Quicky

So, so much going on.

Here is a sampling:


 Went for a beautiful hike with the trekking club.

This is the view we had of my city (through binoculars). 

The organizer gave me some native seeds to plant on the hike back down.  I immediately like him.

Bought a kilo of sausages from the old guy down in the park.  What will I do with a full kilo of sausage?  Oh, you know, gain 12 pounds.

Pictures are really slow to load today for some reason.  Will need to continue some other time.

 Spending the holiday with friends in cute little German town of Campinha.  Most of the people speak German here.

Will catch you up later.

Love you all!  Have a happy Easter!

Delivery

I got mail!!  Aww, mail is one of life's greatest underappreciated joys, in my opinion.

We don't have individual mailboxes here at my apartment building. The maintenance man, Sou Milton, acts as mail courier, delivering mail to our apartments and sliding it under the door.  If you receive a box, he waits until he sees you and then brings it up.  Apparently, he was so excited to get it to me, that he stalked Leonardo's parking space in the garage, to know when we were home.  He likes having Americans in his place.  He thinks we are fun.

Anyway, my box was packed full with great things like pictures, notes, a camera, delicious new shampoo.   And knitting needles!!!  And new glasses!  Oh, I was absolutely squealing.
Thanks, DAD!

And the rest of you fine folk, feel free to send me something.  I'll  make you a mixtape.




Yesterday, I was riding the ônibus home from school and an old lady sat down next to me. 
Now, old ladies are the worst. They never know how to slow down their sentences, and have total disregard for your ineptitude.  You can't play the 'não entendo' card with them.  They just continue to abrade you with more involved, faster versions of the same question.

She was old. She was lost. She needed help and she wouldn't be quiet.
I tried to pawn her off on the girls next to me, but she was persistent.
Long story short, I saved the day... in Portuguese!  She made it to her destination. 

Because I gave her directions. 

Because I knew my way around downtown. 

And because I speak Portuguese.

Kindof.

"...the flooded rice fields lay shining in the sunlight like a broken mirror."

I am enrolled in Agricultura Especial II this semester, in which we study management practices and physiological development of important crops.  Since we are in the fall semester here in Brazil and approaching the winter growing season, crops of focus include potatoes, oats, ryegrass,.... and RICE!!  Three cheers for rice, which helps to sustain nearly four billion people, and to which we are virtually strangers in the state of Kansas. Never having seen rice in production, and understanding the weight of this plant's importance on food security, I've been completely stoked to get started. 

Last week for the practical, we loaded up in a school bus and took a field trip to the nearby processing facility.  We saw the storage units, the scales, and the dessicator (powered by a large wood burning oven).

This facility sells rice as a food product to distributors, but also sells seed for farmers.  Lots of seed.....  like enough to climb up.

 Later in the week, Leonardo offered to show us his research plots.  Rice production is responsible for relatively high emission rates of methane, and his team is studying how various production practices can influence gas production.   That's me- Sample Girl.

*Sidenote:  I love the science.  But I also just appreciate the chance to dig my fingers into some soil and walk around with no shoes on.

And it dawns on me, I'm working in a rice paddy. 

            God is good to me.

I just had the best Saturday.  A long, lazy day filled with books, yarn, mangoes, and Blitzen Trapper. A necessity for sanity, really, and hard to come by of late.

Dr. Rice has returned to the states and we are now halfway through our intensive Climate Change and Agriculture class.  It is given at night, three hours for ten days.  There is a fifteen minute break in the middle, which usually turns into a youtube free-for-all on the big projection screen, reminding me over and over again that I am, indeed, very far from home.  We can move from discussions on the economic feasibility of greenhouse gas mitigation to this in just under 20 seconds. Or Shakira and futbol....  jeez, that drives the gauchos louco. When Telmo, our Brazilian advising professor, tries to wrap up for the break, it goes something like this, "So those are the main differences between biological and thermochemical processing routes for second generation biofuels.  And now, here is my fat doctorate student, Paulo, winning a cerveja chuggin contest last fall."

Ah, good times.

From my apartment balcony, a vast sea of concrete is all that is visible.

I have never lived in a place like this before.

Yesterday, I went for a much needed walk in the woods.  I found some grass. And a bunch of weeds that I knew the scientific names for.  I found a lime tree.  And a guava tree.  And an avocado tree.  It was heartlifting, to say the least.


Today, our Kansas State Distinguished Professor Dr. Chuck Rice will be giving his first of many lectures here at UFSM.  He is here during K-State's spring break, and I am looking forward to the class, which addresses connections between agriculture and climate change, and potential areas for improvements.

Dad has mailed me a box of things a few days ago.  When I told him to just ship it the cheapest way, he replied, "Well, we'll see what Joe says."  And I thought 'Yeah, Joe! I miss Joe.'  I think when you miss the postman, its a sure indication that you are experiencing bit of homesickness....

On the flip side,  I had the sweetest mango of my life for breakfast this morning.  And that was nice.

Oi, family.

This has been a very full week in Santa Maria and Cruz Alta.  I am currently in Porto Alegre spending time with some friends in a hostel and checking out public markets and leather stores.  Diego is being a very patient and thorough tour guide this weekend. 

I spent Carnaval with Leonardo and his sweet girlfriend, Carla, in Cruz Alta, RS.  While there, I met some really swell people, some of which will be in the agronomy program with me at UFSM. In Cruz Alta, most people gather with friends and drink beer and dance and eat  and frolic, until the real party starts around 2:00 in the morning. 

Carla bought me a goodie box and chocolates for Carnaval primping (which some nights took over an hour).  We got help from Leonardo's sister, who had loads of fun make-up.  That's right, I picked blue eyeshadow.  If not for Carnaval, I don't know when.  I gave Leonardo's nephew, Theo, some lip gloss, but no one thought it was as funny as I did.  Hmmm.....  oops.

 Oh, he's cute.

 

 Our group (like most) bought matching t-shirts to wear out.  I was handed a bright red t-shirt with a dolled- up-Carnaval Homer Simpson printed on the front.  Too cool. 

It was a little small so I cut the neck and shoulder off.

Carnaval was a fantastic experience, but kinda wears me out when I think about it too long.  Sometimes, it's hard to hang here.

While Carnaval was going on, I stayed at Leonardo's parents' home.  It is a beautiful home, and his parents make incredibly gracious hosts.   Leonardo's dad was especially patient with me, reworking all of his sentences into their most basic forms, so that I could sometimes understand him.  He had an indoor churrasqueira that he would cook huge slabs of seasoned meat on every night.  I severely underestimated the amount of beef true gauchos consume here in the south. It was impressive, despite the fact that I had a sore belly for days after.   

School has starts this week.  Well, kinda.  It officially started last week, but the professors apparently weren't feeling it because it was too soon after Carnaval.  So, they didn't show up.  The new first day is Monday.


Update:  Forgot to hit post.  Dangit!  Its Wednesday.  School is hard.  Write later :)

Carnaval

Loved ones!  Hello!

It is Carnaval time in Brazil.  And I cant keep up!

I am safe and happy, and lovin the sequins and feathers.  I left my computer at my new apartment in Santa Maria, and am not on the internet often right now.  I will soon post pictures of this week and fill you all in. 


One revelation:
Contrary to passed confidence, I am not that great of a dancer in Brazil.  Which hurts a little....

But Brazilians dont care.