29/08/2014 GRU TO UDI Everything went well enough considering that I had been awake since 2am. Checked out the hotel and arrived back at Guarulhos…. Then the fun began….. Walked up to the Information Desk… Nice Man: Oh I cannot find your flight information. There are not enough numbers on your boarding pass. Me: Oh my goodness. I don’t know. Does South African Airways have an office or something here? Nice Man: No. But you can go to TAM’s desk. Me: Ok. Where is it? Nice Man: Uptairs (sic) on turd (sic) floor. Me: (double checking) Upstairs? Third floor? Nice Man: Nooooo. Uptairs, furd floor. Me: Oh, I see. Never mind, I will go and look upstairs. Obrigado. Nice Man flashes a dazzling white smile. So off I go to who knows where. TADAAAAAAAAAAAAA TAM Lineas …. I am so delighted and happy!! Upon showing the TAM representative my reservation form, she seems to know exactly who I am. “No, you are now flying with PASSAREDO from Terminal 4”. She takes my form and writes it down in bold capital letters. “Ummm, where is Terminal 4”? “Go take bus, coz it is far” My heart sank. Back to the nice man with the dazzling white smile at the Information Desk. I show him my reservation form: “That lady wrote this…. “ “Oh” says the nice man with the dazzling white smile “you must go outside and take a black bus to Terminal 4” I.NEARLY. STOPPED. BREATHING. AND. I. STARTED. TO. CRY. I was running out of time PLUS I had to leave the familiarity of Terminal 2. ‘Twas a miracle indeed, a black bus pulled up immediately!! Hand signal to bus driver .. ‘show four fingers and shrug shoulders’ - he nods his head. I now have to haul all my luggage onto this bus with me and I am plumb out of strength. The nice bus driver man smiles patiently and waits. Right. Now I am on a bus heading away from Terminal 2 and NO ONE speaks English. The people on the bus are really friendly though… they chatter away to me… I smile and wave, literally.. We reach Terminal 3. People hop on and off. Now we are heading completely away from Guarulhos…. Mooooommmmmyyy!! Paulloooo!!! Someoneee!! Anybodddyyy!! By this time it was becoming most interesting as I should have already checked in for my connecting flight to Uberlandia!! Halfway back into Sao Paulo city, the bus goes around a traffic circle and we head back to Guarulhos. YaY! It feels as though hours have passed. From then on it got better! :D I found Passaredo easily. I even got my luggage checked in. Boarding at Gate 83 at 07:15. It was now 07:30. I find Gate 83 and get in the queue. At the gate, they rattle off something to me about 84. “Gate 84?” “Yes” “Oh okay, may I stand right here please?” “Yes. Wait 5 minutes at Gate 84” “Yes” I become suspicious after about 3 minutes when I noticed a queue forming at Gate 82. I managed to interpret the ‘board’ …. Flight 2184 to Uberlandia…. Right queue, right plane, right destination. Hallelujah! I am on my way to my lovey!! I walk out onto the ‘tarmac’ and follow the queue. And there she stands, waiting patiently… with both her propellers relaxed and still… OH. DEAR. GOD. !!!! I have never been on such a small plane! OH. DEAR. GOD. !!!! I. AM. GOING. TO. DIE. I almost burst into tears again…. It is cold, with really thick dark clouds hovering over Guarulhos Airport… I. WANT. TO. GO. HOME. !!!! Well, Cilla, that is exactly where you are going to in this really cute little plane. (Ok, the plane was not that small, but it was one of those twin prop planes that always run into huge trouble in the Caribbean and other exotic destinations in horror movies where the passengers who survive, form lifelong friendships) MOMMYYY!! PAULLOO!!! Up the ten or so steps. Seat 7B. Someone is already sitting there. Do I mind sitting ‘here’? Of course I do not mind, I am going to be sick and die anyhow. Right. Now I am really seeing those movies and doccies… This particular type of plane. Last minute seat change… You know, the one where you either die because you swopped seats or you survive because you swopped seats… I sat there wondering which of the two would record my role in this aviation disaster. At this stage, I felt numb AND paralysed. WAS I TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY F*CKED IN MY MIND AND HEAD?? My seat is in line with those propellors… It seems the wings are above my head… One to each side of me. So we go and join the queue of LOTS of other planes awaiting take-off. THEN I notice it! The right propeller is spinning. Left one is not even responding to the wind outside. It is DEAD STILL. We are now taxying down the runway. I frantically point this out to the flight attendant, who smiles sweetly and says “It’s okay”… OH. MY. GOD. WE. ARE. GOING. TO. DIE. !!! Having watched waaaay too many episodes of Air Crash Investigation and, in particular, a truly spectacular crash at Guarulhos where the plane overshot the runway and landed up on one of the highways and killed hundreds of people…. I simply wished that I had not ever even heard of Air Crash Investigation. What on earth had ever possessed me to find it interesting to watch planes crash?! The plane is now doing her shake, rattle and roll dance in preparation for take-off. I wished I could stop my heart to avoid dying in a plane crash…. Oh I had seen how the post crash investigation uncovers how Mrs Nobody Really did notice there was a crack or the propeller was still……… This plane is roaring and thundering down the runway now with that one little old propeller really spinning her head off……… Splutter!! Whrrrrr!!! Propeller Number 2 spins into life!!! Hey! Maybe we are not going to die after all… It is overcast and windy --- this is going to be real fun, I can tell. Actually, I was completely and totally shocked and amazed! It was a much smoother ‘lift off’ than the A330 yesterday…. We were now serviced juice and nuts … took a little while as the cabin crew had to be seated due to turbulence ahead as announced by the pilot. Hey, what turbulence? This little tremor? This plane is really not that bad. I had some water and a packet of nuts in a green savoury shell – declicious!! Tasted a bit like a combo of wasabi and savoury… best I could describe. The journey literally flew! Next thing I know, the thud of what I really hoped was the landing gear!! lol Man! That pilot hit those brakes with gusto!! Very short runway!! I could not actually believe what a smooth flight it had been. About 10 steps down and I was walking into Uberlandia terminal. My suitcase came through on this conveyor belt second in line !! And there he stood......
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:53:27 +0000
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