Hello! First I must continue the rest of Friday's entry and then I must tell you about our weekend in Marajo. On Thursday we visited 2 of the cathedrals that are located in Belem. One of the cathedrals was built in the 17th century. It's alter, statues and walls were all carved out to wood. The ornate statues were representations of the Mary, Jesus, and the Saints. This place was awesome but cameras were not allowed so I don't have any pictures. I posted a picture of Basilica de Nazareth on Thursday which is cathedral built in the 19th century. After the cathedrals we visited the Forte de Belem which was built to protect Belem from the 17th to the 19th century. We learned about some of the history of Belem at the Museum including about local cannibals who would eat the flesh of their captured enemies. This was the original Brazilian Churrascurria. After our tours we headed back to host families so we could rest up for our weekend trip to the Isle of Marajo.
At 2:30 am sharp I awoke and dressed and headed for Jussie's house. Jussie is Rotarian in Belem who owns a home on the Isle of Marajo. I along with rest of the team met up with Jussie and his family and headed to the docks to take the ferry ride to the Island. Jussie brought his wife, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and 4 grandchildren with us. It took about 4 hours on the ferry to reach the island. On the boat we were able to see the sun rise from the horizon on the equator. Jussie's house was about a 20 minute drive from the docks. The house caretakers had breakfast already made for us once we arrived. I was very hungry at this point at we had been up since 2:30 am. After breakfast, we traveled to couple remote beaches, visited a bison farm, drank out of coconuts and then went back to the house. Upon our return we had an extravagant lunch that included freshly fish caught directly out of the river. Jussie's house is located on the river; however you would never know that was a river because it is so wide you that you cannot see the other side. The water was super warm, calm, lined with sandy beaches, effected by ocean tides, and had many waves. It was like a fresh water bay. It was paradise. We went down to the beach behind the house and swam for a couple hours and then went out to dinner at about 8 pm.
We had to travel some ways to get to the restaurant which appeared out of nowhere down this long narrow dirt road. Included with dinner was show that featured traditional dances of the island natives. They show took place in middle of the outdoor dining room. There was a band of about 10 guys beating drums, playing some type of wind instruments along with about 6 guys and 6 girls were dancing wearing the traditional dress. Of course they were grabbing us to dance with them. All of us were pulled out to dance at least 3 or 4 times. We had a blast. The whole show lasted about hour and a half. After dinner we drove back to the house to sleep. Mary, Dean, and I managed to find some empty hammocks and slept outside under the porch that night. It was very peaceful listening to the sounds of the jungle along with the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach.
After my night under the stars, I awoke to breakfast being served on the outdoor patio. We all had breakfast and few of us went out to a couple local swimming holes. At the swimming hole we attempted to rock the some of the local boys off the log that bridged the stream. It was like trying to bounce someone off a round balance beam that was about 6 inches in diameter. I must have fell off the log and into the stream about 30 times before I gave up trying to beat some 9 year olds. After we all swallowed our pride and left the swimming hole we decided to go back to the River and swim for another couple hours. At about 2:30pm we headed back to the house prepared for our trip back to Belem. We left the house at about 4:30, took the ferry back upstream and arrived back in Belem at about 9:30 pm. During our ferry ride we got to see the sunset on the equator which was a great way to end our trip. Marajo was truly and amazing place that I would like to go back to. It was truly a great way to end our time in Brazil. However, I must note there are some things I won't mind seeing again. Here goes:
Top ten things I won't miss about Brazil
10. One word- "Arroz", that's Rice for you American's reading this
9. Using the waste basket in the bathroom
8. Having the vocabulary of a 1st grader
7. Not getting change back from a $5 bill even though your total at the supermarket is $4
6. Everyone thinks Queen and ABBA are your favorite bands
5. A "couple hours" really means ten.
4. Finding out that Chris Berman is not featured on ESPN
3. The internet…My dial-up AOL was not so bad after-all
2. Realizing a 7 year old can school me in a soccer match
1. Not peeing for 5 days because I have diarrhea.
As I am writing, we are on our way home. And sadly the trip is over. This was truly a life changing experience that I never thought I would ever have. I really did achieve my goals on this trip. Vocationally I was able to learn about how the health care system works here. I was able to meet and visit the people from all walks of life here. I met the fishermen to the businessmen. I walked through jungles, swam with dolphins, slept on docks, slept on hammocks, danced the samba, ate fish, drank out of coconuts, learned some Portuguese, and started an electrical fire. It was quite an awesome trip. I thank you for you interest and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for all the kind comments and emails you all sent. I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing you all. Thanks again! And for the last time "Tchau".
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
We are famous!
This is an article from todays Diario do Para. Mike and I are with our hosts from yesterday.
Belem! Belem! and some pics
Description of Pics... Mike and I at the TV Studio/ Basilica Nazareth/ Docks of Belem/ District Conference w/ District Governor & husband/ Fiery Protest/ Angry Protesters/ At Unimed Health/ at Churrascarria
Hello! Sorry of the delay but I have been quite busy the past few days.
On Sunday and Monday evenings we spent our last hours in Santarem at the Riverside café drinking some more Nova Schin and enjoying the nightlife The Santarem Rotary clubs thought we were to leave on Monday morning so nothing was planned for the day so I decided to catch up on the news and make my fantasy baseball team during the day.
Once Tuesday afternoon arrived we headed to the Santarem airport. At about 3 pm we departed Santarem for the city of Belem. Belem is on the east coast of Brazil at the Mouth of the Amazon River Basin. We arrived here at about 6 pm local time which is 1 hour ahead of EST. We were all were looking out the airplane window and viewed the city's skyline which contained tall residential buildings up to 40 stories high. The cityscape looked beautiful from the air. The airport looked very new and modern. Upon our arrival after picking up our baggage our host family's were there waiting for us. My host is Wagner Parente. He is a second generation Italian living here in Belem with his wife and his son. His son is 18 and he has 2 other older children who live in Sau Paulo. My accomadations here are great. It is a large bedroom with a queen size bed, private bath, A/C, TV, and wireless internet. The maid cooks me breakfast and does my laundry everyday so I'm living well.
On Tuesday night we went to a Rotary meeting that had some of the best food I've had since I've been here. Wednesday was the 1st of 2 occupational days. I met my host for the day, Jose Maria, at the Unimed Geral Hospital in the morning. He introduced me to the Hospital Chief Medical Officer and Vice President. We spent a couple hours talking about the healthcare system in Brazil and I learned about many of the specifics about the business side of it. I won't bore you with the details but I found it to be very interesting. In the afternoon we visited the Unimed Central Business office and another Unimed outpatient facility. On Thursday morning, enroute to the hospital I was about to visit we ran into a protest. There were about 10 people protesting the city plans to make there street a 2 lane avenue. To voice there opinion they created a barrier of burning trash that blocked passage to the road. So we had to reroute our drive to the hospital. When we finally arrived, I was treated to a tour of the Adventist Hospital of Belem. It is branch of the Adventist Health System that is based in the USA. I met with the Vice President/CMO all morning and he gave me a tour of the entire campus. Again I learned a lot more about Brazilian healthcare and the Adventist Health system which is unique in its own right. My host for the day, Luis, and I met up with Mike and his host Valder and we all went to a Churrascurria "Brazilian Steakhouse" just like Fago De Chao. I have been looking forward to this type of meal since we arrived. We sat there for 2 hours eating all the varieties of meat that was offered. This was the best meal I have since we arrived in Brazil.
After rolling out of the restaurant we headed out to a media center where we visited one the local TV stations and newspapers. We got a tour of all the production rooms, studios, and met a couple of the on-air reporters. At the newspaper called the Diario, we were briefly interviewed and our picture was taken for the news paper. This morning on page A8 of the Diario you can see a photo of Mike and I along with a short article about why we are here. It was pretty cool to see us in paper, I will be sure to bring back so extra copies. Well I gotta go now. I will post some more things about today later. Go Flyers!!!!
Once Tuesday afternoon arrived we headed to the Santarem airport. At about 3 pm we departed Santarem for the city of Belem. Belem is on the east coast of Brazil at the Mouth of the Amazon River Basin. We arrived here at about 6 pm local time which is 1 hour ahead of EST. We were all were looking out the airplane window and viewed the city's skyline which contained tall residential buildings up to 40 stories high. The cityscape looked beautiful from the air. The airport looked very new and modern. Upon our arrival after picking up our baggage our host family's were there waiting for us. My host is Wagner Parente. He is a second generation Italian living here in Belem with his wife and his son. His son is 18 and he has 2 other older children who live in Sau Paulo. My accomadations here are great. It is a large bedroom with a queen size bed, private bath, A/C, TV, and wireless internet. The maid cooks me breakfast and does my laundry everyday so I'm living well.
On Tuesday night we went to a Rotary meeting that had some of the best food I've had since I've been here. Wednesday was the 1st of 2 occupational days. I met my host for the day, Jose Maria, at the Unimed Geral Hospital in the morning. He introduced me to the Hospital Chief Medical Officer and Vice President. We spent a couple hours talking about the healthcare system in Brazil and I learned about many of the specifics about the business side of it. I won't bore you with the details but I found it to be very interesting. In the afternoon we visited the Unimed Central Business office and another Unimed outpatient facility. On Thursday morning, enroute to the hospital I was about to visit we ran into a protest. There were about 10 people protesting the city plans to make there street a 2 lane avenue. To voice there opinion they created a barrier of burning trash that blocked passage to the road. So we had to reroute our drive to the hospital. When we finally arrived, I was treated to a tour of the Adventist Hospital of Belem. It is branch of the Adventist Health System that is based in the USA. I met with the Vice President/CMO all morning and he gave me a tour of the entire campus. Again I learned a lot more about Brazilian healthcare and the Adventist Health system which is unique in its own right. My host for the day, Luis, and I met up with Mike and his host Valder and we all went to a Churrascurria "Brazilian Steakhouse" just like Fago De Chao. I have been looking forward to this type of meal since we arrived. We sat there for 2 hours eating all the varieties of meat that was offered. This was the best meal I have since we arrived in Brazil.
After rolling out of the restaurant we headed out to a media center where we visited one the local TV stations and newspapers. We got a tour of all the production rooms, studios, and met a couple of the on-air reporters. At the newspaper called the Diario, we were briefly interviewed and our picture was taken for the news paper. This morning on page A8 of the Diario you can see a photo of Mike and I along with a short article about why we are here. It was pretty cool to see us in paper, I will be sure to bring back so extra copies. Well I gotta go now. I will post some more things about today later. Go Flyers!!!!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Samba Nights
It has been a few days since I last wrote. We have been enjoying the Rotary District Conference since Thursday afternoon. All the presentations have been in Portuguese so we are getting about 15% of the message, which is probably not much different as when we go to seminars back home. We did our team presentation in Portuguese on Friday afternoon and it went great. The audience got really interested when I showed the picture of the cheesesteak so I elaborated on how awesome they were and they all were invited to Philly to try one. This morning there was a tree planting ceremony and a balloon launch that carried the Rotary banner across the sky. We were lucky because the banner which was being carried by 5 large helium balloons just barely cleared the antenna on top of the hotel.
The real highlights have occurred during the Rotary sponsored parties at the hotel. On Friday night there was a traditional Amazonian dance group who put on a short 20 minutes show. They were all dressed up in these elaborate costumes that were representative of the region. At one point in the show one of the dancers pulled me and Mike up and had us dance with the group in front of the audience. I'm not sure why but it keep getting targeted for things like this. I had no idea what I was doing but I managed to pull out some of the old moves circa 1989. Next was the talent show which was really just Karaoke with live musicians and people were dancing. We were dancing most of the night as every time any of us tried to sit down someone else would ask to dance. I learned how to samba and some other things I'm not really sure of. Last night was the awards dinner with a live band so there was more drinking and dancing. All this dancing is helping to shed a couple pounds. I'm just about swimming in my pants right now and when I where my Rotary Suit Jacket I look like that kid from "Big" after "Zorba" the fortune teller shrinks him back to kid size at the end of the movie. That's it for now. Have a good day!
The real highlights have occurred during the Rotary sponsored parties at the hotel. On Friday night there was a traditional Amazonian dance group who put on a short 20 minutes show. They were all dressed up in these elaborate costumes that were representative of the region. At one point in the show one of the dancers pulled me and Mike up and had us dance with the group in front of the audience. I'm not sure why but it keep getting targeted for things like this. I had no idea what I was doing but I managed to pull out some of the old moves circa 1989. Next was the talent show which was really just Karaoke with live musicians and people were dancing. We were dancing most of the night as every time any of us tried to sit down someone else would ask to dance. I learned how to samba and some other things I'm not really sure of. Last night was the awards dinner with a live band so there was more drinking and dancing. All this dancing is helping to shed a couple pounds. I'm just about swimming in my pants right now and when I where my Rotary Suit Jacket I look like that kid from "Big" after "Zorba" the fortune teller shrinks him back to kid size at the end of the movie. That's it for now. Have a good day!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Nets for Soccer and the Mosquitoes
Hi everyone. The last couple days have been more relaxing than normal. Late tuesday afternoon we visited 2 schools and 1 rec center. One of schools named SEARA was for malnourished kids aged 1 to 6 in a very poor section of the city. At the school all the children are bathed upon arrival given new clothes, they eat breakfast, participate in learning activities all day. We met with the school director and these German guys who were volunteering at the school for a year. After talking to the staff, Mike learned that these families of the children were in need of mosquito nets due to the outbreak of dengue fever. Mike had about 27 nets to give out to families so we decided to return last night (Wednesday evening) at 4 pm as this is when the families arrive to pick up their children.
So yesterday during the morning and early afternoon we had some free time to go down to the center of the city and do some shopping. Since tonight is the formal for the local Rotary District conference we needed to buy white button down shirts and ties. After searching for about 3o minutes we finally came upon a department store and got shirts. The only shirts they had were 100% cotton so these will be hot to wear and get wrinkled easily. After our shopping trip and lunch (I had a sandwich they call a "hamburger" but the meat is so salty here you need to drink a gallon of water just to get it down), we went back to the school to hand out the nets.
Upon arrival at the school around 4 pm, all the families were waiting for us. Mike with the assistance of the German guys demonstrated the importance of and how to use the nets. Each net is intended to cover one family and protect them when they sleep at night. These people are so poor that they all sleep together in the same room and bed. The nets come in different sizes based on the number of people in the family. After the demonstration all the families rushed up in line to receive their nets but unfortunately the demand outweighed the supply by about 41 nets. So Mike promised that we would be not leave any family without one so the school got the family names of the remaining people in line. Mike bought his supply of nets from donations he is receiving so he needs to raise about $1,000 more. These nets cost about $25 each and are treated with premethrene to fend off mosquitoes. Please email me if you would like to donate to this cause. 100% of what you donate will go directly to buying the nets specifically for this school. I saw this first hand and amazed at what I saw. We got to talking to the German guys who live next to the school and they invited us to thier place for a one of guys birthdays.
Anyways, after the visit to the school we came back to the compound and had dinner and hung out with retired dentist and his wife who is volunteering his services in Santarem. After dinner at about 9 pm we left the compound and went out to celebrate with the Germans. The party was great. This one guy played the guitar and actually knew some of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Bush, and even some Led Zeppelin. So we did some sing-alongs while we were drinking some beer and out of pine-apples. A good time was had by all.
Today we spoke briefly at the RYLA conference (Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly) and then went down to the block party as today was a Brazilian holiday yet again. We organized a pick-up game of soccer with about 20 kids. After about 45 minutes of playing in the hot sun I was done. So anyway, I have to get a shower now for the evening district conference dinner. Have a good night.
So yesterday during the morning and early afternoon we had some free time to go down to the center of the city and do some shopping. Since tonight is the formal for the local Rotary District conference we needed to buy white button down shirts and ties. After searching for about 3o minutes we finally came upon a department store and got shirts. The only shirts they had were 100% cotton so these will be hot to wear and get wrinkled easily. After our shopping trip and lunch (I had a sandwich they call a "hamburger" but the meat is so salty here you need to drink a gallon of water just to get it down), we went back to the school to hand out the nets.
Upon arrival at the school around 4 pm, all the families were waiting for us. Mike with the assistance of the German guys demonstrated the importance of and how to use the nets. Each net is intended to cover one family and protect them when they sleep at night. These people are so poor that they all sleep together in the same room and bed. The nets come in different sizes based on the number of people in the family. After the demonstration all the families rushed up in line to receive their nets but unfortunately the demand outweighed the supply by about 41 nets. So Mike promised that we would be not leave any family without one so the school got the family names of the remaining people in line. Mike bought his supply of nets from donations he is receiving so he needs to raise about $1,000 more. These nets cost about $25 each and are treated with premethrene to fend off mosquitoes. Please email me if you would like to donate to this cause. 100% of what you donate will go directly to buying the nets specifically for this school. I saw this first hand and amazed at what I saw. We got to talking to the German guys who live next to the school and they invited us to thier place for a one of guys birthdays.
Anyways, after the visit to the school we came back to the compound and had dinner and hung out with retired dentist and his wife who is volunteering his services in Santarem. After dinner at about 9 pm we left the compound and went out to celebrate with the Germans. The party was great. This one guy played the guitar and actually knew some of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Bush, and even some Led Zeppelin. So we did some sing-alongs while we were drinking some beer and out of pine-apples. A good time was had by all.
Today we spoke briefly at the RYLA conference (Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly) and then went down to the block party as today was a Brazilian holiday yet again. We organized a pick-up game of soccer with about 20 kids. After about 45 minutes of playing in the hot sun I was done. So anyway, I have to get a shower now for the evening district conference dinner. Have a good night.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Here are some Pics!!!
Swimming with the Dolphins
The River People
The Philadelphia!!! Boat was at the docks in Santarem
Mike gave this little guy a soccer ball. He lived in a village located outside Santarem.
Streets of Santarem
Playing dominos with our friend from Santarem on an tiny island in the river near Alter Do Chao
The new wing of the pediatric and maternity hospital in Manaus
House boat on the Rio Negra
City of Manaus at dusk
Meeting of the waters in Manaus
In the National forest. This tree is 800 years old
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