Paula

Paula is mentally and physically handicapped and has painted with her mouth since 1988.

She is now fifty years old and lives at home with her parents, Lis pictured here, and Arpini, a Rotarian who was responsable for coordinating all of our activities and family stays in Porto Alegre. I got to stay with them for one night. She is very giving and presented each of our team members with one of her paintings, of which she has stacks and stacks.

Brazil sem grades (Brazil without bars)

This is an NGO (or known as ONG here) we visited in Porto Alegre. The name refers to houses here which are nearly all behind bar fences for protection. If you live in a nice neighborhood near a city, your house has bars. The man behind the plaque in the blue shirt founded this organization after his 18 year old son was shot in a parking lot. He turned his grief into

an avenue for open dialogue about why there is so much violence in Brazil. After doing lots of research, specifically about the connection between poverty and violence, their mission turned into a family planning campaign. That is to say, handing out condoms and birth control pills at designated posts in school districts and elsewhere. Jennifer informed me that Brazil´s Health Minister has made it a number one priority to prevent teen pregnancy, which is a population she worked with at Fayetteville High School. The problem is that the condoms and birth control aren´t effectively reaching those whose lives would be benefitted by their use. So, Brazil Sem Grades has training workshops for volunteers to carry out the duty. It was interesting to hear about the Catholic church´s response to this NGO. They said they have been invited by priests to speak about family planning but definitely don´t endorse a campaign in favor of abortion.

Waterfall in Parque de Caracol (Snail Park)

Yesterday we arrived in Canela, a historically German settlement area with lots of ´ecotourism´ possibilities, to our delight. This a waterfall we viewed from above, the side and below, after descending 900 steps. Then we realized we had to climb back up! But it was refreshing to have some physical activity in our lives.

Rotary district conference presentation

At the Rotary 4670 District conference on Friday and Saturday, we showed a fifteen minute video presentation about ourselves and regions with regional music in the background that included Johnny Cash, Al Green and some good bluegrass. We also talked a little, emphasize little, bit about ourselves in Portuguese. I tried to express my gratitude but I´m not sure it was very elegant. The Brazilian team from last year who were sent to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas made a video presentation before us that included many photos of what they had seen and done in our areas.

Padre Reus, a unique public school

´The book is on the table.´ This is the phrase a funny male student said when we entered an English classroom in Padre Reus, a unique public school. I call it unique because it has a computer lab which they are able to fund with money they get from renting a used car lot in front of the school. Karin, the director of the school, told us that it is very unusual for a public school to have computers which gives a good idea of how different the private and public schooling system is in Brazil. I also call it unique because of the several interdisciplinary projects she explained that students were involved in, one of which involved a history of the 20 year dictatorship in Brazil that ended two years after I was born, in 1984.

The students in this classroom were super fun to talk to and they had many many questions to ask us about the US. For example:

-Do cheerleaders really exist?

-What do teenagers do for fun?

-Is it true that you can start driving at 16? (Here the legal driving and drinking age is 18.)

-Is it hard for teens to find a job in the US? (A female student said it was very hard to find one here)

-What do Americans think of us?

The questions then turned into interest about how to study abroad. Our Rotary companion that day happily answered their questions with info about all of the Rotary youth exchanges available.

Casa Valduga in the wine country of Rio Grande do Sul

These vineyards were planted by Great Grandpa Valduga 150 years ago.

To the left are Champagne bottles, which they are known for, that must be hand-turned 200 times before reaching perfection!

To the right is a male peacock that was making his way around the premises.

Oh yes we did-Go Hogs!

Jose (´J´ pronounced like ´fuSIOn´), President of the Canoas Rotary club and his wife, Sandra, after receiving an Arkansas woo pig sooie hog nose. We hope they weren´t offended.

This was a night of Americans cooking for the host families that quickly turned into a three hour dance party. Ken, our team leader, kicked it off by dancing with an umbrella to Singing in the Rain. I gladly followed with a rendition of New York, New York and Jennifer equally contributed with some Michael Jackson moves. Then it was time for a Woo Pig Sooie call. The menu we decided on was roasted chicken with homemade bbq sauce, baked potatoes with all the good stuff, green bean casserole, salad, homemade cornbread, watermelon, and homemade cookies with M&M´s. Ted is probably laughing right now at my detailed food description, but we were proud nothing burned! Jennifer best summed it up at one point when, after Sandra inserted a DVD of a live Cher concert way after we thought the dance party might be coming to a close, ´only in Brazil´.