Arrival June 28, 2009

My flight experience was pretty weird one, although everything went ok. It is obvious that people are really crazy about the pork flu and in Madrid and Rio airports there were people with masks, even in the flight from Tenerife to Madrid, there was this elderly lady with a mask. They also handed us these inquieres about our state of health and if we have had symptomps when we arrived in Rio. It was also clear that people are a bit iffy flying these days with all the plane accidents. Right after taking off in Madrid, the plane hit a big airbump and there were people who actually screamed.

I made my first portuguese contact in the Madrid airport when I needed to ask these Brazilian girls if they could tell me the Rio state code to send an sms to tell the organization I was arriving late. I started really well, but then I chickened out and asked them if they spoke English, which they did.

The flight itself was a nice way of torturing: I cannot understand how people can do these over-sea flights. I had been reading all the magazines and entertaining myself and thought that it must have been at least two hours, actually it had been 55 minutes, so one hour done, nine to go!

I was sitting with this kid who drove me crazy by burping, farthing, singing, whisteling and rocking on the seat. He also ordered me to turn off my light and hussed a baby who was crying. At the end of the flight he was actually really sweet, and I do not blame the kid, but the mother, because who takes a kid to 10-hour flight without giving him anything to play with?  She was just sleeping and snapping to the kid, so no wonder.  I coud not sleep, because the seats were so uncomfortable and I could not eat my candies, because of the kid (that would be too cruel, people!), but after what seemed like a life-time, we actually arrived.

First we were greeted by the swine-flu people, then a police who asked for our passports while we were waiting in the line for the passport control. He asked all this people (African, South American, Italian) around me about the purpose of their trip, how long they were going to stay etc. and when it came my turn he just took a look at my Finnish passport and wished me a goodnight. The same happened with the actual passport control and they just checked out the papers I had filled and nothing else.  My luggage arrived about an hour and a half after I had gotten off the plane, but everything arrived safe, so I do not complain.  There was a guy from the organization picking me up, which was really nice and after half an hour of insane driving (not so much the speed- although they drive insanely fast- but the crazy changing of lanes), just when I thought I was going to get killed in the car, we arrived to the flat where I am staying.

Stay tuned for the next post about the apartment, the roomies and the first contact with the locals.