Our First Day!

“How we pack our bags defines our journey. We always have a choice.” Phil Cousineau

“Bomdia.” Hello from Rio de Janeiro! It is almost nine o’clock and we are all at the convent safe and sound, most of the group already sleeping. We boarded our flight with varying expectations and anxieties. Our flight was a normal overnight flight, tossing and turning and smacking the chair in front of us trying to get at least an hour or even two hours of sleep. Of course, the movie was pretty bad and Rob instantly fell asleep while reading his 400+ page Brazilian book. Upon arriving and exiting the plane, groggy and unaware of our surroundings, we encountered our first journey: the customs line. We weaved around and around for about an hour meeting new people coming to Rio for many things. After being allowed to enter the city, finding our luggage went quite smoothly, thank goodness! After going up and down and all around on elevators, staircases, and even luggage carts we boarded the bus. Our first glimpse of the city was a remarkable one, a memory that will probably never escape me. A mix of rich, poor, urban, and country all included in one package. We drove through the city and upon arriving at our destination, we noticed that this destination was on top of a mountain; it is really just a hill but after two hours of sleep it seemed like Everest. We now faced our second journey, getting all of ours bags up to the convent in one piece. “How we pack our bags defines our journey. We always have a choice.” Yes, we always have a choice.

















Judson made the right choice to pack a suitcase that would probably hold my shampoo, and then Virginia with the suitcase that could hold the Mitchell and Burlington children with space. The suitcase we had was the suitcase we chose and that suitcase was the one WE got to haul up the “mountain.” Judson, with his “man purse” chose to take the stairs, while the majority of the girls chose to wait for the elevator that would only take three people and that could probably break any second. The bottom line is that we all made it to our rooms, some faster than others, but we all enjoyed the spectacular view from the “summit of our climb.”

After our test of physical endurance we met the youth group from The Church of the Redeemer. Our first ice-breaker activity was to attempt to repeat simple Portuguese phrases. We sort of failed but we all laughed at ourselves and learned that this group of youth was going to be kind and welcoming despite any language issues. Lunch at the convent, then a bus tour around the city came next. We stopped at several beach locations and even tried the local drink: coconut milk. We literally went up and down and all around the city with our bus driver who definitely has “mad skills”. No offence to you driving Atlanta parents, you’ve got nothing on this guy. After dropping our new friends off at their church we continued back up to the convent where we enjoyed a nice, long shower and a simple Brazilian dinner. To end our tiring but absolutely lovely first day we shared our ideas on the differences between pilgrimage and mission and ended with Compline and singing a few hymns. We look forward to our days to come in this wonderful place. We hope that you enjoy experiencing it with us.
- Helen Harris