Rio Day One: Merry Christmas (Eve)!

What a day! We spent the night on a very old, and very very cramped plane - but after 10 hours we finally made it to our destination! We were greeted at the airport by Felipe's dad and Uncle and officially started celebrating our vacation. It was very exciting to know that I had just landed for my first time ever in South America, and I knowing how much excitement lay ahead.

We had a nice lunch at a little cafeteria/restaurant/buffet in the neighborhood that Felipe's Aunt and Uncle live in (Flamengo). Felipe immediately filled his plate with all the favorite foods he'd been missing (sorry - low quality iPhone photo):


We relaxed much of the rest of the afternoon, awaiting the arrival of Felipe's sister Ana and her fiance Sergi. It was a good thing too that we relaxed a bit, because we had a Christmas eve party to go to last night. We arrived around 10:30pm, and had dinner served around 12:30am. It was a LONG night, but we had a lot of fun!






The conversations in Portuguese were hard for me - I love to talk (as you all know very well) and it is difficult not to be able to participate as everyone else is. Fortunately my Spanish got me by, as many people understand Spanish as well, doubly fortunately many people spoke English as well. All were very friendly and happy to be sharing the special occasion together. Sometimes I stop and remember, or someone points it out, that I am the sole "Americana" in the crowd. Political conversation ensues...

You will be hearing more, but in the meanwhile...enjoy your Christmas holiday!