Christmas Eve

Last night I spent my first official night in my own apartment. It was a bit nice, probably an unnecessary amount of space for just myself. But that’s okay.
I woke up several times this morning, but the thing that finally woke me up was a call from my father. We talked for awhile, and then I decided that it was time that I really begin my day. So I woke up, took a shower, had good devotions and went to get things situated for my room – I still had paperwork to fill out.

I was able to talk to Dr. Finley about some things. Man, that was an interesting conversation. But I should be getting my grades any day now – it’s a bit nerve racking. He almost made it sound like I didn’t really get a high “A;” so he has me a bit concerned.

Really most of the day was spent just getting things situated, doing laundry, packing and getting to the airport. When I got to the airport I got my tickets from South Bend, IN to Chicago, IL to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Eventually I get to Chicago, and I got some food from a place that was filled with Filipino’s. It was fun though, because I spoke a little bit of Tagalog and they were shocked. Haha, I love doing that. But now I know where to go every time that I want to get food – at least if I’m flying United Airlines.

I decided that it would be a good thing to make sure that my ticket and information was correct. So I talked to the person at the counter about an hour before the flight, and here’s what the conversation basically went like:

“Where’s your visa?” I need a visa? What? “You don’t have a
visa? You can’t fly today then. You will have to speak with the
Brazilian Consulate on Wednesday because they are closed tomorrow because of the
holiday. We will put you in a hotel tonight, because they should not have
flown you here to Chicago if you did not have a visa, and then also given you a
boarding pass for Brazil if you did not have a visa. I am sorry, but you
are not flying to Brazil tonight.”

Talk about feeling like a big idiot. I really felt unsmart. But I called all the people that I knew – especially the person who’s related to the person that I’m going to be visiting, and they told me that she might know someone who might be able to help me when I go to the Brazilian Consulate. But for tonight, Malcolm is going to be in the Hilton, and I’m going to take full advantage of as much as I can while I’m here.