Arrived in Forteleza, Brazil. We are greeted by an older lady, Odirene (o-ja-re-nee), one of the coordinators helping us with the study abroad program in Brazil. Dr. Pace, Annie, Mary Alice, Rosa Lee, Sarah, Amber, Abbey, Natalie, Lucy, Simon, Randy, Titus, Stewart, Neal, and I stuff all of our bags in one van and get in another. The narrow, bumpy roads are bustling with a variety of different kinds of   transportations. We arrive at a gorgeous, cute hotel by the name of Villa Major. The groups pair up and go to their rooms to get situated and relax for a bit. Later on we meet downstairs to explore the city together.

The Jameson Distillery is a stop we made on our second day. This is one of my favorite memories yet… I hope it is conveyed as funny as when we experienced but I know it will not be. For my side was splitting in pain and I was reduced to tears. So keep in mind this is a “had to be there kind of story” but such a good one it is worth telling. 

We bought our tickets but the tour did not start for 20 minutes. Elaine passed the tickets out to Theresa (Tn cis), Charlie (student), Emily(student), and myself. There were only five of us because we frequently paired off and did our own thing… 14 people in one restaurant is just a “bunch of obnoxious Americans” . We are usually close by each other but …back to story. Emily and I shop in the gift shop and there were some bathroom breaks. (Actually everyone here calls it the toilet. The signs even say so.) Before the tour starts, Emily is looking for her ticket to get ready to go inside the theatre room. She has lost her ticket (8euros) But we did not fret long because Elaine pulls out a ticket and said she found one beside the sink in the bathroom, she had thought it was her own. So we proceed to take the tour… a 10 min video and then a guided tour of these rooms that are a remake of the distillery. Half way through I am anticipating the end, the serrated stub at the end of my tickets affords me the chance to try Jameson, something I have never done. I had stuffed my ticket inside my coat. It is not there. I frantically am looking through my clothes when Elaine walks up to me and in her british accent “Whats wrong?” I tell her I have lost my ticket. She plainly says “Well I just found one on the floor” while she pulls my ticket out of her purse for the second time. At this point my sleep deprivation is slipping in and the giddyness is on high. I can not bellieve Elaine keeps finding our tickets we keep losing. I recompose myself and we continue on the tour without too much of an interuption. Into the next room we are again the last ones to leave each room while the 20 -30 people proceed with the guide to the next location. But we linger a bit here because frantically charlie comes up to us and has lost his ticket as well. At this time I lose it, laughing so hard while I am trying to tell Theresa what has occurred during the course of the tour.(She is trying to compose us). My story is filled with a hoarse vice of  “and then”, and “and then”, over and over till I finally spit it out this magic purse that keeps spitting out tickets,while Elaine is leaning against the wall crying with laughter. We are all laughing so hard while I tell Elaine, she must go help Charlie find his ticket because she is the only one who can (with a dramatic emphasis). the ticket is found- we gain composure but as we enter the next room we find that the 20-30 people and the guide were all quietly watching our breakdown of sleep deprivation. By then we welcomed a straight shot of Jameson.