January 26-31, 2014

January 26-31 All the students made it back to Antonio’s (home) safe and sound from their host families. A few got a lot of sun over the weekend. Based on the debriefing we had Sunday evening there are lots of stories, memories and new friendships developed during the home stay. Everyone was dragging Monday morning and Shirota took the brunt of it with several students having difficulty staying awake in class.

Several students took naps during the two hour lunch break. Thankfully, this week has been a bit slower paced since Thursday is the students’ written exam and we leave for the long trip Friday evening. They have had evenings free to study (or nap) and have been let out of class an hour or so earlier than usual. Wednesday we had a change of pace and visited Itatinga which is a research station (part of ESALQ) focused on trees and sustainability projects using trees. It took about two hours to get there. The students learned a lot about the various varieties of Eucalyptus trees and how important they are to Brazil’s economy. We hiked most of the afternoon through the woods, plots and projects of the research station. We saw a large poisonous spider, yellow jacket nest and termite hill each of which caused a few screams of excitement. Two different students, at two different times, had a bit of difficulty with old wood on old bridges and got a surprise. As we walked farther and got more tired one student fought with the debris lieing on the ground and kept getting her feet tied up in the debris. All experiences created laughs and memories for the group. We did take a break at a waterfalls to strike poses for various pictures of the group. The students seems to be getting along very well and the bonds between them are growing stronger and stronger every day.

Wednesday was A.J.’s 21st birthday. “It’s not very often you can say you celebrated your birthday in another country and my birthday will last six weeks by the time I celebrate it here and then celebrate it at home after our return” was a comment that A.J. said during the day today. Upon return to Antonio’s we surprised A.J. with a cake waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel. We sang “Happy Birthday” Brazilian style. He learned that the first cut of the cake should be made by the person with the birthday. It should be made from the base of the cake cutting up rather rather than U.S. style of cutting down. A wish should be made while cutting the cake and the first piece should be given to a special person.

I suspect tomorrow night will be the big night out for everyone to celebrate his birthday, after the exam. They will be celebrating his birthday but also the completion of the exam and they can take a deep breath that part is finished.

It is now Friday and I will finish this post before we leave for the long trip tonight. Yesterday Shirota gave the students time to study in the morning and they took their exam from 3:00-5:00 pm. Each instructor submitted one question and they had two hours. As I read the questions I thought they were very representative of topics each covered and very fair. The students felt a load lifted from their shoulders as they submitted their responses. A group of us played volleyball afterward and it was 93 degrees outside. Talk about hot!! We couldn't even stand in the sand in our bare feet. We had to wear socks. What a site!!! Juliana, our Brazilian undergraduate student, couldn't even stand in the sand. I should have taken pictures but I didn't. Juliana did so a picture should show up somewhere. After volleyball we got cleaned up and then went out to dinner and then celebrated A.J.'s birthday.

Today we went to a dairy farm. They milked 170 cows and had 393 cows in the herd. It looked much like what one would see in the U.S. It was a double 6 GEA Westfalia system. It was predominately Holsteins and they milked three times a day. The hot weather is an issue on days like today and they kept the milking and loafing areas misted and ventillated constantly. Average production per cow is 34 liters per day and total production per day is 12,540 pounds. Their plan is to double the herd in the next two years. Composted peanut shells are used in the loafing area. Students are working on their group projects, journaling, eating and doing whatever students do in preparation for leaving on our long trip at 11:00 pm tonight. We will be traveling all night and they are looking forward to a day at the beach on Sunday.

Jan. 20-25

This week was an interesting week. The realization of the host family visits remained in the background all week. Excitement, apprehension, how much English do they speak, what do I plan for, how old will they be, what will the living quarters be like are all questions going through the students mind. But before the host family visit they finished classes with Prof Peres

and started classes with Prof Shirota. Prof Shirota is focusing on resources economics. Monday evening we were scheduled to play basketball. A few students played basketball but a bulk of us played sand volleyball. We played volley for two full hours in 90 degree weather. I think we played 7 games and there were a few of us that even though we switched teams we won all seven games. Needless to say we were exhausted and it was a long walk back to the hotel but we all had a great time.

Thursday was a full day and by Friday morning everyone was feeling exhausted. Prof Shirota tried very hard to keep everyone involved but the students had a difficult time hanging in there with him. Thursday was our service day. There is a service coop organization in Piracicaba (MUCCAP) that for many years has built houses at a very low cost, selecting families from those who apply for the project. MUCCAP has completed well over 400 homes. AZP has painted 35 houses since we started with MUCCAP and we added two more houses to the list today. We broke off into two groups. The second house, which I was assigned to, was on a hill and the foundation of the inside of the house was falling off the hill. The whole inside had to be rebuilt with new foundation and in order for that to happen another room had to be built into the hill for better support. No one in MUCCAP had foundation background so they put an ad in the paper for someone to volunteer to help and they immediately had someone respond. He made this rebuild a possibility for this very grateful family. These houses are in a very poor part of Piracicaba. We worked together really well painting both the inside and outside of the house including doors and windows. We stayed on task but also had fun creating memories of the experience. Our house was featured in the local newspaper.

The students worked very hard to complete both houses. The families are overwhelmed with the effort and MUCCAP and the families are very appreciative of our efforts. Thank you AZP. The mother and three daughters were there all day with us as we completed the projected. You can see them in the first picture. You can also see a before and after of the outside of the house.

We returned to the hotel, had a couple of hours to relax and then off we went to the host family dinner. Each student prepared their introduction in Portuguese telling their name, where they were from, what they were studying, people in the family and what they like about Brazil. This year before we got started we connected to a classroom at OSU in Columbus via skype where AZP members who had already been to Brazil were located along with Dr. Martin, our Associate Dean. AZP awarded Cristina with the LH Newcomb Leadership and Service Award which is a recognition AZP grants each year to a person who has provided exceptional support and leadership to AZP. The members determine the recipient and usually present it at our annual banquet in March but we felt presenting the award while we are in Brazil with the host families present would be the most meaningful for Cristina. Cristina was surprised and touched. With a little technology difficulty but overall success the students in Columbus could hear the award given and then see Cristina afterwards plus everyone in Brazil could see the people in Columbus as well as be present for Cristina as she received the award. Dr. Martin said a few words on behalf of the College. I was with Cristina last night and she still is talking about it. It was also neat that her two adult sons were present and could share the recognition with their mom. In the picture below you can see Cristina, her plaque, and the people in the classroom in Columbus in the background.

The pictures below are just a sample of the students and their host families. You can find a picture of each student presenting his/her introduction and then the family on my facebook page.

Friday Shirota taught four hours in the morning and then two hours in the afternoon. Then he met with each group of students on their group project. For the group project the students are expected to do during week two the students were asked to break into groups of their choice and submit to Shirota three topics which they would be interested in researching, why the choice of topics and resources related to each topic. Then on Friday he met with each group to assign the topic and give the groups feedback. This way no group is doing the same topic plus the students are doing research in an area in which they are interested. The presentations will be made the last couple of days we are in Brazil. Friday evening the students left with their host families at 7:00 pm for a great weekend. Based on Thursday night's experience with the families, the students are thoroughly amazed at the placements and how perceptive Cristina is between reading the biographies and having the students in class just five times. There are two pictures below taken while the students were waiting for their host families.

The students are due back at 7:00 pm on Sunday and at 7:30 pm we will do a debriefing of the weekend with them so don't expect to hear from them before 9:00 pm our time.

A Weekend in Sao Paulo

We left Piracicaba early Friday morning for Food Town/ JBS in Osasco/SP. It's primary function is producing the food for McDonalds. Three companies actually joined at one location to work together. There is a bread factory, meat factory and Martin Brower for logistics. JBS has 200,000 employees world wide and 140 plants. The factory we toured produced 3610 tons of meat a month. They also handled the various requirements of the middle eastern countries and Japan. I think I remember them saying that they have 80 different recipes they are trying to improve or develop new. We visited the meat factory and saw hamburgers being made. They are 70% lean meat and 30% frozen trimmings. We saw the process of shaping and freezing the meat. Quite interesting.

We ate lunch in a new mall in Sao Paulo and had a very short time to look at some of the stores. We left the mall and went to Rabobank which is in Sao Paulo. This bank specifically focuses on serving the farmer. I believe it is the largest bank in the world that focuses on the farmer. It was interesting to see the services they provide across the country. They gave us several figures on production, loans, financial improvements.

From there we checked into the hotel and got ready for an evening of learning the Samba and Brazil's National celebration of Carnival. We were running late and supper took longer than expected so we arrived late. Normally we arrive at one of Sao Paulo's top dance teams location. We see the costumes from previous years, learn about what Carnival is in Brazil, the theme for the current year and how to dance the samba. Then we go out into the town and dance through the streets back in a parade to the home location with the whole team. The energy and family committment to Carnival is amazing. When we arrived the dance team was already out in the community so we had to find them. We watched them parade by us and then joined them at the end of the parade. They taught us along the way but it wasn't until we arrived back to the home location where we actually learned the samba. The students still had a grand time joining the parade. Once we got back to their home location we saw the costumes, the band continued playing and a few Brazilians taught the students the samba. Then a few more Brazilians joined us and the whole group was dancing the samba and enjoying the experience. It was a great evening. Once we arrived back at the hotel I took my pictures off the camera and put them on my computer. It was late so I intended to work on the blog in the morning. When I woke the hard drive on my computer had crashed and we have not been able to pull anything off my computer. Hopefully we we get home our OSU tech person will be able to recover the information on the computer and the pictures from Friday. I will post them then if we are lucky.

Saturday morning we left about 8:30 and headed to the zoo. Many of the students were really looking forward to the visit. The animals are closer to you then in the United States and there are different species. You can see a variety of animals below.

From there we ate lunch at a different mall and some of the students made a few purchases. We then went to Pinacoteca which is a famous art museum in Sao Paulo. The building was very old and being renovated. It looked like it had a garden in the middle originally but had since been covered. We had a guide walk us through some of the rooms so the students could see some of the important art representing Brazil.

Then we went to a soccer game. It was the beginning of the series of games that would determine who would represent Sao Paulo in the National playoffs. The students got a good vision of soccer in Brazil. The stadium was old, concrete slab to sit on, heavy security of police on foot and police on horses and the people were rowdy just like at OSU. The view of Sao Paulo from both inside the stadium and outside of the stadium was gorgeous.

Sunday morning was the Hippie Market. I always enjoy going. The students indicated both the buyers and sellers were very nice. You really see the culture and history of Brazil through the exhibits. It is the best place for students to buy gifts for family and friends. I always enjoy seeing what the students buy and how proud they are of their purchases.

Then to the big barbecue that Shirota has been touting since the students arrived. It is an upper end barbecue where one standard cost is paid and you can eat as much as you want. There is a salad bar but what it is known for is all the meat cuts served to you by waiters. There are something like 22 different cuts including beef, pork, lamb, beef, poultry, salmon, shrimp etc. We were there over two hours. You will have to ask the students who ate the most!!

Most everyone slept on the trip home. It seems nothing goes without a hitch and there are always unique things that happen even beyond my hard drive crashing. Ask the students about the unique things that happened.