South of the Equator

I am now south of the equator for the first time in my life.  I was up watching my plane pass the invisible line with some excitement.  I landed in Rio after being in an airport or an airplane for 31 hours, and I was very glad to get out.  My first experience with Brazil was some of the famous Brazilian kindness.  I had bought a SIM card for my phone to try and give a call to my host Santi, and find out which neighborhood his home was.  There was a message in Portuguese which I didn't understand, so I asked a woman from my flight who I knew spoke English to help me sort it out.  Apparently the credit that came with the phone was only good for phones on the same network, so I needed to get some credit to call other networks.  The woman (her name is Barbara) asked where I was going, and I told her the address, and it turned out that it was on her way and that her parents were picking her up in a few minutes and that they could give me a ride to where I was staying.  It was totally unnecessary for her to make this offer to a total stranger, but it was a stroke of good fortune for me.  So, I got a ride with Barbara and her American friend Erin, and safely arrived at Santi's house (which turns out to be in Laranjeiras neighborhood).  Santi is super welcoming and had lots of delicious fresh fruit available for my arrival.  I love fruit.  I have showered, and slept, and it is 6:30am here and I'm ready to go!