Day 7 Frutal

The team went to sites around Frutal with Meire and Josney to see all the amazing work Rotary Frutal has done, a high school where we were greeted with great enthuiasim, a primary school, and an old folks home. Back to our hosts homes for lunch, yum. And afternoon, vocational visits. Tim and Teri went to the universidade minas gerais and spend time with faculty in our fields, good conversations about our jobs - similiarities and differences. Isabella and Geovana took us to two schools in Frutal, a primary school and school for students with disabilities. Teri was impressed the second had 2 pscyhologists, an SLP, occupational therapist, social worker, nurse, and DENTIST on staff, and a special teacher for the blind students. This school served students ages 3-4 months to 65 years old. A quiet night with our host families, at least so far.

Did someone say celebrity?

Lifestyles of the not-so-rich but very famous in Jatai

Frutal

Today was a great day, we were treated like celebrities. My day started when I read about us in the paper. We were on the front page right in the center of the newspaper was a picture of our team. It was great! Our first stop was a house that was donated to the government as a church and a music center where the children can learn to play various instruments. From there we visited the "Down town." We went to a store where everything was made here in the city, then to a store where everything has been exported from Europe and Asia. The highlight of the downtown was definately the Serveteria, the ice cream shop.

The next place they took us was to meet the mayor, assitant mayor and the city councel president. After talking to them for an hour or so, we took photos and I was interviewed for the radio, which aired today. Then we went back to our houses and ate lunch. My lunch was really good, it was close to "Fritanga." It was rice and beans matrimonio (married, because I mixed them together), cheese and tortillias (different from quesadilla, but really good), meat, bananas fritos, and of course more ice cream to finish out the meal right.

After lunch we went the old City Hall that is now a museum and library, we took a tour of Josney's college, and then went the the Catholic church Matriz. At 8:00 we had another presentation, that went good. It was a fun day, and everybody knew who we were, everywhere we went, because of the newspaper and radio.

Kevin

Day 4 & 5 Uberaba, Day 6 Frutal

We are a little behind on the blog but spending so much wonderful time with our hosts, we dobn´t want to spend in on the computer.

Monday the team visited different vocational sites, Teri went to the Federal University of Minas Gerais, I think with Heitor. And the hospital affiliated with it. Off to lunch and met Donaldo and his daughter. Then to Colegio de Jose Ferriro (sp), the wonderfully impressive school where Anna and Marcelo teach. Wow, we have never seen a school like it. Back to the ExpoZebu to meet with the director of community development for MG. And a quiet night at the shopping mall drinking and talking to friends.

Tuesday we all had a tour of the Museu of Xico Xavier the famous medium, very interesting. A quick visit to a bell foundry. And lunch at a churrascaria. Mike and Teri visited Heitor´s program, Cantanto Dominincanos, a high school program for at-risk teens. They asked many great questions. That night we presented to the Rotary Club and celebrated with them Mother~s Day and a farewell dinner for us. We had the opportunity to thank our wonderful new family in Uberaba.

Weds. Short drive to Frutal. A visit to a cervejeria and some samples, ;-) Tonight we present to one of the Rotary Clubs of Frutal.

Day 3 Uberaba

Another beautiful day. We all met at the mercado where there is live music on Sunday. Then we had an excursion to Peiropolis (sp?) with a small dinosaur museum and education center. We enjoyed a long lunch with Juliano, Anna, Hector, Sylvana, and Isabella, enjoying comida fazendo (traditional farm food). Teri enjoyed the okra. Then back to Uberaba to partake in the national pasttime, fotebol!!!! Our team tied but still advanced to the next round. Otimo! And finally we went to the shopping center but did not shop, ate and drank and met several friends of our hosts.

DAY 2

Oi Gente!

It was a beautiful day here in Uberaba, MG. We visited the mercado and sampled local cheese, cafe, fruit, etc. Our hosts took us to a small family-owned cachaca farm and distillery. The farm and landscape was beautiful and the cachaca was muito deliciouso. We learned alot about sugar cane farming and harvesting. We also visited the cattle exposition where some cows sell for nearly $1 million. Everything is great!

Day 1 in Brazil

After a long flight that took almost 20 hours, we arrived in Uberlandia, Brazil. A group of Rotarians were waiting for us with a huge sign that said "Bem-vindo (Welcome) USA GSE Team." We right away felt very important and happy to not only be there, but to be celebrated. We all piled into a van and drove for another hour until we arrived in Uberaba. There we separated and went with our host families. Brazil is a beautiful place and we are excited to be here!