Hello From Brazil!

I am only three days into this trip and already it has been an amazing experience!

I flew from Columbus to DC to Miami Saturday and stayed overnight. Originally, I was going to sleep in the terminal but I caved and got a hotel near the airport for the night.

The next day I flew eight and a half hours to Curitiba, which is where my high school friend Rafael lives. I started talking to the guy sitting next to me. He is about 40 years old and also lives in Curitiba. His name is Matsuo, but his father is Japanese and the name Matuso is actually the Japanese version of Anthony! Matsuo told me all about Curitiba. He gave me advice on common things to say, good restaurants, good beers and wines. Then we discussed lots of different things, including our cultures, politics, the World Cup, and city planning (for which Curitiba is famous). Matsuo was returning from spending a week in New York City and he had a great time. I was not even in Curitiba yet, but I had already had a great conversation with a native Brazilian and I had lots of advice on Curitiba and the Brazilian culture. It was a great way to start the trip!

After arriving in Curitiba, I met Rafael and my friends from home - Brian and James - at the airport. The only disappointment on the flight was that there was no WiFi and I was hoping to watch all three games that day. I found all three friends at a special location set up at the airport for World Cup watching. I made it just a minute or so before the USA go ahead goal, then watched the heartbreak as Portugal tied the game in the 95th minute. After the game we went to a hot dog place and met Rafael's wife Michlle. It reminded me some of Dirty Franks in Columbus.

We had tickets the next day to the Spain-Australia match, which is one of the games hosted in Curitiba. Curitiba did not get to host many good games, so everyone was originally excited to host Spain, who was one of the favorites at the outset of the World Cup. However, both Spain and Australia were eliminated from competition before the match and it made this matchup meaningless in the World Cup standings. Nonetheless, it was an incredible experience.

You may have heard that Brazil is not happy with how FIFA required Brazil to build stadiums in remote cities that do not have soccer clubs. This is absolutely true. However, the renovation to an existing stadium in Curitiba has been well received and in this case things appear to be working out well. The stadium was beautiful!

The crowd was Brazilian heavy. The Aussies were well represented and were clearly there for one thing only - and it had nothing to do with soccer! There were some Spain fans, but not a lot of them. Brian and I sat two rows from the top of the stadium, but honestly there was not a bad seat in the whole place. We spoke with a girl and a guy sitting in front of us. She was from Spain and moved to Sao Paulo after school. He is Brazilian and they met in Sao Paulo and got married. She was very emotional about the game. Spain won 3-0.

After the game we went to a bar to watch the Brazil-Cameroon game. Let me tell you, this country STOPPED for the game. We met several very friendly people at the bar. Then we went on to a bar that had been nearly taken over by Australian fans after the Brazil game. (Like I said, the Aussies were there to party!)

My Brazilian friend Rafael broke his arm Friday, just before I arrived. He is having surgery Thursday and he had some doctor's appointments yesterday and today. It is very unfortunate, as he is in a lot of pain and has been taking pain medication. Rafael and Michelle went to work before appointments this afternoon. But they picked Brian, James and me up to eat at a place called Batel Grill. Let me tell you, this is probably one of the best places I have ever eaten at! The Spain team ate there a few days ago when they got in town, if that tells you anything. They bring out meat and pasta almost continuously to the table and there is a small buffet of other foods. Everything tasted wonderful!

Rafael and Michelle dropped the three of us at the airport. James is heading home and Brian and I flew to Foz Do Iguacu. It is a city on the border of Argentina and Paraguay. The falls here are supposed to be amazing. We will see tomorrow!

I have pictures on Facebook of the game yesterday and I will try to continue to update with some highlights of the trip. Everything has been amazing so far!