Hannah Peterson

A Sandy "Semana"

I don't think that all of the sand that accumulated in our things this week will ever be gone, but it was totally worth it to spend the entire week at the beach!  Of course we weren't completely on vacation, but we definitely had our fair share of fun.  Their beaches look completely flat because they have very gradual slopes, and the amount of sandy beach between the dunes and the water is twice the amount of most Texas beaches.  This picture just doesn't do it justice:

Unfortunately the first two days we were there it rained cats and dogs, and the rest of the days were cold.  We went to the beach at night a couple of times, and actually got to see the bioluminescence!  When the microorganisms were disturbed by any movement, they would emit a glow, just like a lightning bug.  We would scrape the sand with our hands and feet, and the organisms would glow for us!  It really was cool, but unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of it.

This week we were at Pontal de Sul studying marine ecology and resource management.  There were a lot of lectures that we sat through about various things, including zooplankton, shrimp trawling, sea turtles, and bycatch.  We also learned a lot of research methods that most of the group had never experienced before, including macrobenthos and zooplankton sampling and dolphin watching.  We took a full day boat ride to an island off the coast of Pontal de Sul, and we got to sit on the front of the boat to count the dolphin population!  I know that pictures of feet can be cliche, but this was just such a cool photo!  And the one after is a shot of a dolphin of course:)

Some of the impacts that these organisms and ecosystems are facing are injuries from ship traffic, death from fishing nets, and ingestion of spilled pollutants.  They are also building a new port  by Pontal de Sul, which means more ships and more problems.  We talked to some of the local fishermen and they also are concerned with all the changes that are happening.  For example, more boat traffic means less dolphins, and the fishermen actually use the dolphins as an indicator of the presence of fish.  The researchers at the university are also working with the fishermen to try and find the most efficient ways of reducing their bycatch, or all of the unwanted things that they catch.  Most fishermen are willing to work with them because they also want to reduce their bycatch.  It takes more time to sort through all of the unwanted things, so if they can eliminate that cost altogether, they are saving money.  This is a good situation for the environmentalists as well because the animals that are not being sold in the market aren't accidentally killed.

Now it's time for some wildlife!

Native bees.  No Brazilian bees have stingers!

Some type of bird with something in its mouth... haha

Crab in a mangrove habitat

A really pretty flower :)

This next week we are going to Brasilia!  It will finally be hot after three weeks of cold, but I'm sure it will get old fast.  We are also going to get our own hammocks to sleep in, so we'll see how that goes!

Homestay

After one week of city walking, bus riding, and cold rainy days, I have found that the forest definitely calls my name, but I have learned so much!  Last week we all stayed with different homestay families that complimented our interests very well.  For example, we have a few music junkies on the trip, and they got put with small-scale Brazilian rock stars!  Some really liked kids or dogs, and they were matched up perfectly.  A few love the city life, so they were placed almost right in the middle of downtown.  My family was a young couple who both love basketball, and even have Kevin Garnet figurines in their house!  

Their apartment was somewhat small for American standards, but they also don't need much because it's just the two of them normally.  Their names were Dani and Danilo, and they both have daytime jobs.  Dani made amazing food like stroganoff, rice and chicken, and pao de queso (cheese bread).  She also made this amazing drink called abacate com leite, which is avocado with milk and sugar.  It might sound gross, but it was one of the most amazing things I have had so far on the trip!!  Here's a picture:

The only downside to last week was that for two of the days it was raining, but of course we still had to go to Portuguese class, so what else to do except prepare to get wet!  Walking the streets and riding the bus in the rain was interesting to say the least, and what I would have given to have had my rainboots with me!  But I made the best of it and this is what I came up with.

The only awkward moment I had this past week was when I had gone out my classmates to hear a band play, and came back to the apartment complex at three in the morning.  Normally I can just walk into the building, but this time the gate guard stopped me, so I had to try and explain why I was living there, in Portuguese!  He definitely understood me, but for some reason he didn't believe that I was only staying there for a week and was from the United States.  What kind of threat is a girl with only a purse, at three in the morning, that arrived in a taxi, who has the keys to the apartment going to pose to anyone?!  Nonetheless, he had to call Danilo and make sure that I wasn't lying.  Fortunately Danilo was still awake because he had been playing Grand Theft Auto, but I still felt bad.  Other than that situation, the whole week was awesome and I learned alot!!  Here are Danilo, Dani and I at his pick-up basketball game on Sunday.

 

Living with a host family is different in general, but when you can barely speak their language and have completely different customs, it can be difficult.  Danilo could speak pretty good English, but Dani could only say a few words.  Dani and I made flashcard type things and taped them up on the objects that they corresponded to, so we had "pia" for sink and "chuveiro" for shower, and the like.  Some funny things (in my limited American view) that they did included leaving leftover food out on the counter and not putting it in the refrigerator, leaving the dishes to clean for the next day, and eating really sweet dessert cake for breakfast!  But they were so hospitible and made me feel at home the whole time I was there.  Overall, I had a great experience and made some great new Brazilian friends!

The City

Curitiba is the 8th largest city in Brazil, and it definitely feels like it. They're aren't as many people on the streets as say New York, but there are quite a few and the car traffic is constant. All of the sidewalks are made like a mosaic, with black and white square stones in different designs. They look cool, but they are really hard to walk on, especially when it's raining because they get really slippery! They are very uneven and some are falling apart. I'll try to get a picture on here soon.

The buildings are interesting because from far away it looks like a really nice city with lots of skyscrapers. When you get closer, you can notice that the architecture is very plain. The buildings are all concrete and normally are very bland colors like beige, white, brown, and sometimes a light yellow. They have very small windows and that's it! It seems as though recently they needed to build things very quickly, so they just didn't have time for creativity, because some of the old buildings are extravagantly intricate and have beautiful details! Take this one for example:

 

This is in the historical square, and it was made in the 1700's I believe. Surrounding this building are tons of little shops specializing in anything from fabric to washers to shoes.  Around this area there is lots of cool architecture, but when you stray to far from here, the more recent designs start.  Here's a view of the side streets:

This is a really nice side street filled with shops. These buildings must have been made much earlier than the rest of the city because the design is much more intricate.

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that there is graffiti on EVERYTHING! It seems as though nobody cares to cover up the tags maybe because they know that it will just get tagged again. Most of the buildings look like the one below:

Monday I used the bus system for the first time by myself and didn't get lost! They make it really easy because you pay before you get on the bus by going into these tubes, and then as long as you don't get off the tube, you can change buses without paying again.   When I was coming home though, I took the wrong bus because they all look alike!   But I realized really fast and got off at the first tube and turned around.

Another interesting thing that I have noticed is that every house and or apartment complex has gates around them, as do the businesses.  None of the shops have windows, and they only have a large metal door that they open out to the streets during the day and close at night.  The personal security is taken very seriously here because there are many theives, so people take extra precautions against it.  You don't really want to be walking around at night, even if you're with a big group, because you are a much easier target than in the daytime when there are a lot of people around.  That being said, I haven't felt threatened at any time since I have been here, and I have had to walk the streets and take the bus alone.

My next blog will be about my homestay, so stay tuned!

From Brazil! Initial Differences

Hello Incarnate Word! I'm sorry that this hasn't gotten done sooner, but I have been in the mountains for the past week and a half and haven't had access to internet. That just means that I have a lot to talk about! I'll just start with the main things that have happened, and then later on I can add details. The last eleven days have been spent in the heart of the Atlantic Forest at the Golden Hummingbird Mountain Reserve. So the first post of the semester I'll just be talking about the differences that I have noticed so far with Brazilians and their country and some of the things that we learned about at the reserve.

A little background. The program that I am on is called Brazilian Ecosystems, and there are eight other students that are studying with me. They are from all over the country, so I have not only learned a lot about Brazil so far, but I have also learned alot about other cultures in the United States. We flew in from Miami to Sao Paulo, and then continued on into Curitiba. For the first day in Brazil, we stayed in a youth hostel, but then we moved to the Mountain REserve to take a look at our first ecosystem, the Atlantic Forest. Now I am back in Curitiba and am finally able to write a bit. Here are a few things that have really stood out so far on my trip.

Food. Obviously I expected this to be different, but I didn't really know what to expect, except for a lot of rice and beans. I was pleasantly surprised when we were presented with a huge smorgasbord of food, from manioc to guacamole to noodles to casseroles and everything in between! When we were at the reserve, the owner of the land and her neice cooked every meal for our gorup. The meals were out of this world, and they were always fresh. They basically got everything that they used out of the forest around them, their garden, or from the tiny neighborhood store. Breakfasts usually included bread and butter, some type of fruit and cheese, and coffee and juice of course! Their juice was always made fresh and some flavors included passionfruit, kale, pineapple, guava, and orange. Lunch is the largest meal of the day, so we were always served multiple dishes, plus a dessert! And for every dinner we had some type of soup, normally made from leftovers from that days lunch. I really haven't missed American food at all, but the only thing I wish they had is cold milk. Their milk is ultra-pasturized and is bought warm.

Ecology. The Atlantic Forest ecosystem is crazy as far as biodiversity is concerned. In the Atlantic Forest alone there are almost 900 species of amphibians! But my amazement came when we walked into the forest for the first time and saw all the plants. Plants are growing on top of plants on top of plants on top of plants! There is no bare ground, except for the trail that has been cleared by the machete, but everywhere else you look is either leaf litter or vegetation. My favorite observation were the epiphytes ("air-loving" plants) that grow on the bark of a tree. Sometimes there would be as many as 30 epiphytes growing on a single branch of a tree, and it made the branch bend over so much that it looked like it should have already broken. The views were stunning, and now I understand why so many plants and animals want to live there! There are many problems that this forest is facing though, one being that only 7% of the original forest is remaining. The government has implemented several laws and guidelines to help preserve what is left and convert deforested land back to its original state, but the enforcement is lacking and little progress has been made. That being said, there are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are working with private sectors that have large plots of land that act as reserves. This has been the best way the land has been preserved, and there are always more of these groups that are forming.

People. Wherever you go there are going to be different people, and Brazil is no exception. The people in Curitiba are definitely city people, and most if not all of them dress up every day, even if they're just walking the streets. Brazilians take a lot of pride in how they look. One thing I've had to get used to is the fact that they don't wear flip flops on the streets; it's a sign of poverty and Brazilians will always try to avoid this. The street system here is also very different. They have crosswalks, but you better not be in them when the cars start moving or else they will run you over! I have seen 80 year old women running to try to get to the other side of the road before the cars reach her. It's a little crazy! Obviously these are not the only differences in the people, but these are my initial observations. I'll go more into detail later.

Check back soon for more blogging and pictures!!