This is M'Randa posting, and I am going to do my best to recall the last couple of days. Between jet lag, time change, culture shock, busy days, and just general lack of sleep, I will more than likely forget some details to this already amazing adventure!
5.4-
On Tuesday, 5.4, we managed to drag ourselves out of bed to pack our bags and have a quick bite at our hotel (Nikkey Palace Hotel). Our fearless resident leader, Emi, took us to the Metro Station headquarters. Here we learned about the Metro system as it is now, problems they are facing, and development plans. We were then led around the city by Metro services and were able to see the control center and security. There is a lot more going on behind the scenes than you think!!
We then ate a wonderful lunch at a market place. The food was great...I will have to leave it to another team member to fill in the holes on what the food was (I would compare the set up to something like fajitas, for all you Texas folk reading this) Sizzling beef and onions on a hot plate...YUM! We walked around the market for a bit before heading back to the hotel.
We had a little rest time (30 mins) before we left for the futbol match (soccer for all of you gringos!). We met up with some Rotary people and headed for the game. I believe that it was Rhonda, Vanessa, Betsy, and Erin's first professional match. Please correct me if I am wrong... after the game, we returned to the hotel to retrieve our luggage before getting carried away to our host families. Maybe a few nerves, but the excitement is, well, exciting!
5.5-
Happy Cinco de Mayo, amigos!!
I think we have all learned that sleep is a precious commodity! Today we were split up by vocational interests. Rhonda was by herself at a school, Betsy was at a vet clinic by herself, and Vanessa, Erin, David, and I were at a school together.
Our group visited Oshiman. The word incredible sums up my feelings about this school! The students speak Portuguese, learn English, Japanese, and Spanish. Their art department was great, too! They have music classes where they don't just play instruments, but are now learning to build guitars. They work with outlets such as stained glass, clay, quilting, and let's not forget...they recycle and make their own paper!!! Melting paper, screens, hang-dry and everything! At this school, they are also trying to recover some of the Japanese culture, such as the tea ceremony, to pass on to the new generation.
The students eat lunch in their classrooms with their teachers (good food, homemade in the kitchen everyday). We were separated into classrooms so each of our experiences are slightly different during this time. I was sat at the front of the room, and the students were each required to ask me a question in English. I thought this was a lot of fun! Most of questions were simple..."Do you have a dog?" "Do you like music?", etc...By the way, even the 5th graders in Brazil like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and the Beetles!
In the afternoon we visited one of the tallest buildings in Sao Paulo. Here we went to the top and were able to get some great photos of the city from a birds-eye perspective. We also visited one of the stock exchanges, walked around the "zero point" of Sau Paulo (the center of the city), and visited the foundation place of the city before walking back to Emi's office and then dispersing to our homes.
My host family is wonderful! Mr. and Mrs. Yoshioka and their son, Fabio, are taking great care of me! I may pack Mrs. Yoshioka in my luggage if she will come to the US and cook! I suppose this is a good time to mention that Sao Paulo has the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan. The culture is an interesting mix of Brazil and Japan; for instance, I had a huge, Japanese style dinner...with beans and rice... :)
Well, I hope that this is the last "marathon post". We will try to be more diligent in our posting frequency from now on!
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