Finally in Sao Paulo

I suddenly realized that I left you all on Friday without having paid for my glass of wine. Sorry for that. Owe you one.

I went upstairs in to make my suitcase to find out that the lock was stuck and it wouldn't close. Fortunately there were two locks on the side, which held it all somewhat together and the check-in lady gave me some tape to reinforce it. The airport was crowded at 6 am already , with long slow queues everywhere. I said goodbye to Paola who continued in the taxi to another terminal and Daf who was headed to Atlanta. It took me quite some time to go past the whole security business. The plane took off at 8 am and after an hour of heavy turbulence and shakes we safely landed aT JFK at 3:30 pm, where I waited until 9 pm to get my connecting flight to Sao Paulo (used the business lounge again).

The flight home was uneventful but for a Korean guy who did not understand my request for moving to two empty seats so that I could have three in the middle and stretch down. He insisted on staying next to his wife who sat on the aisle next to him :-(

As we neared Brasilia, we noticed the plane was flying in circles and the pilot informed us we were going to Rio instead as the airport in Sao Paulo was closed and he needed more fuel. We waited in Rio for 2:30 hours for permission to take off to Sao Paulo until 10:30 am (we should have landed there at 8 am). We finally landed aT 11:30 (my son had almost given up on me) and as there were lots of planes arriving at the same time, I only managed to drive home at 2 pm., where I just had a shower and went straight to bed to wake up now at 8 pm with the telephone ringing. Tomorrow - 8 hours of classes at school!

However, in spite of all these delays, I do not regret a single moment of having participated at this conference. It was awesome meeting and being with all of you. We should plan to do this more often (without the conference bit...hehehe). Who knows we can get another WiA jamboree for the Braz-Tesol conference in Fortaleza next year?

My photos are on Flickr if you care to see
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bee/
and I would appreciate if you all could send me the address to yours. Or just tag them all with wia2007tesol and they will pop up in Technorati.

Get Closer to Us!

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It's two in the morning, but we felt we owe this to each one of us who is close to us in thoughts, but physically around the globe!

Have fun!

Beijos,

Carla and Erika

Dennis - No Words to Thank You...

Dear Dennis,

Only such a special person could have such a wonderful surprise for us during our get-together. The night was already so intense, everybody chatting and sharing. I couldn't even sit! I wanted to be everywhere talking to each one of those fantastic souls, I couldn't miss any moment. Just wanted to freeze it.The photos are the image that will always be in my mind. And to make the night even more perfect, those wonderful tulips just arrived. Magic moments deserve red tulips. Who sent them? You, my dear friend, Dennis. We'll never be able to express our thanks for such a sweet, thoughtful gift from Arizona! You were there all the time with us.

Thanks,

Carla and Erika

Erika and Carla in Seattle

On a rainy day, two smiley Brazilians! Erika and I finally met again. We chatted a lot, and as we walked to the Convention Center, we kept wondering if we could spot a Webhead, like if there were any special feature that would kind of beep when our sensors spotted one of these very special people. Well, of course, we stopped by at the Electronic Village, you know, just in case...Then, there was someone looking in the other direction. I felt it! I discretly checked her badge, and yes! Elizabeth Hanson-Smith. We introduced ourselves and she whooped, everybody stared at us, but we were so excited that nobody could interfere with that special moment. Fantastic! We met the first of many Webheads. We can't wait to see all those faces whose voices (and thumbnails!) are so familiar! Wait for more tomorrow. It will start off with Elizabeth's Colloquium with Dafne, Buthaina, Teresa, Bee, and Jane Petring, and will extend to the evening get-together.

Beijos from Seattle,
Carla

Counting Down

In San Antonio I heard the first time the word "Webheads" and I remember the get-together of the Webheads there. Christine Ramazzani mentioned it. Here I am, eager to see some familiar faces and meet many others who I feel so close. How exciting is that? I'm sure it will be thrilling to be there with all of you!

Beijos and see you soon!

Carla