March 4 - Day 19

Amazingly we were up at 7:00 a.m., showered, breakfasted , and then Patti, Luana, Nae, and I went to the "Market". It was located near the downtown area by the harbor and stretched along about 3 blocks of one of the main streets which is closed for this Sunday market. There was much to choose from and we used this opportunity to purchase mare jewelery, souvenirs, picture cards, and food. After dropping Nae off at her place, we returned home and changed into our "church" clothes and headed off to the church which the Amoedos attended. Along the way we picked up Natasha, another of Luana's many friends. It was a very spiritual church led by a priest who had a very warm and loving manner and it was obvious that his congregation really liked him and participated in the service with much zeal and spirituality. For the big Sunday lunch, we had some wonderful fish which we had previously bought at the fish market and which was once again prepared in such an amazingly succulent way by Johana. We met Luana's grandmother and aunty from Salete's side of the family. At 3:00 we finally and literally took off for the falls which Luana and her friends were so anxious to show us. This was Iracema Falls close to Presidente Fiqueiredo City in Amazonas. The road was new and straight right through the heart of the rain forest and would have landed us in Colombia if we had continued on. Nae averaged about a 140 kph from Manaus to Presidente Fiqueiredo City , which meant at times we were going about a 160 kph. Patti, Ana Luisa, and I simply hung on for dear life in the back seat. I must admit though that to travel at this speed on such a good highway is exhilarating. Because it gets dark around 7:00 this close to the equator, Nae and Luana were anxious for us to get there so we could see the falls. Unfortunately when we got there the park gates to the Falls were already closed. Quickly Luana and Nae and Ana Luisa went to plan B. There was another set of falls that were slightly smaller but located in a private campground. We paid our admission and drove a few miles down a very rudimentary road that had jungle growth closing in on both sides. We ended up at a secluded spot and the five of us enjoyed a very refreshing swim in a fast moving black water river just below a set of beautiful falls. As it got dark, we made our way back to the small parking lot where our car was parked. There was one other car there with 2 young couples and they were in trouble. They had inadvertently locked their keys in the car. The windows withstood their attempts to break them. Finally Nae retrieved a jack handle from our trunk and the young man whose car it was, used it to break in a small back window. If they hadn't been able to get into their car they were facing a long lonely night in the heart of a rain forest or a long trek back through the dark across a rutted road to the gate where there was someone with a car. Phone reception in this area was very sketchy. On the way back we drove at a sedate 80 kph as creatures were now coming out of the forest and too drive too quickly would have been extremely dangerous. The moon hung in the sky over us but with its crescent reversed from what we are used to seeing in Canada. As well fog hung heavily over the jungle and on the road in a few places. About 25 km from Manaus we came upon a line up of cars. There was a dead horse in the middle of the land we were traveling in. It had been struck by a large tow truck. Apparently this was not an unusual event as often domestic animals got out of poorly fenced areas and onto the highway. When we got home we had Brazilian pizza for supper. It is so unlike our Canadian pizza but I really liked it once I got past the different kinds of topping pairs. Nae and some of Luana's other friends came by. Gabriela, whom I worked with at Murdoch MacKay came over also as did Tomas, one of my very first students at KEC. Gabby is still very sweet and Tomas, well, Tomas is still Tomas. Bed at midnight. These are long days for an "elderly" type like me.

March 3 - Day 18

While I am enjoying this trip of a lifetime, I am also glad we opted for only 3 weeks, as the steady pace of visiting, sight-seeing and travel is starting to wear me down. As usual I got up early and had an excellent breakfast with Salete and Amoedo courtesy of Johanna. After breakfast the 3 of us went to the fish market located near the docks in the port. It is the largest I have ever been to. It covered about a hectare of space and there was every kind of fish and food that had their origins in the river. Salete did some serious shopping here before she made her selections at a few different "fishmongers". These fish would soon show up as delectably prepared dish for either our main meal, lunch, or the lighter meal at supper time. When we got back, Amoedo and I walked a cross the street to where there was small organic fruit and vegetable market. There both Amoedo and the vendors went to great pains to show me, identify, and explain all about the different fruits and veggies on display. Despite my lack of skill in Portuguese and their similar lack in English, I still managed to get the gist of what was being said. As well the vendors graciously allowed me to taste several fruits I had never seen or heard of before. I found 2 types of fruit to be very intriguing and particularly delicious. Amoedo purchased several of each along with other fruits and vegetables that he was going to take back for Johanna to work her miracles on. We had another tremendous lunch. It wasn't easy not to over-indulge because the food was so delicious. As an aside, I found when that I got back home I had actually lost 1 kg despite the amount of food that I was being tempted with on a daily basis. After a nap, Amoedo took Patti, Luana, Nae and me on a tour of the city, this time to the industrial quarter located close to the port facilities. In the 1950 's, a Free Economic Zone of Manaus was created and out of this evolved the Manaus Free Trade Zone Superintendence, SUFRAMA, an autarchy with its own legal status and assets and having financial and administrative autonomy. Tax incentives and the subsequent complementary legislation created comparative advantages in the region with respect to other parts of the country and as a result the Manaus Free Trade Zone attracted new investment to the area. This gave the economic means to allow for regional development in order to lift the Amazon out of the economic isolation that it had fallen into in the time after the rubber boom. Today the Port of Manaus is an important commercial center for ocean-going vessels traveling the Amazon. In fact, it is the main transport hub for the entire upper Amazon Basin. It imports beef from the hinterlands and exports hides and leather. Important industries in the Port of Manaus include manufacturing of soap, chemicals, electronics equipment as well as shipbuilding, brewing, and petroleum refining. With so much industry and commerce, the Port City of Manaus has become a sophisticated cosmopolitan center and it was quite evident that Amoedo was quite proud of how the city had grown and how the quality of life had improved for its inhabitants. Nae did so much translating for us and we were happy for her presence. An exhausted Luana slept through most of the tour and when she woke we teased her about her abilities as a tour guide! He also took us to a ferry terminal where there was a much smaller fish market on the edge of a wharf but which gave a good cross-section of the abundant fish that were harvested from the river. We watched several ferries come in and disgorge their cars and passengers and take on a new load. As well innumerable smaller river boats came and went doing a great business ferrying passengers to different places on the other side of the Rio Negro. We were treated to an afternoon thunderstorm of monumental proportions but we were sheltered from it by the large roof over the wharf. After we came back, Nae, Luana, Johanna, and I went shopping for food and drink for the small party being planned for the evening. On my suggestion, it was decided that we would serve Brazilian hot dogs which I thought were fantastic! We went shopping at a large supermarket. I was allowed to spend some of my own money (you don't know how difficult that is to do because they insist on paying for everything!) and I bought a liqueur for Amoedo, some wine for Worney, and some wine and beer for the party. Luana, Amoedo, and Worney were going out for the evening to a graduation party for one of their friends and they all got wonderfully dressed up. Luana's and Nae's friends started arriving. What a wonderful group of people she has to call her friends. We had the most excellent hot dogs with other wonderful hors d'oeuvres accompanied by beer and caipirinhas. After much visiting, Patti and I retired at 1:30 a.m. while the rest of the group finally went home at 4:30 a.m.

March 2 - Day 17

We were up at 6:00 a.m. and had breakfast. Some of us looked very sleepy. Amoedo drove Luana, Patti, and me to the hotel from where the tour was starting. I found it interesting that the average room price for this hotel was $360 a night. Kind of steep for those of us not on expense accounts or who are "quite well-off"! When we got there we found that the tour had been cancelled because of low numbers. But the booking people hurriedly put us into a cab and we quickly were driven to the main terminal for cross river ferries and river excursion boats. They were holding a river excursion boat tour for us. As soon as we got on, the boat started to leave before we could even be seated. The three of us made our way to the top deck which had a sun roof but was open on all sides. In this way we could escape the sun's rays and heat and enjoy the breeze created by the moving boat. Our guide was fluent in English and French as well as his native Portuguese and gave us a lot of historical and local information as we traveled down the Rio Negro to where it joined the Solimoes to form the mighty Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world (about 7,050,000 square kilometres) and which accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow. The Solimoes flows at a much faster speed from its origins in the Andes and when the slower moving Rio Negro meets it, the Rio Negro's water is turned aside and the two rivers flow side by side for some 20 km with a clear delineation between the dark coca cola like waters of the Negro and the lighter creamy chocolate color waters of the Solimeos. It is hard to tell that there are two rivers meeting here because of the great width of both of them. It is like being on a large lake with flowing waters. Eventually the two rivers combine their waters and flow in a north-easterly direction to where the river enters the Atlantic Ocean in a broad estuary about 240 kilometres wide. The mouth of the main stem is 80 kilometres wide. We then started on our return trip by going upstream on the Rio Negro and then entering one of its many channels on the west side. We made our way between islands of various sizes until we reached a small village which was bordered on tree sides by the jungle and on one side by the Rio Negro. The buildings were on stilts because of the fact that changes in water depth between maximum high and minimum low water levels can be as great as 15 meters from dry season ending in October to the height of the wet season, usually in July. The buildings are open on at least three sides. During the torrential downpours which occur daily for an hour or so during the wet season, the villagers close canvas walls , depending on the direction of the wind. We went on a tour through the jungle which was only possible because of the raised and railed wooden walkways. We were able to see trees and vines of an amazing number of varieties. Some rivaled the sequoias of California in size. We were also able to access a swampy area where crocodiles basked in the waters among lily pads whose leaves were as large as dining room tables and on which small animals and birds of many sizes were able to traverse the swamp. Our time was limited because we were due for a downpour any minute. The first huge drops of rain came down just as we made it back to the shelter of the village. One of the largest buildings was a gift shop, of course. Here were displayed all kinds of crafts and souvenirs produced by the indigenous people of the area. We bought a lot of gifts and souvenirs. The money that our tour group spent here stayed in the village and provided valuable income for the villagers. Next on the tour was a buffet meal which was included in the cost of the tour. There were available many kinds of foods typical to this village. River fish was a main dish as were beans and rice and innumerable fruits and vegetables. After the meal our group was split in two with each group getting a canopied water taxi, each piloted by a young villager lad. The boats rode with their gunwhales about 4 inches above the surface of the river. We were taken at a rapid clip deeper into the jungle where we saw all kinds of exotic birds and plant life. We could also see how much higher the river had to rise by the water marks on the trees. At the time we were there, the river was to rise another 4 metres in the next 3 months. Patti took a large number of photos. I was restricted to only a few because my memory card was full! Talk about poor planning on my part for not having brought another card. On our return to the port, a taxi was there to pick us up. Instead of returning to the hotel where our tour originated from, Luana talked very nicely to the driver, and he took us to Amoedo's house, a saving of over an hour's worth of time. I tipped him 20 reals for this as I was quite tired and I simply was glad we would not have to spend all that extra time in the rush hour traffic of Manaus which can be quite hellish! We had a quick supper and changed into some dressier clothes as were going to attend a performance at the Teatro Amazonas or Amazonas Opera House. Salete in her line of work had done publicity for the 21st Amazonas Music Festival and had received complimentary tickets to attend. This was the concert where all the winners from the concerts held in previous weeks throughout Manaus were brought together for a final performance to declare the overall winner. We had good seats and thoroughly enjoyed the spectrum of artists showcasing their selections. After the concert, a local TV station covering the event interviewed Salete with her family and us as a backdrop. It turns out that the woman who was selected as the overall winner not only was gorgeous and very talented, she was also a friend of Salete's. She graciously invited all of us in Salete's group to the party celebrating the victor. The party was hosted on the terrace of the Opera House and there was music to go along with hors d'oeuvres,punches, and wines. All in all, it was a terrific finish to an already very stimulating and full day.

March 1 - Day 16

7:00 a.m. and its already 29C! It rained all morning - probably because Luana stayed home from work to spend time with us. However it stopped by noon and there was sunshine and heat. We went to the zoo which is surrounded by a military complex. It seemed strange to see the zoo and at the same time see soldiers being trained in marching on the periphery. Reconstruction of the zoo's animal habitats began by orders of the Brazilian Army Center for Jungle Warfare Training, and the zoo has undergone many recent improvements to make it more attractive to visitors. The entrance fee is a very reasonable 2 real. Our Manaus zoo experience was as close to nature as you can get without actually going off into the jungle on your own. We were able to walk over bridges that hang precariously above an animal's habitat allowing us to peacefully stroll above a lion's den or a tiger's napping spot in the shade. However there weren't too many other animals or birds on display. A few notable exceptions were the spider monkeys and the colorful toucans and parrots. The reason we were given why there were so few animals on display and many empty areas was that this zoo technically was no longer a viewing zoo that we are familiar with back at home but rather a place where animals are brought for veterinary purposes to be treated, rehabilitated and, if possible, re-admitted back to their former natural habitats. We picked up tickets for a river and jungle cruise. Apparently we were now going on a Friday and not on Saturday which left only Luana and Patti and me for the expedition. From the hotel we went and picked up Nae , took out some reals at the bank, and went home. Here it was decided we would all go out to the best place in Manaus(according to Nae) for pasteles. Pasteles are a typical fast food Brazilian dish, consisting of thin pastry envelope wrappings with assorted fillings that are deep fried in vegetable oil. The result is a crispy, brownish pastry. The most common fillings are ground meat, mozzarella cheese, heart of palm, catupiry cream cheese, chicken meat, and small shrimp. There are also sweet fillings like guava jam with Minas cheese, banana, and chocolate. These pasteles were about 3 times the size of a normal pastele and were extremely delicious and surprisingly filling. Amoedo, Salete, Worney and his girl friend, Luana, Nae, Patti, and I and also Joanna, the family person who took care of the household and the meals, enjoyed our meal together as we visited and ate. Pasteles are definitely something I am going to learn to make in Canada! They are heaven-sent! Back at home, we all watched Brazilian Big Brother together. It is extremely popular in Brazil and very much so in the House of Amoedo! Early to bed at 11:00 because there would be an early wakeup for our jungle trip tomorrow.

February 29 - Day 15

The morning is once again very overcast and humid and the temperature is already at 30. This was a good morning to do some pool time, catch up on emails and Facebook, and catch up on my diary in which I have been finding it more difficult to record the events of the day before I go to bed. Again Joana outdid herself with the lunch which is the main meal of the day. It was good to see Luana catch up on some of her sleep and then enjoy the lunch with us. It must be difficult for her to attend classes in the evening, work a 4 hour shift at her job at World Study, plus be a hostess for her guests from Canada. This afternoon Luana took us on a tour of one of Manaus's greatest treasures. The Amazon Theatre (in Portuguese: Teatro Amazonas) is an opera house that was built during the Belle Époque at a time when fortunes were made in the rubber boom. The theatre's architectural style is considered typically Renaissance. The roofing tiles were imported from Alsace, the steel walls from England and the carrara marble for the stairs, statues and columns, from Italy. The dome is covered with 36,000 decorated ceramic tiles painted in the colors of the national flag of Brazil. The interior furnishing came from France in the Louis the Fifteenth style. Italian artist Domenico de Angelis painted the panels that decorate the ceilings of the auditorium and of the audience chamber. The curtain, with its painting "Meeting of the Waters", was originally created in Paris by Crispim do Amaral. The theatre's 198 chandeliers were imported from Italy, including 32 of Murano glass. The theatre has tours on the hour and we took one which was in English and we were very impressed with the theatre's grandeur and its beauty. Luana then took us to show us her work place. It wasn't far from the theatre but it seemed to take forever to get there through the rush hour traffic. We picked up Nae and then visited the nearby shopping centre, the Millenium Centre, which is quite impressive. Back home after a "light supper", we watched some Brazilian soccer on TV and visited. Brazilians are passionate about their futbol and I must say it certainly makes for more exciting watching with that passion present! Bedtime at midnight! I found it extremely difficult to write in my diary which I attributed to a combination of tiredness and apathy setting in.

February 28 - Day 14

I woke up Tuesday morning after sleeping in until 7:30 to discover that it was sunny outside and that the temperature was already at 30C with a high humidity. Luana and I had breakfast together and then she was off to work. I caught up on my diary, swam, and then joined Patti for her breakfast and enjoyed some more of that delicious Brazilian coffee. Everyone except Luana was home for lunch. After lunch, Amoedo and Salete were going to take us to a hotel complex where we could buy tickets for a combined river and jungle trip. Worney wanted to go with us and I wouldn't have minded because otherwise communication between Luana's parents and us was going to be limited by Amoedo's limited grasp of English and my likewise limited grasp of Brazilian Portuguese. However they insisted that he had already missed enough university classes and he was using his interpreter role as an excuse. So off he went and off we went. Despite the lack of a common language we got along well and we found out about our tickets. Initially it was going to be a group of us going on a certain day of the week. Later plans would change. They took us on a side tour of an elegant mall beside the hotel that had shops with a lot of wonderful art, clothing, duty free shopping, all ecologically sound products, most of which was out of our price range. They also took us on a tour of their property near a club in a gated community by a lake where they hoped to start building their new home. Back at Amoedo's, we had another "light" meal, which like the meal at lunch time had fruits, veggies, rice, meat, and delicious fish. At 8:30 in the evening Luana got back from her university class. Her boy friend, Fabio, took time of from studying and they had their first food since breakfast. With the exception of Fabio who went back to his studying, we all watched Brazilian Big Brother together. Nae visited with us in the evening as well. Bedtime at 11:45 for me. I slept well! You might note that the entries are getting briefer. The trip was finally tiring my body, and as a result, I was becoming quite brief in my recall of events of the day.

February 27 - Day 13

We said our goodbyes to Lucia and Josie,and Arlindo and Anna drove us to the airport to catch our flight for Manaus. We picked up Luiza on our way and we were met at the airport by Felipe Maio who had just returned to Brasilia last night. We posed for pictures, reminisced a bit more, hugged each other and we were off on the next third of our journey.

After about a two and a half hour flight we were in Manaus. Luana and her father met us. His name is Worney but everyone calls him Amoedo. After a twenty minute drive in the rain from the airport on streets lined with lush growths of trees and shrubs, we were finally at Luana's place. We met Luana's mother, Salete, and her brother, also named Worney. Worney was quite fluent in English as he had attended an American college which was keen on his soccer skills.

We took over Worney's room. Each bedroom and the office of Amoedo had air conditioners. We were soon to find out why.

After a wonderful "lunch", of which the highlight for me was baked wild river turtle, we slept for several hours. By now all the travel and intensive visiting was taking its toll on our older bodies. We had supper at 8:00 p.m and then, while Luana was at her university classes, Amoedo, Salete, Warney, Patti and I went on an evening sight-seeing tour of Manaus. Manaus (Portuguese pronunciation: [maˈnaws]) is the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões river. It has a population of over two million people and it is the eighth most populous city of Brazil.

We saw many of the beautiful old buildings of Manaus, many of which we would come back to see in daylight,and we ended our tour by driving across the Rio Negro River on the Manaus Iranduba Bridge (called Ponte Rio Negro in Brazil) which spans the Rio Negro with its 3.6km of length and which links the cities of Manaus and Iranduba. Locals say it cost Brazilians a billion dollars to build it. It will connect Manaus with a road being repaved over its 900 km length through the rain forest jungle(which had reclaimed the road) and will break Manaus's isolation from the rich and populous south.

Back at Amoedo's, Luana was home from her classes and we met her boy friend, Fabio, a really nice guy who was spending day and night completing his last month of study in Law school. We also met Nae, a co-worker of Luana's and a personal friend of Luana and the family.

For some reason I did not sleep well that night. Perhaps there was too much stimulation that day or the hum of the air conditioner caused a restless sleep.

February 26 - Day 12

After Patti and I had breakfast, I with Arlindo earlier, Aline picked us up at 9:30 and we went touring to see more of Brasilia.Our first stop was the market by the TV tower where we had been on the observation deck previously. We spent about 2 hours there, buying small gifts for friends and family and sampling some of the goodies offered. From here we headed for the Santuario Dom Bosco (Sanctuary of Dom Bosco) which honors the Italian saint who dreamed of a utopian city in 1883. Brasilia is inspired by this dream. We had tried on a previous evening to visit but it was closed for the night. The shrine has an impressive interior which seemed to be bathed in heavenly blue light from the walls of windows. We stayed and participated in the church service for a sort while.

Our next stop was the Templo da Boa Vontade (Temple of Good Will). It is shaped like a pyramid of seven faces. From the very peak of the pyramid, hangs the biggest crystal ever found in Brazil. According to the maintainers, the best way to capture the energy of the crystal is to walk slowly, barefoot, meditating, following the spiral path inwards; at the center of the spiral, right under the crystal, is the energy focus; then, walk back outwards, stopping before the altar for meditation. In order to do this I had to don a pair of black trousers to cover my inappropriate dress below my waist. I was dressed in shorts over which it was easy to pull on the one-size-fits-all pants. It was a very interesting place where one could do some quiet, serious contemplating and introspection. It was at this temple that Luiza said she had a life changing experience and she was now a regular attender.

From here we went to a really nice(and expensive)restaurant, Churrascaria Porcão where we were being hosted by another International student who had attended KEC, Alexandre Lins. Alexandre intoduced us to his girl friend, Talitha, and to his father, Enrique, another former International student from years gone by. Alex's sister lives in Saskatoon, so there is the possibility we will reconnect when he comes to visit her in the future.

The food was excellent! There was a very large self-serve buffet of vegetables and salads and sushi. Passadores (meat waiters) come to the table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, be it beef, pork, filet mignon, lamb, chicken, duck, ham (and pineapple), sausage, fish, or any other sort of local cut of meat. A common cut of beef top sirloin cap is known as picanha. They cut portions of the meats onto a plate for you to eat. You can eat until you are stuffed, sick, or hospitalized. Fortunately we were able to show remarkable restraint and enjoy modest portions as we visited and learned more about each other and what had transpired since we last met. Enrique would not hear of us paying and he graciously paid the whole tab!

Taking our leave, Aline then took us to the Dom Bosco Natural Park where we walked around and admired the greenery and observed the many people who were out enjoying a pleasant afternoon at the park which had a beach onto Lake Paranoa. It was another beautiful warm day.

Our last stop was at Aline's place which coincidentally was located in an apartment building next to the one Anna and her family lived in. We met her very artistic mom, Joanna, a retired school teacher, and had a tour of her apartment with all the art she had done.

Then we walked back to Anna's place where at 6:00 p.m. a student, Julia Maas from my first year in the International program, picked me up in her car and we went out for coffee. I had a caju(cashew) juice as we reminisced. Julia is an aspiring film artist and has directed and produced a film which I hope to see soon.

Back at the apartment, we packed and then gave our hosts the small gifts we had brought. These small tokens could in no way match the quality of the welcome we had received. We had a last light lunch with them and then Patti and I took our malaria pills, which we were advised that we needed for Manaus, and retired for our last night in Brasilia.

February 25 - Day 11

Because Anna got in really really late from a party with her friends, our plans for the morning were put on hold.The trip to the meditation centre didn't happen. Instead Lucia and I had another language lesson over a lengthy breakfast. Arlindo was at his hospital performing a 4 hour surgery.

Breakfast consisted of papayas, freshly squeezed orange juice, toast, an egg, and cheese from Lucia and Arlindo's farm. Discussion was on children and on our cultural backgrounds. She is an extremely interesting and at the the same time interested conversationalist!

Arlindo came home early after his surgery in order to be present at our one o'clock lunch. Poor Anna was up as well but was obviously still "tired" from being up so late. We were going to meet Luiza and her mother, Mercia at a restaurant near Luiza's. A boat trip around the lake in Brasilia was discussed. Plans in Brazil are often very nebulous. Events happen, but as a rule to a Canadian like me, they appear to follow no set plans. Things just evolve!

The restaurant was Carpe Diem. It had a great reputation for feijoada. We were seated, just the 5 of of us until Luiza arrived. Her mom stayed back at the apartment preparing our dessert. We had caipirinhas before the meal with some appetizers. The restaurant had an excellent salad bar and an amazing buffet consisting of every kind of imaginable bean preparation to put on the rice, as well as many vegetable dishes. The food was great, the conversation was animated.

After this most excellent meal courtesy of Arlindo, we - Luiza, Anna, Patti, and I - walked over to Luiza's apartment while Arlindo and Lucia went home for a well earned rest. We were joined at Luiza's by one of Patti's students from Patti's first year at River East with the International students. She is a "real pistol", vivacious and bubbling with energy and with a great sense of humor! Luiza's mom, Mercia had prepared a few desserts along with juice, coffee, or tea! I had very little appetiteleft after the wonderful "lunch"! But we sat down and enjoyed.

The apartment was very spacious and the living room area had wall to ceiling windows overlooking the broad tree-lined avenue in front. The whole apartment was tastefully decorated and had a spacious feel to it.

We then took off in two cars for a sight-seeing boat cruise on Paranoá Lake which is a large artificial lake built to increase the amount of water available to the region. It has the second largest marina in Brazil, and hosts wakeboarders and windsurfers. The six of us, along with about 10 other people, were treated to a narrated cruise on this two-deckk sight seeing boat. The six of us sat on the open top deck and enjoyed a panoramic view of Brasilia.

We cruised by a peninsula on which was located the Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence of the President of Brazil. The palace was designed, along with the rest of the city of Brasília, by Oscar Niemeyer and inaugurated in 1958. One gets an impression of looking at a glass box, softly landed on the ground with the support of thin external columns. I told my students that originally we were going to have tea with Dilma Vana Rousseff , the current president, but that she had sent her regrets as she had to go to Germany to meet with Angela Merkel. I also mentioned that the past president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, had invited us for a visit but he had taken ill and was at a hospital in Sao Paulo.

We passed by a large modern hotel which had hosted President Obama on his recent visit to Brazil. Further on and on the opposite shore was the Ecological Park Don Bosco which honors the Italian saint who dreamed of a utopian city in 1883. Brasilia, the modern capital city of Brazil, is inspired by this dream. Bracketing the park were many very stately homes whose yards extended to the shores of the lake. Passing this we approached and passed under the Juscelino Kubitschek bridge, also known as the 'President JK Bridge' or the 'JK Bridge', which crosses Lake Paranoá. It is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, former president of Brazil who was mainly responsible for the founding of a new national capital. As we passed under the bridge, we were told to make a wish as the boat sounded its horn. My wish was to be able to come back to Brazil very soon!

The boat then swung around and continued its trip along the opposite shore passing a very beautiful park and a golf course and gave us a view of the president's palace from the other side. We met or passed many pleasure craft enjoying the beautiful day on the lake.

When we got back to shore, Lucia was waiting to pick up Anna, Patti, and me to take us to the church she and Anna attended. It was a bit of a drive but with a heavy foot on the accelerator, she got us there shortly after the service had started. It was very African grounded, quite charismatic, and very very interesting.

After the service we stopped for some delicious ice cream on the way home. At home, we moved the clocks back one hour as Brasilia was going back from Daylight Saving to Standard time.

That night I dreamed that I was lying on my side on a hill somewhere and that I heard what was an animal or a snake coming up behind me. I quickly rolled over and was awakened when I hit the floor hard full length with the front of my body. I lay there shaking with laughter because I haven't fallen out of bed since I was two years old! But the quiet laughter soon disappeared when Patti in a very concerned voice started calling my name loudly. Because it was very dark in the room she couldn't see that I was all right. She had recently lost her father to a heart attack and he too had fallen out of his bed. I had discovered him on the floor in his apartment when I went to check on him because he had not responded to phone calls. She had an immediate vision that that was what had happened to me. When I had convinced her that I was all right and she had finished "scolding" me for scaring me out of her wits, I assessed the damage I had done to my body. Because I had broken the toes on both my feet so many times as I was growing up on the farm, I knew that I had broken 2 toes on one foot, and a toe on the other foot. As well I had bruised both knee caps quite badly. I never let on to anyone about my injuries as I didn't want to concern anyone and besides that, this was not something that I couldn't handle on my own.

An interesting end to day 11, not?

February 24 - Day 10

We spent a lazy relaxing morning catching up on diaries, journals, emails, and Facebook. At about 11:00 a.m. Anna drove Patti and me to Grande Colorado, a gated community about 30 km out of Brasilia, where Rodrigo, one of Patti's students from 2008-09 lived. After introductions all around we sat down to a "lunch" with Rodrigo, his mom, and his cousin. We had an excellent dinner of a chicken dish, the obligatory delicious rice, a creamed potato dish with caramelized plantain and ice-cream for desert.

Rodrigo was hobbling around on crutches after surgery on knee ligaments that were injured during a taekwondo session. We visited and again caught up on the Winnipeg experience. Midafternoon we left after getting Rodrigo to promise to join us that evening for a supper get together.

Anna then drove us to back to Brasilia where we would do more sight-seeing. First stop was the 75m-high observation deck of the TV Tower. Here we were able to get a bird's-eye view of the city from which we could get a sense of the layout. Off in the distance we see a brand new soccer stadium under construction for the World Cup of Futbol in 2014. We could see the cathedral and art museum and the various government buildings. Below was a fairly large village which had wares and crafts on sale on weekends and holidays.

We then drove to the National Congress which unfortunately was not sitting and was closed because of the carnival holidays. It featured the photogenic ‘dishes’ and twin towers.The convex dome on the roof of the House of Representatives is supposed to signify that membership is open to all ideologies. We were lucky enough to visit on the day of the month, the military pulls out all stops for the ceremonial changing of Brasília's tallest and largest flag, a 286-sq-m banner on a flagpole conceived by Sergio Bernardes, the only edifice in the square not designed by Niemeyer. We were surrounded by the most interesting buildings surrounding the Praça dos Trés Poderes. It puts togrther the ideas of architects Niemeyer and Costa, combining various monuments, museums and federal buildings. The space includes striking sculptures including Bruno Giorgi's Os Candangos, Alfredo Ceschiatti's A Justiça and Niemeyer's O Pombal. Patti had a heyday with her camera.

We left from there to avoid the rush hour of all the government workers when they exited their places of work. It was home to rest and then around 9: 00 p.m. we went with Anna and her friend to meet Rodrigo, Paula, Luiza and her mom, Mercia,at a restaurant with a "forro" band. We again ordered hors d'oeuvres and large bottles of ice-cold Brazilian beer. The band was good and everyone listened and visited and ate, and some got up to dance in the small space between tables. The dancers were intimate and were not conscious of anyone looking at them.

Patti and I were welcomed to the restaurant and to Brasilia by the band's leader and later Patti and I had to get up and dance. After midnight our visit broke up. It was a memorable evening for the music and for reacquainting with our students.

February 23 - Day 9

This morning, I had an energizing shower, and then I enjoyed breakfast and a "language class" with Arlindo and Lucia while Patti slept in. Lucia is a tenacious learner and you could see her limited English improving by leaps and bounds.

After Patti had her breakfast with Anna, Lucia and Anna took us in 2 cars to a local ecological park that had an outdoor fitness centre and a walking/running trail through a very beautiful wooded area. Lucia could only stay a short while as she had to go off to a class she had. Anna, Patti and I walked the trail and we saw many beautiful birds and butterflies along with some very stately trees. It was very hot and sultry, so we kept to the shade wherever we could.

Lunch back at the apartment consisted of filet mignon, a spaghetti in a rich cream sauce, a huge salad, and a very rich and delicious cake. No coaxing, pleasant conversation and just a plain enjoyment of food at the table.

After a brief rest, we were off with Anna to visit the beautiful sights of the city. Brasília’s urban design is as futuristic as its architecture. If you arrive by plane (as we did), you’ll be treated to an eagle’s eye view of the city’s layout in the shape of an airplane or a bird with outstretched wings. It's often referred to as the Plano Piloto (Pilot Plan). Once you’re on the ground, no matter how confusing Brasília might seem, it helps if you keep in mind this organization of the city into the bird or plane’s head, body, and tail. The body, known as the Eixo Monumental (Monumental Axis), is an 8-kilometer (5-mile) strip of multi-lane boulevards that runs east–west from the Praça do Cruzeiro (the plane’s tail) to Praça dos Três Poderes (the head, or cockpit). Running north–south, and intersecting with the Eixo Monumental, the Eixo Rodoviário (known as the “Eixão”) is a curving artery that forms the wings of the bird/plane. At the intersection of the two Eixos is the city’s transportation hub: the municipal Rodoviária de Brasília, from which local buses come and go.

Another feature of Brasília is its organization into zones. The Eixo Monumental is lined with government buildings, monuments, and museums, but is also divided into specific setores (S) that concentrate clusters of banks (Setor Bancário), hotels (Setor Hoteleiro), and commercial areas (Setor Comércio). Sectors themselves are further subdivided into blocos (Bl.), which are large buildings; conjuntos (Cj.), which are building subdivisions; lojas (Lj.), or stores; and lotes (Lt.), or lots.

The two “wings” of the bird or plane that branch off either side of the Eixo Monumental are actually referred to as wings: curving south is the Asa Sul (South Wing) and swinging north is the Asa Norte (North Wing). Both of these sweeping districts are largely residential with numbered apartment blocks, known as quadras (Q) and superquadras (SQ). Instead of names, roads are numbered according to their distance from the main Eixo and whether they are north (N) or south (S) of the Eixo Monumental and east (L) or (W) west of the Eixo Rodoviário.

Anna proved to be an adept driver and we were soon at the Catedral Metropolitana with its 16 curved columns and its wavy stained-glass interior. At the entrance are the haunting Four Disciples statues carved by Ceschiatti, who also made the aluminum angels hanging inside. While I was sitting in a pew and admiring the beautiful stained glass windows, the hanging statues of flying angels, and the sculptures around the sanctuary, an older man came and sat beside me. He poured out a tale of woe and, from my poor Portuguese ability, I learned he needed money to get back to his village to look after his aged mother because employment for him in Brasilia had not panned out. It was similar to the same stories with which I had been approached with in Winnipeg.

A short walk over from the cathedral was the Museu Nacional. It is a spherical half-dome by architect Oscar Niemeyer. The inside features a discreet mezzanine mostly held up by columns suspended from the roof. A signature curved ramp juts out from its base and runs around the outside like a ring of Saturn. On display were many contemporary pieces of art ranging from small to extremely large, and from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Paula Leal, a former student of Patti's joined us there. We decided to head out to Pier 21, a small mall with some nice outdoor restarants. Patti went with Paula and I joined Anna. Anna pulled into the main traffic artery only to find that she couldn't merge left fast enough to make a necessary left turn. She then took me on a tour of all the different ministries and their extremely crowded parking lots as she looked for a short cut and a way out. Finally we were able to get back on the road to our destination. Anna handled the stress quite well. I enjoyed the unexpected side tour.

At Pier 21 we enjoyed some hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Luiza Lorentz joined us as did Lucia, who just got off her afternoon's work at her governmental job. After visiting the afternoon away, and catching up on "old times", we decided to visit the Santuario Dom Bosco or Sanctuary of Dom Bosco, which honors the Italian saint who dreamed of a utopian city in 1883. Brasilia, the modern capital city of Brazil, is inspired by this dream. The shrine is notable for its impressive interior, bathed in heavenly blue light from walls of stained glass windows. Unfortunately it was closed as it was after 8:00 p.m. We would have to revisit it at another time.

It was decided that since we were all hungry, we should go to an outdoor vendor near Luiza's apartment which served some of the best Brazilian hot dogs ever.
Wow! Were they ever good and, with everything on my "dog", it was one of the best I had ever eaten.

Back to Anna's place, where we shared some conversation and fine red wine with Arlindo and Lucia. It had been, as Patti put it so bluntly, a "love-in day" for me with my students! And yes, I went to bed "tired but happy"!

February 22 - Day 8

Up at 5:30. After a hurried breakfast, we were off to the airport at 7;00 for our GOL flight to Brasilia at 8:42 a.m. Walkiria and Leo were there to see us off. Then Felipe Maia appeared to see us off. He had just arrived in Belo late last night. It was great to meet with him even if it was only for a brief time. I was quite grateful to Fe as she helped speed us through the ticket counter to get our boarding passes and our luggage checked in. I am really going to miss her!

After many hugs and kisses and goodbyes, we left "Paradise" and embarked on the next leg of our journey. It was a one hour flight to Brasilia and we mad our way to the luggage area and retrieved our 2 bags. By now my bag was starting to display its lethal serrated steel band that had been part of the lifting handle. We made our way to the arrivals area. There was no one there. But then I remembered. It was Anna who was meeting us and she was running true to her form at KEC in Winnipeg. We sat down and patiently waited, scanning the other arrivals who were coming in with us and from other flights. It was interesting to note that there were no doors to exit to the outside. The whole area was open to the elements. I guess you can do that when you live in the tropics.

Soon a breathless and apologetic Anna came running in. We loaded our luggage into her mom's car and we were off. Anna's mom, Lucia, was a skillful driver and she moved easily through the traffic on the wide-laned streets of Brasilia's capital. My initial impression of Brasilia - clean, very roomy, many trees and shrubs, many parks, quite an orderly laid out city and very beautiful.

When we got to their apartment, we were treated to wonderful "lunch" prepared by their cook, Josie. It was rice, salmon, a salad, juices and a heavenly dessert. We met Anna's brother, Joao, who was a cultural anthropologist, passionate, and quite a handsome man according to Patti! We then "crashed" from 2:00 to 7:00 in our room, which had been given up to us by Anna while she took over her brother's room.

We then met Arlindo, Anna's father, a neurosurgeon by profession and a quiet, thoughtful man by nature. I guess this is where Anna got her quiet, thoughtful nature! We all drove to South Lake in 2 cars, parked, and then went on a leisurely walk along a wide path on the lake's shoreline. There was a wonderful bar with a patio where we sat and enjoyed a few drinks and appetizers in the form of delicious deep-fried manioc and shredded meat and liver.

Lucia left us to drive to the airport to see Joao off. He was flying to Sao Paulo where he would defend his thesis for his master's degree. Anna, Arlindo, Patti, and I then did some sight seeing by night and ended up at the site where Arlindo and Lucia were going to be building their new home. It sounded like it was going to be a wonderful place. It was in a beautiful area with a great view of the lake and of the Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge, a Brasilia landmark.

After coming home and trying some new-to-us Brazilian fruits, it was off to bed at 10:30 for us and for Arlindo, as he had to do some surgery the next day, and we were just tired from the pace of our Brazilian adventure.

February 21 - Day 7

On this morning we all had breakfast together earlier than the usual time...easy for Tarcisio and me, much more difficult for the others. We were headed to the Central Market, a huge building with all kinds of vendors under one roof. Walkiria and Leo were going to meet us there. Patti was looking for a drum and I was looking for good Brazilian coffee from the state of Minais Gerais.

It's a large indoor market with a parking garage built over 2 floors of vendors with everything imaginable for sale. We ended up buying 3 packages of excellent coffee beans grown in Minas Gerais and a spices kit for Nathan. We were unable to find a drum even though we saw some for sale in a shop that was closed for the carnival holiday. It was exciting to see all the colors, hear all the noises of the people selling and buying, smell all the various aromas, and to mingle with with the citizens of Belo!

We then drove about 50 km out of town to Inhotim, a garden area of 97 hectares. Part of the beautifully crafted landscape was designed in collaboration with renowned Brazilian artist Roberto Burle Marx. It is complemented by a comprehensive living library of rare tropical plant species and an art collection of international relevance. Apparently the Inhotim Environmental Park is dedicated to the preservation of remnants of the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) biomes, the restoration and maintenance of botanical collections from Brazil and other countries around the world, and the application of sustainable stewardship techniques. The whole complex was breath takingingly beautiful. Interspersed through the botanical wonders were buildings with a wide range of contemporary art.

Because that day there was no admission, one of the people who worked on site and who spoke English said there were over 6000 people passing through the turnstiles where normally there are only visitors in the 100's. We wandered around on this hot day and enjoyed much of what the park had to offer. Patti had a field day with her new camera.

Then we went back to Tarcisio's where we enjoyed one of his spaghetti bolognese specialties served with a very good white wine. That man can cook! After we ate, Fe and Rodrigo left to say goodbye to a cousin of Fe's. We also said "Goodbye" to Manuela who came back from her mother's place to see us before we left. Alessandra then joined us and the four of us then went to Walkiria's for coffee.We visited with her and her boyfriend, Leo, and Walkeria's mom over coffee and sweets. Walkiria brought out a large box of souvenirs from her time in Winnipeg and she and Patti reminisced a lot.

Then it was back to Tarcisio's for Patti and me to finish packing as sadly we would have to leave for Brasilia early next morning. We exhanged a few gifts. Alessandra presented Patti with a most beautiful necklace. After some tears and hugs, we bade her farewell. Tarcisio had also gifted me with 2 excellent bottles of cachaça, 2 wooden shot glasses to enjoy the cachaça, and a large bag of shelled Brazil nuts which are literally worth their weight in gold to me. When Patti couldn't buy a drum, he gifted her with his. That man is pure "gold"! We got to bed around 1:00 a.m but didn't really fall asleep until 3:00 and we had to be up at 5:30. It was going to be a short night!

February 20 - Day 6

As usual Tarcisio and I, because of long standing habits, were the first ones up that morning. The house keeper arrived shortly and then he and I had a breakfast that stretched out over 3 hours. We were discussing language and teaching each other how to speak in his case, in English, and in my case in Brazilian Portuguese. We used a mixture of the 2 languages to communicate. Because he had been taking English for a long time with Betsy, he was becoming more proficient by the hour. When words failed, we used rough drawings and/or used Spanish in which both of us had some knowledge.

When the rest got up around 10:00 and started on breakfast, we had already had a good visit. We made plans to tour BH that Monday in the early afternoon. Welkeria and her boy friend, Leo, joined us. We toured the beautiful downtown area which was remarkably quiet because of the fact most people were on Carnival holiday. Unfortunately as a result of the holiday, everything was closed so we could only see everything from the outside only except where we could look through the windows.

We had sodas and beer and canapes at a lovely sidewalk cafe/bar while we waited for 6:00 p.m. which was when the restaurants opened on this strip. Tarcisio treated us all to a wonderful meal at an Italian restaurant called Fabrica, which is Portuguese for factory - Spaghetti Factory! Our table was outside and besides good food, the service was excellent, especially when they found out that we were guests from Canada.

Upon returning to Tarcisio's wonderful home, we discussed what we would do next day. There was some tension about where we would go. But it got resolved and then while Tarcisio prepared drinks and snacks, Patti and I discussed politics with Fe and Rodrigo while we relaxed in the warm water of the pool. While enjoying what Tarcisio had prepared, we watched the carnival parade from Rio de Janeiro on his huge plasma TV that was located outside near the pool. What an affair that parade was and what crowds were there! It was a competition among many groups that was elaborately staged and with outstanding costuming and presentation!

Off to bed early because we were going to make an early start next day!

February 19 - Day 5

As usual I was the first one up at 7:00 a.m. I couldn't figure out why because this was 3:00 a.m. Winnipeg time. I went for a leisurely walk in the neighborhood and took many pictures of the different kinds of birds and plants. By 9:30 most people were up and over breakfast more politics were discussed.

Around noon, Fabiana drove Patti, Gustavo, her friend Camelia, who was studying to be a doctor, Camelia's boyfriend, a law student who had attended high school as an International student in Sioux Falls, S.D., and me to the country club where her family often went. It is a beautiful facility with many activities avaiable and with a huge fine restaurant.

In the early afternoon, Tarcisio, Alessandra, Fe, Rodrigo, Manu, and Welkeria arrived from BH. We all lounged around the pool swimming, snacking, imbibing, and sharing stories. At 3:00, what everyone had been waiting for - the feijoada, a Brazilian national treasure, was served. It's basically a black bean stew with pork, dried beef (carne seca) and spicy sausages. Delicious! There was a lot of gluttony involved after it was served. Then everyone sort of "crashed", sitting on chairs, lying on hammocks and on cushions, or just on the mat on the tiled floor. The talk was desultory and many naps were enjoyed.

At 5:00 p.m. we took our leave after posing in some large group shots. Some tears were shed, mostly on my part, as we said our goodbyes and gave our last hugs. When we left, we had to pass through the small town of Rio Acima where we had to pass over a one lane bridge. Unfortunately for us, we arrived there at the same time as their carnival parade. We parked our cars and we took part in the festivities. The parade lasted about an hour and a half. It was most entertaining!

Finally back in BH later that evening, the family just visited around the kitchen table...Tarcisio, Alessandra, Fe, Rodrigo, and Patti and I. It was great to eat so informally grabbing what was available in the fridge, and teasing and joking with each other. Another perfect day!

February 18 - Day 4

I woke up at 7:00 on a beautiful Saturday morning. Everyone was still sleeping. I quietly put on my swim trunks and headed outside. The only door that I could open was the one leading from the kitchen to to the outside yard. I made my way to the pool where I discovered a man who was cleaning the pool quietly and who then moved on to rake the whole huge yard. He spoke no English and all I could do was greet him. He probably realized from my accent that I was a non-Portuguese speaker and so he attempted no conversation with me. After my dip in the pool, I sat at one of the tables near the pool and admired the lush growth surrounding the country home and I listened to and watched all the new-to-me birds that were flying around and hopping on the lawn which looked like it was Bermuda grass.

At 7:30 or so, Polido slid open the patio doors on the bottom level of the house and came out and joined me. We sat there for about 2 hours just talking...politics, religion, humanities, the meaning of life...deep stuff! I think he was trying to assess what kind of person he had entrusted Fabiana to when she had been in Winnipeg at KEC. I enjoyed our conversation immensely. Polido is a good man!

At about 10:00 a.m., another brother, Leo, and his five year old son, Pedro, arrived. Breakfast was an informal affair prepared by Polido's house-helpers, Fatima and Welkeria. We had fresh baked bread, cheeses, fruit, juice, and coffee served with hot milk. Harley(Zhee?) was very fluent in English while Zheena was quite fluent. Leo could speak and understand a lot of English so that conversation around the breakfast table was mostly in English except for a few Portuguese asides after which some more food would magically appear and be offered to me.

I discovered in what kind of upper echelon of Brazilian management Polido, Zhee, Leo, and Tarcisio were. Zhhe was a managing director for Vale, a world wide mining consortium. They recently acquired 2 of Canada's largest nickel mines in Sudbury and Thompson. Zhee has been to Winnipeg to check on the Thompson operation. I suspect we will meet again in the near future when he returns on company business. Polido and Tarcisio, if I understood correctly, are engineers in a construction company that is involved in projects all over the world. Tarcisio is a comptroller overseeing the financial aspects of the projects while Polido is a problem solver on these projects. They all work 12+ hour-days during the week and are under a lot of pressure and stress. When it's time to relax, they do so wholeheartedly!

Carnival week in Brazil involves a week of no working, lots of visiting with a lot of eating, dancing, music, and drinking. There was to be a gathering at Polido's and Rosangela's place to celebrate carnival and to allow us to meet and mingle with their families and friends. Guests and family members started arriving around 11:00 a.m. Fabiana and Gustavo's friends, numbering 14 or so, arrived en masse with Fabiana.

While they were getting settled, Polido, Rosangela, Zheena, Patti, and I embarked on a 6 kilometre walk around the lake on paths that were mostly under a canopy of trees and flowery growths with openings to view the lake on one side and open to see the beautiful homes and yards bordering the lake. We saw beautiful flowers, lush vegetation, fantasically colored butterflies,birds, and insects. There were a few preponas, which are butterfies that are strong fliers in tropical forests where they feed on fermenting fruits and animal dung(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepona). The underside of the wings is pale greyish or brownish, while the upperside is dark with distinct iridescent blue markings. Our friends referred to them as vanessas! We were even fortunate to see a monkey that Rosangela and Zheena spotted with their sharp eyes. It looked like a black-tufted marmoset. It was elusively shy and hid in the dense foliage.

There were 2 beautiful waterfalls along the path we took. Near the end of the walk we came to a club with little restaurants, a canopied dance area, swimming area, boat rentals, and small vendors. From here we descended down into a small canyon where there was a most magnificent waterfall that I have a photo of in my Belo Horizonte album on my home page in FaceBook. It was almost 30 metres high and cascaded into a pool where you could swim. There was a slippery path leading to a pool directly under the falling water.

The young people had driven to the falls to meet us and to swim and then to drive us back to the party which was heating up back at Polido and Rosangela's place. I joined Fabiana and Fernanda and their friends under the waterfall. It was very refreshing but I realized that I couldn't take the force of the water falling on me for too long.

Tarcisio had also arrived and he took Patti and me and Fernanda and Rodrigo back to the party where we were introduced to all the family and friends who had arrived while we were on our walk. Then it was a full afternoon into the evening of swimming, and singing, and visiting,and eating, and drinking. A chef prepared canapes, while Polido's househelpers, Fatima and Welkeria, kept people supplied with caipirinhas. As well, there was a tap attached to a keg from which one could draw a cold mug of Brazilian beer.

Late in the afternoon, a "lunch" was served. This was their main meal and consisted of the most delicious foods, rice and delicacies prepared by the chef. After the meal, the guests slowly started to disperse. By 9:00 p.m., only those of us who were spending the night there remained.

There was another meal at 10:00 p.m. - Brazilian "perogies" stuffed with chicken in a most excellent cream sauce, along with sweets and cake for dessert with wine, soda pop, and juices. At 11:00 we took our leave and retired for the night. Others stayed up to visit. It was good for them to be able to talk in their native language and not have to worry about leaving us out or translating for us!

February 17 - Day 3

I woke up at my usual time which is around 5:00 a.m. which was great because in BH it was 9:00 a.m. Tarcisio and I had breakfast together. His housekeeper is an excellent cook and Tarcisio is an excellent host. The food was delicious...especially the great number of fresh fruits that hadn't been picked green but were actually ripened on the vine. The special cheese buns were out of this world and because they were so small it was easy to lose count of the number you ate and the calories they accounted for!

We spent the morning lounging around the pool where I go my first case of sunburn. Being in and out of the water did not stop the sun's rays from doing their deed! A few Skol's actually helped make me careless!

In the afternoon, Tarcisio, Fernanda, Rodrigo, Patti and I went on a tour of BH. What a beautiful and what a large city! We visited an important landmark, Praça do Papa (Pope's Square), located at a high point south of the downtown area, with its great view of the entire city. It is named for the July 1st, 1980, visit by John Paul II, who held a youth mass there. The nearby Parque das Mangabeiras (Mangabeiras Park) features extensive wildlife. While we were in the park some parakeets flew over so quickly we couldn't capture them on camera. At Pope's Hill we enjoyed some ice cold coconut milk straight from the pod! We then visited a flower market which stretched a couple of city blocks. The array of cut and live plants on display was dazzling to the eye and the wonderful scents of the blooms was a feast to the nose!

From there we went to a really beautiful mall(Diamond Mall) where we ate a Brazilian fast food lunch which was not only delicious but very reasonably priced. As per usual, as guests we were not allowed to pay for any of these purchases! Here I successfully was able to retrieve $400 from a Banco Brasil ATM. I really don't know why I took the money out as I knew the only way I would be able to spend it was to insist that what I was buying was a gift for family.

We returned home, packed our bags for a weekend stay, and we were off to Polido's and Rosangela's country "estate", their refuge from their jobs(Polido's was quite stressful because of his many responsibilities in the company as was Tarcisio's job - they both worked for the same international company) and from city life in BH. It was located in a gated community built around a beautiful lake. The home and pool and gardens were beautiful from what I could see in the lights around the yard. We were met by Polido and Rosangela, their son, Lucas and his girl friend, and 2 of Lucas's friends.

After a wonderful supper, Tarcisio, Fernanda, and Rodrigo went back to BH for the night. They would return the next day along with Manu and Alessandra. The rest of us greeted Rosangela's brother, Harley( Zhi) and his wife "Zhina". We gathered in a room that was open on two sides to the outdoors on comfortable chairs, a sofa, and a large hammock. Polido is quite a good guitar and ukelele player and proceeded to lead us in a few songs that everyone knew in English...a lot of Beatles stuff... Rosangela distributed some percussion stuff for us to accompany him and we had a singalong session for about an hour. Because I was exhausted( I am 70 years old) I retired for the night. Patti stayed up for another hour and she accompanied Polido on a drum he got for her when he heard she liked to drum. A full and happy day!

February 16 - Day 2

As the plane winged its way to Sao Paulo on its ten and a half hour flight, Patti was seated at the window, I had the middle seat, and sitting on the aisle was a handsome young Brazilian lad by the name of Victor. Victor was returning to Brazil to his home in Salvador where some of the best(and wildest) carnival events in all of Brazil happen. Because he was currently a student at UCLA in Los Angeles, his English was fluent, and he gave us a lengthy description of carnival time in Brazil.

Each of our seats was quite comfortable albeit not for me and my back. On each seat was a package with a small pillow, a light blanket, and a set of earphones. There was a small TV screen on the back of each seat located in front of you. Here we access to music, TV programs, movies, games, documentaries, and the progress of the flight. Around midnight we were served an excellent meal. The lights were then turned down and we continued our journey high in the sky at 37 000 feet at slightly under a 1000 km/hr. We both dozed on and off. Surprisingly my legs gave me very little trouble.

A mediocre breakfast was served at 9:30 Sao Paolo time and then we landed at Guarulhos International Airport on time at 11:40 local time. After disembarking we had to enter a long lineup to clear customs and immigration. It turned out we were in the wrong line and a wonderful immigration officer took us in hand and got us into the correct line at the very front where we promptly made our way through. I hope the people whom we line-jumped weren't too upset, but you do have to listen to the authorities!

We went to retrieve our luggage at the designated carousel. Patti's suitcase arrived promptly. About 10 minutes later my suitcase showed up showing the worse for wear. United had destroyed the top gripping handle in the process. This made it difficult to take the bag off the carousel. Fortunately the handle which extends was intact and I could still tow the suitcase. Now suitcases are designed to withstand rough handling at airports, so I assumed mine was a defective handle and I would seek a replacement when I got home. I couldn't go and complain to United in Sao Paulo as the language abilities became a problem. My Brazilian Portuguese is poor and their English was not much better. And we had to find transportation to another airport, Congonhas National Airport, the old International airport, located about an hour away to ensure that we could catch a flight on GOL on the next leg of our journey.

After asking for and receiving directions from 3 different people, all of whom were happy to assist us, we finally got correct instructions on how to get to the airport. Here is where my reais came in handy as our fare for the two of us came to $70 (reais), about $42 Canadian. We and our luggage were boarded on a very modern and comfortable bus. The route to Congonhas took about an hour to travel and it took us through a portion of the central city of Sao Paulo, so we were able to enjoy the scenery and take many beautiful photos.

At Congonhas, we were checked in, our baggage noted as damaged, and we were given boarding passes for the flight to Belo Horizonte at gate 9 for 4:12 p.m. or 16:12. We settled in at gate 9 after a lengthy trip through the airport waiting lounges which were crowded because of Carnival. As we waited, we observed our fellow travelers leaving on the same flight. At 15:30 when boarding was to start, we heard our names being paged over the public address system in beautiful and clear Portuguese. We were told to report to Gate 19 immediately. Wondering what was going on, and proceeding as rapidly as we could( me with my bad legs and back) to gate 19 which, of course, was located at the extreme opposite end of the terminal and on a lower level. At gate 19 we were rushed onto a small shuttle bus along with 3 young men and driven out to our GOL airliner sitting on the tarmac. Apparently this happens often at this airport run by the federal government where gates are changed with frequent regularity for no apparent reason.

Upon boarding our airplane, we were seated beside a young man, Andreas, who proved quite talkative and informative in the 1 hour flight to Belo Horizonte. His English improved with every sentence he spoke as his grasp of it slowly returned. He had been a student in Ireland for a year and there being no Brazilians that he knew of in Dublin, he soon learned English for his means of survival. He chatted with us at great length.

Now I had noted after we were seated that I recognized many of the people who were waiting for the same flight at Gate 9 but who hadn't been paged to ride on the shuttle with us. I commented on that to him and wondered why we had to do the extra trip through the terminal. His reply was, "Don't ask! It's Brazil!"

We landed in BH on time and were warmly greeted by Fernanda, her friend Rodrigo, and her father Tarcisio, and by Walkeria, a former student of Patti's, and Walkeria's mom. Walkeria presented Patti with a tastefully decorated gift box containing garb to put on for the festival should we need it.

After about a 45 minute drive through BH, we were made to feel at home in Tarcisio beautiful house situated on the side of a hill and looking over a part of the city. Belo Horizonte (also known as "Belô", "Beagá", or "BH") has a population of 2,475,000 inhabitants in the city, 5,498,000 people in the official Metropolitan Area, and in the expanded metropolitan area is home to about 9,010,000 inhabitants. We had our own room with its own bath, hot-tub, walk-in closet, huge plasma TV, a small CD stereo system, all this, and with a view of BH which was beautiful and at night was spectacularly breath-taking.

That evening after a tour of Tarcisio's house, the swimming pool area with an adjoining games room, onto which faces a roofed in barbecue area with a large barbecue, a wine chilling rack, a table and bar, extra burners for cooking, and a large TV screen(to watch futbol), and a walled in yard with small volley ball court and 2 soccer nets, we were ready for the party to start. Now Tarcisio and his working friend,Polido, who was also a parent of one of my former International students, had set up what they called the "Bryski Family Program" for the time we would be in BH. Every minute of each day had something planned. Part one was the welcoming party.

People started arriving around 20:00 to meet us, the "guests of honor". Because Patti and I had worked so closely with our International students, we became like family members to them. The parents of these students realized this and they wanted to repay us for looking after their children at the school and out of school as it happened on many occasions. Tarcisio's significant other, Alessandra, arrived. She had no English but she looked like someone we would really enjoy getting to know. Of course, Tarcisio, Fernanda, and Rodrigo were already there. Next to arrive were Polido and his lovely wife, Rosangela. Then came a tearful reunion between me and their daughter, Fabiana, whom I hadn't seen in several years and who I thought I might never see again unless she returned to Canada. With her was her boy friend, Gustavo, who proved to be fluent in English after studying law at Cambridge University in England. Walkeria arrived as did Fernanda's sister, Manu. Also arriving was a New Englander who had made BH her home for the last 40 years. She was also Tarcisio's English teacher and much beloved by the group.

Canapes were constantly being served by a valet-type woman, an associate of Tarcisio's. The food was prepared by two cooks whom Tarcisio had hired for the occasion.There was much beer, wine, and a lot of caipirinhas served. Caipirinhas are a Brazilian nectar made from cachaça, quartered and mashed(the inside pulp part) small limes, and very fine powdered sugar served over crushed ice. Cachaça is rum produced not from molasses but from cane sugar grown in Brazil. It is delicious and very potent. Because it is so palatable, one has to be careful on the number one partakes of.

There were a lot of stories told, lots of hugging, lots of joking, and much interpreting of English for the non-English speakers who were picking up a lot of language as the evening went.

By midnight, Patti and I were exhausted from not having had a good night's sleep in almost 3 days. We went to bed completely tired out but feeling so loved, and welcomed, and celebrated.

February 15 - Day 1

The day did not get off to an auspicious start. My sister-in-law's father had recently passed away. The funeral service was scheduled for 2:00 p.m. We had to be at the airport for 3:00 so we were forced to miss the service.

At the airport our check-in, safety check, and immigration clearance went smoothly. In the international waiting area, I bought some Brazilian reais and I find that they charged me an exorbitant rate compared to what I exchanged my American dollars for in Brazil. Oh, well...mistake, but they certainly were to come in handy when we landed in Sao Paulo.

After boarding the plane we taxied to the de-icing area where we got in the line-up. This delayed us by over a half hour - not much but enough to have us scrambling when we arrived in Chicago. When we arrived there, we had an hour to find a tram that took us across the tarmac past taxiing planes to the next terminal. Fortunately our luggage was being transferred internally by United. In the next terminal, of course, our gate was at the extreme opposite end of the terminal. We were to find that this seemed to be our fortune on almost all of our flights-to-be.

We got to our gate to join the long lineups. First step was to prove we had a visa. Then we got our boarding passes. Finally we were on our plane, the largest passenger plane in the world. This one was full at 365 passengers, most of whom were either returning home for carnival or who were visitors going to experience carnival.

At 10:00 p.m. we lumbered off onto the runway. With a sound louder than thunder from a near-miss lightning strike, the two large engines revved up, and we were off on our 10,000 km trip!