My first Brazilian...

I was suddenly woken by the sound of my phone ringing and I thought to myself, 'that cant be anyone but rostering.' I had slept for less than 3hrs and just got called out for a long haul flts-Sao Paulo...aprox 16hrs! I had no idea how I was gonna survive this one. I repacked my suitcase (flight attendents NEVER unpack) and dressed for work finishing with the bright red lippy and hat. I arrived more than half hour early for sign in and sat waiting for gates to open, wishing I had got that extra half hour worth of sleep. But after getting late for my last flight I rather be here than in bed :p

There was one crew I knew from training and the rest looked friendly enough. Good news was flt time for the day was under 15hrs. Off for another adventure! Knowing all the economy crew were relatively new, me being flying for lil over 3months and the senior most (beat that) I was hoping for some company to venture out to explore the city. The SFS "Uni" was a darling appreciating the hardwork put in by all of us every chance she got. We also got rest in our Crew Rest Compartment and I used my rest pajamas for the first time ever. Yes, this instilled me a certain amount of excitement. We hardly sat for over a minute in our jumpseat coz we had many callbells but we were informed by Uni that this was the quietest Sao Paulo flt she has done so far so we thanked our stars and enjoyed our job. Everyone was promt and helpful so it was a good flt.

The bus ride to the hotel was a loooong one and most of us dozed off. I saw a road sign saying Rio De Janerio and felt compelled to update my facebook status from my phone. I had never thought I would be seeing this for real. Immediately I got a thoughtful msg from a brazilian friend to be careful as it was a long way from Sao coz he thought I was on my way there! Upon arrival at the hotel around 9pm some crew asked for a wake up call at midnight to go out-it was SATURDAY NIGHT! But even the party animal in me couldn't care less...all I wanted was a bed. After many unsuccessful attempts to msg Lionel, I was finally able to sleep after getting bbm to work. 

9pm bedtime meant eyes wide open at 5.30am without an alarm that to. Back to bed for a couple of hours more and then calls between the Y/C crew to meet in the lobby at 9. Mum informed me I had family there but couldn't contact them before I left the hotel. The boys kept us waiting another half hour or so in the lobby. Alex and me getting hungry split this delicious choco covered soft centered cookie before heading out. She had done the homework before any of us arrived about where to go and get a map.

We took a cab to the nearest metro station at Conceicao and headed to S.Bento from there. The conceirge had marked off some places we could go see. The cultural art festival was on which lasts over 24hrs. So there were a lot of carnivals, concerts and standup acts happening everywhere. Our first sight was of a hot air ballon as high as the surrounding building in the middle of the square with 2men dangling upside down fro it. We guessed it was part of the festival. Also a concert stage preparation happening nearby. Mercado Muncipal was first stop. After a bit od asking around we navigated our way there. En route saw a lot of closed shops coz it was sunday, shops full of magnets of diff shapes and sizes, the people and a lot of cops. They look so stern hands crossed in front of their chest,standing in threes. We saw a tiny cafe outside and popped in to have some puff type snack with pizza and sweet coffee. The mercado is the munciple market, selling the freshest fruit, veggies, meats, cheeses, olive oil with a few eateries and gelato shops here and there. A shop dedicated to chillies selling chilly jam! bar stools wit high tables middle of an aisle where u cud sit with ur beer and snack. I had to indulge in strawberries wit cream, while my collegues grabbed gelato, chocolate mousse and juices. All the fruit vendors eagerly ushered you to their stall and cut slices of various fruit for you to taste. Delicious cherries, ripe mangoes, acai, custard apple, dragonfruit....some fruits I didn't kno existed! We walked around eating and drinking grape juice and coconut water and orange juice merrily. A tiny stairway led to a maze of packed restaurants serving authentic brazilian food. After buying bags full of fresh produce we decided to head out to see more of the city.

Walking though a lil rougher part of town, through a cobbled street with shops full of clothes we headed to the cathedral. The whole while Alex and me leading the way and waiting for the other three to catch up. Again showing our map and pointing to Parca da Se on it we sound our way to the place. More cops here and there. A crowd of people emerged and my ears picked up techy beats in the distance. We saw the cathedral which was also closed coz it was sunday. So I insisted on heading to the square nearby where the music came from. Lionel couldn't believe when I told him and he asked if I was actually telling him there was somewhat an open air rave happening right next to the cathedral. I had to send him pictures showing the crowd, deco and cathedral in the background for him to believe. We were in the middle of the festival, people drunk, men topless, everyone drunk. I had to remind my buddy we had work in less than 12hrs when he reached for a bottle. The sun got hot specially while we danced away for a bit so I was pulled away from there. Towards the cathedral for a few shots where a band sang away trying to be heard over the loud music. 

Inspite of Nerry, one of the girls being tired we dragged her to our next stop. We took a metro to Paraiso and then walked and walked and walked to find the Parque Do Ibirapuera. It was a long way parallel to the highway and we were exhausted, especially with the heavy bags of fruit the boys were carrying. We passes this upmarket but empty locality with some very pretty houses, saw the Formula 1 hotel in the distance and a huge african looking statue where we stopped for another group photo. Seeing a lot of green patches on the way we joked about how these would be called a park in the dessert city of Dubai we call home. Finally we saw the park we looked for. Also on one side what looked like a dog training park, an area with a pool where people raced tiny subs and a tall monument. The park featured 4 lakes, a couple of museums and other attractions which we were to tired to care about at this point. We bought packs of crisps and something to drink and headed to the closest spot near one of the lake. After all the time on foot we were relieved to park our ass and just took it all in. The couples sitting nearby, a family with a cute baby, a man sitting alone by the water's edge, the rythmic drum beat coming from across the lake....so lush, so green. Serene. We deicded its time to head back so as to get some rest before the long flight back home. 

I decided to speak t my aunt who lives here and maybe do dinner with her while the rest of the crew headed to carrefour nearby to buy the famous flip flops. I figured I was too tired to do the dinner after all so I'll meet my aunt and couz next time around. Contemplating on whether to have the barbeque I've heard about here or not, I decided against it. In bed for a quick few hours of sleep before getting ready for the flight back home. The eventful begining was with the bus being about 25min late for our pick up. The rest I'd rather not mention. I was all over the flight is what I was told by the boyfriend who got details of what all happened. But that's what I'm supposed to do as crew, amn't I?