I Made It!

Well, i made it to brazil. this keyboard is different and harder toreach the shift button so i dont want to use punctuation orcapitalization. sorry mom...anyway, my trip down here was long! i left on tuesday from portlandat 1030 and got to dallas at about 2ish, but it was 4ish in dallas.then from dallas my plane was supposed to leave at 745 but apparentlythe plane broke down so we got delayed for 3 hours. i was so bored.. idid meat up with other elders that were going to the ctm in brazilthere. but it was still a long wait. so we finally leave at 1120 andit is a 10 hour flight. i was able to sleep during a lot of it so thatwas good. I got to sao paulo at 11 in the morning sao paulo time andmy plane to teresina was supposed to left at 1015am. but because ofthe delay in dallas, i was not on that plane. so i had to wait in saopaulo until 630 for the next plane to teresina. that finally camearound and we flew to brasilia then to teresina. i FINALLY got toteresina at midnight and president dias was there to pick me up. therewas another elder flying with me so i wasnt completely alone. it was along two days though that is for sure.president took us to mcdonalds at it was pretty gross. it didnt tastelike american mcdonalds at all. after that we went to the mission homeand i got bed at 2 in the morning and i had to wake up at 630. thenthat day we went to a meeting and i had an interview with presidentdias and he told me his expectations and vision for the mission. theni went with the office elders to the police station to getfingerprints and some ID. then i went to the mission office and hadanother interview to find out my companion and area and myexpectations and stuff. then i went to presidents condo for dinner andit was really good. i went to sleep again and had to wake up at 5 toget to to bus station on time.i had a 6 hour bus ride to sobral and that is where i am now. it isnorth east of teresina and it is a humble little city.. i like itthough. my companions name is elder blackham and he is going home indecember. he is way cool and we get along. he is helping me a lot tolearn the language and be able to understand what people are saying tome. it is so hard for me to understand what people are saying becausei cant listen fast enough and they kind of slur their words and itsjust tough to get their accent. it also doesnt help that i dont knowportuguese haha. i am learning quickly though. im starting to be ableto get the gist of what people say, i just cant respond yet. i willget it though.so it is very hot. i dont know how hot exactly but i havent stoppedsweating since i got off the plane. i drink probably a gallon and ahalf of water everyday and i pee less than ever before. im prettysure when i drink water it comes right out through sweat. its prettygross. haha. i love it here though. the heat isnt all that bad. it isbetter than idaho winter for sure.so i live across the street from some kind of market and every morningat 5 they bring pigs that are tied up at their feet and just lay themon the ground for hours until people buy them. the pigs just lay thereand scream and it is the most annoying sound in the world. like thatsound that lloyd makes in dumb and dumber is actually pretty similarto this except imagine that but times 10 and at 5 in the morning...haha it is great.well, i am alive and loving brazil. it is different for sure, but ilove it a lot. i would love to hear from everyone. anyone can email mestill if you dont want to write a letter. oh yeah... mom, if you wantto, you can join missionary moms or whatever and on there you can knowwhat to write on a package or anything like that on there. the rulesare strict of what you can send but i think there are ways around itif you ever want to send me a package. my companions mom is way intomissionary mom so i guess it helps... i dont really know what is isexactly... anyway.. i love it here and i am doing great. I love youall and i hope you are doing well. i would love more letters! (i gotone from bailey and chad so tell them thanks for me or if they readthis, thank you bailey and chad!)love, elder robertson