Business Trip Extraordinaire--Day 22

If everything goes well, this will be my next to last blog post for this trip. I am now in the Rio de Janeiro Galeão airport, waiting for my flight home through JFK. Unfortunately, I can't tell whether the Internet access is free or not, and to find out I would have to provide my driver's license number and many other unnecessary and inappropriate pieces of personal information, so I'll pass. Therefore, you probably won't see this post until I actually return, though I'll adjust the date so you may not even notice.

Day 22 started very nicely, as I went to church this morning in the Ala Botafogo (Botafogo Ward) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The last time I was able to go to sacrament meeting was March 20, so it's about time. There is a meetinghouse very close to the Botafogo metro station, and the metro trip was very quick and I arrived quite early.

Capela da Ala Botafogo

The ward members were very welcoming and friendly. Attendance was low today, but they told me it was lower than normal because of the upcoming Holy Week culminating with Easter. A lot of people have gone on vacation. Sounds like Spring Break, and I'm glad the people in this part of Brazil have that luxury. Botafogo seems like a nice part of town.

After church, I wandered the building a little bit. This church building has three stories, as well as an additional flight of stairs with roof access. I snapped a couple of photos from the roof:

Part of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, taken from the roof of the Botafogo LDS chapel looking west

Part of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro, taken from the roof of the Botafogo LDS chapel looking southwest

I returned to my hotel via metro. By the way, if you use the Rio metro "Pré-Pago" (prepaid) card, be aware that you can only recharge it with at least R$5. I made a mistake and ended up leaving a few reais on my card. I'll use it next time I'm here, but I'm sure the fare will be higher then.

This afternoon, I was tired and needed to pack, so I took it easy and made it a true day of rest in my hotel. That was nice. By the way, I can recommend the Premier Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. My room was generous. It wasn't the newest and looked a little dingy, worn, and dim, but it was also clean, safe, and comfortable. There was an ashtray on the sitting room table, but the room didn't smell like smoke (or anything, for that matter). Breakfast was really nice every day, one of the best free hotel breakfasts I have had (not as good as Hampton Inn though). They allowed me to stay Sunday afternoon before my flight for a small fee that was well under the daily rate, and that was very helpful. There was a slight snafu at checkout, when they played the Famous Minibar Trick, in which they accused me of taking items from the minibar (which I never do). I have been through that before at other hotels, and today they took me at my word when I said I didn't take anything and did not charge me.

Good news from home: Tracy is on the mend, and the kids are healthy. Many thanks to Ott and Tera for helping with the kids a couple of days ago, and thanks also to Miguel and Ellen for taking the kids to church today. Tracy is usually so healthy, but it's just my luck that I'm not around to help when she needs it. But I'm grateful for good friends who are willing to help.

Tomorrow I will conclude this 23-part series, which hopefully will be the end of the longest business trip for the rest of my life.