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

What to pack? That is the question...

Had a great meeting with my GSE Team yesterday as well as the inbound GSE'rs from Brazil.  It appears they must be much better at packing than what we might be.  They each only brought one bag...hmmm...how is that even humanly possible?  I think the next couple of weeks will be absolutely a learning experience as we all decide what is going to be the most versitile clothing to bring along, that will carry us through a day of professional visits and into a fun night out and about in the night life of Salvador.  Jill admittedly will have the most shoes along.  If only I wore her size...hmmm...that would make life so much more fun!  A young inbound Youth Exchange Student was visiting with us also yesterday and she suggested the vaccuum bags...she said that is exactly how she survived the packing to come here.  I think that might just be the ticket.

I'm hoping to spend a bit more time with the inbound team this week, but will have to see how my work week plays out.  Looking forward to spending some time with them while in Brazil.  By the sounds of it, we'll likely be crossing paths again at the District conference while we are there!

Signing off for the night!  Counting down the days...now only 13 days to departure.

boa noite ~

Monica

Welcome Sergio, Angela, Daniele, Denise, and Priscila

Today we will be gathering at the Laura Baker School in Northfield to Welcome the Inbound GSE Brazil team to District 5960.  I had an opportunity to spend a few minutes with the team at Old Chicago the other night and am looking forward to spending more time with them today.  Sergio, Angela, Daniele, Denise, Priscila - We welcome you to our wonderful part of the world and wish you the best as you learn about all the Minnesota and Wisconsin have to offer.  We are fortunate to be hosting you in District 5960.

Preparations & Introductions

The outbound Brazil GSE Team is well on our way to preparing for our upcoming trip.  It was months ago when we started this process and I know for me it seems like the time has flown by.  We are within our last three weeks before departure.

I will introduce you to my fellow ambassadors...I promise I will be nice ladies:

Jill Frey - works as a financial planner for State Farm and travels all throughout the midwest for her job.  She's a social butterfly when not hard at work for State Farm.  She seems to enjoy her travels!  She spent time working in Japan after graduating college.  I'm very excited to get to know Jill better.  I believe she'll be the fashionista on our team and will help the rest of us look like the the Diva's we really truely are.

Erin Mayberry - works as a recreational coordinator for Northfield Schools.  I'm pretty sure she enjoys this job and is amazing at it because she truely is a kid at heart.  She appears to have a very focused side, but I just know she and I are going to get along great...because she knows how to have a great time.  She's always smiling and I love that about her! 

Amy Schreiner - owns and operates her own Chiropractic clinic in River Falls, WI.  She and Erin share an equally contagious smile and Amy just happens to have a crazy fun laugh to go with her great smile.  Amy and I share a love for helping people - so I know we'll have tons to talk about on our voyage to Brazil!   She served her community as an EMT for many years!  I'm sure along with the many lives she touches on a daily basis in her Chiropractic business, she impacted many in the EMS field as well over the years. 

Team Leader Vicki Dilley - what can I say about Vicki?  Hmmm....I adore her fun smile!  Her great voice just fits her small stature like mine :).  Vicki is self employed with the Melaleuca company.  Her passion for the Rotary and the youth exchange program is amazing to watch.  I'm sure she'll make a great leader and someone we can all learn alot from.  I'm confident that those that were charged with picking out a leader for our group recognized this passion in Vicki and knew from the start that she was the perfect person for the job!

And then there is me...well...I'm certain those of you that follow this blog throughout this adventure will get to know all of us better...so I will keep you guessing about me for now.  Perhaps one of my companion travelers will like to figure out how to log into this blog and they can write their true thoughts about me :)

All I can say for now is, I look forward to this adventure.  All kidding aside, I'm so very fortunate to have been selected along with the rest of these ladies to represent Rotary District 5960 and I think I can safely speak on everyones behalf when I say, "Thank you for this amazing opportunity!  We will proudly represent Rotary's mission throughout our time in Brazil and for many years to come!"