GETTING TO RIO
Getting from the Iguassu Falls to Rio proved to be a problem, as the departure monitor at the airport indicated the flight to
São Paulo would be delayed almost an hour. This caused a panic, because I had only an hour's leeway for a connection
from there to Rio de Janeiro. However, the gate agent assured me there were other planes to Rio from São Paulo and
they all had seats available.
Still, when I was on board the plane I wanted to ask the flight attendants if they could ask the pilot to inform us about the
status of our connecting flights. It was possible, I mused, that if my flight was delayed by weather problems that other planes might be as well, and that I would catch my originally scheduled plane.
One by one, however, the flight attendants told me they spoke no English, which I found absurd aboard a large Brazilian
carrier which transported tourists from a renowned destination such as the Iguassu Falls. Finally, the last flight attendant demonstrated at the least a bit of pidgin English and said he would make sure upon my arrival that I was situated on
another flight.
However, upon my arrival there was a GOL service worker with a list of names and who spoke no English. I couldn't believe
that at an international airport that such a large airline would employ a non-English speaking person to handle the travel problems effected by their late arrival. I demanded an English-speaking person and one quickly came. He was from the baggage handling office and handled the situation well, telling me that I was already put on another flight that would get me
into Rio only a couple of hours later.
And that I was lucky because the new plane was at the airport whereas the aircraft for the original flight to which I was going
to connect had never arrived in Rio at all.
I thanked him and had the foresight to get his name and his mobile phone number. This, because when I attempted to enter
the boarding area with the newly issued documents, the security forces would not admit me and kept jabbering at me in Portugese. Again, no one in the vicinity spoke any English at all.
Now before you assume that I'm the proverbial ugly American, I speak fairly good French, a bit of German and tiny bit of Spanish. None of it helped here. Plus, it is well known that many citizens from other countries use English as their travel language, in particular Europeans and Asian travelers, so I was incredulous that so few people spoke English at São Paulo's largest airport.
I pointed to the paper where I'd scrawled the GOL baggage handler's phone number, and in a few minutes he arrived and straightened the matter out. I was never sure why there was a problem, but I think it had something to do with the fact that
my boarding pass was "in-transit" and yet I was reentering the Boarding area from the main airport terminal, which was due
to the fact that I'd been escorted to the baggage handler area to deal with my problem.
Needless to say my problems didn't end there. My 8 p.m. departure kept getting delayed, though no other flights on the
monitor were. It turned out that I was given wrong information by the baggage handler and the plane was still in Rio, delayed there as well. Plus, all the announcements at the gate were only in Portugese. Plus the gate people didn't speak English.
I became apoplectic.
Fortunately, a young Brazilian who spoke English beautifully took pity on me and became my new pal until we boarded the flight. A good thing, because after delay and delay it was announced -- of course in Portugese -- that the gate for the flight
had changed.
We arrived in Rio almost 11:30 p.m. -- a good six hours late and too late to make the express bus, which I'd arranged
(Empresa Real -- only 6 Reals or a bit more than $3) and I had to take a cab, which cost almost $30. Oh, well, at least
I didn't have to pay for dinner that night.
Follow Michael Russnow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrloy
Contact Us
São Paulo would be delayed almost an hour. This caused a panic, because I had only an hour's leeway for a connection
from there to Rio de Janeiro. However, the gate agent assured me there were other planes to Rio from São Paulo and
they all had seats available.
Still, when I was on board the plane I wanted to ask the flight attendants if they could ask the pilot to inform us about the
status of our connecting flights. It was possible, I mused, that if my flight was delayed by weather problems that other planes might be as well, and that I would catch my originally scheduled plane.
One by one, however, the flight attendants told me they spoke no English, which I found absurd aboard a large Brazilian
carrier which transported tourists from a renowned destination such as the Iguassu Falls. Finally, the last flight attendant demonstrated at the least a bit of pidgin English and said he would make sure upon my arrival that I was situated on
another flight.
However, upon my arrival there was a GOL service worker with a list of names and who spoke no English. I couldn't believe
that at an international airport that such a large airline would employ a non-English speaking person to handle the travel problems effected by their late arrival. I demanded an English-speaking person and one quickly came. He was from the baggage handling office and handled the situation well, telling me that I was already put on another flight that would get me
into Rio only a couple of hours later.
And that I was lucky because the new plane was at the airport whereas the aircraft for the original flight to which I was going
to connect had never arrived in Rio at all.
I thanked him and had the foresight to get his name and his mobile phone number. This, because when I attempted to enter
the boarding area with the newly issued documents, the security forces would not admit me and kept jabbering at me in Portugese. Again, no one in the vicinity spoke any English at all.
Now before you assume that I'm the proverbial ugly American, I speak fairly good French, a bit of German and tiny bit of Spanish. None of it helped here. Plus, it is well known that many citizens from other countries use English as their travel language, in particular Europeans and Asian travelers, so I was incredulous that so few people spoke English at São Paulo's largest airport.
I pointed to the paper where I'd scrawled the GOL baggage handler's phone number, and in a few minutes he arrived and straightened the matter out. I was never sure why there was a problem, but I think it had something to do with the fact that
my boarding pass was "in-transit" and yet I was reentering the Boarding area from the main airport terminal, which was due
to the fact that I'd been escorted to the baggage handler area to deal with my problem.
Needless to say my problems didn't end there. My 8 p.m. departure kept getting delayed, though no other flights on the
monitor were. It turned out that I was given wrong information by the baggage handler and the plane was still in Rio, delayed there as well. Plus, all the announcements at the gate were only in Portugese. Plus the gate people didn't speak English.
I became apoplectic.
Fortunately, a young Brazilian who spoke English beautifully took pity on me and became my new pal until we boarded the flight. A good thing, because after delay and delay it was announced -- of course in Portugese -- that the gate for the flight
had changed.
We arrived in Rio almost 11:30 p.m. -- a good six hours late and too late to make the express bus, which I'd arranged
(Empresa Real -- only 6 Reals or a bit more than $3) and I had to take a cab, which cost almost $30. Oh, well, at least
I didn't have to pay for dinner that night.
Follow Michael Russnow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrloy
Contact Us
