Our last night

It is our last night in Brazil. Although our experience on the ground in Brazil is nearing it's end, the experiences of the journey are far from over. I have learned so much about the country through it's culture, language, and people it has been overwhelming at times. My professional visits have been encouraging and re-energizing to me. I have learned so much about how the profession works here. Whether it be in the similarities or vast differences. 

The experiences here are closing but, now comes the time to reflect on the experiences and share those with everyone at home. I would like to say thank you to all of the host families here in Brazil. Without your support the experience would not have been the same. You all have made the journey worthwhile. Thank you to the Rotary Foundations as well for everything you support. The GSE, student exchange, and friendship exchange programs. We have met several people that have been parts of these groups. It is truly amazing how the Rotarian families have opened their arms and welcomed us in.

Thank you.

-William

5 Days and a Wake up

Hello all,

Three weeks ago GSE Team Brazil landed in Sao Paulo and welcomed with open arms by the host families for each member. In a matter of minutes we were swept away to different parts of San Jose Campos, a small city outside of the City of Sao Paulo. Since that moment we have enjoyed the hospitality of several Rotary Clubs, Cities and the Brazilian people. Our presentations, to the surprise of the Rotary Clubs, have been in the native language of Portuguese, and very much appreciated as reported by Candace (Candance, Cadence or which name she is called on a given day) in an earlier post. Seven cities later including the District Conference in Sao Lorenzo we have given 11 presentations with 2-3 to go.

I have enjoyed visiting the Labor Department's here in Brazil and have a better understanding the processes of Union Labor Disputes, as well as the Worker's Compensation and the State's CIPA (State Employee Protection Agency)in how the country provides employee safety and health. As a team we have visited several cultural venues including the TAMUR project dealing with the rescue and care of sea life mostly focusing on the large sea turtles, a natural history museum, though only a few years old has some of the best bone and structure of creatures from all era's of life as Brazil has some of the best fossil finds for prehistoric creatures, and an "old town" that was protecting its port from pirates in the early 1600's, older than the original fort in Jamestown, Virginia.

Similar to the 4 way test of the things we think say and do, the team learned 4 rules early upon arriving in Brazil; 1. Smile 2. Nod 3. Move in the direction pointed and 4. Sip Slowly when offered a drink. We gave our presentation last week to the home club of the District Governor and tonight we were asked to dress in our Formal Wear for a presentation to three Rotary clubs here in Resende. This city is smaller than most but has the third largest military academy behind West Point, and China. We will attend a reception there tomorrow and hope to gain a better insight of the Military system here in Brazil. As the title says , 5 days and a wakeup and we will be home. I am sure we will all be glad to see our family and friends again but will also be sad to say goodbye to Brazil, the friends and new families we have here. I hope you have enjoyed the posts from the team so far and look forward to presenting our trip too you upon our return. Please pass the Blog site on to others you feel will enjoy the updates from the team.

The attached Pictures are the team with the president of one of the Rotary Club in Volta Redonda and the District Governor Cunha the other is me being interviewed by a local Cable TV Station about the GSE program.

Warren

District Conference - São Lourenço

The district conference was May 14th - 16th for us. On Saturday morning, we did our presentation and I believe some of our audience was truly in awe that the presentation was in portuguese. This was one of those warm and fuzzy moments because I believe we, Americans, are often portrayed as being lazy and unwilling to embrace another culture. Well, Saturday night we sure embraced the culture at the Fantasy Ball (a masquerade ball) where we got to see the creative and fun side of the Rotarians here in Brazil. Above is a picture of our host parents from Caraguatatuba. Rotarians came from all cities in the district to participate in the conference and we were happy to see our previous host families just one more time as well as meet some of our new families. I will let another team member tell you about our visit yesterday and today. Tchau!

~Candace~

Crash!

In running, they say you hit 'the wall' when you've reached the point in the race when you just don't think you can go any further. You're ready to chuck your New Balance and go lay on the beach. Well, I hit the GSE 'wall' this past Wednesday. It was so graciously arranged for me to attend a health symposium in a nearby town. This trip required a 7am rise after yet another late night. I struggled to get out of the bed and get ready but managed to put on a semi-clean outfit and a smile. Once I arrived at the symposium, the unthinkable happened: I fell asleep during the presentations! How rude of me! I could barely keep my eyes open. I thought that I would be rejuvinated after a small meal, but no, it was even worse! I felt so bad. I slept the entire ride home and then again before the meeting we were to attend that evening. Twelve days of early mornings, full schedule days and late nights had finally got the best of me.
The good news is that on Friday we headed to Sao Lourenco for the District Conference and our biggest and most important presentation followed by a much needed break. Friday was supposed to start our three days of rest and relaxation, however, my Friday started with the Great Luggage Debate. As to not incriminate the innocent, the details will remain confidential. Let's just say this: 30 days worth of luggage for 2 people, a weekend worth of luggage for 2 additional people and a compact car do not equate to a happy driver. Things not to do in a foreign country #2: inadvertantly irritate the driver before a three hour drive. Taxi!

-April

Rotary Club - Pindamonhangaba

Let´s stay connected. Below is the website for the Rotary Club in Pindamonhangaba.

http://distrito4600-2010-2011.blogspot.com/

History

Yesterday was a day of history. We visited the Sítio do Picapau Amarelo ("Yellow Woodpecker Ranch"), which was the old farm of a famous writer of children´s literature named Monteiro Lobato. He was a rich part of Taubate´s history and through his writings created a successful yet cunning way to educate and entertain children for years. One of the characters was a black servant and cook named Tia Nastácia ("Aunt Anastacia"). I bring her up to point out that while we were there, the guide informed us that May 13th, 1888 was the day slaves in Brazil were legally emancipated by Princess Isabel. So our visit was on the 122nd anniversary of emancipation. How exciting! But it doesn´t stop there. Afterwards we were taken to the Museum of Natural History, where we met Dr. Herculano Alvarenga who showed us all the exhibits from dinasours to now. What´s even more interesting is that he, himself, actually restored a lot of the artifacts found in this fairly new museum (only 6 years old). And to top off our day we made our last presentation in Taubate to an all female Rotary Club., where my host mom is the secretary. Can´t wait to see what the conference has to offer us tonight. Ate São Lourenço!

~Candace~

Bem vindo a Taubaté

Well, things are great here in Brazil. We are staying busy, but enjoying every ounce of culture and vocation we come across. So far, I have visited the Brazilian "IRS" and the locality side of things; both the tax and legislative areas. Interesting enough, they have the three part system here as well. Federal, State and Local. However, income is only taxed from the Federal level and the percentage of tax is much higher than our own. Sales tax is included in the price, which is a nice feature, but the average person doesn´t know how much they are paying. Above is a picture of the Receita Federal do São Jose dos Campos. They are working on educating o povo (the people) about why they should pay taxes and how the money is distributed. They also have a "transparency" website which shows the expenses and where the tax dollars go. This was a great visit. Piggybacking off of that was today´s visit to the Receita Federal do Taubaté (Above second picture). The delegate pictured next to me gave a good insight into the Brazilian tax system and was pleased to answer our questions. I would like to thank both Receita´s as well as the Cámara Municipão do São Jose dos Campos, the Municipão of São Jose dos Campos and the Municipão da Caraguatatuba for allowing me to view their fiscal system here in Brazil. Até logo.

~Candace~

Working 9 to 5....

Busy busy busy! On Thursday when we arrived in Caraguatatuba or Caragua as it is called by the people that live here, I had a professional visit. As a clinical research coordinator, my job description encompasses many different areas of science and medicine which can be a little confusing when I try to describe it to people. Well, I could not have had a more perfect professional visit!

I was taken to meet the Secretary of the Public Health Department of the city. Essentially, he is the medical director of the free clinic where the citizens go to be treated. Health care here is covered by the government and each state is allocated money to run their own programs. While I was there I met one of the neurologists on staff. The three of us, along with my guide serving as an interpreter, had a rousing conversation about preventative medicine, research and what we call universal health care. I was able to gain some interesting insight. Then I found out that the directors wife was also a doctor that co-owned a nearby clinical laboratory. I was taken there and she and I discussed specimen collection, turn around time and instramentation. Good nerdy lab stuff. Excellent! I was completely in my element. Its amazing how much you can talk about even with a language challenge.

Speaking of language, my Portugese is still in development stage. Realistically, it will most likely only upgrade to dial-up speed. Maybe one day Ill make it to Fios speed. The good thing about having been to several different countries previously is that I have figured out how to understand a conversation even if I cant reply. This experience has inspired me to really give a go at learning Spanish and to get back to practicing my Japanese upon return. Now, if I could only figure out how to change the settings on this computer so that I could use an apostrophe and question marks. Oh well. Beijo, chao chao!

-April

First Week!

This first week in Brazil has been most rewarding! I have met some very enthusiastic scientists and teachers who look forward to some continued communication (via internet/webcam).

We went bird watching yesterday in Ubatuba, and the ornithologist, Carlos Rizzo, looks forward to creating a virtual database with me, where we would blog our native bird sightings and bird calls :). This man is such a giver to the community as he has started a class for blind children! I'm so excited to work with him in the future. His website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlosrizzo

Yesterday, we also visited a Sea Turtle hospital/reservation project, TAMAR. In the past 6 years, it has become an international project with many industrial partners. What a fantastic success story! http://www.projectotamar.org.br/

Speaking portuguese is quite challenging but we seem to be impressing the locals with our comprehension and efforts to communicate in the native tongue. We are receiving such warm welcomes "Bom Vindo" and excellent hospitality. We have visited 6 cities so far... Sao Paulo, Sao Jose dos Campos, Campos do Jordao, Caraguatatuba, Sao Sebastiao, and Ubatuba. Off to a new one tomorrow, Taubate!
-Constance

We have been in Caraguatatuba for a few days. Still been a hectic schedule seeing cities and Rotary clubs. We have been to Sao Sabastiao and Ubatuba on this visit. All the hosting clubs have been great and have given us an amazing experience to remember. 

We have visited a marine museum for the local area and were given the tour by a founding member of the museum and the founder of most of the artifacts that are within the museum. After the tour he presented each of us with a personal copy of the book he authored about the history of Sao Sabastiao and the founding of the museum.

We have also been to Ubatuba and went bird watching, went for a swim at a waterfall, went to a turtle rehabilitation facility ("The Tamar Project"), and to the beach for a little relaxing. The Tamar project rehabilitates sea turtles that were injured and if they cannot rehabilitate them they house them there.

We are being overwhelmed by the experience and absorbing as much information as possible. Keep checking in for further updates.

AHHHHHHHH, a moment to rest. So It is day 6 of the tour in Brazil and things have been moving at a whirlwind pace. To catch you up just a little, I have had two professional visits. One Monday and one today. Monday's was at the Military Police headquarters and training facility, followed by the COI, and finished up at the Fire Post. This was a great tour and my tour guide was a past GSE member to Seattle and Vancouver. I was able to see the training facility for the police which, as it turns out is even where the firefighters start out. All of the services here are military and all personnel start out in police academy for eight months and then four months of fire school. I was able to see the police band, the helicopter services, and then got a nice ride in the back seat of the police car to the COI. This is where the police have a unit that monitors the happenings of the city and controls traffic flow and other operations. Then off to the fire post for lunch, and a great tour of the fire post. Seeing the dispatch center, the training facilities, and meeting the man in charge. Then off to see the fire units. That was very interesting. 

Today, some of the same but, in a different city. All the cities within Sao Paulo are under the same command. That is 39 cities but, each have a different commander for the stations. Today I was introduced to the crew in Guaratatuba. A fun bunch to meet that is doing alot to help the community children by providing a structured learning environment and teaching first aid, ropes, fire extinguishment, and many other skills to the children in the community on a daily basis. I was very impressed.

Off to another activity, sorry for the posts being far apart but, the experiences keep coming in and we are on the move frequently. Check back often for more updates.

Miracle in the Park

Yesterday after we met the mayor os Sao Jose dos Campos, (yes we met the mayor!) we had some free time so we went to the park. Laura, the daughter of our of our host families, served as our tour guide and driver. Thank you Laura, we owe you big!

At the park we walked, did some chin ups on the pull up bars, played in the sand, played on the swings and did sit ups on the sit up bench. It was a much needed relaxation period. So we´re going to leave and someone says something about a phone and I realize that mine is not in my pocket. Mild panic.

We look back thru the park while we walk to the car because Candace said something about seeing a phone on the seat. We get to the car and search. No phone. Increased panic.

Then we walk back thru the park retracing out steps. On on our way back to the car for the final time and I say, ok God I need a miracle, like now. No lie, we walk back up to the sit up bench and I look down and when I look up and an older gentleman hands me my phone. Score one for God coming thru!!!!

So now what was about to turn into a drink of frustration became a drink of celebration. Whew! Things not to do in a foreign country: #1 lose your phone! Happy ending, yay! On to Cataguatatuba!

This is a picture of the group on Sunday at Campos do Jordao. Neat place and very scenic. 

Monday was our first professional day. Everyone enjoyed our visits and had an amazing experience. Today we are visiting the Mayor.

What a great experience so far.

Well today we had an awesome day in Campos do Jordão. Beautiful views, great people and lots of fun. To help us keep abreast of what they´re doing, below is the link to their blog. Enjoy!

http://rotarycamposdojordao.blogspot.com/

Day 2

Its day 2 here and there´s already so much going on. Its been a whirlwind of shuffling from location to location seeing different sights along with sampling the best food and drink our gracious hosts have to offer. Tomorrow is a vocational day which means we´re headed out to shadow people in our respective professions. This should be neat! Bom Noches! I think that´s the correct term for goodnight. As you can see, my Portugese needs work!

-A.