Day 17 - May 25 - Tuesday

We arrived in Teresopolis this morning around 9:30. Of course we were treated to chocolates, coffee, cheese bread and muffins. After eating too much of the awesome chocolates, if that is possible, we headed out to take a hike at the Serra dos Orgaos National Park. This is a 26,000 acre park that is home of God’s Finger. Our hike took us on an elevated boardwalk through a beautiful rainforest. I think I could have hiked there all day, or least I would have liked to. Lunch came with yet another awesome dessert. It was like a mix of cheese cake and a key lime pie, or something like that. At any rate, it was good. I meet with the Director of Teresopolis Park in the afternoon. He spoke very little English and I speak even less in Portuguese. We were able to communicate enough, and he showed me some nice parks and explained what he called the circle. The city is now circled by 3 large natural area parks. I think he said it was around 50,000 acres total.

Desserts!

The desserts here in Brazil are totally awesome. I think I have mentioned them before, so here is a sample of some of the ones I have had. There are many more, but I do not have pictures of them. I would tell you what they are, but I do not remember the name of them and they are difficult to explain. They were all good. The first one is like a cheese cake with a lemon marange pie on top. The chocolates are mint and the ones on the right have nuts. The third picture is a chocolate dessert and it is simply AWESOME! The pizza, chocolate & banana was interesting and the last was a piece of apple cobbler, apple cinnamon and the top one is indescribable, and very good. Now that I am hungry, I am off to dinner. Hope all is well, miss ya. See Ya!!!!

Day 14 – Saturday May 22

Today we visited a Swiss cheese and chocolate factory. It is a local Friburgo tourist attraction. Of course I tried the chocolates and yes they were good. They had a little museum we went through and some different shops. From there we went to really cool place where this guy made sculptures out of dirt, coats them with a different type of dirt and a green floral grows on it. They call this guy Nego, and he has done some cool stuff. He was working on a drunken man when we were there. We got to meet him and get some pictures with him. He was telling us how he just starts working on something as it comes to him and that they can take up to two years to sculpt. From there it was off to lunch and then to our 24 hours of isolation. They took us to a farm where we would be on our own to rest, talk and work out anything we needed to. The owner was showing us around the place and also cooking dinner for us. I spotted chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk. I knew what I was going to be eating later or so I thought. The owner had her daughter along who had friends show up. Well, they ate all the cookies and drank the milk. We had plans to go out with the Brazilian GSE Team that night. We were hoping to meet as a group before we went out. We left around 8:30 the same time they finally left. Any ways, off we went with Wallace & Helen and Danielle. We went to a club, learned yet another new game of pool and Paul and I came out victorious 3-2. Good thing they scratched 3 times. We had a good time and headed back to the farm. Yee-Haw. See ya, See Ya, See Ya!

Day 13 – Friday May 21

We started the day off at TV Zoom. We were asked to cook some typical American food. We decided on marinated chicken and deviled eggs. The girls took on the deviled eggs, Paul marinated the chicken, I cooked it and Erik was the taste tester. I have not seen the video yet, but I am sure it came out well. It is quite interesting being on a TV show and only understanding every 20^th word. Erik said he liked the deviled eggs, but no one else ate them and the host said she liked the chicken and yet no one had any of it. But for TV, they both were fabulous. After the show, the host gave us a tour of the studio. We all took turns sitting behind the news desk, big contacts were offered, but we like the simple life. Our tour concluded and it was off to lunch. Lunch was OK, dessert was great. The Rotarian whose house we ate at, mad an awesome ice cream pie/cake dessert. Our 3 hour stay was a bit much, but at least we got fed. From there, we returned to our host families. Mine was preparing a BBQ for everyone. The party was to start at 8:00, we started eating at 7:00 and the guest arrived around 9:00. Ahh, Brazilian time, it is whenever. Once again, I ate too much filet mignon, sirloin, bread and desserts. Well, maybe not too much dessert. Carla (Osvaldo’s wife) came up to the table as I was filling my dessert plate with a half gallon of ice cream and said, “Scott, this is for you.” For some reason people thought that was funny. I did share with all. I had a lot of fun, learned a new pool game, and spent some good time with some great people. SEE YA!!

Friburgo- Day 12 Thursday May 20

Goodbye Cabo Frio, Nova Friburgo is the next city on the list. We were told that Friburgo is the place for lingerie. As we crossed the city limits, the first thing we see is a row of some 30 or so lingerie shops. I was dropped off at a place called Gigalink. Gigalink is an internet provider and a company owned by my host family. Osvaldo took me to his home for lunch with the family. Steak, rice, salad, potatoes and dessert of course. He and Carla headed back to work and his oldest Neto took me around to see some sights. We visited the Country Club which was once a home and is now a private park. From there we went to spot that overlooked the city and was sort of an area attraction. It was on the side of a mountain and had a bowling alley, video games and rides. You could even take a chair lift from a park downtown to the attraction and then another to the top of the mountain. The weather was iffy, so we drove up to the midpoint and decided not to go on to the top. We then visit Neto’s school, beautiful in its own right. Built in the 1800’s, it was outstanding. Back to the house for a shower and to prepare for the nights Rotary presentation. I was really looking forward to this one. Wallace, Marcella & Daniele attended the meeting. They are such great people and it is always fun to see them. My host is having a party tomorrow, Daniele & Wallace will be there, but Marcella will be off celebrating her birthday. Get to meet Danielle’s husband as well. Neto is promising me the best BBQ, so we shall see. See ya, See ya!!!

Cabo Frio Day 11

Anytime you visit a place and the first thing they show is a spread of food, you know it is going to be a good day. What made this school visit unique were the students. Like the other school we visited the other day, the students showed us a video and we then broke into two groups with the students taking the lead asking and answering questions. I got the chance to go talk with a director of a rec center, so off I went. The center was located in a poor section of town. They told us that they had 1500 kids a week go through their programs of judo, soccer, martial arts and ballet. Ballet actually had the most kids at 500 per week. They had a nice basketball court and are hopeful for funding to improve and clean their outdoor facilities. Funny story, Meg went with me just to get out of a school tour as we have already had several. We went outside to see the soccer field and track. As we stood outside and talked, a man walks through the gate, goes down the wall like he is looking for something. He stops, and then while talking on his phone, relieves himself. The look on Meg’s face was priceless. He finished and left and Meg was still in disbelief.

After that we left and met back up with the group at the school just in time to go to lunch. The 8 students got to go with us for lunch. I sat with 3 of them and had what I think is the best lunch to date. We talked about families, school, the economy, politics, North Carolina and about Cabo Frio. It was the highlight of my day. From there we headed to Cabo Frio Beach. It was a bit deserted by the time we got there, but we got some beach time none the less. Paul and I went on an ice cream adventure. We found a place our girls would love. 30 flavors of ice cream and you scoop your own, over 100 toppings to put on as you wish and they charge you by weight. OK, mine cost 10 reais or about $6. At any rate, it was good. Tracy helped me with my Portuguese pronunciation before or presentation and it helped tremendously. No one else can read but me, but it helps. On our way back from the Rotary meeting, Paul had the idea of stopping and getting a dessert of some sort. A gas station had a pizza type of stand out front that made dessert pizzas. Is there a better combination of food? We ordered one that was half chocolate and half banana. Sounds a bit yuck, but was ok. Not the greatest, but good enough to eat. Well so much for Cabo Frio, we leave in the morning. Until then, See ya!!

Buzio Day 10

To date, Buzio is my favorite town we have been in. It is a quite little town with shops, restaurants on the beach, awesome views and all kinds of good beaches. Buzio truly had that beach town feel to it. The people seemed very laid back and no one was in a hurry. My girls would love this place. Again, lunch was very good or maybe it was the fact we ate on a beach! We did finally make it to a beach. Wished we could have made it to the beach earlier, the sun was going down on us, so not so good for the tans. Maybe tomorrow in Cabo. Tracy did get to go surfing, had to sweet talk some local boys first though. After the beach we headed to a cookout with the Rotary club in Cabo Frio. Madi will be happy as I finally got to hand out some silly bands to some kids. They looked at me funny, but they took them. For now, it is off to bed. See ya!!!

Cabo Frio

Cabo Frio is a coastal city with beautiful beaches. We started our first day visiting a school and an after school program. The schooll was more of a tech school highly focused on the sciences. From there we headed far out into the country. The land is much flater and more suited for farming. On our way to the after school, we had to wait as the cows crossed the road. The roads were dirt and sometimes mud. At one point we came up on a broken down truck that sat in the middle of the road. Another truck tried to pass it and slide into it. The only way we had to get around was through the mud. The girls did not want to attempt it, but the guys were in favor of it. Kassio, our driver, took the challenge and plowed right through it. Woo-Hoo. The school was very well maintained. They offered classes like music, ballet, baking, art, sewing and others. They even had their own garden in which they used all the harvested goods to eat while at the school. The grew different fruit trees, different herbs and raised ducks. They even kept the seeds from the plants to grow more. Waste water was used to make fertilizer and the garden was watered from a pond that collected rain water. The kids where very happy to see us, and as always, loved the camera. We enjoyed the day and wished we had a day to spend there and work with them. See ya!

Ararauma

Part of our duties is to go to the Rotary District 4570 Conference. It was held in a small lake town called Ararauma. There was not much there and we really did not have much time to go do anything. We did however give our presentation for the second time in Portuguese. It was better than the first, but still not very good. We found it very hard to stay awake when speakers were talking. I guess listening to a monotone speaker in a language you do not understand can be a good sleep aid. On the bright side, we got to meet up with the Brazilian GSE team. They are a great group of people and we really enjoy it when we get to be with them.

The first picture is out from our hotel. Not the best place, but it served its purpose. The second is a fishing boat on the lake. Sorry Dad, could not find any that were half sunk. We had to go to a dinner and dance as part of the conference. Sometimes food comes very late. In this case, it was served at 12:38 AM. So, while waiting, we strolled the grounds. This is Erik & I hanging out. The last is the group photo at the dance. I can not say that I really danced. More like standing there swaying back and forth with an occasional waving of the arms. The band was good. They played for 5 straight hours with a lot of american music. Along with having a lot of good food, we are finding out they like american music a lot. Well, off to bed I go. See Ya, See Ya!!!

Off to Ararauma

Today we left the city of Niterio to head to the Rotary District Conference in Ararauma. The big city life is behind us for now and Ararauma is a smaller more rural place. Horses run free, even on the roads. We about hit the white one. We had to meet with the district Governer and attend an awards presentation. After a couple of hours of listening to people speak in a language you can not understand, youtend to become very sleepy. It became harder and harder to stay awake. Luckly for us, our friend Sandra pulled us out and saved us from death by yawning. At the conclusion, Eric and I watched an old man scarf down appetizers like crazy. At one time he followed the server around eating off the tray. Alexandra and Roberto took us out for supper at what turned out to be midnight. Too much food for that time of night. On to the next day, presentation tomorrow. See Ya!!

Sugar Loaf

WOW! What an amazing view. Sugar Loaf was awesome to say the least. I wish I could post all the pictures I took. Only about 80. We had a great day for the trip to the top. If anything, I really like my camera. This is a kind of place you could pull up a chair and sit all day and into the night. It gives you a false impression of beauty as it only removes you from the problems below. The flavealas (sp?) become part of the landscape and add a splash of color to the green mountain side. Maybe thta is what makes Rio such a beautiful place. After our decent to the bottom, our new friend Sandra took us to lunch in Copacabana Beach. Beautiful beach and yet another awesome lunch with dessert. YUM!! After a walk on the beach and a long 2 hour traffic jam, we made it back to Niteroi, we grabbed some more food, got cleaned up and hit a night club. Not being much of a dancer, I waved my arms and chatted with our new friends. Well, that's all for now. More to come. SEE YA!!!