Monday August 11^th – Day 1

            Early today at 8am I arrived in Sao Paulo after a 9 hour flight from DC.  I woke up in time to witness the plane fly into the city.  The site was astounding, a landscape of trees and hills suddenly transformed into tons of tightly packed houses and buildings.  The language barrier at the airport was problematic and I ended up missing my connecting flight because of time constraints and needing to take a shuttle to another airport.  When I finally made it to Florianopolis I was relieved and could soak in my excitement at last.  We went to a nice café for dinner and I tried Guarana, a drink similar to soda that is made from Brazilian fruit.  The weather in Florianopolis is pleasant and shorts with a light sweatshirt could be worn; funny though to think this is winter in Brazil.  Later a group of us went out and got to experience Brazilian taxis for the first time which was quite thrilling.  As a foreigner, it seems as though there are no rules on the road.  At the restaurant most of us tried a drink made from sugar cane hard liquor called a Caipirinha.  We listened to live music at the bar while getting to know each other better, it was a good time.  The next two weeks here in Brazil will fly by, but I am very excited for what is to come!