Saturday, November 5, 2011

Sleeping in the Bus Terminal

I`m sitting in a bus terminal as I write this. I bought a ticket to move to Belo Horizonte this past week and told the guy I wanted to leave 12:30 am Nov. 5 because I wanted to get there in the morning and have all day to get adjusted to my new surroundings and go to the English service tonight at the church I am interested in.

A friend of mine came with me to the terminal and I go through the gates early and the bus that is in the slot that mine is supposed to be in just left. I showed a guy by the buses my ticket and he said, your ticket is for 12:30 pm instead of 12:30 am. I was pretty ticked because I thought I confirmed with the guy at the ticket office.

My option is to either go back home at 1 am and pay $R60 round trip for a cab ride home and back on Saturday or sleep in the terminal. Lately I`ve been looking for new adventure so I opted for sleeping in the bus terminal. Not sure if it was the wise decision.

The chairs are a slab of metal with legs and a bar in between each seat so you can`t spread out. I laid down on the cold concrete floor and this birdhead security guard hits my leg and tells me go get up. I didn`t know lying on the floor was a security issue.

I maybe slept two hours on and off throughout the night. I found a bench in another part of the terminal that was made of wood, a little more comfortable than cold steel and it didn`t have a divider so I could stretch out. Wouldn`t you know it that birdhead security guard comes over again and bumps me and tells me to get up. It`s a good thing he couldn`t understand what I said. I`m like, come on dude. There is hardly anyone here and no one is exactly fighting for a place on the bench. Oh well, here`s to my option for a new adventure.

It`s at least close to time to leave now. It feels like I`ve been here since April. On to my new home.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Hang Gliding in Rio de Janeiro










Well, I finally did it. The Wednesday before I leave Rio I went hang gliding which I've been wanting to do for a long time. I've attached a few pics but I have a couple of videos and more pics on facebook.

The weather hasn't been good for the past few weeks when my friends from church could go. I had been praying for good weather. We were planning on going Sunday but when I called to confirm the guy said they weren't doing flights because the winds weren't good. I was disappointed but glad that they didn't want to just make some quick money and were taking precautions.

I started praying and put it down on my prayer list for good weather today because it's a holiday here and people from church could go. This morning was a little cloudy but I believed it would be a great day and the clouds starting breaking up the closer we got to the time to go.

The owner of this company has been doing this for 29 years and took Curt Cobain from Nirvana years ago. He was a very relaxed and reassuring guy. My instructions lasted less than a minute - bite your lip and run like heck. Not really but not too far off. He said to have one hand in this rope attached to my jacket and the other on his back. He said to just look at the horizon and run when he said run, that's it.

When it got to be my turn I tried not to look down, only at the horizon. It actually worked. I just started running and when we left the ramp it was just smooth. I felt like Superman. My brother John would love this. At one point as we were making a turn you could see Sugarloaf mountain an I could also see Christ the Redeemer in the distance. It was pretty awesome!

This was more than just hang gliding for me. I don't know if I told many or any about this story but I was reading a book that had inspired me to take action for this journey in the first place. I had been looking at language schools in different countries and for some reason Rio kept coming back to me. I was reading the 4 Hour Work Week on the way back from my wonderful Aunts in Mississippi when I read a chapter and it started with a guy going hang gliding in Rio. The whole premise of the story was that risks aren't as scary once you take them.

When I read that, I felt like Rio was the place that I needed to go. I still remember the moment riding in the car when I read this. So for me to do this was a big deal to come to the place where someone's story had inspired me to launch out and do what I wanted but was scared to do. Just like the hang gliding, the risk of coming to Rio hasn't been as scary since I've taken the step.

I'm moving to another city for the rest of my time here, called Belo Horizonte. It's the same city I've visited a couple of times. The scenery isn't as nice but the people are great. I think I've said before how they remind me of Southerners.