Back to "reality"

I arrived in Rio this morning safe and sound. No trouble with immigration or customs, though my bags were packed full of fun stuff that doesn't come from Brasil. All of it is for personal use, of course. My flight was uneventful, but there are a few highlights:

• - Before we boarded, I was sitting down eating dinner and a family (around 8 people, including 4 generations) came to sit down near me. The great grandmother needed to sit as well, and the chair I was in was closest to the rest of the family. They directed her to sit somewhere in the row of empty chairs next to me (farther away from the family) and I said, "I can move," thinking that the family would like to sit together. I immediately received a comically collective "NO!" from them. Not sure if it's because I was in the middle of eating my sandwich or because they really didn't want me to have to move. Either way, it was dramatic in true Brasilian fashion.
• When we boarded the plane, we all had little packets in our seats, complete with earphones (for the movie), a mask, lotion (I guess that they can put it on the plane, even if we can't bring it), toothbrush and toothpaste, and earplugs. It is the last I am immensely thankful for. I inserted them into my ears in an attempt to block out the roaring noise from the jet's engines (I was in an exit row seat on the wing -- praise God for those). About halfway through the night I awoke to the sound of a kid screaming. The sound was coming from a seat not near mine. I kept thinking, "Thank You, God, for earplugs," and wondered how much the screaming would have disturbed me had I been sans auditory protection.
• I was on the east side of the plane this morning and was blessed to actually see the sun rising -- from the thin ribbon of sunlight creeping over the horizon to the sun in full display. Full enough to warm me at 30,000 feet.

Boy, am I glad to be back.