It’s Saturday morning. The sound of the city not quite ready to wake up yet is interesting. There are birds. At least there are birds.
I’m trying so hard to think positive. Attitude determines altitude. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t you are usually right. If I decide to be happy that is really all it is going to take, right?
I made it to Sao Paulo. I got in to the hotel at 11:30 (I landed only 2 hours later than I was supposed. First a flight delay, which I guess I had to expect. No matter where we go, when we fly American there is ALWAYS a delay. This one, at least, was only an hour. It’s been worse. Then when we were nearing Sao Paulo the pilot announced that there were bad storms (heavy winds it turns out) in the area and we were going to have to slow down and circle hoping to be allowed to land. Or be diverted to Rio. Rio…. great.
But we landed in our original destination, it took forever to find the driver I was hunting (because the airport forgot to update the board that we were a bit late) and I got to the hotel… which couldn’t find my reservation. My room has a lovely shower… no bath tub. It has a beautiful marble sink… no plug to hold the water IN the sink. I’m not going to be soaking my hands, let alone my feet, for two solid weeks. You aren’t supposed to drink the tap water and… the hotel doesn’t provide bottled water for less than $10 US. I can’t get the heat to really warm the room up so I sit wrapped in a blanket this morning freezing. And they don’t exchange currency at the hotel… and the exchange house local to the hotel opens after the buses leave to go to the plant and it isn’t open on Saturday or Sunday but there is one that opens at 10 on Saturday a 15 min cab ride away and my City Tour (team building at its best) with three other women who I have never met or even heard of) leaves at MY hotel at 10. We are going shopping. Shopping… I have no local currency and we are going shopping.
Yesterday my breakfast table had no salt OR pepper shakers, but this morning there was salt on the table… so things are improving.
Sometimes I realize why I’m in IT. It’s where the geeks congregate. We are a somewhat anti-social little group and we (for the most part) don’t really do social so much. I would have loved to have gone on the Trekking trip up the side of a mountain a three hour car ride through the country away. But because I didn’t get here in time to hear about the trip until it was very full… I didn’t make it in to that trip.
And I left the battery charger for one camera at home (but it has a chip) and I left the chip for the other camera (but I have the battery charger for that one) at home and so I will end up (thank GOODness) relying on my waterproof. I hope I get some interesting pictures today…. especially since shopping is going to be a bust without local currency…
BUT… my batteries are charged and my memory stick is cleaned off and I even cleaned off my work phone so I have extra picture taking capability. And it is going to be in the 60s so my jacket will get use. AND a girl can hope that the tour guy knows of a place where I can exchange currency.
I’m learning a lot, though, which is what I’m here for. Tomorrow I will spend my day probably writing and working on my notes from yesterday… making them logical and coherent.
And I am DETERMINED to get pictures of local color today. I have got to shake this mood!
A Figment Of Fitness 