'The team' From left, Rotary district 6110 team members Ellen, Brenda, Ken (Team Leader), Jennifer, Julia

Rotary District 4670-Rio Grande do Sul-Porto Alegre, Brazil

Oi!

After preparing this spring, we are ready to depart for Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Here we will be hosted by Rotarian families in district 4670. We arrive Friday, June 16th which also happens to be the day of my sister's college graduation. (Go Tommye!)

I hope you'll visit this site to share our month long Rotary experience in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Please view the map to get a visual of where we'll be on the Atlantic, very close to Uruguay, seven hours south of Rio de Janeiro and semi-close to the famous Iguazu waterfalls on the Brazilian-Argentinian border. It's a fabulous location!

Some interesting facts about the region:

-Population: 9,163,200

-Area : 282,184 sq.km

-Porto Alegre: Major industrial area, port, and agricultural and livestock region.

-Located at the junction of five rivers, including the Guaiba River.

-Exports include soybeans, leather, canned beef, and rice to countries as far away as Africa and Japan. The free trade agreement Mercosur ensures this activity will continue to grow.

-Major university: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

-German, Polish and Italian immigrants have settled in the area since the 19th century. (We will be visiting a German settlement up north)

Please look for more fun facts and pictures once we are actually there.

(Hopefully lots of samba and vineyards are in our future....)

Love to all,

Ellen