Dia 1

I decided several semesters ago that I have a condition--chronic lateness. It is not that I do not want to do/submit/arrive to things on time, but that I cannot, due to my aforementioned chronic condition. I hypothesized to my roommate Hannah during the Spring of 2009, (a semester in which I managed to miss the deadline for 3 out of 4 papers I had to write), that I should file my disability with the Florida State student disabilities office. All this to say, I am choosing to let myself off the hook in a heap of rhetoric for not starting this blog until I´m already in Brazil. Which I am. Right now. Which is awesome. I made it and it´s going great so far. My hosts here have set aside the weekend for me to get some rest before I embark upon my volunteer work. So rest I shall!

For anyone out there who has wondered what goes on in my head when I´m sleep deprived, here´s an account of my thoughts on the overnight flight from Miami to Rio de Janeiro...

• 3:53 AM Why am I awake again? This whole experience is really throwing a wrench in my self-proclaimed excellence at sleeping on planes...Holy crap! The floodgates have opened and my nose is suddenly filled with snot!
• 3:57 AM The girl across the aisle from me has seriously got it made. She´s tiny--on the flight with her mom so she effectively gets to sprawl out over two seats. I remember those days. I wish I could take her picture cuz she looks so ridiculously cute, but that might be perceived as creepy...
• 3:38 AM Whose cruel idea was it to specially label my row of seats ´comfort seats´? I don´t understand. We have a wall in front of us so we don´t have anywhere to store our stuff. We´re in the middle of the plane so there are no walls to lean on. I can´t lean my seat back because I think there´s a pregnant lady behind me and my very tall mom always got her knees squished by people who put their seats back and has engrained into me the extreme sensitivity that putting one´s seat back is not something one should impose upon another on an airplane!
• 4:09 AM Why does Danny Russel insist that Bon Iver´s Re: Stacks is one of the best songs ever? Song, I´m enjoying you and all but I have absolutely no idea what you´re about.
• 4:10 AM A wave of poop has just filled the cabin!!! Whodunnit?! Just because I have farted profusely on this flight doesn´t mean that I give everyone else permission to do it.

I´m messed up.

I wish the snot would come back now.

• 4:35 AM I just multitasked in the bathroom and brewed over how to ask the flight attendant for a cup of orange juice so I could take my Zyrtec and fight against the present snot phenomenon. Posso pedir de você uma xícara de suco de laranja? Posso pedir de você uma xícara de suco de laranja? Posso pedir de você uma xícara de suco de laranja? AHHH! So many words in a row, most of which I had forgotten until I was scrambling to refresh my Portuguese in the airport today! I can do it! I can do it! No I can´t! Abort mission! Walk back to seat defeated. I am a despicable human being.
• 4:38 AM Sweet Jesus, there is a stewardess coming right at me with a big tray of water and orange juice! I will take a xícara de suco de laranja. ´Obrigada!´I´m never going to learn to do anything--the system is just too good!! If I ever do any sort of teaching or random thought-sharing on the shortcomings of the welfare programs, this should totally be an example.

I thought I´d start things out on a light note...I´m too sleepy and culture shocked to produce much else at the moment. I do expect, however, that this blog will be home to real reflection, relevent news about my travels, prayer requests and pictures along the way. So keep checking in and comment if you can.

Love,

Claire