January 8, 2019

This morning we had breakfast at 7 a.m. again and we then made our walk to class. Today was our last Portuguese class. We learned clothing items, colors and acted out ordering at a restaurant. One person pretended to be the waiter and one the person being served. This was helpful since we are having more meals on our own. Some of the words we learned today included:

• Frio – cold
• Quente – hot
• Doce – sweet
• Rosa – pink
• Camiseta – shirt
• Bolsa – bag/purse

We thanked Christina as she has been so helpful with teaching us our Portuguese. Ending class we sang a Portuguese song in Portuguese. It was difficult to keep up and say the words but we all found it really fun to try! We then were able to share of our favorite songs with Christina. We sang Country Roads and Carmen Ohio.

Fernando then continued with his lesson on economics in Brazil. He discussed how the relationship between Brazil and agriculture became so strong. We compared the markets of the United States and Brazil. It is interesting to hear the perspective of the future of agriculture and feeding the population from another country that continues to feed a large portion of the world. Being able to see the passion Fernando has for these topics and the country is fun to hear.

For lunch today, we went the ESALQ cafeteria. There were options to get the meal of the day which was fish, rice, and beans or you could order grilled cheese, ham and cheese, and many other sandwich options. The two-hour lunch is so nice to relax before beginning the afternoon classes.

In the afternoon we continued with our discussion of the history of Brazil and specifically looking at the wages of those in Brazil and how these compare to the United States. One thing that many of us found interesting was those who are employed have 30 days of vacation and one-third of these must be paid. Class ended around 5 and then we had a short talk with Shirota about our weekend trip where we will be heading to Sao Paulo and the beach (!!). We also learned about our group project we will be researching while in country.

We walked back to the hotel and had some time to relax and we had dinner on our own. A few of us went to a pizza place down the street. We were excited to find when we walked in the man working knew English! He immediately asked if we were from the states and we all laughed. Afterward we went across the street for ice cream. They had all sorts of familiar flavors such mint chocolate chip, vanilla, and chocolate, and creamsicle. We then returned to the hotel so we could get some rest before our tours tomorrow!

Thank you Christina!

Practicing Portuguese with Christina!

Talking to Fernando!

The coffee here comes in much smaller cups than at home!

Selfie outside the ice cream shop!

-Meredith Oglesby

Today started the same as previous with breakfast at Antonio’s, but was it was much warmer this morning than others. I believe that it got up to around 91 degrees Fahrenheit today, which was just a bit warm. We spent more time with Cristina learning how to introduce ourselves and tell of our studies so that soon we are able to introduce ourselves to our host families. We learned terms like:

• gosto de (I like)
• eu estudo (I study)

Following our Portuguese we met our next professor,  Dr. Fernando Peres, who studies agricultural economics. Fernando received his PhD from The Ohio State University, which made for some fun conversation about economics as well as the Buckeyes! Fernando led us in some discussion about the geography, demographics, and biological wealth of Brazil. Did you know that Brazil holds around 22% of the world’s natural forest and that around 87% of that forest is indigenous. Fernando shared many stories and wisdom with the group. I greatly enjoyed his perspective of economics and the comparison between the US and Brazil.

We enjoyed lunch at a local bakery that served many traditional Brazilian foods and desserts. We enjoyed good conversation with each other and practicing our Portuguese with the locals. Class ended at 5 p.m. and we headed to the hotel in what felt like 100 degree heat, uphill.

Many of us decided that the pool was a good choice to cool down so we quickly threw on our suits and jumped in. The cool water allowed for a good break from the heat and from class.

Tonight, we also had our first dinner on our own, or I suppose without Leticia, our student guide for the trip. We all did our best to communicate our orders and the workers were all understanding and helpful. Brazilians have been very kind overall and made our time thus far much less stressful! Tchau!

Meredith and I at the bakery!

Today was the warmest so far!

ESALQ!

Ice cream from McDonalds is great no matter what country!

Enjoying cafe in between classes!

Leticia has been our so patient and kind as we learn Portuguese and explore Brazil.

When it’s 92 you have to go swimming!

O-H-I-O from sunny Brazil!

I could get used to weather like this in January!

-McKenzie Davis

January 6, 2018

Classes resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, beginning with another “Survival Portuguese” lesson from Cristina. We continued gearing up for our homestays in two weeks, learning how to describe our family members to our host family. Some of the words we learned were primo/prima (cousin), irmão (brother), and irma (sister). We can’t wait to meet our host families!

Some other topics we covered were ordering from restaurants, numbers, and asking for as well as telling the time. We’re basically native speakers by now!

Next, we continued our Brazilian history lessons with Pedro. We began to get closer to recent history in Brazil, covering topics from Brazil’s independence and the abolition of slavery, all the way up to recent political climates in Brazil, as well as the future of Brazil. In class discussions, Pedro’s passion for Brazilian economics has really shown.

When we decided to ask Pedro why he did his research on the economics of slavery in Brazil, we got to hear his story of his time spent in Chicago studying economics. He spent his time taking classes for the sake of learning, especially classes outside of his economics specialization. In following his passion for learning, he found great interest in learning about the economics of slavery in Brazil, so he insisted that this would be the topic for his dissertation, despite the extensive research and easier alternatives. Pedro summed up his reasoning in a simple yet profound piece of advice he offered us:

“I think you should follow your heart instead of reason,

 I think in the long run, it is better.”

            Coming from a man who has studied logic and profit maximizing for his entire life, this is a very profound statement. As we wrapped up our talks about modern day Brazil, and Pedro’s lessons came to an end, we presented him with a thank you note and a gift, posing for a picture with our professor and newfound friend.

After class, we all returned to the hotel for a little bit of rest before dinner. For dinner, we went to an all-you-can eat pizza “rodizio,” where the servers brought out all different kinds of pizza to try until we were stuffed. Even though we were full, we were still able to make room to try a few Brazilian dessert pizzas. Finally, the group made our way back to Antonio’s Palace, ready for a restful night’s sleep to tackle another day in Brazil!

We said thank you to Pedro for his lectures!

We presented Allen with his award for going above and beyond for Alpha Zeta Partners! We also gave him a few bottles of Ranch!

Trying Brazilian pizza!

We love having dinners with Christina!

– Shem Pond

January 5, 2019

This morning began just like yesterday, with all of us bouncing down to breakfast at around 7:00 a.m. to enjoy café (coffee) and pao de queijo (cheese bread). We then spent our day at class, learning more Portuguese with Cristina and learning about the Brazilian way to greet our friends. She walked us through proper greetings, for example:

• bom dia! (good morning),
• Oi! (hi)
• Todo bom? (how are you?).

She then taught us the Brazilian equivalent of a handshake, where you give the person you’re greeting a quick kiss on the cheek. It was a little awkward at first and it definitely brought all of in the group closer.

We then had a class with Professor Pedro, who taught us about Brazilian history, government, and economics. It was very interesting to discover that Brazil and the United States share a lot of similarities when it comes to the early history of our countries. This made me very reflective, because our two countries have and do struggle with many of the same things.

After class, we walked back in the rain, and started to discuss our plans for the night. We decided that we needed to make a trip to the grocery store, because on Sundays, not many restaurants are open, and we needed lunch for class. The walk was about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. Once we arrived, Leticia was so patient with translating prices and descriptions of items we were finding in the grocery store. We were all like little kids in a candy store, running around to compare and contrast the store with grocery stores we have at home. A couple cool things we found were mint Sprite, cream cheese Cheetos, and eggs that we not refrigerated.

Once we were done shopping, in the check-out line, we were having a hard time communicating with our cashier. Leticia was away helping some other people finish shopping. It was a complete coincidence that in the next line over, there was a woman who spoke English. She worked as a translator for us and introduced us to her daughter who is learning English. Her and I had a quick conversation where she told me all the words she knew in English and practiced with me, while her mother was helping my classmates finish checking out. It was such a heartwarming experience that again made me recognize that all of us are more alike than different, striving to learn something new and reach out a helping hand when needed.

After the grocery store, we had dinner at Burger King that tasted very similar to the US, and that Leticia took us to a local bar where young people hang out on the weekend. We enjoyed live music, conversation, and a few Brazilian drinks before heading home for the night. It was another wonderful day here in Brazil, and I am personally really looking forward to traveling to São Paulo next weekend. In the meantime, boa tarde!

In Brazil a common way to greet someone is to kiss them on the cheek. We practiced this in class!

Each day we have several breaks throughout the day to have coffee!

Exploring the grocery store!

We were surprised to see their eggs not refrigerated.

We loved comparing items in the store.

The juice here is delicious!

The check out process was interesting and fun because we got to use our Portuguese.

Mint Sprite is really good!!

– Maggie Hovermale

January 2, 2018- January 4, 2018

Alpha Zeta Partners class 20 embarked on their adventure to Brazil. We left Columbus on January 2. We had a layover in Toronto Canada and then a ten hour flight to Sáo Paulo. We landed around 1 p.m. and after grabbing our luggage and making it through customs we met Shirota and began our journey to Piracicaba. We stopped for lunch at Frango Asado where we had the chance to try new Brazilian foods. It was buffet style and had all sorts of meats, vegetables, and desserts. We then continued on to Piracicaba and then stopped for a tour of ESALQ, where we will be taking classes for the trip. We saw eucalyptus trees, coffee plants, and learned about how their semesters work along with the type of majors and research that take place here. For dinner we had beef parmesan with rice. We also tried salad which had palm hearts, quail eggs, and olives. We checked into Antonios Palace the hotel we are staying in and had the evening to settle in.

Friday was our first full day in Brazil. We started with breakfast where we had pau de cueijo which is cheese bread, watermelon, pineapple, toast, coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and coxinhas which has chicken and cheese on the inside. We walked to class where we had a welcome and watched a short video about ESALQ. We then talked through our schedule and what all we will be doing within the next six weeks. Christina came for our first “survival Portuguese” lesson. We began with the alphabet and pronunciation. Their alphabet is slightly different than English and their sounds are different so we spent time learning these sounds and practiced spelling our names. We also went over our nicknames. We then learned new words, most of which were foods so we are able to learn and identify foods at meals. A few words we learned include:

• Abacaxi – pineapple
• Café – coffee
• Pipoca – popcorn
• Sorvete – ice cream

We also learned a few phrases so we are able to order and ask different questions. A few of these include:

• Uma agua mineral, por favor – one bottled water, please
• Eu náo falo Portuguese: I don’t know Portuguese
• Onde è obanheiro? – Where is the bathroom?

We then walked to lunch which was buffet style and we had the chance to have different types of fish, beef, and chicken. We also had beans, rice, French fries, potatoes, lasagna, and other sorts of Brazilian foods and desserts. Once returning to class we had a short break before starting our second lecture of the day. Pedro was our next lecturer, he began with an overview of Brazil. The population of Brazil is 208, 846, 892 with most living on the coast. The largest city in Brazil is Sáo Paulo which is also the second largest city in the world, with Mexico City being the largest and New York City being the third largest. The common religion is Roman Catholic. The Amazon Rainforest takes up a significant portion of land in Brazil and impacts their economy in terms of exports. We had dinner at the School Burger. They had hamburgers and milkshakes and a 17.7 inches churro with M&Ms, chocolate, sprinkles, cinnamon, and sugar. Afterward we headed back to the hotel to relax for the evening.

Class 20 eating their first Brazilian meal!

Students eating lunch after their first class at ESALQ!

Shirota giving students a tour of the ESALQ campus.

A view from our hotel at Antonio’s Palace!

-Meredith Oglesby