The taxi driver took me to the bus driver who also saw all my luggage and jumped out the bus, lifting everything on, asking where I was off to and for how long. Incredible! This never happens! This niceness continued all the way to my destination and was lucky enough to be sitting the 12hour flight from Paris to Rio De Janero with a really cool German guy. We got on like we had known each other for donkeys.. was hilarious. He even stayed with me for 2 hours at Rio til I went through security for my connecting flight. What a gem.. "Safety First!!".
The stop in Paris however, was quite long. With almost 7 hours waiting, a €12 salad and water (that tasted rubbish), and a lot of boredom, we were on our way to Brazil! The flight to Rio was reasonably comfortable and fun with my new German friend. We swapped seats half way too, to allow for maximum comfyness.. (sitting in the same spot just hurts after 8 hrs).
I arrived safely in Fortaleza around 11am, with only 2 of 3 pieces of luggage. TAM lost my suitcase somewhere. Whoopie. I exited passport control with my 2 luggages and as soon as the doors opened, I heard screaming and saw Mariana racing toward me! "AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH". As expected, I just cried a lil and gave her the biggest hug. It felt so strange.. I had imagined that moment a lot, but I felt completely overwhelmed, almost numb. I was in BRAZIL!!!!! Monique, Marilia, Bea and Marlon were there to pick me up too.. couldn't stop smiling :)
