Sunday Afternoon

Trip Start Aug 18, 2007
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Trip End Sep 01, 2007


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Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Hotel Gran Exceler in Campo Grande was clean and quite adequate for my needs. After all, I just needed a place to sleep and await the rendezvous with the EarthWatch vans at 7 am Monday morning. I arrived in the mid afternoon and was the first of our team at the hotel. My tiny little room had three beds in it. I was told to expect Todd and Craig at any time. Since I was exhausted, I decided to take a nap while awaiting their arrival. I don't really remember much after my head hit the pillow. I awoke with a start at precisely 6 pm. The noise that woke me sounded like a fire station across the street ringing its bell. I looked out the window to see a large group of people streaming into a tiny catholic church across the street. Six o'clock Mass was just beginning. I was curious, and decided to go have a look. I was not surprised when I was greeted by many kind people and invited inside. The church was full to capacity, and it was standing room only, so I joined some friendly people standing in the back On the river. Bird team.
On the river. Bird team.
 . The service was lovely. I didn't understand most of it since it was given in Portuguese, but the spirit was nice, so I decided to stay. After the Mass, the children lined up to get popcorn from cart vendors on the sidewalk. I crossed back over to my hotel thinking about the hunger pangs in my stomach. Up in my room I met Todd, my roommate and the first of EarthWatch team XI to the Pantanal. He's a great guy, and I'll tell you all about him after we've met the rest of the team. We went downstairs and found a few more members of our eleven member crew. We went down the street to a very nice fish restaurant. There is much to tell here, but suffice it to say that we began to build the solid friendships that would see us through the next two weeks at the research site. I'm anxious to get into the field, and I'm sure you are too!
To be continued.......
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