Brazilian adventures: Safely in Recife!

Wow! I am exhausted. Not sure how much I will be able to write. What a crazy journey it has been thus far. The flight was long and eventful, never a good thing. When leaving D.C we waited on the runway for an hour due to some mysterious storms that never came to fruition. After an hour of sitting on the runway I began to get nervous. Why? For one thing we only had fifty minutes to catch our connecting flight. I told Chris (my roommate for Brazil and former roommate in Ecuador) that he would need to run to the terminal and tell them that there are several people on a flight that had been delayed and that we would be arriving soon. Chris and I were towards the front of the plane while others in our group were at the very end of the plane. I remember thinking it to be weird that Chris did not seem to be concerned. Well our flight landed and Chris booked it to our terminal. I waited for the ladies at the back of the plane. I then asked a lady at a nearby check in desk if she could let the gate up ahead know that we were on our way. Finally the ladies made it off the plane and we hauled it for our connecting flight. Chris came running down and told us to run for the plane was about to take off. He then mentioned that he thought we were actually an hour behind of what the actual time was. That is why he was not panicking like I was. I thought I had mentioned this to him, guess not. Anyways while enroute to our gate I hear my name over the airport pa system. "Tim Davis please arrive at your gate the plane is about to take off." Long story I know, but we barely made it to Miami.

Guess what though, our luggage still has not arrived in Brazil. Yep no luggage! While on the flight to Brazil I met a very nice woman who is studying to be a doctor. She was in the U.S learning at a hospital in Memphis then visited her aunt and uncle in Philadelphia. She was very friendly and kind. She gave me a lot of good information on juices to taste, foods to try and restaurants to dine at. She is a native of Recife and she was returning home. I got her email address and I promised to write her and tell her of my experiences in her hometown. As most of you know I really enjoy talking and meeting random people. I have really learned a lot from the numerous strangers I have met in my life.

First impressions of Brazil. The people are very kind, full of energy and life. I also am surprised at how large Recife is. Recife is an interesting contrast between old and new. Some of the city reminds me of Havana, Cuba. The city is very charming and I look forward to exploring more. We took a tour of the old part of Recife with our guide Antonio and graduate students he has in his geography classes. Antonio studied at Radford University with one of our tour leaders Susan Woodward. Now Antonio is a professor. Folks it is all about networking and connections. Throughout their time together Susan and Antonio thought it would be a good idea to take teachers from Virginia to learn more about the state of Pernambuco.

We walked around the original city wall in Old Town Recife.Later we visited the first synagogue in the new world. Very interesting. However just like the rest of the world the Jewish population was persecuted in what eventually became Brazil. The Dutch though took over Recife for about thirty years. During this time they allowed freedom of religion and many Jewish settlers came to the region to practice their religion in peace. But all good things come to and end, or at least sometimes they do. The Portuguese regained control of the area and with that the end of religious freedom for the Jewish population in Recife. Many Jews were killed or fled the area. The good news: with a softening stance towards religion by Brazil many Jews came back to the area once again in the 1800's. Today Recife has over 5,000 people that claim Judaism as their religion. I could go on and on but I will save you the details. If you have questions just ask under the comments section.

I am borrowing Chris's computer so I do not have as much time as I would like to write my posts. There are no computers in the lobby at the hotel we are staying at. Speaking of the hotel: it is nice and clean. We had a good lunch today. The diet in this area seems to be centered on fruit and seafood. Always a good thing in my book.

I hardly slept the night before I left for Brazil. I was very excited and anxious. I then couldn't fall asleep on the plane. So needless to say I am exhausted. I don't feel like myself. I am looking forward to a long night of sleep to catch up and make myself more coherent.