Overwhelmed-Tim McMorris

Well Brazil Day Two is coming to a close and since it's already 11:45, I'm not quite sure I will be able to fit in all of the info I learned.  Here is a quick summary and hopefully I will be able to provide more information tomorrow.

My day started here, in the city park, with a walk with some of my colleagues

Then breakfast where this pastry station was one of several stations at the buffet

Gluten free toast! :)

My goal to try juices was accomplished first thing.  Today I tried cashew, orange, and a blend of pineapple, orange, cashew and chlorophyll (I need to find out what that actually is!)

new fruits

our class

 After breakfast we had the first of two Brazil briefings.  We started out learning about Brazilian culture in the morning and then after lunch had a session on the Brazilian education system.  Both of these sessions were presented by Gina, who is originally from Iowa but has lived in Rio for the past 9 years with her husband who is Brazilian.  I took 15 pages of notes so, needless to say, I learned a lot.  I am not even sure of where to begin.  The culture is fascinating and it is interesting to hear how another country deals with many of the same issues we face in the United States.  It was also interesting to hear about all of the cultural differences, which I will elaborate upon later.

a mall is a mall wherever you go

 After lunch a few of us stopped at the local mall quickly to pick up a few necessities (the closest ATM is here, we weren't on a shopping spree already! :) And Brazil would not be the best place for a mall shopping spree as items we consider common consumer goods in the U.S. are extremely expensive in Brazil.  Think I'm exaggerating? An elementary student's backpack runs $60-$90!  A pair of Nike running shoes is anywhere from $175-$250.  Part of the reason for this is the taxes, which I will explain more later.

Brasilia Television Tower

 After our sessions were over, we headed down the street to the television tower where you can take an elevator up to a platform and have a 360 degree view of the city.

Here is Brasilia's newest soccer stadium, built for the World Cup in 2014.  It will have a test run this Saturday when the first game of the Confederation Cup is played here.  The stadium seats 72,000 people and they are expecting 10,000 people to travel to Brasilia for the game.  The Confederation Cup goes on for several weeks so I am hoping I will be able to watch a game with some local Brazilians and get a feel for the soccer mania.

West view from the tower

East view from the tower

 We ended the day by having dinner near the hotel.  It was a little hard to find something gluten-free; however, I found a great looking salad and juice bar.  I decided to make my own salad which required filling out this order form in Portuguese.  I checked some familiar looking words, and then decided the fun was in not having any idea what I might get on my salad-it turned out to be delicious!

my dinner selections

 A few of us socialized in the hotel lobby, where I tried my first "national drink of Brazil," the caipirinha, which is made of cachaca, a locally produced sugar cane alcohol, crushed limes, sugar, and ice.  I would recommend trying one if you have a chance, kind of like a mojito, but even better.

Reflecting on today's blog makes me feel like I obsess on food and drinks so tomorrow I will definitely provide more info about all of the cultural things I have to share, I'm just so overwhelmed with information!