Day 1 &2: LAX to Sao Paulo, Brazil

Today is July 16th.   Yesterday we left from LAX to a connection in Houston.  This flight was super easy; a little over 3 1/2 hours.  After watching "Horton Hears a Who", eating a hamburger, and reading a little, it was over.  The next flight was a doosie.  9 hours and 50 minutes.  The flight was hot all night, and we hit way too much turbulence for Sara's comfort.  (I even cried, because I was convinced we were going to crash into the Amazon)  Needless to say, we didn't sleep more that twenty minutes at a time.  We liked seeing the time left to travel, and the map of our route on or tv's.  

When we finally got to Sao Paulo, we were confused about what we were supposed to claim as foreigners.  We claimed our electronics just to be safe, but ended up not needing to have done that.  We're pretty sure we got through the lines faster than we would have if we had not claimed anything.  Instead of a line that wrapped through the airport, we had a line of four people.  It went fairly smoothly with the searchers.  

The automatic car we had reserved was not there.  The only automatic was a luxury car that would have cost fifteen hundred reals.  (about eight hundred USD)  Sao Paulo driving is loco de mais!  For this reason, we decided to forego the car rental and take a taxi.  Luckily, our hotel is right next to a mall, so there are many food options, banks, and lots of taxis available.  The taxi ride was a breeze.  Sao Paulo isn't the prettiest place, but the atmosphere is really different.  The hotel is beautiful and comfortable.  

We walked to the mall to have dinner and exchange our money.  We were exhausted from traveling, so after a long nap we went back to the mall for dessert.  We had ciocco chip and nutella gelato.  Yum!

Paul started out feeling slightly uneasy about the language and our plans, but after a while, and a nap he is getting more comfortable. He is doing a great job!  We are so excited to be here and looking forward to a very fun vacation.   I am vulnerable, because the control freak inside of me has no power here.  I think its good for us, because I have to rely on Paul more than usual.  I am understanding about 50% of the language and making some attempts to communicate with the people.  I called housekeeping for agua mineral and about cafe gratis.  So far so good.

We listened to a live band in the hotel lobby for a little bit and now we're settling in for the night.  It's 11:30 here, so 7:30 at home.  Missing the Sophie Love and the Mama.  Boa Noite!