Beach time!

The anticipation on the boat!

The bay approaching the island.

Long lunch

Best $3.75 I have spent is renting this umbrella!

View from the hike

We woke up early and headed to a port to take a ferry to Honey Island.  The students and I needed a bit of a break so it was just in time!  I think most of us were looking forward to some sun after a stretch of rainy days in Piracicaba and long bus trips.  Many students crowded to the back of the boat to soak up some sun on the 40 minute ride to the island.  Many stayed in the shade underneath and relaxed in the breeze.

We arrived at the island and started off on what Shirota called a short walk across the island.  When a Brazilian references time as “short” their scale is usually very different than ours.  Be weary!  The walk was very much worth it as we arrived at an fairly open beach with just a few surfers and a view of the island’s lighthouse on the hill above us.  We were also within easy walking distance of a couple of restaurants and people renting out umbrellas and chairs.

The students and I had a great time playing in the waves and enjoying the sun.  Several took the hike up to the lighthouse and we all enjoyed a long lunch out of the sun.  Though we did our best to reapply sunscreen, a majority of the group experienced some degree and/or area of sunburn.  Thankfully, we considered all aloe, creams and after-burn lotion community property.  Some are still hurting…

When we arrived in Curitiba we got showers and went back out for a surprise dinner, the World’s 2nd Largest Restaurant!

Today was a bit more relaxing than the norm. We woke up early to board the bus to visit the Hippie Market. It is much like other markets I’ve visited in Central/South America. A lot of vendors with a wide variety of wares to sell. These venders were not as aggressive nor did they haggle much. I didn’t take pictures because we were encouraged to leave our phones and other valuables on the bus.

We drove around São Paulo a bit to get to much and I did get some photos then. Wall Street and a cool train station were good shots.

We then had lunch at a nice Brazilian Steak House. Shirota said the minimized the time at the salad bar because the meats were more valuable. What we didn’t realize is that we would be swarmed with servers in a steady stream. Filet Mignon, prime rib, lamb, chicken hearts, shrimp, cheese breads…  There was no end!  They students loved it.

Fine! Just a little more…

Mary was enjoying the carne!

So done!

Gas station playgrounds are fun here!

After stuffing ourselves we jumped on the bus to head for the beach!  8-9 hours later and we’re at a hotel an hour from our destination!  

Today was another great day!

We we started with a trip to the São Paulo Zoo. It was very large, but exhibits were somewhat close together. I asked the students to pay attention to signage to see if they could pick up on any cultural  differences, who the zoo catered to, what the purpose of the zoo was (entertainment, education, conservation, breeding, etc). There was a lot of educational signage sponsored by Coca-Cola and vending machines around all the turns.  They served drinks in cans but had signs with displays of cans animals had eaten that had been thrown into the pens.

It wa different than the Columbus Zoo in a number of ways. It was built into a hill with lots of paths up and down and a lot of green space. There were no maps around and the signage was designed with a point, but they weren’t arrows, which allowed for a lot of exploration. There was also an ambulance and Doctor right there on the grounds.

After the the zoo we went back to the mall for lunch. It is a super nice mall with all sorts of US and European stores. The food court had a lot of US chains. Outback Steak House is a big deal in Brazil and people will wait 2 hours for a table. They also had McDs, Carl’s Jr, Subway and Birger King.

Our afternoon stop was at the OSU Brazil Gateway Office. The office is a mini OSU embassy supporting students, research, alumni and partnership relations. Luke Barbara is the director and received us with coffee, candy and an office decorated with a lot of Buckeye spirit. The students learned about OSU activities and partners in Brazil, leadership differences, the South American Dream, an alternative view on the role the Brazilian president plays in the current economic crisis and what a Brazikian fire alarm sounds like.   Thanks for receiving is Luke!

The students are out for a night of dancing in São Paulo  I feel like I’ve sent them off to prom     Going out is a bit of a coming of age  I love and trust this group, but still pray they make good decisions.  We have a code word, “sunscreen.”  If a Brazilian is dancing a little to close, a student can start talking about needing sunscreen the next day to alert another student that they should intervene (pretend they are a boyfriend/girlfriend, be annoying, whatever works).  We also now have code “aloe” in case a Brazilian needs rescuing from one of us…  It goes both ways!

​Today was the first day of our short trip taking us to Sau Paulo. On the way there we stopped at Natura, a world renowned cosmetic company. Natura prides itself on its commitment to sustainability in sourcing ingredients, production, and employee well-being. Natura utilizes a gravity feed packing system so no pumps are required to fill containers with product, enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. Walking through the factory you could smell the aroma of the products as they were being packaged. Also, we had the pleasure of trying out a variety of their products from lipstick, eye shadow, lotion, and even men’s fragrances.

​Soon after we traveled to the corporate office of JBS, the world’s largest protein processor. We listened to a presentation about the company’s founding, how it grew into a world leader, and its future plans. Later we toured the headquarters and were able to see the floor where traders, marketers, and designers worked. Mary and Leah even got a little camera practice! Prior to leaving the facility we were given hats with the Friboi logo, one of the company’s top brands.
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When the evening came we visited the Society of Roses Samba School. We toured the school, learned about its history and activities it’s involved with. We got to go backstage and see where their float for Carnival is being built and even got to try on the costumes for the parade. I couldn’t believe they have to make 3,000 costumes for the parade, just to take them all apart and start from scratch the following year. Later, we joined in samba dancing with nearly 3,000 people. Professional dancers (those who will dance in Carnival) were dancing up front and invited us dance along with them! We also got to go stand in front of the drummers, who played so loud you couldn’t hear the person next to you, even if they yelled at the top of their lungs. It was a great honor to be invited to participate with them and become so baptized in such a hospitable Brazilian culture.

Today has been great and it is still hours from over!

We we started off checking out of our rooms by 8:30 to venture off to the south.  This short trip is meant to give students a chance to see a little more of Brazil. Landon will be writin about it later, but here are some sneak peak photos.

On Tuesday we had our last class with Cristina.  The students love her and wouldn’t mind having Portuguese lessons during the entire program.  Today we talked more about buying things in the market.  There were some very funny exchanges with students buying back their own tennis shoes. Video of the exercise: IMG_1085

Dr. Peres teaching

After Cristina finished we had a quick cafezino and it was back to class.  Time it was with Dr. Peres for the first time.  Dr. Peres will be presenting about agricultural economics, but started off his lecture series talking about the beginnings of civilization and democracy.  We talked about the Enlightenment, Adam Smith, Ben Franklin, the difference between studying how things are and how they should be, Plato’s Utopia, Gunnar Mydal’s research on racism in the US and much more.  This deep history brought us to the point of understanding GDP and GNP.  The five points are capital are physica, natural, financial, human and social/institutional.

Fruta Gurt

After class there was a huge downpour.  It lasted a long time so we went ahead and walked back the 1.5 miles to our hotel in it.  We all got soaked but it was an adventure!  It is an El Nino year, so we will have a lot of rain this year.  Students broke up into small groups depending on how willing they were to brave the rain for dinner.  I ended up with group that had their favorite pizza and ice cream.  It was fun to hang out with the students.  It keeps me young!

Wednesday has begun and we are learning from Dr. Peres again.  He is very relate-able and wise.  To solidify his lecture points yesterday, he asked us how commerce has impacted global development.  He then showed us a Ted Talk by Matt Ridley from 2010 that explained the evolution of technology and divisions of labor.  We then covered the different biomes of Brazil and how the soil types and environment impacts agriculture and development in Brazil.  Most of their country falls between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, so there is a lot of tropical agriculture.  This allows for good land for planting corn as well as grass lands for cattle.

Joel getting coffee

Cafezinos of very much looked forward to by the students.  Each morning and afternoon there is a class break for about 15 minutes.  Students get cookies, crackers and little cups of coffee.  The cups are about the size of a ketchup container at Wendy’s.  The stretch break, coffee and sugar provide a much needed boost for the students.  Today and tomorrow we will have class from 8-10, 10:15-11, 1-2:30, 2:45-4:00pm.

Chicken, fries, rice and beans

Lunch is supposed to be 2 hours long, but our students have a hard time with that.  They usually negotiate a shorter lunch with classes starting sooner and being finished earlier in the day.  Some bring their lunch from the grocery store, some go to the Cantina on campus, and some will go off of campus to get something else.  Today I got a very good lunch for $3!

Fun mix up today when Alex thought she ordered chocolate cake and got hot chocolate!

This afternoon we talked about physical capital such as cattle that are sold abroad very easily.  Dr. Peres reviewed the breeds of cattle and told us about how and why the hybridize the breeds.  Brazil also exports a lot of wood pulp.

Financial capital is a bit more complex.  Inflation is a major issue here and Brazil has had seven constitutions in modern history.  In 1988 those who were illiterate were allowed to vote and the government has been very populist ever since.

This car pulled up just as we were lining up for a goodbye photo with Dr. King and Dr. Cochran.

Even though today was Monday, we didn’t have classes. Shirota had other plans for us. We were going to be taking three industry tours today. We woke up early to eat our usual Brazilian breakfast at the hotel. Sadly, today was Dr. King’s and Dr. Cochran’s last day in Brazil, so we said our goodbyes to them. We were all so happy that they were able to stay with us for our first week in Brazil! We left the hotel at about 7:45am for our first tour of the day: the Happy Goat Farm!

It took about 30 minutes for us to get to the farm. During the ride, many people took naps to catch up on sleep or looked out the window at the rainy scenery. It had constantly been raining for the past few days, and looking at the forecast, it didn’t look like it was going to let up anytime within the next week or so.

We arrived at the Happy Goat Farm and met Ronaldo, the owner of the farm. Ronaldo actually taught ecology as a professor at ESALQ for a while, and he spoke English fluently. After retiring from teaching he decided to start a goat farm and make cheese because he likes goats and it sounded like fun!

Alan, our student guide, loves dogs!

Ronaldo had a great variety of plants and animals on his farm. He had dogs, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, pomegranates, coconuts, lemons, grapes, and so much more! He showed us his goats and talked about them a little bit. They were mixes of Saanen, Nubian, and LaMancha goats. You could tell by the way he spoke that he had so much passion for this hobby of his. He was also very enthusiastic to letting us try his organic goat cheese!

Cheese paparazzi! In Portuguese, cheese is pronounced Kay-zoo

We walked up the hill to his beautiful home with cheese in hand, and there we stood on his porch eating delicious cheese, conversing, and admiring the beautiful landscape. The cheese was not like anything I had tasted before. It was so strong and so rich in flavor. Sadly, we eventually had to leave, but Ronaldo wasn’t going to let us go without giving us some cheese to go!

Our next stop was a John Deere dealer branch right outside of Piracicaba. John Deere had made its way to Brazil 17 years ago, and this branch had been here for 16 years. We were given a tour of the facility and shown some of the tractor models they make. He told us one of the more expensive small horsepower tractors was R$125.000 (reais), which would be about $31,250 if we used the current exchange rate ($1.00 = R$4,00). I wish I knew more about U.S. tractor prices so that I could compare them, but thankfully others there knew about them. We also compared it to the exchange rate a few years ago, which was much lower ($1.00 = R$2,00), and the tractor would’ve been $62,500. Wow…that’s a huge difference.

My favorite part of the facility tour was definitely the sugar cane harvester. It was about the size of a combine in the U.S., except it harvested sugar cane plants and separated the leaves from the stalks. They even turned on the harvester for us! We probably spent about half of our time just learning about the sugar cane harvester. It’s not everyday that we get to see one in the U.S. Video of: Sugar cane harvester in action: IMG_1061

We even got a surprise visit by Dr. King, Dr. Cochran, and Shirota while there! I guess they didn’t want to leave Brazil and go back to the snow in Ohio after all! Although sadly they did have to eventually leave for the airport and fly back to the U.S. Que triste! (How sad!)

OHIO aided by a John Deere.

Our next stop was lunch at Toque Brasileiro, a restaurant that we had begun to know and love ever since our second day in the country when we went there for the first time. They had Brazilian buffet-style service where we paid by weight, and the Brazilian food they served was to die for. The fish, feijoada, and fried bananas have been my favorite foods to get here.

We ate quickly to get to our last tour of the day at Coplacana, a farming cooperative that worked with over 11,000 farmers in Brazil, and this was one of their 20 branches that are located in three states. Because farmers were able to sell their products together in larger quantities through the coop, they were able to get better prices. We actually met with the president of the coop and one of the directors while there, and they both talked to us about the company in more detail. The director took us on a tour around the facility’s buildings.

We went inside a store that sold farming supplies, the agronomist-consultant offices, the building where they mixed corn and soybeans into feed bags, and the herbicide and pesticide warehouse. I feel like there was a constant flow of information being given to us, which felt a little overwhelming at first, but we definitely got many takeaways from the tour.

We got back to the hotel at around 4:00pm. It’s hard to believe we still had the rest of the day to ourselves after we had already done so much. We knew how to spend our time wisely though. Mary, David, Alan, and I went to a little local coffee shop called Lá Da Sala: Café e Decoração. We had discovered this coffee shop by accident our second day in Brazil, and we were glad to be back to enjoy some food and work on some assignments. We then went to the supermarket to pick up a few things.

The rest of the group separated to do their own thing: finding somewhere to eat, working on assignments in the hotel lobby, or just simply talking about the trip. Besides the constant sprinkle of rain throughout the day, it was a really fun day full of so many new experiences. It’s hard to believe we’ve already been in Brazil for a week, and we’ve already experienced so much of the culture and made new memories that will last a lifetime. We can’t wait to see what the next 5 weeks in Brazil have in store for us!

More photos from our first industry tour day

50 days aged blue cheese, yum!

Professor Ronaldo Victoria loves his goats!

The babies are always popular

His best mothering doe is blind. She takes very good care of her kids by touch and vocalization.

Very nice housing structure with slats to allow droppings to fall beneath. Chickens keep it pretty clean/pest free underneath and they only have to clean it about twice a year.

Julie loving the tractor tires!

Alex jumped in!

Joel was in John Deere heaven!

Waiting to find out if the river is safe

Today was our first full day in Brazil that we did not have class. Everyone was ready for a break and to have a little fun! The plan was to leave from the hotel at 7:30am but due to much rain yesterday and overnight, there was a question if we were going to be able to go white water rafting. We waited for the okay to raft today in the hotel lobby for a half an hour and then decided to make our way to Alaya (a rafting company in Brazil). We discovered the buses we are using throughout the 6 weeks are very luxurious. Many agreed it was a huge improvement from the air plane seats/ride that we had to Brazil; every seat is like a lazy boy recliner with TVs, a bathroom, and a cooler full of water onboard.

Ready for safety briefing

The Briefing

Upon arriving at Alaya, we signed forms and received instructions about rafting safety (in Portuguese) luckily Alan, our Portuguese student, travel guide, planner, and the one we depend upon here in Brazil, translated for us. We were split into 3 groups and each instructor spoke a little to a lot of English and was able to communicate with us as we rafted down the river. The trip down the river was a lot of fun as we got splashed, soaked, and raced to complete before the other two boats. Towards the end of the trip, we stopped our boats to zip line across the river and then back again! Not to brag but Team Cervo (translated to Bucks for the Buckeyes) won the race. 🙂 After we made our way back to return our equipment we made a short bus trip to another location associated with Alaya where we ate a buffet style lunch.

Rafting team Cervu (Bucks)

Video of Rafting in Brotas

While eating, we got a big rainstorm and found out that our bus got stuck while trying to turn around in the driveway. They had called for a tractor to come pull it out and we had the option to do two of four activities while we were waiting. The group could choose between zip lining, rock wall climbing, repelling, and floating in the “lazy river” which some found to be not so lazy! While we were doing these activities, it began to rain again but we have learned very quickly that the rain does not stop the Brazilians. After all of the groups came back, from completing each activity, we learned that the first tractor could not pull out the bus so they were waiting for another tractor to come and pull it out.

Matthew taking our selfie

We had some time to dry off, change, and learn about Leah and Matthew’s (an instructor at Alaya) new found friendship and “love” for each other. There might have been a (pretend) marriage proposal witnessed by a few. Matthew was very kind and gave Leah a book entitled How to Be a Brazilin; he received it from a friend and Matthew passed it on to Leah with a heartfelt note written inside.

The floating was fast, but fun.

While waiting at the restaurant we found out a road grater was able to get our bus unstuck and so we boarded the bus to make an hour and a half drive back to Antonino’s Place Hotel in Piracicaba. Many of us were ready to get a shower and into clean, dry clothes with great memories and laughs from our first Sunday fun day here in Brazil.

The rescue tractor

Today’s classes included a language lesson from Cristina, which is as fun as always!  Dr. King sneaked out just in time to not be called upon to present about his family in Portuguese.  It is a bit of a running joke we have with him about being a bit afraid of speaking the language.

Shirota teaching about economics.

Shirota covered our schedule and we have so many amazing adventures coming up in the next five weeks!  I can’t wait.

It was our first rainy day on campus, with thunder and all!  It made for an interesting afternoon as well heard rain hitting the windows and thunder in a country new to us.

After lunch we started our economics lectures.  He taught us the basics of microeconomics y=f(x) and the law of diminishing marginal returns, tragedy of the commons and Smith’s Invisible Hand.  All interesting concepts that you could look up on Wikipedia sometime.

You may have noticed that we did have class on a Saturday, this program has a lot of content and touring, so sometimes we make sacrifices.  One of the benefits was that we had the classroom building to ourselves and could be a little noisy. It is a three story building with a grand atrium in the middle, topped by a beautiful glass ceiling.  The acoustics were great, so we had some impromptu concerts singing songs from musicals over breaks.  I decided it would be a good idea to sing Carmen Ohio given all of the connections and alumni of The Ohio State University who teach at ESALQ.  The video is very large, but I did get it to download on my Facebook page that is open to the public (Kelly Newlon).  We had a lot of fun! Here is a shorter video of a more spontaneous show of love for Ohio State: Short- Whole State of Michigan.

The more time I spend out of the hotel room the more ignorant I feel.

I don’t mean traditionally ignorant in the sense that I am uneducated or unsophisticated. As I’m discovering the American education system is revered in Brazil. They praise it, and wish to send more of their students to us, and receive our students as an exchange. I mean I live in a world in which I was unaware of how culturally ignorant I am.

Growing up in the USA I feel like Patrick Star, from Sponge Bob. I exist in the world, I function in society, and I can make a living if I choose to come out from under my rock. However, I sit in classes here and I’m coming to terms with everything I didn’t learn.

Each society has it’s own history. I studied Europe and the USA in high school. My mind has never thought to wonder about “middle of the road” countries, even when their history is so intertwined with Europe like ours.

Brazil was a colony of Portugal. Their indigenous population, much like America, are called Indians, because Christopher Columbus believed he found India in the Americas. Not just North America. Here, these Indians still exist as a people, living in tribes in the Amazon.  These people are uncontacted, and that live in a way their ancestors did thousands of years ago.

I had no idea there was a human alive that existed without the internet.

Northwest Brazil contains the Amazon river and rainforest, which is home to the Native Indians

In fact, there are 138 estimated tribes living uncontacted in the Amazon rain forest. They have adapted to survive without antibiotics and things, like toilets, that we consider necessary.

It makes my last post seem about how the toilets in Brazil are so different seem insignificant.

This, to me, makes statements about saving the rainforest and our environment so much more meaningful. We aren’t just discussing animals. We aren’t only trying to save trees. People in Brazil, and those that fight for the rainforest, are fighting for people. To save their habitat as well.

Prof. Mello says that Brazilians attempt to leave the indigenous populations alone because they are “innocent like children.” Not young, but learning their own ways, and how to function without the internet or television, a way in which our children, and us, will not grow up.

I was under the impression that all people lived as a sort of civilization, and that hunter and gatherers really only existed in the tropics of Africa and the Sahara, but these people knew standard language, and of societal development. As I’m learning, this is all a factor of geographic development.

In Sao Paulo there are things, like the toilets and favelas that are different. But I could never have imagined indigenous indian’s.

My eyes are being opened like they never have been before. Class is meaningful, changing my perspective, and even the way I see the world.

Tomorrow morning we start early again with Cristina–our instructor for Portuguese. The language is coming slowly, but I can read now, and words are starting to have meaning. I’m by no means fluent, but I can certainly survive, and we’re only four days in. It’s an early night for many of us at the hotel. We are exhausted!

Boa Noite!

Julie

Literally, outside the classroom

The cantina, which is popular, and cheap, for lunch

The class with Dr. Mello

The Ohio State RD group. Dr. Cochran and Dr. King leave Monday and then it is just Kelly