Brazil!! The Beginning

I had a rough start because I lost my first set of pictures but let me get started and move forward from there.  Must get past the disappointment.  We are all having a great time and the weather is at the other end of the spectrum from what you are having.  The students might want a little snow for about 10 minutes each day to cool off.  What do you think?  Also I want to remind everyone to ask Craig what little surprise he had on the first day while touring ESALQ.

Wednesday started with the official welcome by Prof. Jose Vicente Caixeta Fo., Dean of ESALQ and  Prof. Carlos José Caetano Bacha the Department Chair of Economics.  We also were formally introduced to our two undergraduate students, ISADORA Vercesi Bethlem and LUCAS Palamim.  Isadora and Lucas will be with us throughout the trip as hosts and they assist Shirota in the planning of all the activities.

We then had our first Portuguese lesson with Cristina who is a great teacher and friend of the group.  We have five survival Portuguese lessons with Cristina the first five days.  Cristina also manages the host family program and does a great job of matching students with host families.

Prof Mello taught one class on Brazilian History.  That first lecture is always difficult as students have to adjust to a three hour class and a new instructor.  They hung in there with him and asked lots of questions.

After class some students visited at a local restaurant while others went to the grocery and we all joined again to go out to dinner together.  We had a great dinner at a small sandwich place and everyone went to bed on a very full stomach.

Thursday started with a fantastic breakfast out on the patio of the hotel in the bright sunshine at about 66 degrees.  It was heaven.  It was one of the prettiest mornings I have seen in all my visits.  You can see the palm trees in the background.

Cristina started her Portuguese lesson with everyone spelling their first and last name and working on the alphabet.  Then she moved on to traditional Brazilian greetings.  Two kiss, three kiss, shaking hands, female-female, female-male, male-male greetings each with it’s own nuances.  Below you can see the Brazilian students greeting some of the U.S. students.  Fun was had by all.

Then Prof Mello continued his lecture from yesterday with some economic history information.  We ate lunch at a local restaurant and we all had the special of the day which was baked chicken with penne pasta, tomato sauce and parmesean cheese.  

Prof Shirota reviewed the trip itinerary after lunch and students really got to see the places they will be seeing during the six weeks in Brazil and how far we will be traveling once classes are finished.  I think the excitement increased immensely when they really could see what they will be doing.  Shirota then reviewed some Brazilian history which began to tie together the content together for the students.

The evening included acai and ice cream, crepes, visit to the grocery, sitting by the pool, running, frozen yogurt and many other things depending on the student.

Friday was spent learning more from Prof Mello, a great lunch at a per kilo restaurant and dinner at the Villa where we ate more family style to try some new foods including french fries (not new), fried chicken sticks , beef and cheese, pizza with cheese and no sauce, chicken parmesean and a variety of beverages.  Can't wait for the dairy industry tomorrow.