It was an hour flight to get from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo. This was the start of my incredibly long wait and journey to get to the next stage of the adventure - in Quito, Ecuador. It was around midnight when I showed up at this airport, and my next flight wasn't until 8:45 the next morning... so, ya I had some time. It started with me taking a walk around the airport - i found where i'd check in later on in the morning, and also found Mcdonalds where I was still able to use the last of the money on my wyd food card, even though the event was in Rio. There were people wandering the airport throughout the night, but it wasn't too busy until later. I had internet at this airport so at least i was amused. When i decided to check in around 4am or so, i walked to the check in to find it absolutely packed! I literally had to wait in a lineup to get into a lineup for checkin. It was mainly due to the fact that their baggage conveyor belts were not working at this time. It was slow, but i gave myself a lot of time, so at least i was amused. When I got to the gate, i ended up talking to a Chilean seminarian. I noticed his world youth day bags and as it turns out, he spoke english. My first connecting flight was to Santiago, Chile. I was so glad when i got on the plane because i could finally sleep a bit. I slept all the way to Santiago, where i woke up, got off the plane and went to find something to eat. I found starbucks (with wifi) and subway to have lunch before my next flight. I was very amused by the peruvian pesos. 1 dollar was about 500 pesos, so i had a 1500 peso coffee and a 5000 peso sandwich. I slept a little bit on my flight to lima, peru. The other half of my flight was spend talking to an Australian that was sitting next to me. It's cool to meet so many people everywhere. My next stop in Lima had me a little more stumped for what to do, because the airport had no wifi. I started by doing a walk around, then studying a bit of spanish. At this point, I had a good idea. I had a handful of small peruvian change left and my sister collects coins. My problem was that i had all of the same coin and not enough for a whole set. It was my mission though, so I went around the airport, trading my 50 centimos coins, and a couple american dollars before i finally had a set. That lasted a good while - had a good few conversations with people. Before i finally went to my gate, I actually ran into some of the leaders from the ecuador project. Small world to find them in an airport like Lima. I walked to my gate and again, found some more wyd backpacks. I talked in portañol - the word for the mixed language between portuguese and spanish. They understood though. My flight was delayed half an hour so my incredibly long trek had become longer. It wasn't that bad though. I was so excited to get to Ecuador now - and it was only a few hours away. I got to the airport, ran to customs. They asked me for my immigration form which i was not given, but i don't think they really gave a damn about it at 2 am. They just told me to write my name on a little sheet of paper and sent me on my way. And lucky enough, my bag was the very first on the conveyer belt, so i was on my way fast. The guy from my program was right there to pick me up. After a half hour drive back into town, i was quick to get my room, meet my roommate and get to sleep!
My $3500 (peso) subway sandwiches
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