Ouro Preto! - My final entry from Brasil!!!!!

After the completion of my volunteer experience, I needed to get out of the city, so I took a trip to Ouro Preto (Thank you, Cindy Giddle).  It is an amazing town, that is different from the rest of Brasil.  It is a perfect transition, as I start to plan the European leg of my tour.  It is Europe in Brasil.  Take a look.

This is the Paco Municipal, which includes the Museu da Inconfidencia. This museum is on par with the Philadelphia Museum of Art in terms of the quality of the collection.

A portion of the Praca Tiradentes.  Ouro Preto is most famous as the birthplace of the Inconfidencia Mineira (the Mineria Betrayal).  This was the first attempt to free Brazil from the Portuguese.  Twelve prominent citizens led by Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier (a dentist, known to everyone as Tiradentes - "teeth puller") began to organize a rebellion.  They were betrayed and sentenced to death, however, a royal reprieve was arranged for exile.  Unfortunately, Tiradentes, as the leader was the first scheduled to be executed and was killed before the order reached Ouro Preto.  He was hanged where the central monument bearing his name now stands.

                                     One of the 13 amazing Igrejas in Ouro Preto.

This is Kristy from Vancouver.  The only other English speaker in Ouro Preto.  This means that she was subject to my running commentary on everything.  Sorry Kristy.

I sat outside this church one evening and listened to chanting in Portuguese.  It was a beautiful, surreal experience.

                              Strangely, this restaurant had very few English speaking customers.

                         This is a Mining College, that is now a part of the University system of Brasil.

Ouro Preto, Black Gold.  Yes, Gold was found in them thar hills, hence the name.  It is funny that you must travel through Ouro Branco (white gold) to get to Ouro Preto.

The Train from Ouro Preto to Mariana, another very similar town in this region.

A view of waterfalls from the train.

The landscape.

The edge of Mariana.

Guess what they got here?!  Mais Igrejas!

I should be well prepared for Europe.  I have no inside pictures of the churches, as they were not allowed.

                                               A view of Mariana from the hilltop.

                                                  A favela at the edge of Mariana.

Ohh, I almost forgot to put this one in.  I never get to say this, but, for Mom and Dad, this is a shot of the United Methodist Church in the Vila Kennedy favela where I worked.  I passed it everyday, grateful to have lived in Centrailia, PA, fire and all.

After Ouro Preto, I came back to Rio and hung out in Ipanema for a few days with a great group of people. I made it to a Botafogo futebol match, they won 3-1.  And, I had one more mountain to climb.  No, scratch that, to jump off of.

Strap on the glider and run off the deck.  Awesome!  Don't worry, I was strapped in with a pro who did all the work.  Very, very cool!!!  Flew over Rio and landed on the beach!

This trip has been amazing.  It has been a collection of wonderful people, amazing places, and beautiful sights.  I encourage you all to take a trip to Brasil.  It is well worth the effort.  Eu amo Brasil!!!!  Tchau for now.  Next up Jon Brown's European Vacation.

My Volunteer Experience

For three weeks, I lived in a volunteer house in Santa Teresa, taught English in a favela, and took Portuguese classes.  My days were longer than my days at CCP.  They were very similar to my Grad School experience.  Work in the day, class in the evening, prep for the next day at night.  It was a great experience, but it also showed me the difficulties many of these programs have with limited funding and a reliance on volunteers.  I know you all understand.

This is the community center in Vila Kennedy where I taught.  You can see the entrance at the top of the ramp.

This is my afternoon class, Monday - Thursday, 1:00 - 2:30.  They were great (Muito Bom!!!)!  My teaching focused on building vocabulary, while gaining an introduction to verbs and beginning sentence construction.  Lots of repetition.  Tons of mosquitos.  And Bingo, in English, with candy prizes every afternoon.

I really enjoyed the classes.  The students varied on motivation levels, but I was able to keep them engaged and entertained, even (or maybe because of) my limited English.  I had an ongoing debate with the guys in the class on who is the best futebol team in Rio.  I said Botofogo (because they were in the championship).  They all said Flamengo (because it is their team).  Fun!

This is a bad picture of the outside of the Volunteer House.  It is Ivy covered and could be a nice dorm on any College campus.

                              This is my room.  How much space does one need?

                                Easter Dinner at the Volunteer House!  Feliz Pascoa!!!

The kitchen was an outdoor disaster area most days.  But, everybody chipped in to take care of the mess.

                                                    Breakfast with the volunteers.

Yes, that is Santa Claus.  Papa Noel the children here call him.  He and his wife are volunteers who travel the world in their retirement doing this kind of work.  If there is a Santa, I think it's him.

                                    The joke here is that I'm Santa in training.

This was an incredible experience.  The entire process of being somewhere else, doing something else without the safety net of my own culture was thrilling and difficult.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Santa Teresa

Hello all,

I am officially back in the USA for one month.  I flew back on Thursday and Friday.  I can now upload my pictures and share the rest of my trip to Brasil.  I will pick up where I left off.  After the waterfalls in Iguacu, I came back to Rio and the neighborhood of Santa Teresa.  For three weeks I lived in a volunteer house with 20 other volunteers all working on some type of project from house construction to teaching English.  I taught English for three weeks in a favela and had a challenging, but valuable experience.

 This is the view from the best lookout spot in Santa Teresa.  That is Sugarloaf (Pao de Acucar) in the background.

                                                   Another view from the same lookout.

                                                                     And another.

One of the many buses in Rio and Santa Teresa.  Philadelphia feels like it has no bus transportation in comparison to Rio.  They are constant.

                  Rio has everything.  I found this on the sidewalk, at a street fair in Santa Teresa.

I also found this!  While the food of Brasil lacks the spice of other South American cuisine, the desserts are off the charts (Muito Bom!!!!)!  This was my lunch (almoco) one day.  What?

And I knew I was going to get Star Wars in here somewhere.  On the street, a food truck (just like we have in Philly) was also selling this Luke Skywalker action figure for the equivalent of $12.00 US.  Why?  For the same reason that Michael Jackson tunes are always on the radio here, a love/hate relationship with the US.  Our government and policies do not always go over well here, but our popular culture is pervasive.

The Arcos do Lapa (old aquaduct, that used to carry yellow tram cars -Bondes-from the city center through Santa Teresa).  Lapa is the nightlife center of Rio.  Samba clubs, music in the streets, party central.  Santa Teresa is in walking distance of Lapa.  Up the hill.  Put on your flippie-floppies and get up, or down, the hill.

Up the hill from the Arcos do Lapa is the still functioning Convent of Santa Teresa after whom the neighborhood is named.

                                                      For Bridget, Mais Amor Por Voce.

Anyone who has ever lived in Santa Teresa knows exactly where I took this picture.  You could give directions to places in Santa Teresa by stating, "Take a left at the calico cat".  It doesn't move.

                                  For my next installment, Jonny teaches English!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!