Blogs from São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, South America - page 19

I just arrived back in São Paulo after spending this past Friday thru Wednesday back in Caraguatatuba. This trip was a bit different than my last trip. On Friday I actually took a bus to the international airport to meet the American missionaries from Caraguá, AJ and Barbara, as well as a group of 10 adults from Virginia Beach who were coming to visit for a week. These adults were from another church in Virginia Beach who were coming to see what Brazil is all about and decide if they want to take their youth group here next year. Among the group members were two men that I knew from the church I grew up in, one was my former youth pastor and the other was a man who I went to Brazil with twice before ... read more

Today is my last day at work. I have to admit, I am not entirely sad that today is my last day of work for my internship (but please do not misinterpret, I have loved my experience here in Brazil, just the project was a bit of a headache). This project, although I knew it would a lot of tedious work, there were many more speed bumps that I ran into than I expected. For those of you who do not know what my project is, I will explain briefly. For the past year there has been a collaboration between three labs, Dr. Harrison’s of the University of Pittsburgh who is the primary investigator, Dr. Claudio Sacchi’s real time PCR laboratory at the Instituto Adolfo Lutz (IAL) and Dr. Ricardo Albernaz from Centro de Vigilância Epidemiológica ... read more

Once in Sao Paulo we go into our now standard routine of booking the next day's travel, this time to Curitiba using Cometa company R$55.50. Feeling brave and on advice of the tourist information at the station we take the metro to Santo Carrisa and after a couple of wrong turns we check into our "hostel" which is actually a fully fledged hotel (Hotel Rojas) complete with two rooms and a living room. Having refreshed we head out for a short walk into town but discover that Sao Paulo is a large city and blocks on the map are a long way between each other. Somehow the streets don't seem to match with our map but this gives us a chance to see the city especially as we are only staying the night. It is rush ... read more

No niin kamraatit, Kirjoitan talla kertaa São Paulosta. Tulin tanne jo muutama viikko sitten ja nyt nayttaa tilanne sellaiselta, etta en taida vahaan aikaa mihinkaan liikahtaa. Seurustelen brasilialaisen naisen kanssa, asutaan yhdessa lahella Interlagosin formularataa. Itse asiassa tutustuin naiseen netin kautta jo Suomessa ollessani, mutta seurusteluksi ystavyys muuttui vasta hiljattain. Taalla siis elama mallillaan, portugalia alan opiskella yliopistolla elokuun alusta, toistaiseksi olen ottanut vain muutamia yksityistunteja. Portugalin kieli on lahella espanjaa, joten enkohan ma sen klaaraa joku paiva. Lausuminen tuottaa vaan valilla hauskoja hetkia paikallisille, esim pão tarkoittaa leipaa, mutta meikapoika usein erehtyy lausumaan sen "pau":na, kun kuulostavat mun korvaan viela ihan samanlaisilta. Taalla kuitenkin sanoilla on pienoinen ero: toinen on siis leipa ja toinen roikkuu ... read more

Oh, friends, you have GOT to check this out! My good friend Mark, who I met the very first time I came to Brasil, is starting a new music and dance group called Six Mo’ with five other Brasilian guys: Anjo, Kassius, Cello, Kimus, Logullo and Vaan Loo (Mark). Jokingly, they are calling themselves the new Boy Band Brasileiro. Except that they are all men (not boys), professionals in their field (dancers, singers, performers) and are developing everything themselves! One guy wrote the lyrics, another did the music, Mark did the choreography…and they are fantastic! Check out their myspace site and listen to the three songs that have already been mixed: Six Mo’ There is also a video on the site. Laura and I had the privilege today of watching a rehearsal. One of the ... read more