“What have you been up to?”… I guess with enough of these question, I should update this blog… Sorry! When life takes off it is hard to take a minute to write about it! So, see photos here of what I have been doing:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=12687305&l=3febb797fc&id=586190520
Days are quite varied, depending on where I am (although most every day includes some reading and typing on the computer)…
The highlights of my time in Viçosa include a Rotary trip to the 2010 district conference in São Lorenço, Minas Gerais. This town is an old “natural springs” kind of place (think Hot Springs Arkansas with the large ornate hotels that were in their time, among the most lavish in the country). The conference was located in the Hotel Brasil, a large facility with beautifully restored ornate tile bathrooms, vaulted ceilings, and grand entertainment halls. This hotel is located just outside of the natural springs park, (owned by Nestle inc. and costing $3 for admittance), a beautiful place to walk and sample the natural springs. Some of these taste just fine and some… A few have natural carbonation in them as well.
At the conference, I made many new contacts and became better friends with my host club of Viçosa as well. They are a lively group, fun loving (see dancing photos) and proud of their involvement with Rotary. They were very supportive of me and encouraging during my talk – when there are 200 people in the audience it can be a bit intimidating but to see ten of your friend’s faces near the front, smiling at you, really helps! This presentation was all in Portuguese and was aimed at letting everyone know who I was and where I was from. It was limited to a 5 minute presentation and at the end I let everyone know that I would like to visit more clubs from the district and present to their clubs a longer presentation (I had 20 minutes prepared but the program was pretty full so I had to cut it down to just the highlights).
Additionally, I attended a big event with the Forestry department at UFV. They celebrated a 50 year anniversary with a conference and gala. The department is the oldest in Brazil so not only did UFV-DEF celebrate 50 years but the discipline of forestry in the whole of Brazil celebrated 50 years!
However, not all of my work involved glamorous conferences and galas… Life on the farm is rugged and beautiful; the normal schedule I keep here is – up early to catch the 8am-9am breakfast (breakfast of a hearty homemade bread, some toasted with real butter, some with homemade peanut butter with extra sugar and I suspect a hint of chocolate; coffee from the local fields, with milk from the local cow – boiled for “pasteurization” – served hot of course; and a banana or orange from the tree), work until lunch (a hearty lunch is served around here but I try not to partake too much as it just makes this American lazy in the afternoon…), work some more from my desk in my little house (until about 2pm when the no-see-ums come out to feast so then I go to the hammock to continue working from within the safety of the bug net) until dinner at 7pm (a feast of rice, beans, pasta, chopped kale with tomatoes, and sometimes pão de queijo and/or meat). All of the food is grown and prepared by a local woman, Carminha. The activities of researchers and volunteers at Iracambi pays for the employment of a few people – Carminha and her sister who cook and clean, Eliab who is the volunteer-coordinator, and Marcos who tends to “gardening” type stuff but who has been known to stand in as an electrician, mechanic, carpenter, etc.! An all around helpful guy!
Days that I get out into the community to talk to people are a real delight for me. Sometimes this is on foot and sometimes a horse or motorcycle is needed. Either way, I get to interact with people doing my best to understand and be understood as the local accent is rather “country”. People are generally patient, however, and interested in your interest in them. Iracambi has a good reputation with the people of the community and they are beginning to see the value in “eco-tourism” activities. So much that a hotel (of sorts… more like a home-stay in town) has sprung up in Limeira and locals are beginning to construct wares with the “Serra do Brigadeiro” logo on them.
Iracambi has had a big event since I have been here, which was a nice change from the daily quiet life on the farm, in which 75 people made a trek here from town (12km away). They walked in and listened to lectures on environmental issues that the Serra faces. While here they hiked a trail, watched Iracambi’s video (available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO3-_Gf7gWw) and had lunch (a big feat for Carminha as she is used to cooking for less than 20 people…) of a regional stew – comprised of locally made sausage (in the real casing) with manioc (a potato) and corn meal (think the texture of polenta but all mixed into the stew). It was a successful day and I was able to meet several people from the community that I had never seen before; a real treat!
So, that is an idea of my varied activities; I will try to keep you posted on future activities (highlights I am looking forward to: trail maintenance on the dawn trail, a trip to Juiz de Fora to visit a Rotary member’s home and Eucalyptus plantation, a visit to Rio de Janeiro to meet my Rotary scholarship coordinator in person!, and of course… I am in Brazil after all… the World Cup 2010 from South Africa starting tomorrow! GoooooooOOOOOO Brazil!)
