Family Bar-B-Que and Goodbye Party

We got up feeling a little stiff from dancing, but breakfast was waiting for us and we had a nice morning feast. A little swim and then it was time for a walk in their central park that was a tropical paradise with a big lake in the center. Zosia and I were happy because the birds were wonderful and we found several life species. How interesting that we ran in to Anita and Don and their crew talking a walk in the same park. Small towns are different.

Today is the family Bar-B-Q, so we spent the morning setting up and cooking. Gilberto and Marceli's family were all coming, brothers, wives, sisters, mothers, And Judy's hosts and family also came. Giberto did the meat cooking and there was plenty. The younger family members spoke English so we had lively discussions about the way of Brazil and the many issues they have in their society. We knew that there was unrest in the country where the President had only a 5% approval rating. And we expected to hear all about the Olympics - no not a word on the Olympics, just day to day living and lack of education.  But Maringa is really isolated from the chaos and crime that lives in the bigger cities.  The party lasted all the afternoon and then it was nap time again to prepare for the Farewell party.

The farewell party was held in a high rise in the center of city near the cathedral. We all met and had a good feast we were all teary-eyed as we are leaving the next day. It was like leaving our relatives, and this after just five days. Pictures all around and then our ambassadors decided that we would sign, and sing we did - America the Beautiful, Let there be peace on Earth, even the Iowa song.

The hosts were quite impressed with our new found talent. We shared gifts and pledges that share the friendship our club promotes. We felt like old friends and wished the times could last, but tomorrow we will be on another adventure, but this time on our own and not with a home stay. 

A day downtown and a night at the County Music Dancehall

We got up a little late this morning, Gilberto asked me if I wanted to go with him to the fitness center. You bet, and I was ready for some exercise because these exchanges have you active much of the day, but no real physical exercise. It was wonderful as his trainer, who also did not speak and English had me work out for an hour or so. I felt great, and isn't nice that no one seems to be put out that you cannot speak or understand their language.

Back at the house, we packed off to the open market downtown. It was mainly food and we were pretty late at this point, so we went into the covered market to see what was going on. All the ambassadors and hosts showed up and after shopping for a while, we settled down where there was a really good musician. I must say that all of our people loved his music and he played to us.   So we art and ate and had many beers throughout the afternoon.

We had a leisurely day around the pool with the family as tonight we were going to go out to the country music dance hall. I was taking my afternoon nap when Marceli came out and said that Giberto want to know if I could join him at the neighbors for a beer. Sure, that sounds like fun. We went next door where his friend had wheeled out a key of beer to the street and all the neighborhood men were sitting around joking and cutting up. Not that I knew anything they were saying but I laughed when they laughed and refilled my glass when they did. We were like old friends. They slapped me on my back when we had to go an hour later. These are some really friendly people.

Now we are off to the dance hall which was way out in the country. It must have held a thousand people and we were greeted at the door by the owner, a woman well into her 80s. But she knew our hosts and we got a great table that fit all 40 of us. The buffet was enormous in the Brazilian way, but the specialty was the fried pork. The band played all sorts of music like waltz, polka, Latin dance music and just plane old popular music and everyone got up to dance. 

Tour the UniCesumar (university) and Brazilian Nightclub

We had a nice leisurely morning good breakfast and swims. We didn't know what to expect at this University but we were shocked. In Brazil there are Public Universities which are free and the are Private Universities which you pay. Public ones are highly competitive where 1 out of every 100 applicants get in. This university we are visiting is private. We are to meet the president in this beautiful conference room - they provide us with an information package full of goodies. We watch a video that describes their mission and programs. It was impressive but nothing compared to the speech the President gave us. It was in Portuguese, but the translator, Naama, made the hour-long presentation sound so fluid, almost like we were understanding the President directly.

President Wilson passionately explained how the public school system worked providing only two hours of instruction each day. Far below all other Latin American countries and how this has led to their crime rate being high and holds the seventh largest economy back so long. It sure sounded like a political speech,and it were, all of the Ambassadors would have voted for him. We were breathless and impressed; and felt we knew the cure for much that ails Brazil. Then, of course, a wonderful wonderful lunch salmon and sushi starters and the endless "self-service" buffet.

Then during afternoon we went to the mall where I hung out nursing a tiny cut of strong Brazilian coffee reading a book on the phone. Zosia and the others shopped for what seemed like a long time. The mall is the last place I wanted to be on this Brazilian day, but we all need to appreciate the needs of others. And Mall did have the best Creche scene - after all Christmas is only six weeks away. The streets were decorated already. Then it was back home again for a swim and wait out the daily thunderstorm.


Tonight was the night we were to go to the Brazilian dance hall, but things didn't go as smoothly as we hoped. The night club was to open at 9:00, but the club had been flooded with the afternoon thunderstorm. So we decided we would head out late. Some of our group showed up early without calling and found the club closed, others didn't know what was going on so they found there things to do. Our group showed up a little after ten, but we were told the band wouldn't start until 11. That's OK, we'll just sit here and eat fried chicken and fried fish, and of course drink lots of beer.

When the band did start the place started to rock. We all got up and danced much of the time. It was exciting, but then again when are we really out at a club until 1:00 am eating and drinking. They were a versatile band and even started  playing songs that we Americans loved. What a time and it was no surprise that our hosts knew the owners.

Meeting with the Mayor and city tour

Today we got up and had a leisurely morning eating, swimming, and getting relaxed before we went off to meet with the mayor and tour the city. The meeting was a fairly formal affair with speeches by Marceli, the mayor and Zosia. Of course there had to be translators as there is a big language gap among the Friendship Force Americans and everyone here. We reviewed what an up and coming city this is and many of the Friendship Force people are city leaders (director of airport, developers, teachers) All of our people think this place is wonderful and well organized and prosperous. Gifts are exchanged - Zosia and I received a beautiful framed relief that will present problem to get back home.

Then we are off on the official city bus for the tours - the unique Cathedral,
the Japanese Center, the city streets, and a Mosque. They are trying to show us the diversity of their city. The tour is assisted by a woman singer and we go through the city singing away as we tour. Our crowd starts singing away, we are like a school bus full of kids- what fun. Everyone was impress by the Mosque as we learned more about Islam and what they really want to project, not what is sensationalized in the news.

Now it time for another fabulous lunch at the Nations Lebanese Restaurant where, you guessed it - had an amazing buffet with sushi, middle eastern foods, and Brazilian specialties.

We stopped by Marceli's public school where she teaches and visit about eight classes where the kids are very interested asking us all sorts of questions about how language differences causes problems and how much does McDonald hamburgers cost in America. It was really cute. Schools are another story here - more to come on that.

Now it is home for swims and naps and getting to know each other. We were supposed to go to Brazilian nightclub, but it is really tomorrow, so we decide to take the hosts out to dinner.We go to their friends restaurant at 9:30 - a Lebanese place that was overwhelming. The food never stopped, nor did the beer and wine. There were 10 of us and the owner made sure we were treated like royalty. Back at home by 11:30 and stayed up having more beer until late getting to know each other - It seemed like we were now understanding each others language much better - at least the non-verbal parts.

Wednesday - goodbye Sao Paulo, Hello Maringa

We get up really early to leave at 6:30 am. We have to be there on time at 8:00 am or everyone will throw us off the plane as we have everyone;s ticket. Zosia does a fabulous job of getting everyone checked in and their bags on the plane. A short two hour and arrive in Maringa and our host are waiting for us as we arrive. Everyone is tired as we got home very late and everyone had to pack the nigh before. This town of 250,000 has a totally different feel than Sao Paulo with its 20 million people. First order of business is,of course, lunch - Like everywhere we go it is a buffet with fantastic food.
This city is 10% Japanese heritage so all places have sushi. Everyone loads up their pate and it is weighed and the Friendship Force of Maringa  pays for all these lunches. Now we go to our new home for five nights.

And what a beautiful home it is. In an exclusive gated neighborhood close to downtown, the home is very modern. Our hosts are Marceli (with an accent on the i) and Gerberto who are professional in their 50s. Marceli is a teacher at two schools and is the Exchange Director who organized the stay for the club. There is a motorcycle out front as Gerberto is an enthusiast. We come through the kitchen where we are greeted by Gabriela, the 17 year-old daughter and Isabel, the comely day maid. We are led to our quarters which is the mother-in-law suite out back with a living room, bathroom, and air-conditioning in the bedroom (which is sweet as it is about humid 90s). Outside our door is the swimming pool. We put down our bags and put on the bathing suits and we are ready.Kathleen, another Ambassador from Austin, stays in the house with the family. Here is Marceli and Gabriela -

Mercedi asks if w want to go with her to pick up Gabriella at the horse stables in town - Yeah! It is a really large facility and the young girls are all training and surrounded by young working men. We go to see her horse, Sweepi (sweetpea). They are quite the pair.

We see some great birds and then off to the travel agent Zosia has been working with for months. We have to make sure all of the arrangements are in order and paid for for the rest of the trip where we are not being hosted. Zosia did a fantastic job we do some money arranging as we have US dollars.

Back at home we are preparing for the welcome party. Marceli is in charge of the dinner, in fact as time goes on we find our host is in charge of about everything. We bring the things down to the community center in the neighborhood where we meet all  of the hosts. They have also hired a couple of woman to serve and help.  Half of which are of Japanese descent. The party begins where the men are all hanging together as we muddle through languages barriers. Everyone is so friendly - good thing they are in Friendship Force. What can we say, every got to know each other very well and many sets of pictures.

Later we take the leftovers back home and do a modest clean up leaving the real clean up for the maids they have hired to finish the job tomorrow.

Tuesday - Day Trips and Farewell Party

Today we must be on time. It is a good when we get the call that we start at 10:00 not 9:30. So we encourage our host to leave early anyway. He assures us that, yes, we will be on time in fact that we will probably be the first allowing an hour and 15 minutes to get across town. We start off and traffic is light what a relief. And the it is not so light in fact there is a traffic jam. Time ticks away and I get more anxious in the back seat. I keep hearing it is just a short distance.  Yes we arrive at 10:25 and are not sure where we are to be. Yes, we are greeted with - that everyone is noticing we now have a reputation. I tried to calm myself through my meditation practices, but that is really hard in stop and go traffic. I will have to work on that. At least we weren't the last people.

The first thing was to visit the Bio-medical labs where they extract snake and other animal venom to produce anti-venom and vaccines They had samples of all the snakes and spiders they used. Brazil is full of snakes. This is also the hospital where they bring people in Brazil who have been bitten by poisonous snakes. The other part of the facilities was about the development of vaccines. It told the story of first discovering germs and bacteria hundreds of years ago through finding cures to many of the diseases we now control like the plague, and yellow fever, to finding cures for mad cow disease and AIDS. It was very informative. Of course, Zosia and I took the opportunity to look at the birds as the Campus is full of very high trees. Brazil is very tropical, like Florida only the vegetation has been growing here a lot longer in these parks.

Lunch was in a mall and the biggest most extensive food court I have ever seen. The restaurant was fantastic like all the others we go to - It was self-service buffet with hundreds of variety from sushi to all sort of meats, vegetable dishes, salads and lots of desserts.And how fortunate - it had great noon time beer specials where we tried three new kinds of beer.

Next stop the University of Sao Paulo where it cover several square miles and services 100,000 students. We went to the geology school, but I must say our stop at the stone store the day before was much more impressive.We talked with geologists about the formations of gems, stones, and rocks. Zosia and I were tired and we didn't want to go on the walking tour in the heat so I was able to do my meditation for  the day. I set my alarm for 15 minutes and Zosia shoot me back to life after 13 minutes thinking it was 30 minutes. We took an auto tour of the campus and got monied-up (getting more cash). Cash seems to flow as fast here as at home.

Off to the farewell party and surprise we are the first to arrive. These people know how to party - they have a bartender and the crepe station ladies, and the kitchen crew. It is at the common room at Valdice's condo.
They have funny hats, goofy glasses, glowing bands around our wrists and fake ties. Now are all dressed up and everyone is arriving. The drinks are beginning to flow. It is fairly hot, as usual. The musician from the first day was there and we greeted each other as old friends - I love these people they are so expressive and friendly. OK, so everything is loud so we all are talking in animated level so we are all excited. Everyone is bouncing around the room greeting each other. Everyone now is eating the crepes and having beers, sodas, and wine. And after a while it is now time for 100 group photos and the presentations.
Valdice reads a glowing tribute to Austin and features Zosia as a wonderful Exchange Director and for some weird reason praised me as somebody special. Zosia gives here wonderful presentation about our visit - We exchange gifts - our club gives them money, they give Zosia a gift and then gives me a gift. The Austin club steps up and sings God Bless America, Yellow Rose of Texas and some other song. Then the choir of the Sao Paulo club put up a keyboard and entertain us with five songs.

We have to get up very early the next day, but now it is time for dessert crepes. So we stay until 10:00 and have an hour drive home.  It took a long time to say good bye and kisses and hugs to everyone. At home I pack quickly and Zosia stay up having tea with Iracema until I go to bed. I had to have an eye mask as Zosia was packing until 3:00 am or so. I have to get up at 4:45 am.

W

Monday - day off with the hosts

Monday came and we all had more time in the morning. Zosia slept in and I really could not sleep beyond my usual time so at 6:20 I was up and doing my morning stretches. I may be in a strange environment, but my morning activities are like gold to me. I get up and do my 21 Qi Gong movements to open the body to the world ahead. Then read the Austin morning paper online. And do some writing. I run out of time to do my daily meditation, but I can do that when I am feeling stressful during the day if I can find a quiet spot. Iracema got up about 7:30 and we tried to communicate with our different languages. She could not find the words that I understood but she left the impression we were on our own for breakfast. I thought I had asked her if she could make some coffee and she nodded yes and went back in her room.

Zosia got up and I explained to her that Iracema had asked us to help ourselves to breakfast and she would come back out to make coffee as I could not find any coffee or a coffee maker. Did she go back to bed? She was in there a long time. So Zosia and I had a small breakfast of cereal and bread, jam, and fruit and still no Iracema. Later Iracema came out and she was showered and dressed.

No, she didn't say today was self service, she said we were going for a big breakfast at her favorite bakery. Oh what confusion these languages brings. So the joke of the day to all we meet is "Self-service" as we talk about our confusion. By the way self-service here means - buffet.

Next we are off to the stone store. Of course, I am thinking a bead shop that Zosia likes to go to to buy supplies for her jewelry business. It takes a long time to get there across town. No, this store is the palace of stones - the marketplace for crystals and gems. It is an expansive warehouse. Some of the crystals are 1200 pounds, first floor of elaborate displays of raw minerals, the second floor of polished minerals and crystals. I buy a few uncut stones that fit my fancy and Zosia goes shopping. At the end of an hour she comes down and asks me for all my cash as if she uses cash she gets a discount. She is in heaven.

Now it is off to lunch and find a money machine. I will not go into details as much of it would be from the backseat of the car as we drove for two and a half hours through the streets of  Sao Paulo looking for the right restaurant which we never found as it is Monday and all of the museums are closed. We ended up at the large city park where also all of the eateries were closed except one with prepared cold sandwiches.  But we are at a park and we can do some birding. But even that was short lived as a thunderstorm came in and we must head home because of traffic.

This night we are going out to the most expensive restaurant in town on top of the 43 story Italian Building. The best view in the city. I will let Zosia write about that as expensive restaurants and I have a "thing."  This was not my favorite day. But tomorrow will be great. 

Sunday - Liberdad Square and walking Paulista Avenue

Sunday and thank goodness we don't start until 10:00 and traffic should not be too bad. As usual we started off with a large breakfast spread prepared by Iracema and Luis joins us each morning for it. He lives not far away in a house. This neighborhood is dominated by high rises. Luis drives us to the Metro but he has to find a parking space so we are running late at this point. Darn if we didn't show up 15 minutes late. There's always something. This square is the Japanese area of town and the street fair is all about open markets both food and trinkets. The Austin/Iowa crowd goes wild with pent up buying fever. Tee shirts,and all sorts of inexpensive things - a great time to buy souvenirs and stuff. Zosia bonded with a local jewelry merchant that makes her own material. They exchange information, emails, and some cash.
But watch your pockets - as you are looking at the stuff, others may be looking at your stuff in this crowded market. The hosts are a bit panicked as now the cats are out of the bag and spreading out in all directions. They are keen on making sure we are happy but also safe.

We get to the metro station and wait for the train. It comes but it is very crowded. One of our ambassadors gets on the train without looking back to make sure the others are on - the doors close and she is whisked away to where ever. Now everyone is a bit anxious. Will be ever find her - where will she get off. Does she know where we are going - we have to transfer trains. We text her, but response. Oh well, there we go off to lunch on Paulista Avenue where this beautiful avenue has replaced all the mansions with the most creative buildings in Brazil. The road is a pedestrian avenue on Sundays so everyone is out jogging, biking, strolling, protesting.

Zosia, Luis, and I did not join them for lunch because we were going home to have a BarBQ with their family. Iracema and Luiz are in-laws where Iracema son, Wladamir is married to Luiz daughter, Christian. Iracema has another son Igor married to Laura(also a daughter Laura). All in all there are 20 there for party. The two sons are the BarBQ kings making steaks covered with salt, chicken, sausages and fixing up the drinks of Caipirinha (the national drink made with sugar cane liquor), both traditional lime and Mamey, and beer and sodas. Salads, fruits, and vegetables abound.  

The Sustainability Center (Senior center) and art museum

Day four and it is off to the Sustainability center after a late night we are to be there at 9:30 and we ended up getting there at 10:30. Our reputation is getting solid at this point. But we didn't miss that much, Getting there was a trip in itself. Starting out late we had to go from Santana in the north to the south of Sao Paulo. We took roads that had to have 50 right and left turns. Boy would I like to drive here myself (yeah), but fortunately we have Formula One driver Iracema who knows how to get around. We arrived just in time for the band to set up. it was a great band of senior citizen who assemble each week. the Coloha de Retjalho (Patchwork) band consists of 4 10 string-guitars called Vilioas, an accordion, electric guitar and bass, curved horn and floor drum and 15 singers.There were 29 locals and our 13 ambassadors in the audience.The band started playing and they were good. then one, and two and then many started dancing - oh my gosh, everyone was dancing up a storm.

On and on for an hour - is this really a senior citizen center. It was hard to believe. We conga lined, snake danced, circle danced, it was out of control.  The band played on. The singers singing away. The most beautiful song was of the river Matarosa taking ones love away down stream. Then it was the Austin ambassadors turn as we sang America the beautiful and Let there be peace on earth. This was wild and I wonder if we Americans are too stuffy to every do this kind of emotional outpouring. Before this I thought we did a pretty good job.

Next we the food - what a spread- a combination of four foot long sandwiches, local dishes, salads, cheeses, the works - and the desserts were endless. there was no way these old timers (us) would consume this much food. I now eat my words as most was eaten. Hugs and kisses and mangled languages abound.

The sustainability center was made from an old dump burning and recycling site that we a chemical nightmare converted to a beautiful garden and education center. We did some good birding there and had some life birds.

But now off to the Fine Arts museum.It was beautiful, of course. It was of Brazilian artists and was converted from an old University building.

We tour for an hour or so and then had cafe and strolled in the adjacent park full of bird and enormous trees. One of my favorites was the "End of a Love Affair" (the horse and dead rider) Good day. We came home for soup made by Iracema and a leisurely time in her condo. Thanks for that.  

Walking tour of Sao Paulo - - Day three

We were to meet at 9:30 at the Republic Square in downtown for a four hour walking tour. After the long day before some were a little concerned. Iracema has a large spread for breakfast - fruit, pastry, juices, cereal, on and on. It was laid out like a feast. Luis had tied up in traffic because of an early morning rain, so are already running late but we couldn't just walk away from her lovely breakfast. At this point we are getting to know each other pretty well and the breakfast was lively, but yes,we are late. We took the subway and a transfer - the subways were packed, not as bad as Tokyo, but close. Everyone gave us old timers a seat - what polite people.

When we got to the meeting point - everyone was there - we were 30 minutes late and the last to arrive. I was sure hoping there would be someone who would be later than us. We started the tour with 21 people in the crowded downtown streets of this vast city. The Guide Karen was an Asian heritage  Brazilian of which there are many including Luis. It was slow in the beginning but she livened it up with her cheerfulness. But everything she mentioned would have been overlooked as nothing but she made it sound important.  My back was now hurting on and off with jolt of pain happening at any moment and my leg would buckle. Thank goodness I had my cane chair. She would stop and talk and I would whip out that chair and have a seat. The tour was fun and it looked like everyone was enjoying it. We finally made it to the Municipal Theatre (Opera House) where a protest against the government was going on. Watch you things, this place is loaded with thieves, we stopped into the elegant coffee shop in the theatre for an espresso and a bathroom break. An espresso costs about $2 here - not like home.

Next we went to the old city center park which is really an old valley with a river bed. The river is now channelized underground throughout the city. Below we saw the police shaking down some thieves in an action meant for TV. This is a really lively part of town and herding 21 people through the city is really something to behold, but it worked. Details about all of the buildings that would have normally been ignored as fascinating.  The Italians had invested heavily Brazil, but during WWII - it was nationalized and created some interesting tales.

Next the cathedral where- surprise - this is a hotbed of pickpockets. As the group looked at the cathedral  I looked at our back to ward off the thieves as I listened. It was beautiful and a mass was going on. I didn't have time to do a tribute to my mother an sister and Maria, but I did kneel and give the sign of the cross. Time for some coffee and something to eat at the bakery. This Bakery is not what we normally see. It is a bustling cafeteria where you take a numbered chit when you enter and they put your charges on it. You have to present this to exit - everyone gets one. An interesting concept - very efficient and very common here.

Now we are on the move and down to their wall street and the early Catholic buildings and finally to lunch. This place is designed to make you eat too much with lots of meat as usual and Capicara the distilled sugar liquor - the National drink of Brazil. Now everyone is letting their hair down. Then I get the text that we have just charged $752 at Sao Paulo motors - what? Our card number was stolen the first time Zosia used it at the Coffee Museum cafe. I had to spend 20 minutes calling the US to get them to stop payment and have the card disabled while everyone was loading up at the buffet. But what a wonderful system that I receive a text each time we use the card overseas. If I did not have that text it could have used hundreds of times over the next couple of weeks and it would take a long time to unravel that mess. But, having dealt with that disaster, it was time for frivolity and a couple of National drinks. There were more than happy to have me drink one after another - what friendly people.

For those not familiar with the friendship force, we pay a certain amount to their club and then all is taken care of while here except for taking our host out to dinner once and personal gifts. We paid their club $300 for seven days and it includes the buses, entry fees, parties and meals - everything. With our tipsy heads at 4:15 we took the metro back to Santana (our section of the city) and Iracema picked us up. Time for a nap.

This evening Iracema treated us to the symphony and it was amazing. Normally I fall asleep at the symphony but this was elegant and magnificent. The orchestrate must have been a complete one because it was 72 pieces - 8 cellos, 8 bass strings, 24 violins, 24 brass and woodwinds, 5 percussion and two harps. wow. Then they were added at the second act with a grand pianist from Germany - very famous. Zosia came out saying we should perhaps drop one of our theatre season tickets and get season tickets to the Austin Symphony. I would say she was impressed.

The concert hall was was the old train station beautifully converted retaining much of its 19th century grandeur. The intermission was wonderful where people bough chits in one place for food and drinks at various stations.People were eating dinner during intermission. And the concert started at 9:00 - can you imagine a concert attended by older people in Austin starting at 9:00? And having dinner at 10:20 during intermission. Yong people, yes, but older people, no. As I looked over the audience, what did I see - first of all - no one was asleep. And all of the faces were pretty pink, very unusual for such a diverse population. Another thing that struck me was that two blocks away we passed a big gathering of people in the street, perhaps a couple hundred, many look homeless. Our host said this was sad as this is the crack cocaine group controlled by the police. Yes there is a lot of destitute people on the street in Sao Paulo. How does one control this in a city this large.

Iracema drives us most of the time and what a driver she is - she makes up her own rules and I am always careful to buckle my seat belt even in the back seat. Red lights are often a little pink, bus lanes are fair game,and stop signs mean slow. But her car has no dents so this must be OK here. On the way home she said she was hungry and we should get pizza. I was worried about the early morning the next day, but we stopped for pizza not far from her home at midnight. I said I would only have a beer, but when that delicious pizza arrived, I ate my share. So at home at 1:00 with a full belly and to bed, we need to get up at 7:00. Here is Zosia, Iracema, Luis and Joseph having midnight pizza.

Off to Santos by Bus

The second day we were off to Santos an old, but very important seaside town. We had read the weather reports and knew to expect rain all week. Yesterday we a little overcast but no rain. Today it is fogged in, but the morning had no rain either. We arrived at the bus 15 minutes late and everyone was standing around. We had to take the Metro because it was raining in the city and traffic goes to standstill. Be very careful to protect everything on your body as there are pickpockets everywhere we are warned. And the metro is very crowed. But the people are so polite to older people like us. They jump out of their seats offering them to you. And, if you are over 60 the metro is free.

The bus is wonderful, with speaker systems that culd work better, comfortable seats, and a really nice bathroom. We are all excited and share with the hosts and the other ambassadors stories and thoughts. The trip takes about two hours and most in the fog which is too bad because the views I am told are spectacular as we are coming off a plain 800 meters high so the cliff next to the road are quite steep. This is very tropically vegetated and preserved from development. They say on weekends you can spend all the time on the highway getting to and from the coast as so many people go to this resort town of 400,000.

We arrive at the Church of St Antonio which was established in 1640. It is really quie lovely. It took forty years to build using shells, rock, and animal fat. Now is it quite beautiful with all the catholic adornments. I left offerings for my family and also for Maria, my mother-in-law. I have a habit of kneeling and making the sign of the cross even though I have never been catholic - just in case. I buy Iracema some holy water and Zosia buys a bandanna with the symbols of St Antonio.

Now we are on the trolley tour of this old city that dates back  375 years and became on of the most important port cities in the development of Brazil.

It has the longest port in the world and has hundreds of cranes to bring and put goods onto ships. There are only two roads back to plains and no rail road anymore so that is why the roads are so crammed. It was a very interesting tour as we heard about how first sugar then coffee dominated the economy and why there are so many people in this country. Slavery was very big in these parts and Brazil was one of the last countries to set them free (shortly after the US). Then came the immigrants from Europe and Asia.

Lunch at a large Japanese buffet where they weighed your plate. It was interesting and of course,like all buffets I loaded my plate with food trying to taste everything. That is why we avoid buffets, There is security everywhere in this country. Limited access, large fences, and even electric fences topping the walls. One of our people learned the wires were hot by touching them It reminds you that poverty and thievery are around. As part of the restaurant there was a small soccer grass court with nets on all sides including the top to remind me that soccer is king here. We saw a new species of Kisskadee and were there and Magnificent friggotbirds were abundant over the port. We loaded up the crew on the bus and drove down the coast where the industrial port turned into miles of high rise condominiums. It was interesting, but not that I would like get involved in that kind of vacationing. We drove over to an overlook to see the whole area we had been exploring and all piled out.

At this overlook there was group photo after group photos.

I found myself longing for the days of file where one was careful on how many pictures one took. I spent my time looking at the birds realizing how difficult it is to identify birds in a foreign place without a guide. Zosia was wonderful to have marked all of the birds in our Brazil Bird book that we could possibly see in our location. It sure helped and must have taken quite some time. Then, our host Luis, said to look at this beautiful red bird down the hill. OMG, it turned out to be the Brazilian Tanager - beautiful scarlet bird with black wings and a white beak, I had to drag Zosia away from a deep conversation to see it as we would likely never see it again. It is so beautiful it is on the cover of our book. The bird flew up where everyone could see it and all were very excited. They could have been converted to birding by this bird.

Back in the bus to the next stop - the Coffee museum. This is very important to Brazil psyche because this is what made Brazil wealthy and populated. This is the port where much of it was exported. We arrived and then stood around for 40 minutes where no one knew what was going on. In reality we were an hour late for the tour and then there was no longer an English speaking guide for us. Margaret and I decided to be the guides and pretend to read the Portuguese information and translate into English. I think we did pretty well. Zosia was getting tired so she went down to get a cup in the cafe and  buy some coffee to take home as gifts,

Next we drove the bus many blocks from the long beach that boasted the longest garden in the world (several miles) The walk was very strenuous for some and there was confusion on what we were doing. Once at the beach the garden was really a long lawn with some average flower plots, not much to see. Everyone was really tired at this point and some did not want to walk back to the bus. So we waited for the bus to come to the beach, but it could not stop. So after much confusion we were plodding back to the place we were left off with much grumbling from some.

The bus was parked at the restaurant we were to have dinner.

The spread, once again, was extensive, particularly the scores of desserts. By this time I needed a beer and was the only one who ordered one. It was also an upscale convenience store below so I bought a couple of beers for the ride home and a bottle of rum for our hosts home. On the way home I drank a beer and read my book on my phone in the back of the bus, We arrived in Sao Paulo at 10:30 and the had to take the metro across town so Iracema could pick us up. I was tired and tomorrow was going to start early.

Coming home with Iracema and Luis

We left the party with hugs and kisses like we were old friends, not only with our new friends from Brazil, but out own people. It is funny when you get with Friendship Force people the emotion of friendship just goes crazy wild. It took over an hour to get back to the city through winding mountain roads through areas reserved for natural areas. We have all heard about the squatters who populate the mountainsides of Rio, weel they have them here also. But there are rules - they are not allowed to cut any trees, something very important to the Brazilians. This is also different from what we hear up North about the denuding of the rain forests. That may be going on, but around Sao Paulo, trees must remain standing.

In the city there are winding streets with all kinds of development right next to each other. There are shacks next to large high rises. Iracema lives in one of these high rises of which there are thousands all over the city. This is a very hilly city so we go up and down steep hills and make sharp turns. The people here drive very fast and amazingly seem to no hit each other.

We arrive at her building and I crane my neck to see what it looks like, no I can only see the first two floors and the ramp going to the garage. In the garage the slots are so small that one has to close the mirrors to fit it in. Iracema negotiates this extremely well. We walk to her elevator and up we come to the 10th floor where there is a tiny entry hall to two doors. The building only has two apartments to a floor,and they are not large.She has two bedrooms two baths and a living/dining combination. She moved from a large house, but was bought out by a nearby condominium. So the condo has a lot of furniture init. Our bedroom is dominated by a comfortable bed, but it takes up much of the room. Here we are with two large bags and lots of extra bags. It is a challenge to store everything and still have a small path to enter and exit. We do the essentials like internet and passwords then sit down to light dinner. OK, we're tired. But Iracema and Luis are so nice. We talk and talk and then Iracema shares her family pictures and her Friendship Force experiences. Luis goes to his home not far away.

Getting to and arriving in Sao Paulo

Eleven of us met at the Austin airport where many planes were delayed as a result of the recent rain downpours. The tower had been flooded so they were working from a temporary location and had to use visual confirmation for takeoffs and landing which was difficult with the fog that accompanied the rain. But we did get off with a minor delay and actually landed on time in Atlanta. There we met Polly who was joining us from Des Moines where we had met her on a Friendship Force exchange two months ago.There was a short layover and off we went on a Delta 767. We had seats very close to each other so we could talk and enjoy each others company. Some slept better than others and there were always good movies to enjoy along with our two meals and free drinks, In the morning  nine hours later flying over Sao Paulo was interesting looking down at this massive city. It has 10 million people in the city proper and 18 million with the suburbs. There are high apartment buildings next to metal shacks throughout the city. I was surprised at how few cars were on the roads and in the city streets at 8:00 am in the morning. I was told at dinner later that traffic is really a disaster at that time of day. A surprise to me from what I saw and I am sure I will find out in the days to come.

At the airport it looked like a wonderful reception with up to 20 people greeting us like long lost friends, hugs and kissed for the gals and hardy handshakes and bear hugs for the men.
It was sweet, just the way one would imagine a friendship force greeting should be. Of course, massive confusion over the ATM machines as they acted differently than ours and several people could not squeeze any money out of them as their cards were rejected. But who needs money when you have so many new friends ready to take care of you.

Zosia and I staying with Iracina and Luiz as a co-host. The whole gang got in the bus that was waiting except for Zosia and me. Since Luiz lived near the airport he drove his car and we were off the fabulous brunch at the beautiful country estate.  Josephine and Joe hosted the event which they do for many Friendship Force clubs that visit. It is truly a tropical wonder. They gardens were beautiful and the brunch was extensive with local foods and many homemade dessert specialties. The fruit platters displayed all the local fruits.

After meeting everyone and trying to remember the names, all of the names which I had never encountered before. It was very hard to pronounce them, but it didn't matter, we were all having a blast. After eating, we all migrated down to the pool area where Frances was playing beautiful Brazilian music on his most unusual guitar. His voice was just wonderful and he played for three hours - it was just like the music we have been listening to for the last three weeks. The Austin Ambassadors took to the water and only a couple of the Brazilian hosts did.

The gardens were full of fruit trees and every kind of flower one could imagine. The birds were flying all around but since we had never seen these before they were very hard to identify.The owner of the home and the Exchange Director (ED) for the Brazil club gave prepared speeches in English apologizing for their mastery of English. Zosia, our ED, gave a warming acceptance speech in English, of course, with the only two words of Portuguese and of us knew.  Then it was time for each of the Hosts to welcome their Ambassadors and give them their gift bags (a friendship force tradition).  We were all also given a handmade personalized gift from the oldest member of their club (81 years old). It was great. Then it was time for dancing - dancing the salsa and then the Congo line back rubs.

Sunburned and tired from little sleep and a little jet lag (it was only four hours difference) it was time to head off to our hosts home. Here is Zosia our ED with our host Iracema. 

Getting Ready - at home

Getting ready was more than we could have imagined. We have spent a week in the upstairs bedroom because our bags have dominated out bedroom. The cats of course have been going crazy anticipating our departure that never seemed to come for them. The poor kitties are truly confused. The paper is on hold as is the mail, our wonderful cleaning lady, Martha, will be here each day to take care of the cats and to enjoy the house on her breaks in the neighborhood.

But the big mystery was my back. Two weeks ago I threw out my back at the gym and have been in terrible pain hardly able to move faster than a snail's pace. The tension was getting very strong around our house no knowing if I can lift a bag or sit on a plane for 10 hours. After waiting a week to see I could "work it out" it took another five days to get an appointments with an orthopedic doctor who declared that he thought I had a herniated disk. This sounded bad, really bad. The next day I was to have the MRI to see  what the damage was - four days until we leave. On Monday, day before we leave I got to see the spine doctor where he made me feel great by saying there was only a small bulge in the disk and not to worried. He loaded me up with pills and then I was off to the physical therapist to get instruction on how to act and exercises to do. 18 hours until we catch the plane.

I had never met Dan the therapist but Zosia had used him and he gave me a on the spot appointment. He looked skeptical at the analysis of the doctor, and so we started to probe. He said this is going to hurt a lot more than normal session because have to really find that pain. We stressed me up and down and then said OK we are going to try this movement - and the sharp pains disappeared. He claim success and gave me the three exercises to do to get the back in shape over the next week. He said to go ahead with the steroids that the doctor prescribed as it said it probably won't hurt. In and out in 40 minutes. I sure wish I did that two weeks ago. The pains not gone but I would say 75% has disappears.

So here we go off to the airport driven by our wonderful neighbor.