It is so hard to put into words all that we have experienced, all the places we have traveled, all the wonderful people we have met and perhaps this is why I and the others have not written in our blog for so long.  GSE is an amazing experience on so many dimensions and to try to reflect it back with pictures and words, just doesn’t do it justice.  

I am extremely thankful to all who have made this possible for all of us.  From the beginning friendship  between Durval (DG for 4550) and Judy (DG for 5960) to the hundreds of connections and friendships we have made here in Brasil. Obrigada and Thank You!

Being greeted with lots of hugs and kisses when first meeting (and every encounter after that) certainly helps develop those instant friendships.  Please indulge me if when I return and lean in for a hug and a kiss, one on each cheek…I think this is a magical piece of the culture here.  All ages are not in the least bit reluctant to touch you while conversing, to stand with their arm around your shoulders.  I love to watch adolescents, especially the boys, embracing their parents and happily receiving their parents’ affection.  How can we adopt this community wide at home?  I know for sure that I will miss this part of Brasil a lot!

Language has been a barrier, I am well aware of that, but the Brasilians always meet us more than half way….working hard to recall the English they learned in school decades ago, learning other ways to express what they are thinking or feeling and so often Rotary has made sure we have had an interpreter.  Perhaps this has made me lazy and maybe I would have learned more language by now if I had not had an interpreter.   Our interpreters have often been an eager young teen who is so excited to be asked to do this for us and so he or she can practice their English.  They have been amazing young people that are so interested in us and wanting us to love their country (which we do very much).  Those friendships have been some of the most precious…tears from both sides come when we have to say “tchau”.   But, before we are even pulled out of the driveway they have requested to be our friend on Facebook.  It is not uncommon to find 20 or more requests when we leave a city.  I so appreciate Facebook.

In Itabuna we found a Rotary club very much embracing Rotary Youth Exchange…the YEO for the club was a man with a passion for YE, much like my own.  I know we could see in each other a kindred spirit that we shared together.  His club has 6 students going out next year and from the looks of it, many more wanting to go out in the future.  The day after we presented to their club, with lots of young folks present, we were asked to speak to their Interact/ Rotaract/ Rotex club…there were about 50 young people in attendance.  I thought it was a brilliant idea to combine all of them together even though their ages spanned about 10 years, they were all working on projects together and had a great organization.   This is an obvious encourager of the younger students to dream about their year abroad.   I only wish I could have stayed there longer to see more about their program.  They had a very blonde young man from Michigan as their inbound student….loving his time there.  I met one other inbound student, Michael from Florida, staying in Barriers with Zaneela, also a passionate advocate of Youth Exchange.  

I have really connected to this place…to the people and to all that Rotary stands for.  Rotary is alive and well in Brasil and because of that we have had privileges most travelers through this area would never have.   The Rotarians have generously given of their time, providing us with food in abundance, shelter fit for a queen and most of all their hearts.   Our suitcases are not any less full even though we have given our modest gifts away, more have been received.  

It is simply too hard to say how thankful I am….

Saudade,

Vicki

April 10th ~ Parque Sauipe Visit - Lauro de Freitas Rotary Club

April 9th ~ Cetrel Visit - Lauro de Freitas Rotary Club

April 9th ~ Cimatec Tour - Lauro de Freitas Rotary Club

Joaquim and Sonia's - Lauro de Freitas Rotary Club Hosts

On the Road Again......

Hello! We've been a bit behind on our blogging! We are having a wonderful time in Brazil. Since our last entry, we've flown East into Bahia and are making our way back to Salvador as we stop to visit many cities along our way. Here is a recap of our adventure thus far..... Wednesday, the 11th of April we anticipated we would be spending the night in the city of Barreiras. Little did we know that the flight we were supposed to be on, had left the afternoon before. It is quite the production getting all 5 of us and our luggage to any one place. Joaquim, Sonia and the crew in Lauro de Freitas made sure we arrived with all of our luggage (it took 3 vehicles)to the airport "on-time". We were much surprised that our flight was the day before. Thankfully, the Rotarians took charge and got us booked on a flight the next day. Sonia and Joaquim were gracious enough to let us stay one more night with them in Ipitanga. Thursday the 12th we went to the beach to have lunch (we seem to always be eating)before returning to the airport. This time, we made the flight to Barreiras. At the airport we were greated by our host families. They took us home so we could change and then head out to a Rotary meeting at of the Rotarian's home. Many English speakers in this city. We were lucky to have Michael, a Floridian exchange student living there, to help us translate. The Rotarians were very nice in making sure we were always with someone who could translate for us while in Barreiras. Friday the 13th we were taken to the Reading Room (like a Head Start). The Rotarians supply the books so that the children ages 1-5 have exposure to books and reading. Zanella said it best, "give the kids a window to open a future door". Barreiras has about 140,000 people and only one bookstore and one small library. From there we went to aiba, which is an association of agricultire (www.aibaorg.br). This area of Bahia is quite advanced in farming and farming technology. We had a wonderful lunch by the river at a place called Aqua Viva. From therenit was off to the city of Luis Eduardo Magalhaes. This city is only 12 years old (yes, you read that correctly) and consists mostly of agribusiness. About 45,000 people live there. We stopped at a 12,500 acre farm to see crops of coffee, cotton, oranges and tangerines. We were lucky enough to be able to see some of the coffee plants being harvested. After the club meeting, we headed back to Barreiras (about a 2 hour drive). We wish we could have stayed longer in Luis Eduardo. ***side note about our car rides in Brazil- many speed bumps, if the sign says 60 or 80km/HR it is okay to go 120km/HR and we are never quite sure of how long it will take us to get anywhere as everyone we ask has a bit of a different answer. Nonetheless, we are grateful to our new friends that make sure we always have transportation*** Saturday the 14th, Sunday the 15th and the morning of Monday the 16th: Guanambi The trip from Barreiras to Guanambi took about 6 hours by car. I think our friends in Barreiras were smart not to tell us the length of the trip until we were well on our way! The crew from Barreiras took us half way and we met up with the Rotarians from Guanambi. At this halfway stop we were delighted to be able to walk into a church built into the caves. People have been coming there for 350 years to worship and say prayers. Inside was absolutely Beautiful and filled with photos or wooden replicas of body parts for people that have come to say prayers for healing.

A few photos from the first full day Brazil.

Castle, turtles, ice cream and more

Tuesday 10, 2012

We started the day with a glorious day of sunshine with a random quick rain shower to lighten the load of the sun.  After a wonderful traditional Brazilian breakfast combined with a little American eggs and bacon, we started out on our daily journey.

The day started by visiting  Parque Sauípe - Prefeitura Municipal de Mata de São João an ecological reserve in the state of Bahia.  The ecological reserve is an educational and resforestation reserve showcasing the regrowth of the Atlantic Forest.  Approximately 10,000 students per year visit the reserve.  I found it interesting to think that different areas have forests.  This forest has palm trees, coconut trees, banana trees, heart of palm trees and bamboo.  Just a slight change from our well known pine, evergreen and oak trees.  As a part of the park we also visited the Natural Museum of the Environment that was funded by Cetrel.  The natural museum had many displays of various wildlife in the area including beautiful birds.  In the museum were several archeological artifacts as well.

After an educational morning we ate lunch at the Restaurante Sombra da Mangueria (Restaurant under the Mango Tree) for an open air lunch with some moqueca.

Next we traveled to Parque HIstorico Garcia Davila, an ancient castle built in the 1700s by Portugese immigrants Fundação Garcia D'Ávila - Praia do Forte - Bahia.  Here we climbed and explored as possibly the first explorers themselves with a beautiful view of the ocean. 

The most exciting event of the day was to visit the Projecto Tamar which protects sea turtles all along the coast of Brazil.  www.praiadoforte.ws.  We got to feed the turtles living there in captivity with real fish and learn about the different kinds of turtles.  Over a million turtles have been saved through this project.

After the turtles we were treated to gelado (ice cream) or sorbet for those use allergic to dairy.  Jill says she is now in heaven because even in Brazil they have yogurt shops!

We ended the evening by doing our first presentation to the Rotary Club of Lauro De Freitas.   It was a fun evening of food and making new friends.  As we leave Salvador we leave many new friends behind we have become quite attached to, but look forward to the adventure of continuing to meet new friends. 

We continue to appreciate all the love and support we receive from you our friends and family at home and as our new friend Morales says, "that is no "taking of the foot" or better known as teasing.

Amy

First full day in Brasil

I can see by our very busy schedule that one of the challenges will be to blog every day.  We arrived safely on Sunday after 22 hours of travel….from the time of entering MSP airport to landing in Salvador.  The only hitch was when we arrived at MSP and the United ticket agent told us that we had no booking from Chicago to Sao Paulo.  We thought 5 weeks in Chicago seemed a little too long for us….she dug a little more and found our reservation!  That was the only hitch in the whole journey here. 

We were welcomed by a warm and loving group of Rotarians….Durval,Sidinei, Joaquim and many others!  I loved it that they were all wearing their Rotary polo shirts and were easily identifiable as I would have been hugging everyone around!   From the airport we weren’t quite sure what our accommodations were, I thought maybe a hotel or something…but, better than that we are at Joaquim and Sonia’s beautiful “resort” just a short distance from the beach where we feel the warm, salty breeze from the ocean.  In their beautiful resort they have their home with a large veranda where we eat, visit and relax and greet a nice flow of new visitors….Rotarians coming to welcome us.  We are finding it a challenge to remember everyone’s names though.   Some speak some English and a few speak more fluently, but we are learning to understand and we are trying to respond in Portuguese….we keep saying, give us 30 days and then….

Around this beautiful home are extra accommodations for guests like us…we  are in a two story building with three bedrooms and three bathrooms…air conditioned by remote control so the AC is turned off and on several times in the night.   We overlook an inviting swimming pool that is cool enough to feel very refreshing when you enter.  Joaquim is a retired judge and very much enjoying his retirement, you can tell he really likes having guests and being able to provide such wonderful accommodations for all. Yesterday he welcomed a new grandson in the world…Miguel will be one special boy with a GRAND dad like Joaquim!  Sonia works in juvenile corrections and is an energetic, delightful hostess.  I can see that it is not uncommon at all for spouses to both belong to Rotary…..

Yesterday we went to a Votech school that was very innovative and forward thinking…  Here is an article that I thought reflected a bit of what they are about at Senai.    From there we went to a fun lunch place owned by a Rotarian, Maggie’s Place…it was a buffet style dining in an open airy building that provided us with all sorts of interesting and tasty food. 

When lunch was over we switched Rotarian hosts and travelled with a new group to an Industrial complex that contains 90 different companies and employees 45,000 people directly and indirectly.  The concept behind the complex is to share resources….water, sewer, transportation, management and create a synergy for success and business development with a high emphasis on protection of the environment and safety.  We were very impressed….but then they took us to the waste treatment plant, Cetrel, that receives the waste from Comacari and showed us how they have a high emphasis on the environment and goal of reuse of the waste.  They  also seem to very cutting edge.

Last night we had a beautiful dinner beside the pool and were later entertained by the stories of Morales, a big man with an even bigger personality that told us stories of his world travels, mostly to Toronto.  We laughed so much…..  We designated him as our translator as we give our first presentation to a Rotary meeting tonight.   We gave him permission to say whatever he wanted, he just needed to make us sound smart and fun!  It will be a memorable evening for sure...

I need to sign off, we have turtles to discover and sights to see….  We are going to sea turtle refuge…..will be sure and put on the sunscreen.  The temp is supposed to be 85 today, but the sun is very intense. 

Beijos, Obrigada Rotary for this amazing privilege! 

Tchau….Vicki

Looking back on August 8th...

GSE Interview Day - August 8, 2011

I don't typically keep a journal, but for some reason on August 8th I was inclined to write some notes before heading to bed that night.  I reread this journal entry tonight and was reminded how intense the interview day for GSE truely was for me.  I can not say for sure that my teammates felt the same way I did when leaving that day, but I truthfully never knew what to expect.  I was amongst some of the most successful young professionals that day.

I had a long drive back to Morton, MN from St Paul that late afternoon - to return to a conference I was scheduled to attend that weekend.  It was about at my 1/2 way point that Vicki and Rob called me to let me know I was selected for the GSE.  I had to pull off the road so I wouldn't crash after receiving the news.  I knew this was going to be a life changing experience...and truthfully so far it has been.  I've gotten to know some of the greatest people throughout this opportunity.

My experience started with a simple conversation with a local Rotarian, Donna Tiede.  She stopped into my office to tend to some youth exchange stuff with a coworker and her and I struck up a conversation about GSE.  I had never heard of the program - so this was just the beginning.  I never thought that day that I'd be only 5 days away from depature for this adventure.  Donna - thank you for thinking I'd be a good fit on a GSE Team.  You don't know how incredibily thankful I am for this opportunity.  You are a great Rotarian, and I'm so lucky to have gotten to know you through this process. 

Just 5 days to departure.  Thank you to my team for putting up with me throughout this planning process!  I'm so thankful to have you all in my life!

~ Monica