We arrived safely in Rio de Janeiro after a long flight from Newark to Sao Paulo and then a short flight from Sao Paulo to Rio. My friend Helaine (a professor at the University of Sao Paulo) arranged for good, reliable taxi drivers to pick us up at the airport and bring us to our hotel. We got to the Hotel Copacabana Atlantico around 3:00 in the afternoon. Some of the students borrowed my cell phone to call their parents. One photo shows Jared and Rotem trying to figure out how to use my cell phone to text message their parents. I had to do it for them. I thought that all kids now days were born with the innate ability to use all electronic devices. I guess not. After getting settled in the hotel we went down to the beach for a very late lunch and for a walk by the water. Then we went shopping for fruit, juice, water, and other essentials. Our hotel is nicely situated, only a quarter mile from the beach (one photo shows the road to the beach), next door to the bank (but their international ATM machines aren't working, a perennial problem in Brazil), across the street from a burger joint (bad), and across the street from a fresh fruit and juice store (good).
