Day 16: June 20, 2009

The Opera HouseThis morning, we visited two landmarks: Indian Museum and Opera House. Then we stopped by the laundry place -- and got stuck for an hour! Brazilians are much more relaxed and so a delay is no big deal. When we arrived, we were told that laundry was not ready. It would have been fine if we didn't have to load our luggage and get to the airport. After some negotiations, we were able to get our stuff. One of my shirts was still wet but I packed it separately.

OK, that worked out fine... Then the bus driver broke a handle on my luggage because he picked it up by the side, thus putting all the weight on one side and snapping the metal piece. I don't know what he was thinking but he just stuck the metal piece back and tried to pick it up again! Grrrrrrrrr... Of course, it snapped again -- there is nothing to hold it once it's broken! I finally managed to snatch the metal piece before he tried to "fix" it again, lol.

Having had problems with luggage before, I brought some duct tape (red, lol) and so provided mild entertainment to my group and others standing in line at the airport by fixing up the handle. Zoom forward -- the handle is still there, attached to the bag!!!

Because I was, um, engaged in a very important task described above, I was the last in line for our group. The girl behind the counter took one look at my two carry ons (backpack and small bag) and told me that only backpack would be allowed on the plane; the other bag should be checked with my main luggage. I explained to her that I am carrying a laptop and LCD projector in addition to my personal belongings. She would not budge so I turned around and waived to catch the attention of our program director. He came over and her attitude changed immediately. "Oh, electronica, no problem!" O-K! Here is my observation: Position of power is extremely important in Brazil. I was nobody to her, just another passenger, while he represented authority. Oh, well -- both bags were allowed and so I am definitely not complaining. :)

We were hungry by the time we got to the gate and so bought sandwiches and drinks, knowing that we have a long flight ahead. Apparently, there is no direct flight from Manaus to Recife and so we had to stop twice (in Belém and Fortaleza). Both times we were allowed to leave the plane so it was a long flight -- about 6 hours. In addition, the plane was full for the first two flights and so I was stuck in the middle seat. Fortunately, I was able to move to the window seat on the flight between Fortaleza and Recife, the last leg of the trip. By then, though, my neck and elbows were aching.

We made it to our hotel without any adventures and most of us went straight to bed (I surely did), knowing that we have lectures in the morning. What a long day...