The Rotarians are doing everything for us.  They tour us around their cities and their work places.  They accompany us to our vocational visits and interpret for us.  They donīt really expect us to speak Portuguese fluently but they love for us to try.  They could not be better hosts.  We are fed everywhere we go.  We always have breakfast with our host families and the food is almost always the same - fresh rolls, fruit, juice of some sort, cheese, ham, yoghurt, butter, jam, and of course coffee.  They spend this time together and begin every day with a serious breakfast - no skipping breakfast here!

 

Lunch is the big meal of the day here although they do have special dinners out when they eat very late.  Their lunches are heavy meals with beans, rice, several types of meat and a small taste of salad.  They rarely serve bread with their lunch or dinner.  It does not seem to be common to cook or serve fresh vegetables.  Salads are not a typical part of their meals, but they generally enjoy a small dessert which is usually fresh fruit.  They drink bottled water - natural or carbonated.  They drink a lot of juice and a fair amount of beer which is served so cold that it often comes out half frozen.  If a bartender served a beer that was not cold, they would really criticize him.  They have special cold water fountains to chill the glasses and pitchers.  The Germans would not like the way they serve beer here because they would think it is too cold to taste it.  I love it.  The restaurants are very clean as are the people.  Many are open air restaurants with fans around the rooms to keep them comfortable.  It can be hot here, over 100 degrees in the summer, but the biggest problem has with the weather is the humidity.  It is very sticky even when it doesnīt feel that hot.

 

This is a developing country but it is not a third world country in most respects.  It is very industrial with vast natural resources.  Some international companies are here with huge factories that employ thousands of workers.  The companies make tremendous profits off of the natural resources of the country and the relatively cheap labor of the people.  In turn, they offer lots of jobs and they reinvest somewhat in the local communities and to the quality of life of the people.  The people are very proud of their country but they readily recognize the problems they face.  The biggest problem here seems to be the corruption of the people in government.  Much of what is produced here remains in the hands of the people in political power.  There are bribes for political leaders, bribes for the police and payoffs for favors everywhere. 

 

The middle class almost does not exist although most of the people we have met in Rotary are in that group.  They have very nice homes with extensive use of beautiful tiles and granite countertops everywhere.  The climate is hot and humid, so the coolness and ease of maintenance makes this type of construction very attractive.  The heat and humidity does not affect the tile and granite whereas some of the wood and stucco on the outside of the homes appears to suffer from mold, rot and discoloration. When I asked why the homes are so nice on the inside but the streets and the exterior walls of homes and buildings are so rundown, the answer is that we do not have the money in Brazil to maintain our buildings.  As expected everyone has domestic employees.  They are not only cheap labor but in this country this is a means of serious employment.  It is a career to work for a family and the homes where they work and often eat are much nicer than where they live so these employees tend to enjoy their time away from their homes.

 

Everyone in this middle class has satellite TV and internet access.  They use cell phones as much or more than we do.  Of course this part of Brazil is very hilly, even mountainous so they put their cell towers on top of the tallest hill or mountain around and they have great service everywhere they go.  I have not heard of a phone call being dropped because of poor service.  It seems that most homes also have SKYPE.  Many people speak English.  Most of the schools now require English and children begin studying English around the second grade so that by the time they are in high school they can communicate pretty well even though it is tough to get them to speak English just like it is difficult for us to get our foreign language students to speak Spanish, French, German or whatever.

 

Well, I think that is enough of my impressions so far.  The bottom line is that while we are very busy with little time for ourselves, we are really enjoying the people, the learning opportunities we are having, the way Rotary is working here in Brazil to help those who are in need, and spending time together as a team discussing all that we are seeing and learning.  We canīt speak adequate Portuguese so it is particularly nice to gather as a team to speak about all we are doing.  This is truly a great opportunity and an incredible experience!

 

Best wishes to you,