Feb 9-12, 2014

This will be my last blog post.  The students will be presenting their group projects tomorrow and we have our host family good bye dinner tomorrow night then Friday we will be preparing to leave.  I will post my pictures to Facebook but will not do a blog post after this one.

Monday started with a morning visit to the Parana Agronomic Institute in Londrina/PR.  We started with a presentation about the research being completed at the facility.  Then we boarded a roofed wagon and a tractor pulled us around the facility looking at coffee trees, mango trees, rubber trees etc.   We learned that it takes 4 to 5 years for the first coffee bean to appear and how it is harvested.  We saw latex draining down a cut in a rubber tree.  We also could see red soil forever.  When we got of the wagon and wiped our faces and arms from the sweat all the red came off on the paper towels.  It was amazing how much red soil was on us.  The red is caused by oxidized iron.

In the afternoon we returned to an EMBRAPA Research station focusing on soybeans.  A group of farmers from Canada also joined us in this presentation.  Food production is going to need to increase by at least 20% worldwide and 20-40% increase will come from Brazil.  This year Brazil surpassed the U.S. in soybean production.  U.S. is at a big advantage just in the location of its lakes and rivers.  Brazil's rivers flow inland from east to west which just don't help it immensely.  Therefore transportation by road has to be used and the roads clearly are not up to par.  After we left EMBRAPA  the pool at the hotel in Assis/SP was extremely attractive for our last night of the long trip.  We quickly ate and then almost everyone, including, the bus drivers, Shirota and myself met at the pool and just chilled the evening away.  It was nice to have everyone together.

We got up Tuesday morning and toured Nova America which is a sugar cane processing plant. Many of their plant leaders assisted with the visit and made us feel very important and welcomed.   Sugar cane is a new crop to us all and it is not only grown to make sugar but also for ethanol production. Stalks are planted rather than seeds.  You could really see the impact of the lack of rain at this visit and one this morning.   When harvested sugar cane can only be taken off in one direction.  The processing of sugar cane is a very detailed process.  This plant was down for clean up but we did receive a presentation on the processing after we went out to the field to see harvesting.  We were able to taste sugar cane cut right from the stalk.  Four of the students were able to ride in the harvester which was exciting for them. Another piece of information was how combustible the bales of sugar cane stalks and leaves after harvesting are.  With the hot weather a bale can easily catch fire.  Water trucks must be always present during harvesting and starting this year any burning is counted against the farm.  We learned about hydrous and anhydrous ethanol and that this huge ethanol plant is self sufficient in its production of energy and electricity.  That was amazing to learn.  They treated us to lunch and we headed back to Piracicaba which took about six hours after lunch.  Most slept at least half the way home.  We arrived in Piracicaba about 7:00.  Everyone went their own way as reality hit that the long trip was over and we soon would be heading back to the states.  Some went to supper, others worked on projects, contacted family and friends while others just crashed.

The students spent all day today working on their group presentations.  Wish the students all the best on their project presentations tomorrow and we will be home before you know it!!!  For me, it has been great working with the students and all of us thank Shirota; Dr's. Perez,  Mello and Caron; Cristina, the homestay families and Juliana for their patience , knowledge and time.  Parents and friends, thank you for your support to the students  in participating with AZP.

February 7 - 8, 2014

Feb. 7 – 8

Friday started out loading the bus at 6:15 am.  It’s early but I have been waiting for this time the whole trip.  My most favorite spot that I have seen in the world is Foz Iguazu and today we are starting the drive to get there.  I have been there once before and was so impressed and in awe of this part of the Brazil.  I have never kept a bucket list before but I decided after this year’s trip I want to come back again and just spend a week or two specifically in this region and experience all the recreational and educational opportunities in the area.  If I wait too much longer I will be too old to experience it to it’s fullest.  But first before we get Foz Iguazu we are making a stop at the Show Rural at Coopavel.  This show is much like the Farm Science Review or the Farm Progress Show in the United States.  It has grown considerably since I was last there.  We started off in the Administrative Center where we met with the President of the Coopeval Cooperative and a group of political leaders from that region.  The President was so excited to have is visit the show and his enthusiasm just spread throughout the group.  He told us a story that he visited the U.S and went to the Farm Progress Show and made it his personal goal to create a similar show in Brazil and we should feel honored because we were a part of the shows beginnings.  Our group was to antsy just to be let go to explore the show it was funny watching them.  I think they tried to leave three times before they actually were told they could go and they had a couple of hours to just see what they wanted to see.  It was amazing how many U.S. companies were present.  I won’t be able to name them all but I will give it a try:  Select Sires, Dekalb, Monsanto, Beckers, John Deere, Case, Ford, Chevy, Pioneer, Dow, KAT and others.  Many of the U.S. companies had people who could speak some English so we could stop and talk with them.  The booths were much more pretty here than at FSR and it was more organized.  Lots colors and flowers for added ambiance to the show.  It was very apparent that the American companies generated lots of revenue in Brazil.  We received a few free gifts and even tasted a corn popsicle.  It actually was very good if you could get past the fact that it was made from corn.

We ate lunch at the show and then proceeded on to Itaipu Binacional, which is a hydroelectric plant that services both Brazil and Paraguay.  It is one of the seven manmade wonders of the world.  The history of the plant and the amount of power it services is just amazing.  The students really enjoyed the tour of the plant and dam.  The whole facility was built as an agreement by law between Brazil and Paraguay and everything is split 50/50 between the two countries.  The science and engineering that went behind building a dam 8 kilometers long is fascinating. Not only did we get to see the external portion of the dam, but we also got to go inside and see the concrete construction, turbine control room, and one of the turbine shafts. After taking an inside tour, we took one of Itaipu’s tour buses up on top of the dam to see the reservoir of water behind the dam.  75% of Brazil is powered by hydroelectric energy, 17% coming from Itaipu. 100% of Paraguay is hydroelectric and 75% comes from Itaipu. Although Paraguay has the rights to half of the energy produced by the dam, as a country they only consume ten percent. The remaining energy is then purchased by Brazil from Uruguay.  50% of the 3000 employees are from Brazil and 50% are from Paraguay.  In the command room, 50% of the workers are from Brazil and 50% are from Paraguay.  The Itaipu River and the Parana River are split exactly in half in this region.  After the tour of the dam we returned to the hotel to clean up, relax a little bit and then get some supper.  The plan was to return to the Itaipu in the evening for a lighting of the dam and the falls will be tomorrow.

We ate dinner at the mall and then headed back to the dam.  There was a caravan of buses and cars entering the dam area shuttling visitors.  We viewed a presentation similar to what we saw during the day and then dramatic music was played as the dam was slowly lit up.  It was neat to see it lit.  The students went swimming upon return to the hotel.  The positive is we spent three nights at the hotel (hostel) so we were able to settle in a little for the three days.

On Saturday we headed to Foz Iguazu and Nature Preserve.  We started with a Biologist explaining to us the different preserves in Brazil and the common animals and vegetation in each region and goals and purposes of each preserve.  This area still contains a lot of bio-diversity.  After the presentation we then proceeded to do an unplanned off road hike down to the edge of the Parana River.  Argentina was just across the river.  It was another hot day in Brazil.  We climbed back up the hill and then walked to a bus stop to pick up a double-decker preserve bus which took us to the start of trail that travels along the waterfalls.  My adrenaline was high to see the falls again.  It was just as awesome as I remembered and went on forever probably more than I remember.  I think there are 21 significant waterfalls and several other smaller ones.  I took a lot of pictures and they are on my facebook.  We saw a lizard and several of these raccoon/anteater looking animals.  I forget what they are called.  We were clearly told not to feed any of the animals but they came right up to you.  We saw one female with six babies.  Back to the falls, at the end there is the opportunity to walk out on this walkway that takes you right out in front of one waterfall and over top of another.  The power of the water falling is amazing and to think of all the energy being generated as a result is mind boggling.  The mist from the falls drenches you but that’s OK, you are in awe of what you are seeing anyway and just the experience is wonderful.  The students really enjoyed the experience.

We stopped at the Falls gift store and then dropped Meghan off at the hotel for an interview through Facetime and the rest of us headed to lunch.  We picked up Meghan and then went to the point where the Parana and Iguacu Rivers intersect.  In essence the dam is on one side and the waterfalls on the other side and you are standing where the borders of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina intersect.

We checked out the gift shop and then made one more stop that actually took us across the border into Argentina to a duty-free gift store.  We now can say we were actually in three countries in one day.

We then returned to the hotel for a little rest and relaxation and time to clean up for supper.  We ate dinner at a buffet meat BBQ spot.

Sunday we were able to sleep in and didn’t leave until 10:00 am.  We had a six hour drive ahead of us to Londrina.  Most students slept a good bit of the trip.  We arrived around 6:30 pm got supper.