Brazil and Mexico Shoot - Day 2

The Fall Atlanta I would never have seen. . .

“Sorry sir, Australian citizens require a Visa to board this plane. You don’t have a visa.”

Simple as that, I was grounded, stuck in Atlanta, unable to to contact the client and in worlds of stress. . .the gig was up before it even started. . .

I had to get a hotel, find a Brazilian Consulate, get ugly photo’s of myself, fill out forms, stress the hell out. . .the whole nine yards. The trouble was that I hadn’t organised my own travel and the clients travel agent had overlooked this rather important factor. It was a horrible experience but let’s not dwell on it, let’s talk about the good stuff. I’ve met a lot of good people today!

A taxi driver named Jay, of Jay Express, according to his business card, who I was fortuitously paired with today as a result of my unfortunate circumstances. He had just whacked $80 on his credit card to fix his car. He couldn’t afford it and things were looking pretty bleak as he relayed the story to his wife down the phone as I got into the car. I maintain that fate had us meet this day, he was a good guy, got me where I needed to go, smiled and we got on famously. He made more than he would of today, 3 times over by driving me around town to organise a Brazilian visa. Fate. . .I got my Visa, (after spending less than 5 minutes in the Consul, I challenge anybody to best this!) and he’s no longer stressed about the money he spent on the car. . .and will probably have enough left over to take the missus out for dinner. . .Fate. . .

After finally getting the Visa, boarding pass, booked back onto the flight, through security and looking at a 8 hour wait for my flight, I thought I deserved a beer. So I sat at a bar, next to a loud english gentleman. After 5 minutes Malcolm (A bona fide geezer!) and I were having a right old time, and having both had pretty average days, took to each others company with utter abandon. I am almost glad he got on that flight to Gatwick and was whisked away from the bar, if not I might have found myself with a gargantuan hangover tomorrow. Fantastic guy and just what I needed after the last 24 hours, a bloody good laugh and some trouble to boot. Happy days! I hope he’s reading this. . .if you are Malcom, you better bring that girl of yours to the Australia zoo, I’ll be waiting with the brews!

Next up was Jennifer, a wonderful lady lucky enough to work in the Candy industry. . .free lollies. . .is there a better gig? I highly doubt it. . .Astronauts only wish they worked in the confectionery business. In fact I’m sure they started out there and had to fall back on the whole Nasa thing when they couldn’t take it. Anyway, she liked wakeboarding, hanging out at the lake, drinking in the water, having a good time with friends, travelling and most importantly the conversation starter. . .photography. . .I may have talked incessantly about how much she needs to upgrade her old Rebel SLR to the 500d/T1i and start shooting video. . .She was a good sort though. . .I hope she has fun in Argentina. . .

So anyway. . .after all the crap. . .here I am about to try and board a flight to Rio for the second time in as many days. . .I got a visa, I showed it to the guy who barred me yesterday and took great delight in rubbing his nose in my new found Visa-ness. I am cleared for take-off. . .

The real madness starts tomorrow. . . .

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More soon. . .