Brasil Revisited

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Dear Readers (Friends, family, randoms!)
This is my fifth trip to Brasil. The first was in summer of 2005. I was in Chicago doing research for a sustainable development project located in the interior of São Paulo and became so enamored with the vision that I bought a ticket to Brasil. Armed with emails and phone numbers, and not much else (including any knowledge of Portuguese), I arrived in São Paulo. Juca, a landscape architect with brilliant ideas and the kindest heart imaginable, greeted me at the airport. Three days out in the countryside, then another eight in São Paulo city, and by the end my head was whirling. (If you want to know more about that first trip, check out the earlier entries).
Like most people, at that time I knew very little about Brasil beyond the most commonly exported images: beaches, rainforest, and Carnaval, on the one hand, and urban violence and environmental devastation, on the other. Yet Brasil is a country of immense wealth. Brasil is a world leader in alternative energy technologies, home to numerous sustainable development initiatives, a hotbed of traditional and modern artistic movements, and powerful promoter of actions to mitigate global climate change. Brasil also faces significant struggles. Its democracy, though young and evolving, is still fraught with institutional corruption and inefficiency. Distribution of wealth is among the world’s most unequal, and cities are a tense coexistence of the glittering rich and the desperately poor. Agriculture and industry have propelled Brasil’s economy forward at the expense of natural resources.
These are all truths - in the sense that truth is ever-evolving - that I learned through several months of study in Brasil, years in college in the U.S. and, more importantly, hours upon hours of conversation with and listening to Brasilians. Obviously there is no way to fully comprehend a country in a few years, and it would be grossly unfair to make generalizations or claim to represent a reality. But I hope to offer a slice of Brasil through my experiences and those of the people with whom I cross paths.
So, here is a brief itinerary of what is to come!
Day 1, June 23: Arrive in São Paulo, hop the bus out to Mococa to visit Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, an organic coffee farm run by Marcos and Silvia Croce.
June 24-26: Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza and workshops with the women of Café Igaraí, an artisan cooperative in the town nearest to FAF. The workshops will be run by two students of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Lisa and Maia.
June 27-29: São Paulo with my Dad
June 30-July 2: Macieó and interior of Alagoas State, visiting hydroponic gardening projects in the desert. Projects designed by Instituto Eco-Engenho and José Roberto Fonseca, the director.
July 2 - 6: Rio de Janeiro, visiting projects including Projeto Morrinho (art in a favela), CDI (computer literacy and empowerment in a favela) and CoopaRoca (design and fabric production in a favela).
After July 6, TBD!!

Everyone, please enjoy, add comments, send me emails with suggestions and observations!

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