Elmira College Term 3 - Brazil 2018

Today in Salvador they celebrated Saint Benedito Day and there was a precession of people from the Our Lady of Rosary of Black Men and Black Women Church throughout the square of Old Salvador. Salvador was the first capital of Brazil for 200 years.  First place we stopped was the famous lighthouse. This was built in the 16th century and has a  breathtaking view of  Baía de Todos os Santos. Baía is Portuguese for bay.  Next we stopped at the market. Connie explained to us that 10,000 people work at the market. Fruit, vegetables, pottery, and a lot of African candomblé items of all types are sold throughout the entire market.  From here we headed to Old Salvador where we had a cooking demonstration on the native Salvador dish called Moqueca. This consists of dorade fish marinated with a  garlic paste, cilantro, and lime juice. The other ingredients that the fish is cooked in are  coconut milk, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and fresh cilantro. It tasted so delicious! In the

Today we started off meeting our tour guide, a very interesting man named Gabrielle. We leave our hotel to go to the port where our boat is at. On the way, we passed a banana market. The banana market is a huge market full of bananas. Then, we arrived at our boat. The boat is a two story, small cruise ship, painted in red and white. We drop off our luggage and then stop by a market close to the port for water and snacks at a small supermarket. The market had a lot of food like fruits and vegetables and even a fish market. When we went back to the boat we went through a small orientation with Gabrielle. He told us to not sit on the boat railing and to be careful from slipping on the floor if it’s wet. We learned how fishing and selling fish is a huge market for people who live on the Amazon and Manaus. After lunch we went to a national forest and saw some monkeys jumping from trees to trees. After this we went piranha fishing. Although everyone only caught catfish. We saved one for dinn

Today we departed from the jungles of the amazon and made our way back to land. Once back at Manaus we went to Mercado Publico which was established in 1882. The market is filled with crafts, fresh fish, fresh fruit and some of the medicinal plants Gabriel showed us in the Amazon. We walked through and saw how crazy and packed the markets can be on a daily basis. We then got a chance to shop around at the markets and see all of the hand made crafts like carved mugs or homemade soaps. We then headed over to the Opera House. The Opera house took 15 years to build and was the first opera house to have electricity. The Governor of Manaus decided to make a project to make Manaus more modern, which is how they decided to build this Opera House.  Inside the theater there were beautiful paintings, and on the ceiling there was a huge mural that represented music, dance, tragedy and of course opera. There were also pillars surrounding the theater and each had a name of a famous artist to honor

First stop today was our tour guide’s family manioc home. They grew and harvested many plants. The manioc root can be used to produce flour, tapioca, or juice. They also harvest açaí and many medicinal plants for anything from a stomach ache to an anesthetic. The plants can be used for basic, traditional needs, but also for modern technologies. For example, glue can be made from tapioca that is then used by many large manufacturers of televisions.  Next stop was the Acajatuba village. There they showed us how they make jewelry from açaí berries and even let us make our own. We played a soccer game with the children (under the age of 10). They crushed us and I’m pretty sure they were taking it easy on us. We were all dripping in sweat, but everyone involved had a lot to laugh about. The lack of verbal communication didn’t matter because everyone could understand the game. It was so much fun!

We left the amazing,  magnificent Amazon and arrived in Salvador late tonight.  Blogs are backed up because of no access to WIFI for four days so students  will be posting them shortly and I'll add some photographs as well. Upon reflection, I think everyone should have the chance to be technology free for a few days just to remember or (as in the case of the students) learn how liberating it can be! Hopefully we'll carry some of this practice with us going forward. Tomorrow is a full day of activities so stay tuned.

On Tuesday we left Rio for Manaus. We only spent one night in Manaus as today we will be beginning our 3 night/4 day journey on the Amazon by boat. It is likely that we will not have access to wifi and/or cellular service for most of our trip but we will re-establish contact upon our return on Saturday as well leave Manuas and head to Salvador .

We got lucky and were able to watch a futbol match at Maracana stadium between two Brazilian clubs. This was the venue for the 2014 FIFA World Cup final . It was an amazing experience,  even though the sradium was only a third full.  Fruit juices are a big part of Brazilian cuisine. Fruit is fresh and plentiful and is deliciously exotic. On our last evening a group of students walked over  to watch the sunset at Ipanema beach, right next to Copacabana .

The statue of Christ the Redeemer at the top of Corcovado mountain  Sugarloaf mountain which can be seen from the monument  View of Rio from Corcovado  From the top of Sugarloaf 

Disclaimer: I couldn’t figure out how to post this until the day after I wrote it. So the shenanigans you’re about to read took place on April 23rd Blog post for 4/23 Today was our last full day in Rio and it was also a free day! So, I can only fully report on the experience that Rachel Leben and I had. Therefore, today’s entry will be rather short. Sorry, parents!  We started off our day with a surf lesson on one of the beautiful beaches in Rio, the   Praia do Recreio! It’s a small beach that is known for its safe waves that beginner surfers can practice on. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most amazing excursions one could go on. It was a once in a life time experience  to learn how to surf (or at least try) in such a beautiful environment.  Obviously this is a sociology class so one of the main objectives is to immerse oneself into the authentic culture of the area one is exploring. Needless to say, surfing and beaches are genuinely Brazilian. Howev

The moSt famous murals (graffiti) were commissioned for the artist Kobra 

The favela Vidigal that we visited  View from the top of the favela The centre for children that runs an enrichment program in the favela  Mural of Malala Yusufzaidi at the centre

The Selaron steps in Rio (above) Walking in Old Rio  On the agenda at the Brazilian Development Bank

Bright and early this morning (8:30-9:00) we were picked up by an open top vehicle that closely resembles a jeep. The jeeps drove us to the tram, that we took from the bottom of the hill all the way to the top where Christ the Redeemer. After getting off the tram we had to walk up 200 steps to reach the base of the statue. People were lying on the ground and kneeling every where in order to get the perfect picture with Christ the Redeemer. We took the tram halfway back down the hill to a nice buffet style restaurant. There was a beautiful view into the Forrest where it is known to have monkeys come up and visit with the people eating, unfortunately we were not able to see any. The Jeep’s took us back down the rest of the hill and to our next location, cable cars to sugarloaf. The cable cars were an interesting experience, but I wouldn’t suggest to those afraid of heights. There were two different cable cars we had to take to get to the top. At the top of sugarloaf we explored in the

Today in Brazil is a national holiday called Triadentes Day. This day celebrates Xavier, whom fought for Brazilian independence and ended up becoming imprisoned and hung as a result.  On today’s agenda we walked the graffiti tour in downtown Rio. This area was created for the sole purpose of the World Cup in 2014. While walking, our tour guide, Rafael, pointed out that the aquarium and many of the buildings around were all built as tourist attractions. The graffiti all had a separate story and were done by different artists. The government of Rio de Janeiro paid Kobra, a famous artist from Saõ Paulo, to create a mural. In this mural, it involves a picture of a real person from every continent.  From here, we went to lunch to a restaurant called Cais Gourmet where we had Feijoada. This dish includes pork, Black beans, and rice and is a famous meal to eat in Brazil. It tastes pretty delicious!  After lunch, we made our way to the National Historic Museum. It was created in 192

Today we were supposed to head off to a bank at 8 in the morning, but the traffic is so bad in Brazil that our guide was an hour late because it took him 2 and a half hours just to travel about 20 miles from his house to our hotel! He stated he had left at 6 in the morning and still wasn’t able to make it through traffic! We then eventually arrived at BNDES which is a bank that focuses on long term finance for enterprises and small businesses. They were founded in 1950 and is 100% state owned. Our speaker stated that they have their first female president and have 3 female directors out of about 7 total, with a total of 2,747 members. The speaker stated that the enterprises and small businesses that can be financed are any legally established company in Brazil. After learning more of what BNDES does, we asked our speaker to discuss poverty in Brazil, and he stated that minimum wage in Brazil is 985 Real a month which is equivalent to about 288 USD a month. He stated however that BNDE

We started our day with a tour of old Rio. First stop was Escadaria Selarón (Selaron Steps). The creator, Jorge Selaron, painted many ceramic tiles himself to place on the street and soon started receiving them from around the world. The steps became an ionic symbol of Rio after not only making appearances in many music videos and films, but also existing as a creative collaboration across cultures. They were beautiful! Escadaria Selarón Next up was the Cathedral of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro. As a modern design, the outside was nothing more than cement with the stained glass windows hidden from sight. This was to demonstrate the humility of the Catholic faith. Most of Brazil practices Christianity, while the majority of those are Evangelical Christians. Cathedral of St. Sebastian As we walked through the colonial area the design of bland, basic architecture seemed to be a trend. The imperial palace resembled nothing associated with the word “palace”. Graffiti was often

Our class has arrived safely in Rio and is spending thr first day recovering from our long journey and acclimating ourselves.  The warm weather and sunshine is certainly a pleasant change from the cold and dreary Northeast that we left behind. Students have spent the rest of the day walking around our neighbourhood, testing the waters at Copacabana beach and resting to get ready for the tomorrow's activities.  While relaxing on the beach they got to experience an endless parade of vendors selling everything from sunglasses and toys to empanadas and Bluetooth speakers.  Brazilians don't have to leave the beach to do their shopping! At this point we can't seem to post any photos. Hopefully we will be able to sort that out.

Our class is studying contemporary Brazilian culture and society.  We will start with a week in Rio exploring cultural and historical museums as well as local art and graffiti, visiting a favela, learning about social programs at the Brazilian Development Bank and enjoying the natural sights that Rio de Janeiro has to offer.  Next, we travel to the Amazon and visit Manaus, a city of 2 million people in the midst of the world's largest rain forest.  We will be spending 3 nights and 4 days on a riverboat traveling on the Amazon and its tributaries, learning about the ecosystem and its inhabitants and interacting with local villagers as we make stops along the way. Upon our  return to Manaus, we will have a chance to explore some of the local markets which sell the incredible bounty of fruits, vegetables and fish harvested from the rain forest, visit the Floating Dock as well as the incredible Amazon Opera House, a monument to the global rubber trade more than a century ago. The