Oi Brasil! (Hi Brazil!)

I'm here! In Brazil! It's been less than 10 hours since I arrived and there's already so much I want to say. I'll start with the plane ride. Since it was my first time on a commercial flight, I didn't want to seem like too much of a newb, so I promised myself I wouldn't get too excited about seeing the clouds from above. After I was on the plane about an hour, however, the sun went below the clouds. This "sunset" from above was quite spectacular, I don't think the picture below does it very much justice. I think it was worth standing out as an obvious airplane rookie to snap the picture though.



I wasn't exactly sure who was going to pick me up at the airport, but I was expecting either Eduardo or Renata, two of my friends from Liberty. I was a little suprised when a middle aged man approaced me and said, "Chreese?" Roberto didn't speak much English, and I speak even less Portuguese. I immediately began to kick myself for not working harder to learn the language more before I left, but Roberto and I managed to communicate well enough to get me to Eduardo's house, where I'll be staying for the first week. Roberto was extremely friendly, and I hope I get to see him after I learn some more Portuguese so that I can thank him for the ride properly.

After arriving at Eduardo's house, I got to experience my first Brazilian lunch, which was quite delicious. We went to visit his old school and his church, and I got to say, "Muito prazer," (pleased to meet you) to a lot of people. Now we're over at Luis's apartment, who is another friend from Liberty.

It's hard to believe I'm in Sao Paulo. Everything here is different--the roads, the plants, the buildings. At the same time, however, everything is somewhat the same. Up is still up, and down is still down. I am still the same person I was 24 hours ago when I was in the States. Even though I'm in a completely foreign country, it's still obvious that I'm on the Earth God created. And it (it being the Earth) is very beautiful, just like it is in the Northern Hemisphere.