Finally Made It!

I finally arrived in Rio de Janeiro with fellow teacher Ms. Kathy Clunis from Mission Hill School yesterday morning. On Sunday, I got a surprise phone call stating that our flight to D.C. had been cancelled. After trying every option possible, it became clear that the only way we were going to get to Brazil in the next 5 days was to catch our original flight from D.C. to Rio. Due to February school breaks, there were no seats on any D.C. flights, and our only option was to DRIVE! As fast as we could, we gathered our things, found a one-way rental car, and hit the road. We had fun during the long car ride practicing Portuguese with a language CD. (Gabi and any other Brazilian would have laughed at my pronunciation, I´m sure!)

When we finally got on the flight to Rio, we met 4 other teachers who will be working with us in the Pantanal. With only two days in Rio, we have spent time sightseeing, and I have to say the Portuguese CD really helped! We´ll fly to Campo Grande tomorrow to start our trek to the Pantanal, and will begin training on the research studies by Thursday. Ciao!