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