*Beep Beep*
Just outside my small, one floor house in a small town by the name of Plainfield, New Jersey, was a yellow taxi beeping it's horn to signal it's arrival to carry me to Newark Airport to catch a flight to Rio de Janeiro, the best city in the world... In my opinion.
I was all packed and ready to spend one week in the livest city during their livest times; Carnaval. I had three bags waiting eagerly by the front door, wanting me to hurry up and load them in the trunk of the taxi so we can set out on our journey.
I raised my wrist and gave a quick glance at my digital watch. It read: Friday, February 19, 2016, 6:49 A.M. I only had two hours and 41 minutes to catch my flight. I walked to my front door and turned around to check my small house once more before leaving. Everything was perfectly neat and organized. I glanced to the left and looked into the living room to see two wide, brown sofas that could seat 3 comfortable propped opposite to each other with a brown coffee table with a complex stitched rug below it between the two sofas. Passed the table was a TV stand with an old 48" tube television sitting on top. Above the TV was a family portrait portraying my father, my mother, my sister, and I all smiling happily, dressed in our Sunday's best.
I looked to my right to see my dining room glowing in the morning sun. With a panoramic window, all the light from outside shone into the dinning room and reflected off of the plastic table covering and onto the walls. The long, rectangular table could seat two chairs on each side and one on each end. The two chairs on each side had a cloth covering to match the wallpaper and the chairs on the end had arms, unlike the other seats which exuded elegance and brought the whole room together.
Seeing that my house was in order. I opened the door and grabbed two of my three bags. I spotted the taxi in my drive way and gave the driver a quick head nod that showed him that I had more bags inside. He quickly stepped out his minivan and awkwardly walked to my house. He quickly got the other bag and walked to the trunk of the vehicle, forgetting to close the door behind him so I set down my two bags and walked back to my front door, closed it and locked it.
By the time I got back to the vehicle, the driver had already fit all my bags in the trunk and was already waiting for my in the car. I sat in the passenger seat and couldn't help but comment on how speedy he was with what he did and he replied, "Dank you" in a broken English with a slight Spanish accent.
I told him I was going to Newark airport and he gave a soft nod since he was very focused on the road. I told him how I was going to Brazil for a week and from there we sparked idle chit chat. I learned he had recently came to America from Peru about 7 years ago and ever since then he's been working with his family as a taxi driver. In no time we were on Interstate 78 and close to Newark Airport.
He dropped me off at Terminal B and helped bring my bags inside and said a final good-bye and a, "I hope you have a safe travel". I glanced at my watch again and it read: Friday, February 19, 2016, 7:33 A.M. I had plenty of time.
The airport was close to empty with the exception of about 75 people which was a small amount compared the the large number of people it could really hold. I walked to the front desk and waited behind 5 people. When it was my turn to go up, a jolly woman spoke clearly, "next please". I stepped up with my bags rolling closely behind me and when I looked up, her bright blues eyes met my glowing brown eyes. She asked for my information so I gave her everything she asked for. Soon enough she sent me on my way to my gate with my boarding pass. I left my bags with the lady to put on the plane's cargo deck. My destination was gate 25. When I got there, I had a hour and 25 minutes left before my plane would take off for it's approximately 12 hour flight to Rio. In that hour I waited, I texted some of my family and friends telling them to take care over the next week and played a few games of Temple Run.
When the time passed and it was time to board, my cabin was the first one called. I grabbed my carry on bag and headed for the plane. I gave another woman at a desk my ticket that I recently received to board the plane. I headed to the back of the plane; the economy section, where there were three columns of seating. The two columns on the end had two seats and the middle column could seat three. I went to my row, row 56, put my bag in the overhead storage compartment and sat in the middle seat in the middle column. I was one of the first people on board and I started to wonder would I would seat next to during the flight; I hoped it would be some company I would enjoy. As people came on board and the seats next to me were not being filled I started to think I would have no company, which I could deal with. I could have some time to myself.
Five minutes before take off, the seats still were not taken. I decided to pull out my iPod and a notepad and pen to write a story or two while listening to music. Doing so made the 12 hours fly by and in what seemed like 45 minutes, the plan was landing.
When the plane landed I gather my bags and stepped outside to be devastated. I stepped out into a downpour of rain. The raindrops fell hard onto the ground and on the tall palm trees planted across the street from the airport. I quickly called for a taxi with the wave of a hand and he pulled up in front of me and helped put my bags in the back. I told the drive I was going to Olinda Rio Hotel but he had trouble understanding me so I pulled out my notepad and wrote down the address which he finally understood.
We drove in the rain for what seemed like hours and the only thing I could think about was how all my plans got ruined. I was hoping on going to the beach to tan, meet ladies, and go in the ocean. I wanted to party Carnaval style but I didn't plan on going if it continued to rain. I also wanted to go to the Corcovado Mountain to check out the Chris the Redeemer Statue but I had no intention on hiking those stairs in the rain. My week was ruined if it continued to rain.
I finally arrived at my hotel, checked in, and headed to my hotel room. I settle down and checked out the room: There was a living room, a bed room, a big bathroom and a patio that lead to a deck that gave a view of the ocean. In the living room, there was a sofa and a love sea that was around a coffee table with a glass top that had a few coasters and a handbook that said "Your Hotel Experience". There was also a flat screen TV that looked like it was about 32", sitting on a medium size stand that stopped up to about my waist. Passed the living room was a wide, sliding clear door that lead to the deck. I pulled back the door and stepped onto the deck to see what would be a beautiful sight on a nice, sunny day. In this depressing downpour I saw the ocean rippling with grey waters that met with the grey horizon the sky made in the distance. Before that, palm trees swayed and rocked back in forth in the wind. Below the deck was a main street with few cars passing by due to the rainy weather.
I went back inside and closed the door behind me. I went into the next room, which was the bedroom. In the middle of the room was a California King size bed; a bed not made for a single person to sleep in alone. To the right of the bed was a wide window that showed the grey skies which I couldn't bare to look at anymore. To the right of the bed was the bathroom. Inside was a shower, a bathtub, and a Jacuzzi. I couldn't help but imagine how many ladies I would've brought back during the week to come party in the Jacuzzi with me. I let the thought go out of my head the same time I let a sigh out. I went back to the living room to spot a minibar with drinks in a cabinet above-head. I took out a shot glass and a bottle of White Rum Imported from Jamaica. I filled up the glass to the top and raise my glass high. "To a fun vacation!" I said with sarcasm to myself then took the shot to the head.
