either see Cirrus, Star, or Plus. On the cash station your options are:

American express

24 hour banking

Cirrus/maestro/master card

Visa/plus.

Since on the back of Bank One's ATM it says Plus, I had to choose the Visa/Plus and not the 24 hour banking option. Yeah, I know pretty counter intuitive. Olya is actually the one who figured that one out, so much for analytical programming skills. Well, that's about all for now. We are going to a cafe to get me some coffee since I am a zombie by now.

I love you guys, and will write again soon