Pensamientos Brasilenos

Last night Sean and I arrived safely in Foz de Iguazu, Brazil for our conference. We have already been greeted with much hospitality and grace. Perhaps the best example of this was when I accidentally paid $20 TWICE for my food during our 4 hour layover in the Sao Paulo airport. I gave the cashier a $20 bill for my $5 sandwich and then she gave me my change. I then realized that she had charged me for a bottle of water that Sean had already paid for, so she gave me a little more change. But somehow that convesation made us confused, and I somehow forgot I ever paid her to begin with, so I gave her ANOTHER $20 bill. About 30 minutes after we had finished eating and left the restaurant, the cashier found us sitting at the gate for our flight. She had tracked me down to give me that second $20 bill back. I don't think this would have happened in Hartsfield-Jackson or O'Hare airports.

We are still the only ones that have arrived for the conference. There will be another 26 or so people arriving later today, according to Isaias, the AIPRAL conference coordinator (who's also been nice enough to let us use the internet on his personal laptop). The others are from countries all over South America. It should be fun!