I was chatting up the tourists and practicing my conversational skills. I lost track of time - never a good idea on a tour! Suddenly, I remembered that I had been with a group. I got nervous and furtively made my way to the parking lot. There I made the astounding discovery that the Philharmonic buses had departed. I asked a random person there, ‘ Diga-me o que aconteceu com ônibus americano ” (Tell me what happened to the American bus) He answered, “ O grupo americano já foi embora” (The American group just left) I was frozen in panic. Forget about speaking Portuguese, I could no longer speak English. All I could do was say a four- letter word over and over while it dawned on me that I not only had I missed my connection but I also had neither passport nor money. I was truly f-cked! The Brazilian tourist I had just spoken with said something I did not understand and drove me to a small administrative o ice on the outskirts of the park. They will help me, he seemed to say. The administrator in this oƯice was dressed like a park's ranger. She had a mop of curly hair and sat with her feet on a steel desk on an old-fashioned roll back chair. She did not speak one word of English.
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