February 9, 2015 – Coffee Day!!
Everything you ever wanted to know about coffee and more!! We started out at the COCOPEC Coffee coop
which is the best coop in the country and it is the second largest. There are 220 member, 5 sites as well the
headquarters in Franca. The 200
employees. The price o of coffee is
400R per bag and each bag weighs 60 kilos.
Business for this co-op has quadrupled in recent years. At the end of the year any money the coop
makes either goes back to the members or is reinvested in the co-op. The biggest issue for coffee is the climate
and water. Since the last two years
there has been a lack of water the bean production will be down. Coffee can not handle frost, hail or
drought. Rust is the biggest disease and
there is a beetle that needs to be controlled.
This region has a very good history of production. The coffee beans are harvested at key point
of ripeness, then dried for about 20 days.
It needs to be at 11.5% moisture.
Then it is kept for a couple of months, dehulled, separated, blended,
roasted, and ground. Most coffee is a
blend. 1.2 million 70 kilo bags come
through this facility last year. Brazil
is the top exporter with 40% of the coffee that is exported. Viet Nam is second and Columbia is
third. Brazil is largest producer,
largest exporter and second largest consumer to the U.S. who is first. We met the master taster and watched (and
even tried) him taste coffee and he was even able to identify the top cup he selected
when replace in a group of about 30 cups of coffee. It was amazing. Coffee is examined physically and by
taste. We were able to go to a coffee to
also see the real coffee plant. The
beans are not ripe yet. We also saw the
actual coffee harvester which was very interesting. After learning about coffee we headed back to
Piracicaba. Antonio’s here we come!!
February 10, 2015 - We had time
in the morning to work on our group projects.
We then visited the Entomology department at ESALQ. They talked about the research they were
doing, both biological and chemical control and the graduate students talked
about the various projects they were doing.
The most interesting part of the visit was seeing a large ant farm and
learning about the social habits of ants.
One of the graduate students explained his research. Each colony has its own queen. A colony can live for a long time. Should the queen die the colony will also die
very soon after. We were able to see the
soldiers and workers. The ants were all
very busy.
We then visited the “Clinica do Leite” at ESALQ which was a non-profit
organization located at ESALQ which was an integrated program for farmers
looking at milk quality and production management for each farm
participating. It provided integrated
solutions for the management of milk production, a laboratory for milk
analysis, training on how to use the data, training on collecting data and
transportation, milk fraud identification and the participants earned a
certificate: Master in Dairy Administration.
February 11, 2013 – We left the hotel and headed to Sao Carlos to visit
another EMBRAPA station. This visit was
focused on livestock and various feed systems for cows. They had just purchased a new feeding system
to measure methane production. They had
two cows set up to use it and it was interesting to see that one cow was a
bully and wouldn’t let the other one eat.
The farm was set up with lots of pasture where the cows regularly
rotated through. Some of the lots were
just pasture with certain kinds of grasses, others were planted with rows of Eucalyptus
trees, others had corn, others had trees and corn. They were measuring the methane gas and other
gases released to the environment to determine which method is most
sustainable. In the one picture you can see Zach leaning over looking for insects. I need to make a comment that Zach's interest in insects showed the group how passionate one can be for a discipline. Everyone learned so much from Zach and he added a dimension to our study abroad that most will never find in a study abroad. Thanks Zach.
In the afternoon we visited a new Volkswagon plant that produced
engines. There are 106 VW factories in
the world. 9.7 million cars are made in
Brazil, China and Germany. There are
13,000 employees. Brazil was first to
have a factory outside of Germany. The
plant we visited had 5000 employees. We
the process of making an engine from start to finish. There were many times where we saw robots in
action. No pictures were allowed.
February 12, 2015 - Presentation
Day!!! Each group, six total, presented
their projects. The topics were interesting
choices many of which I had not seen used in the past which showed their
creativity and willingness to step out of their comfort zone. Everyone did a great job. Congratulations Class 16. Now it’s part time!!
The students are very excited to see their host family. We had a host family dinner which was a happy
occasion but also sad. Friendship were
built with the families and the matches were great!! Thank you Cristina for your great work!! Brazilian families….you were fantastic and
thank you for your great welcome and willingness to participate in the
program. You are crucial for the success
of the program.
February 13, 2015 – Packing, last lunch at the river, great grilled
fish, presents for Shirota, Cristina, Lucas and Isadora, birthday celebration
for Carley and Dr. Pfister, last look at Antonio’s and boarding the bus. It was a quiet bus ride. Isadora and Lucas made this trip. They were fantastic hosts. They produced a video for us of the trip and
showed it at the end of the bus ride.
Thank you Isadora and Lucas. Now
the last good byes. Great relationships
developed this year between the students, Isadora, Lucas and Shirota and
therefore tears were had by all. It was
very difficult to let go but there was also the excitement of coming home but
right now it was tears. We all moved
through security talking about the experience we were leaving. Security was uneventful in Sao Paulo. The flight was on time. While we were standing waiting for the plane
in Sao Paulo I realized my flight from Dallas to Ohio was an earlier flight
than what we originally had. We checked
everyone’s ticket and they too were on the earlier flight. I notified Kelly and she contacted the
parents. We had a short turnaround time
in Dallas. Assuming no problems in
customs we should make the flight.
February 14, 2015 - Well, customs in Dallas had a couple kinks but we
all made the flight. Columbus here we
come. We landed in Columbus at 11:45
instead of 3:00. The homecoming was
fantastic and everyone’s luggage arrived.
February 15, 2015 – More to the story……
Class 16 you are awesome!! I have
so many memories and last night many were running through my head once I
finally got to bed. I will always be
your mom away from home. I hope you keep
me posted with all the great things you will do. If you didn’t see my Facebook post, my sons
and Rebecca and Crystal surprised me last night and we celebrated Valentine’s
Day and my birthday. Tom and Rebecca left for London, England today for one
week to find a house. Their work visa’s
were approved and arrived on Friday. I
am keeping Sadie, their dog, for the week.
Tom’s job still starts tomorrow. They plan to come back next Sunday and make the last moving plans and all three (Tom,
Rebecca and Sadie) will be in England by the end of the month for at least the next
two and half years. I did get to see
them before they left!! AZP Class 16,
thank you so much for the past six weeks.
I am so proud of you.
