Saturday, April 26, 2008

flying down to rio


Or at least São Paulo.

Most vacations begin with what is now one of the most dreaded of all experiences -- a long airplane ride. I seriously thought of skipping the first day and a half of my journey to Brazil. After all, what can I say that has not been said recently about air travel?

Cramped seats. No food. Long layovers. It is certainly not what I remember of flying when I was young -- when everyone dressed in their Sunday best. Of course, only a small percentage of the population could afford to fly -- and then only as an occasional luxury. But we go on remembering a past that existed -- for the most part -- only in yellowing magazine ads.

I will admit that I still enjoy one of the pleasures of long-range flying. A number of the airline club rooms still retain showers -- the Delta lounge in Atlanta being one of the nicest.

Flying is now little more than penance to be paid for a fun vacation.

The São Paulo airport is like most any other international airport. But it seems small for a city that advertises itself as the second largest city in the world. As we flew in, it was easy to imagine that the claim is correct. São Paulo literally spreads over hundreds of square miles.

But São Paulo was not the destination. It is inland and cruise ships have great difficulty on land. So, off we went on a two hour bus ride to the port city of Santos and our waiting ship.

Let me pause for a moment and give you a bit of overview -- because two facts are going to pop up recurringly in my tale of this two-week cruise. The first involves the passenger population. With the exception of two cruises, every cruise I have ever been on has had a majority population of Americans or Canadians. As a result, most cruises are about as exotic as a trip to Omaha or Calgary -- even if the ports are exotic. This cruise was different. At least 80% of the passengers were Brazilian or Portuguese -- and very few spoke English. Brazilian culture is not American/Canadian culture.

The second fact is that I had already met most of the Americans and Canadians on line through the Cruise Critic message board. Just as bloggers form communities, users of cruise message boards get to know one another up to a year before a cruise.

I knew I was in a new culture when the boarding process began. In Miami or Los Angeles, we all line up like northern European robots and wait our turns to board ships. The Brazilians see little need for this peculiar delay. (Those of us who have spent time in Mexico realize that the behavior is not limited to Brazil.) As a result, the line became three lines, then nine, then a scene resembling extras ion an Irwin Allen film. Later in the cruise, I asked one of my new Brazilian friends about the lack of forming lines. Her response was an engaging laugh. "Why line up when we are all going to end up in the same place?" I chuckled to myself because that was my response to why shove and push. It really is a matter of perspective.

But she was correct. We all got on board and were ensconced in our rooms for a quick nap.

On this trip, I was travelling with a friend from work, his wife, his sister, and her boyfriend. We headed to dinner to meet our dining mates from the cruise. It turned out, they were all travelling together, as well: a single woman from Maryland, her brother, his partner, and a retired work friend of hers. From the first night, we all hit it off. We were to be a very good trivia team.

Next stop: Rio de Janeiro.

7 comments:

Michael Dickson said...

Latinos do not line up because each thinks what he/she wants is more important than what you want. Simple as that. It ain´t rocket science.

But it is annoying.

Islagringo said...

I remember flying from Frankfurt to Chicago on a semi-regular basis back in the 70's. I always wore a suit and tie. If one didn't, you were sure to be pulled out and inspected as the heathen that you evidently were! I love the line about flying being a penance for a fun vacation. How true.

Babs said...

I wish I could find the photo of the first time I flew - form Miami to New Orleans - I was a Senior in high school - Mom made sure I had on heels.......and gloves! Good grief NOW they would probably pull me aside as a possible "terrorist"!

Steve Cotton said...

Michael -- I have discussed the shoving issue with my Mexican friends here in Oregon. Their spin is similar to yours, but one of them added an historical note. He pointed out that Americans have been raised in a system that is fair and where goods are in full supply. Most Latinos live in quasi-feudal sytems where distribution is not fair and where supply is always an issue. If you do not grab, you may not get anything. I found it a wise insight. Consider what happens to Americans during sales when grabbing is its own reward.

Wayne -- I am happy to hear that someone else has wear-a-suit-on-a-plane memories. Most of my younger friends think I am nuts. Their experience is of passengers in shorts and track suits.

Michael Dickson said...

Mi amigo, you are going to fit in well in Mexico where the grand majority of Gringos bend over so far backward trying to make excuses for and justify the rude behavior that they pop first a number of vertebra.

Sometimes they continue so far in this effort that the neck actually snaps.

This explains why you see so many of us down here in wheelchairs.

But not me.

Steve Cotton said...

Babs -- I can picture you now. I remember the first time I met Tricia Nixon, she was wearing a similar outfit. To my west coast eyes, she seemed to be from another era.

Michael -- One of my character flaws is that when an action or comment can be taken in a good way or a bad way, I tend to take it in the good way. But even that philosophy can only take me so far. Some behaviors in Mexico irritate me just as much as some behaviors in my sleepy little burg of Salem.

Hollito said...

"Some behaviors in Mexico irritate me just as much as some behaviors in my sleepy little burg of Salem."

Wise words. But I must admit that the lack of politeness in MX sometimes really bothers me - apart from being seen as a "rich" Gringo who has to be ripped off at any given opportunity... :-|
But some (unfriendly) spanish words can often clear the situation...
It´s strange: On the one hand the people in MX find it extremely important to be polite ("con permiso, por favor"...), and on the other hand they are just plain rude. :-|

Regarding the "flight outfit": When I travel to the U.S. or MX, I wear comfortable trousers (the "trekking " type), a long shirt and sneakers. I would never enter a restaurant with this "outfit", and I do not wear this over here at home, but after 15-20 hours of flight I really do not mind about how I look... :-)
When I came back from El Paso in January, I also wore a baseball cap from "White Sands" - and I always refused to wear those before. ;-)