We hope you enjoy our team presentation. We would like to thank Dr. Jose DaCruz, Associate Professor of Political Science at Armstrong University, for his translation and language training of our team. Muito Obrigado, Senhor DaCruz.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Cuarta-feira em Rio Branco!
This is my first chance to blog from Brazil, and there is so much to say!
MONDAY: We visited a newly revitalized city park called Portal principal do Horto Florestal. Lots of examples of local trees and flowers, all of which seemed completely exotic to us North Americans. The park includes a new education center with computer lab and library for school groups-- also a recycling center where they make old paper into craft items. Very clever. In the afternoon, we saw the Palace of the Governor of the State of Acre, the council chambers for the state assembly with enormous wooden inlay murals, and other downtown sights-- then the Museu da Borracha, the Rubber Museum, where you can see the remnants of old manufacturing techniques (cutting diagonally into the bark of the trees, draining and boiling the sap, and rolling the rubber into balls that are floated up the rivers).
TUESDAY: The vocational day! We each shadowed a local professional and learned about our careers from a Brazilian point of view. I had a wonderful talk with an artist who specializes in wedding and news photography. Later I joined Jenny and Everett for a tour of a local slum clinging to the banks of a filthy, flooding river. The place was an incredible study in contrasts: houses falling into sewage, but the people living there had satellite TV´s and cell phones and spotless clothing-- and they were gracious and tolerant of us strangers walking through their neighborhood. Very humbling. And of course fascinating for photography. The state is building new neighborhoods for these people and giving them their own homes almost for free, but some economic and sociological challenges still stand in the way of change... More on that later.
WEDNESDAY: A hike through private land/preservation area a few miles outside the city. MUITA LAMA! (translation: lots of mud) We sampled various fruits straight out of the jungle, learned about the restrictions on tree-cutting, and marveled at the trees over a hundred feet high. Then we saw the Arena da Floresta, the big soccer arena that´s getting a make-over in the hopes that it will be chosen to be the northern Brazil host for the 2014 Copa do Mundo (world cup soccer). Some of us went to our hosts´ homes for lunch, and others went to Big Lunche restaurant for a buffet. Now we have a few spare moments to blog and regroup, and hopefully there will be more chances to get on a computer during the next few days. Our apologies to those who were hoping for multiple blogs each day! We will do our best to keep in touch... And photos will follow soon. Atelogo!
MONDAY: We visited a newly revitalized city park called Portal principal do Horto Florestal. Lots of examples of local trees and flowers, all of which seemed completely exotic to us North Americans. The park includes a new education center with computer lab and library for school groups-- also a recycling center where they make old paper into craft items. Very clever. In the afternoon, we saw the Palace of the Governor of the State of Acre, the council chambers for the state assembly with enormous wooden inlay murals, and other downtown sights-- then the Museu da Borracha, the Rubber Museum, where you can see the remnants of old manufacturing techniques (cutting diagonally into the bark of the trees, draining and boiling the sap, and rolling the rubber into balls that are floated up the rivers).
TUESDAY: The vocational day! We each shadowed a local professional and learned about our careers from a Brazilian point of view. I had a wonderful talk with an artist who specializes in wedding and news photography. Later I joined Jenny and Everett for a tour of a local slum clinging to the banks of a filthy, flooding river. The place was an incredible study in contrasts: houses falling into sewage, but the people living there had satellite TV´s and cell phones and spotless clothing-- and they were gracious and tolerant of us strangers walking through their neighborhood. Very humbling. And of course fascinating for photography. The state is building new neighborhoods for these people and giving them their own homes almost for free, but some economic and sociological challenges still stand in the way of change... More on that later.
WEDNESDAY: A hike through private land/preservation area a few miles outside the city. MUITA LAMA! (translation: lots of mud) We sampled various fruits straight out of the jungle, learned about the restrictions on tree-cutting, and marveled at the trees over a hundred feet high. Then we saw the Arena da Floresta, the big soccer arena that´s getting a make-over in the hopes that it will be chosen to be the northern Brazil host for the 2014 Copa do Mundo (world cup soccer). Some of us went to our hosts´ homes for lunch, and others went to Big Lunche restaurant for a buffet. Now we have a few spare moments to blog and regroup, and hopefully there will be more chances to get on a computer during the next few days. Our apologies to those who were hoping for multiple blogs each day! We will do our best to keep in touch... And photos will follow soon. Atelogo!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Arrival In Rio Branco
We woke up the next morning to our first taste of Brazilian cuisine, the breakfast in the hotel was loaded with frutas. Brazilian coffee is very strong, comes with pre-added sugar and lubricates the body like motor oil. Just add a little milk and Viola!, you have and instant jumpstart. John, our team leader gave us 4 mins and 37 seconds to finish our food. We sucked down as much fruits and coffee we could take and were zoomed off to the Sao Paulo airport by a Shuttle Van. Once again, we were processed quickly at the airport. John always points us in the right direction and with the proper advice. Team Savannah was on point, Team New York was not so lucky. One of their team members, A NEW YORK POLICE OFFICER, turned his attention away from his bags for a minute, and yep, you guessed it. Poof! His bag with his ID, PASSPORT and MONEY were gone without a clue. John always told us keep your things close to you in public. Sao Paulo is twice as needy as New York, more people with fewer jobs. Oh, well! We didn't have time to worry about Team New York, Team Savannah had a plane to catch. Chow, Chow! We boarded our plane and were off to Rio Branco. We had a stop in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. 70% of the people got off the plane during the stop and left each remaining passenger with their own row. A good majority of those passengers used the seats like beds, including me. It was nice. 5 hours later, we were finally landing. All we could say was "Get us off this plane", by the time our travels came near to the end. We made it to Rio Branco, pronounced Heo Brawncoo in portuguese. The airstrip was just that, a strip. The pilot had to make a U-Turn at the end of the runway cause he ran out of taxi room. It was a cute little airport but what was even more special was the warm reception we received from the Brazilian group that is soon to visit District 6920 in Georgia. They were all wearing their Rotary Tees and waiving from the viewing tower as we unboarded the TAM Airbus 320. They brought their sisters, brothers, cousins, moms, dads and I think I even saw a pet dog to meet us at the airport. We hugged, we kissed and we smiled with all 20 people who came to meet us. We were also honored to see the Brazilian District Governor and his wife and family. We took about 32 pics in various formats, almost like we were at a huge wedding. We met with our host families and took more pictures. They were so happy to see us, the airport lit up like a Christmas tree for all the smiling that was going on. I mean, thats what you do when you can't talk very well to each other, you smile and keep smiling until your cheeks can't take anymore. :) We jumped in different vehicles and off to see the city.
Savannah to Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil
Oi Mues Amigos! After 3 flights, and 4 cities, we made it to our destination. Whew! We were exhausted. Our first flight was from Savannah to Miami. We had a very warm departing at the Savannah Airport by Justin, Gordan, Bea, Alia and a surprise visit from Grandma Evelyn (My Mom). The group got to see why I'm so crazy and outgoing. "I get it from my momma." I'm sure her charm was sprinkled on our team as we boarded our first plane to Miami. We thought we were gonna have to leave Jenny (LOL) but she made it the nick of time! 
After a short layover in Miami, it was time to take the grueling 8 and a half hour flight to Sao Paulo, pronounced Sohn Powlu. We watched 2 movies on the flight, Madagascar 2 and some movie about a Girl and Father living on a remote island, an author and her fictious Indiana Jones type character. Anyway, not interesting. In Sao Paulo, a city with 20 million people. Yes I said 20 million, our preparation for the trip paid off. We breezed through customs without a hickup. We even were given express service for being tourist. We could see the curious looks from all the people. They weren't negative looks but you have to admit we look like an odd group of people to be traveling together. 3 tall males, 1 not too old, 1 Red head, 1 muscular black male and two obvious american girls, a blonde and a brunette. We were then whisked away by cab to our hotel in the middle of the night by some Zoom, Zoom, Zoom taxi drivers. I say zoom cause they never use brakes. You have to hold on tight around corners. They drive so fast on turns, the car was equipped with tilt meters to let the driver know his taxi was about to be on two wheels. We were glad to make it safely to the hotel. As we were checking in to the hotel lobby, luggage sprawled every where, other Americans were checking in also. What do you know! Rotary GSE participants from New York. A team of 4, headed to other cities in Brazil too. We met them down at the hotel bar, chatted for a while, viewed the hotel courtyard, which had 5 Peacocks for our viewing pleasure. That's when it hit us. We were in Brazil. Not everyday do you get to have such rare birds around. We retired for the night, because in the morning, we would be back on the plane for a 5 hour flight to Rio Branco, our first city. More to come .......... Ate Logo! (until later).
After a short layover in Miami, it was time to take the grueling 8 and a half hour flight to Sao Paulo, pronounced Sohn Powlu. We watched 2 movies on the flight, Madagascar 2 and some movie about a Girl and Father living on a remote island, an author and her fictious Indiana Jones type character. Anyway, not interesting. In Sao Paulo, a city with 20 million people. Yes I said 20 million, our preparation for the trip paid off. We breezed through customs without a hickup. We even were given express service for being tourist. We could see the curious looks from all the people. They weren't negative looks but you have to admit we look like an odd group of people to be traveling together. 3 tall males, 1 not too old, 1 Red head, 1 muscular black male and two obvious american girls, a blonde and a brunette. We were then whisked away by cab to our hotel in the middle of the night by some Zoom, Zoom, Zoom taxi drivers. I say zoom cause they never use brakes. You have to hold on tight around corners. They drive so fast on turns, the car was equipped with tilt meters to let the driver know his taxi was about to be on two wheels. We were glad to make it safely to the hotel. As we were checking in to the hotel lobby, luggage sprawled every where, other Americans were checking in also. What do you know! Rotary GSE participants from New York. A team of 4, headed to other cities in Brazil too. We met them down at the hotel bar, chatted for a while, viewed the hotel courtyard, which had 5 Peacocks for our viewing pleasure. That's when it hit us. We were in Brazil. Not everyday do you get to have such rare birds around. We retired for the night, because in the morning, we would be back on the plane for a 5 hour flight to Rio Branco, our first city. More to come .......... Ate Logo! (until later).
Friday, April 24, 2009
LINK to our Brazil friends!
http://www.ige2009.webs.com/
Use the link above to access the blog of our Group Study Exchange counterparts in Brazil. They are coming to visit Georgia in two weeks! Veja-o logo, amigos!
Use the link above to access the blog of our Group Study Exchange counterparts in Brazil. They are coming to visit Georgia in two weeks! Veja-o logo, amigos!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
One week to go...
With just one week to go before we depart, our group is making final preparations. The video is done, the visas and passports are ready, the shots and medications are taken care of, our Portuguese is improving, and now the packing can begin. Estamos prontos!
Here's an introduction to our group:
JOHN, team leader
commercial real estate broker
EVERETT
property acquisition coordinator
ALISON
photographer and art teacher
ALTON
computer administrator for public libraries
JENNY
Savannah city administrator
The trip will take us across northern Brazil from Rio Branco to Porto Velho to Manaus to Belem. We are looking forward to learning a lot about Brazilian culture, history, and language. We will do our best to update this blog daily in order to share our adventures and discoveries with you. Atelogo!
Here's an introduction to our group:
JOHN, team leadercommercial real estate broker
EVERETTproperty acquisition coordinator
ALISONphotographer and art teacher
ALTONcomputer administrator for public libraries
JENNYSavannah city administrator
The trip will take us across northern Brazil from Rio Branco to Porto Velho to Manaus to Belem. We are looking forward to learning a lot about Brazilian culture, history, and language. We will do our best to update this blog daily in order to share our adventures and discoveries with you. Atelogo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
