Chapter 2

2.

Lydia looked out the window of the Sao Paulo, Brazil airport at the early morning light. She barely comprehended the sight as she leaned against the luggage cart. She was exhausted and sore. It had been a long, dull plane ride.

She saw a lot of white cars with blue writing on them, parked along side the road, which she mistook for police cars. She thought it kind of odd for there to be so many, but she was too tired to really think about it. Later she found out they were taxis. On the other side of the road were palm trees and water fountains.

A lady in her thirties came up to the huge group of American youth and leaders. On the plane, Lydia's youth group had met up with church groups who were to be a part of the Global Awakening missions trip. "Hello, everyone, my name is Catherine. I'm going to list you off by last name first. Call out when I say your name. When you get outside set your luggage down by one of the buses. Don't worry about getting into the same bus as your bags are on. They are all going to the same place." She certainly wasn't one to tolerate nonsense.

They all started to file out. The roar of early morning traffic met them. Again it was a long time before they all got on the buses and started off. It had begun to seem like this trip was a lot of waiting to get from one place to another.

Finally they pulled away from the airport. Lydia was feeling a little bit more awake. During the trip Tom Oliveira, the organizer of this whole trip, explained the rules, how they were to get registered into the hotel, and gave them a bit of history on Sao Paulo. Lydia looked out the window at the totally new sights as she listened to him.

It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly. There were so many different trees-ferns, palms, flowering trees, and other trees Lydia didn't know the names for. The flowers were vibrant whites, pinks, reds, and purples. There were trees that looked like umbrellas and trees whose roots were like a mass of ropes all tangled together. In a word the greenery was amazing!

Sao Paulo was a huge, bustling city. The traffic was horrendous!! In fact it was a law that on certain days, cars with certain license plate numbers couldn't be on the road during morning traffic. This cut down about fifteen percent of the traffic which still was mayhem.

Once at the hotel, everybody went to the several tables of Global Awakening registration. It all was kind of a blur to Lydia. She was a little bit more awake then she had been at the airport but still felt the effects of little sleep.

"Do you have someone you want to room with, or should we just put you with someone?" one of the young women sitting behind the last table of the registration line asked as Lydia handed her the piece of paper with all her information, e-mail address, home phone number, etc.

"Just put me with someone," Lydia answered. She and Beth had asked their mom if they could room with other girls, and she had said that would be fine as long as they kept tabs on each other.

"You'll have to wait awhile then."

"All right. Thank you." Lydia walked off a little ways to not be in the way. She was so ready to be laying down flat on a bed. She meandered about while she waited to be assigned to a room and roommate.

"Lydia?" The lady behind the last table said.

"Yes." Lydia walked up to the table. A girl, about Beth's age, was standing in front of the table.

"You two shall be roommates," the lady said handing Lydia and the other girl each an envelope. "You are in room 232, Your room keys are in the envelopes."

"Hi, my name is Dana." The girl held out her hand as the two went to find their bags.

"I'm Lydia." Lydia took Dana's hand with a smile.

They found their bags in a sea of other bags underneath a staircase. "Oh, man!" Lydia exclaimed seeing her red suitcase with the neon green ribbon in the middle of that sea.

"Here, let us help you," a bellboy said and called to his colleague in Portuguese. "Which ones are yours?" He asked Lydia and Dana. They pointed out their suitcases and after some digging the two bellboys got them out.

So with Wallace, and the other bellboy, Carlos, toting Lydia's and Dana's luggage they headed for the elevators. It took them awhile before they finally found the right room.

Lydia looked around the room that would be her home for two whole weeks. There were two beds on one side of the room, with a night stand in between them. On the other side was a desk with a little fridge underneath it. A bureau stood by the door.

Lydia started put-zing around the room wondering what she should do first. She was feeling scatterbrained, but at least she wasn't stressed. Thank the Lord for friends and family who were praying for peace. Through all the customs and waiting Lydia had never really felt stressed, only nervous. Thank You Lord!

Lydia looked about the room wondering what she should do next. She felt like she should be doing something, but she didn't know what. She was having a hard time gathering her thoughts.

"Do you mind if I go take a shower?" Lydia asked, remembering she hadn't taken a shower since her last night at home which was a day and a half ago. EEEWWW!

"Go ahead."

The rest of that morning and afternoon nothing much got done. Lydia got her stuff unpacked into one half of the closet, and she and Dana started getting to know each other. After lunch they talked some more and then fell fast asleep.