Rio's Renewal: A Journey of Rediscovery for Chris Weston Chandler

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was the smell. It was humid, and there was a smell of swamp water in the air. There were also a lot of trees and flowers, and it looked as if someone had taken a bunch of different cities and just put them all together.

“Wow, this place is cool!” I thought to myself.

I walked through the airport, looking at the interesting people around me. Many people were wearing shirts with tropical designs on them, and most of them were carrying brightly colored bags.

I walked up to the woman at the information desk for my uncle's address. “Excuse me ma'am, can you help me? I've never been to Rio before so I'm not familiar with my way around here.”

The woman smiled and said, “Ahhh yes! You are from America! Very nice to meet you! My name is Olga. Are you staying long?”

I replied that I only planned on being in town for three days to visit my uncle before heading back home to Ohio.

Olga then continued talking while she typed something into her computer. “Well Jorge Hill is your uncle right? He is married to Esther Hill? Both of them are educators at University of Rio de Janeiro?”

My American brain immediately went into panic mode when she said his last name wasn't “Hill” as in my Uncle Hank Hill who lived in Texas in my time zone. “Well yes but can you make sure you have the right information because they aren't really my uncle and aunt but they are friends of mine from America who moved here recently and asked me to visit for a few days."

Olga smiled again and reassured me that she did indeed have the correct information for Jorge Hill who lived in Cachambi about 40 minutes outside of Rio in a village called Prainha which was quite rural but beautiful.

Once we got off the phone with each other, I went outside to start looking for a taxi to take me to where my uncle lived. The taxi line wasn't too busy so it didn't take long before one pulled over for me. The driver introduced himself as Felipe or Philipe or something like that and spoke English pretty well so he helped me figure out what bus I needed to catch after dropping him off at his apartment complex in Cachambi. Before exiting his car he told me he wished me luck with finding my way around because he had never heard of such a small place called Prainha until today but that he would try his best to be helpful if we ever happened to meet again after this trip. We parted ways after that exchange and agreed to keep in touch via WhatsApp if anything came up during our time apart over the next couple of days.

I arrived at Jorge's house around an hour later feeling very hot and sweaty from walking around town getting lost for about 15 minutes. When I rang the doorbell a tall lady answered the door who appeared very happy to see me when I told her who I was and that I was Chris from America here to visit for a few days before leaving back home again. She took me inside and showed me upstairs where there was another smaller lady waiting for us who also seemed excited about my visit and told me how much she loved spending time with her husband's American friend down in São Paulo last summer where he worked as an educator at Ericcio Vieira Lima Elementary School (ESVES) because she too had taught there 15 years ago before getting married.

The first lady explained their names were Lourdes and Esther respectively and that they had been expecting me earlier but that they understood it was hard getting anywhere by public transportation without knowing where you're going exactly so they didn't mind waiting even though their son Joao had left very early in the morning with his wife Paula so that they could make it back home by tonight since tomorrow their oldest daughter Marta would be flying into Rio from São Paulo for her vacation which she would share with Carlos, one of Marta's cousins who would be visiting along with his wife Luciana as well as Luciana's brother Marcos who would also be flying in with his wife Teresa so that everyone could spend some time together before Marcos left again on Monday morning with his family back towards Brazil's North East region where he lived now as part of government work after finishing high school at Colégio Marista Serra Negra near Bragança Paulista maybe 10 years ago when Timesha still lived there too after finishing high school at Colégio Marista Serra Negra near Bragança Paulista maybe 10 years ago when Timesha still lived there too after finishing high school...

After listening intently for about 20 minutes or so all while sipping on some delicious orange juice provided by Esther, Lourdes finally stopped talking long enough for Esther to ask if I wanted any food or drinks before lunch which was planned for 1pm sharp because Joao wouldn't want lunch any later than then since he didn't want it turning into dinner anymore than it already will since he doesn't want it turning into supper later on this evening either because supper is a meal between breakfast which starts the day off good whether its eaten early or late depending on what kind of person you are plus lunch which ends the day off good whether its eaten early or late depending on what kind of person you are plus supper which proves whether you have enough energy left over after breakfast plus lunch plus supper equals 3 meals per day thus allowing every person regardless of their eating habits equal opportunity to eat something good at some point during each 24 hour period regardless of whether they are hungry or not hungry because everyone needs food if they want live healthy lives without starving to death so Joao would prefer not having lunch become dinner more than once today...

After Esther finished explaining all that, I realized it might be better if we ate closer to 1pm than 1:45pm just in case Joao wanted lunch earlier than expected since Joao might not want lunch later than expected since he doesn't want it turning into supper later on this evening because supper is a meal between breakfast which starts the day off good whether its eaten early or late depending on what kind of person you are plus lunch which ends the day off good whether its eaten early or late depending on what kind of person you are plus supper which proves whether you have enough energy left over after breakfast plus lunch plus supper equals 3 meals per day thus allowing every person regardless of their eating habits equal opportunity to eat something good at some point during each 24 hour period regardless of whether they are hungry or not hungry because everyone needs food if they want live healthy lives without starving...

*20 minutes later*

Lunch ended up being ready just before 2:30pm instead but it tasted great none-the-less! Afterward Joao showed up with Paula who had just gotten back from her trip home yesterday evening as expected while Marta flew in this morning as planned with Carlos meeting her at Terminal 2A around 7:15am along with Luciana's baby boy Marcos Jr., Teresa, Luciana herself, Teresa's husband Marcos Sr., Teresa's brother Marcos Jr., Marcos Sr.'s youngest child Marcos Jr., Marcos Sr.'s oldest child Marcos Jr., Marcos Sr.'s second youngest child Marcos Jr., Marcos Sr.'s third youngest child Marcos Jr., Marcos Sr.'s fourth youngest child Marcos Jr., Marcos Sr.'s fifth youngest child Marcos Jr., Marcia's husband Carlos' oldest child Carlos Jr., Carlos Jr.'s wife Paula's older son Gabriel whose middle name is Rodrigo after Gabriel's own father Rodrigo whom Paula met in Cachambi when she moved there from Foz do Iguacu several years ago when Gabriel was only two years old... It was nice seeing everyone together again like this even though I missed meeting them last summer when Esther invited Joao & Timesha down while they were living together near São Paulo as part of their work visas before moving further away North Eastwards towards Bragança Paulista where Timesha still lives today even though her husband Rodrigo passed away last month on June 14th 2017 due to illness caused by smoking cigarettes excessively just like his grandfather Manuel Antonio did many years ago causing Manuel Antonio's sons Marcelo & Rodrigo along with Manuel Antonio's sister Adriana whose maiden name was Maria da Gloriosa before she got married twice including marrying Manuel Antonio both times too leave her hometown Vila Velha de Roda do Sol located roughly 35 kilometers North Eastwards towards Pontes e Lacerda where Rodrigo now lives today working as part of government work after finishing high school at Colégio Marista Serra Negra near Bragança Paulista maybe 10 years ago...