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.