Patagonia - Day 2 (Puerto Tomba)

Today was totally amazing!!!! I'll write more later, but this is a Magellan Penguin colony I visited today in the Patagonia region of Argentina. This region is actually very dry and only receive 10 inches of rain per year. The penguins migrate south from Brazil, breed, have their babies and then return to the water. There were thousands of penguins! My guide, Sebastian, was totally awesome!

Back to Argentina

There are many things in life that I love to do. One of my passions is to TRAVEL! When I got my passport at 21 years of age, it was like I found a secret key that opened a door to many rich, new and life changing experiences. Travel is addictive and I cannot get enough of it!

So, here I am again traveling back for the second time in Argentina. I went in November 2009 with my wonderful friends J&D to Bariloche and Buenos Aires and we had a blast! I decided to come further south into Patagonia before I went home to San Diego for Christmas. I love Brazil, but a close second is Argentina. The food is AMAZING, the wine divine and the Dulce de Leche is to die for.

Here I am on my first day in a city called Puerto Madryn. It is approximately 1,400 kilometers (869 miles) from Buenos Aires on the Atlantic Ocean. It looks like parts of Nevada or Arizona and they only get 10 inches of rain per year. There is a lot of sea lions, birds and nature in this region. I arrived today and had a small tour of the city. It has about 80,000 people living here and is growing. The region was originally founded by the Welsh and there is a strong European influence here.

Here are some pictures of the first day - sea lions and birds! Stay tuned for Day #2!

Cartas do Papai Noel/Letters to Santa

Recently through a colleague at work, I learned about the local Rotaract organization. I was once part of the group when I lived in the Quad Cities & was quite excited to know there was a local club in Horizontina. Dartanian (colleague) told me about their Christmas project where they take letters written to Santa Claus by some local kids and fulfill their wishes. They are kids who are from poorer families in the community and are at high risk. Which means, they are at risk of not getting a good education and exiting the cycle of poverty.

I told Dartanian about my participation several years ago and how I would like to get involved again in the group. He brought me one of the cartas (letters) and it was my job to buy the child what was on the list. I had no idea what to expect, but was fearful there would be some pretty high demands like a bicycle, iPod, Play Station 3 or some other extravagant gift which would be 5 times more expensive in Brazil than the US. When I opened the letter, I was shocked and saddened. The letter read (translated from Portuguese to English):

Dear Santa Claus:

My wish is to receive school supplies 

with an image of a character (Editor's Note: Like Disney, Hello Kitty, etc.). 

I am 7 years old and am in the first year B (Editor's Note: I guess like second grade). 

My name is Raissa. 

The best way to describe how I felt was sad, then angry, then embarrassed. I was sad that this little girl's wish was something which seemed so basic in my life when I was 7 years old - just school supplies. I was angry that her parents couldn't provide this for her themselves. Then I was embarrassed that I took for granted such a basic educational necessity and assumed the parents were "bad" people because their child didn't have school supplies. 

Then I realized that on a salary of a maximum of R$1,000 per month( $586 USD ), the family was forced to make difficult decisions between food, housing and education. After providing a meal to the family and a roof over their heads, there was probably nothing left each month for education. Let me correct that statement - There IS NOTHING left each month for education. Zero. Is it really true that families here have to choose between eating and education?? Yes, that IS the reality of life here. 

Poverty is a serious, real and pervasive problem in Brazil. It has improved over the past 5 to 10 years with many government programs and support. However, I am reminded again that I live in a third world country still that is in the process of industrializing and growing. There is widespread economic disparity still that impacts the most helpless and needy people - children...the future of this great country which I have come to love, cherish and be proud of, as if it were my own child. 

Last Saturday, I went to the local "Office Depot" type store and loaded up on every possible type of pencil, colored pencil, pen, notepad, 3 ring binder and planner with Hello Kitty on the cover. I spent approximately R$60 ($35 USD) on these supplies. As I was shopping, I remembered how much fun I had as a child during the months of July and August as the local stores started to send school supply advertisements out. I would sit for hours planning would I would buy for the upcoming school year. I would compare all the ads and determine the one or two stores I would BEG my mom to take me to after I was convinced I could get us the best deal. I remember the excitement I felt when my mom finally said, "Let's go get you some school supplies" and we were off on a warm, summer day in San Diego to shop! Always our shopping trips ended with an ice cream cone for $.45 from Thrifty's or a frozen yogurt from I Love Yogurt. It was a special moment also with my mom - time with her and a commitment to my education. 

Today, I delivered the gift from Papai Noel to Raissa. It wasn't a warm, summer day, in fact a rainy one. It didn't end with a frozen yogurt, but there was warmth and love shared, a special moment between an estrangeiro (foreigner) and this sweet child, and a commitment to Raissa's education and the hope that her life will be touched during this Christmas season by Papai Noel. 

Um abraco,

Mollie (aka- Papai Noel)

Entomology & Havaianas (Entemologia e Havaianas)

Good evening friends on this really beautiful and warm December night! Yes, it's that time of year again when I break out my shorts, Havaianas, tank tops and other necessary supplies for the summer season! Along with these fun summer supplies, comes the other non-fun nuisances of summer in the tropics, aka Southern Brazil. They are: ants, bugs, lizards, spiders, mosquitos, biting mosquitos (they bite harder than a regular mosquitos), and my all time favorite - Mr. Barata, commonly known in the non-scientific world as the Cockroach. Ew. Ew. Eeeewwwww!!

I can handle the spiders, ants, other weird bugs, lizards (yes, I know a lizard is not an insect, but it's a summer time reptile that freaks me out a bit), even the mosquitos. I seem to have adapted well to the mosquitos and by years 2 and 3, my body doesn't swell up like an overstuffed cream puff like it did my first year. But, the cockroaches, Mr. Barata...we just cannot coexist peacefully. No, I tried. I tried to ignore you, kill you with very illegal pesticides, even drown you in the toilet. But, you just keep coming back. And, you are not welcome here!

Let me explain:  My first summer here I really freaked out when I found cockroaches in the house. I mean, unless you in Florida, roaches are only found in houses which are dirty and unkept. I can assure you that my house is cleaned 3 times per week by my wonderful housekeeper, Teresinha, and is a far cry from unkept or dirty. So, I couldn't understand why I had roaches in my house! It was pretty bad in the beginning. I couldn't sleep at night because I would fear them landing on my head, crawling into bed with me and using their antennas to find their way into my ears or nostrils. I remember many nights where I couldn't sleep because I found one in my room or bathroom.

With time, I learned how to deal with them and this being my third summer in Brazil, I have learned how to be a cacadora (hunter) and take down their little army of roaches. I have now on my side a very strong conviction that there is no " circle of life"  reason for them on this earth and the power of the Havaiana/chinelo close at hand at all times. It is perfect for those moments when walking down the hall I catch out of the corner of my eye a small, dark object on the floor. What is that?! Flip on the light and BAM! Mr. Barata is running around blinded by the light and then swiftly meets the bottom of my chinelo.

No pesticides, no harmful chemical Raid sprays, no rubber gloves needed here! Just a good, ol' fashioned WOMPING on Mr. Barata by my flip-flop. Sometimes, Mr. Barata you try to avoid me and are faster than me since I am just coming out of flip-flop bashing hibernation. But, so far, I believe the score is Mollie - 10; Barata - 2.

I believe in the power of metrics to measure where you are and this folks show that I need to improve my skills a bit. Lucky for me, there are plenty more "opportunities"  to encounter Mr. Barata here in Casa de Mollie.

One of the lessons of this story today is 1) Know your enemy; 2) Believe in yourself that you can overcome the oddst; 3) Always keep a chinelo close at hand (or on your feet).

Abraco,
Mollie

Perspectives on Food

Today at my factory, we had an important announcement. Our factory manager announced to the whole work force about a major conquista (conquest) that we had recently in our factory. I was a part of the group working in the project & it was a big accomplishment for our factory. To recognize all the work of the 2,000+ employees, there was going to be a special lunch today.

"Wow," I thought. "That is going to have to be good!!"

When I went to the cafeteria and saw the "special lunch", I had to chuckle to myself. The pieces of meat were a little bigger and the real special part was every employee could also have a can of Coke or other soft drink. Normally, employees have two options - Watered down mystery juice or just water. Today, they got a can of refridgerante (soda). I really had to chuckle to myself about it.


In the US, we would give people at the factories " free pop and coffee"  for special recognition, as in - unlimited, get-high-off-all-the-FREE-caffeine special! Here, they just gave people a can of Coke. Let me tell you, I sure saw some pretty happy employees leaving the cafeteria. Maybe it was because they also got a free chocolate bar (Brazil version of Snickers, Nestle Crunch, or Mounds bar) as they left the cafeteria as well.

Maybe our two cultures aren't that different after all....Free soda is free soda globally and so is free chocolate.

New Things - Part 2 of the Series - Amateur Sports

Continuing with the New Things Series, I've got much more to share with you! I'll get straight to the point. This weekend, I am competing in the Jogos de Sesi, or Sesi games. It's basically a Brazilian version of corporate games where PowerPoint loving business people put on a pair of Nikes and compete for the glory and title of "gold medalist" in tennis, football, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, swimming and even ping pong and chess. Yes, even chess! The winner of the Regionals goes to the State finals with the potential of being crowned the King of Brazil and even a World Games match.

A colleague of mine had seen me swim at the outdoor pool (only opened for 4 months per year) a few times and also knew I was taking tennis lessons. He invited me to compete in the natacao, or swim competition as well as tennis singles. I reluctantly agreed with a knot in my stomach that I: a) never competed in a swim match in a pool; b) never did the breaststroke for more than 1/2 a lap; and c) had been playing tennis for 10 months and only recently was able serve the ball over the net.

However, what really attracted me to sign myself up for corporate humiliation in a foreign country and foreign language (I mean people laughing at you in Portuguese isn't so bad right???), was the chance to meet new "athletas" from my company and a chance to proudly wear and represent my company colors as an athlete! Come to find out, my company was paying for the transportation to the event, lodging, entrance fees, some meals and even provided a uniform and a nice set of warm-ups (although I paid R$40 to offset the cost). Wow!

With even more pride now, I cleaned the mold off my swim goggles and stepped up my once weekly tennis lessons. What did I have to lose?

Embarrassment? Check, but after 2 1/2 years speaking Portuguese, I already passed through a multitude of embarrassing situations where the hotness in my cheeks was so "quente" I could have provided heat to a small country. What was the risk of one more?

I've been training now for this event for about 2 months. This has included more frequent tennis lessons as well as numerous searches on You Tube for "how to serve", "how to keep score" and "how to put those tennis balls in your shorts". As for the swimming, the nearest indoor swimming pool (remember it's winter here) is 60 miles away, or a 1 hour and 15 min drive in a city called Ijui.  I have gone to swim a few times with some colleagues from my company. Come to find out, I have to DIVE into the water. This required many MORE searches on You Tube for "how to dive into the water", "how to keep your goggles on when you dive" and "how to do the breaststroke". Guess what? I also had to learn the words for "On your mark, get set, GO!" in Portuguese!! Never thought of that ahead of time.

So, today, I embark on another new experience here in Brazil as an Amateur Athlete. I don't really have too many details of this event, other than we take a bus for 4 hours at 3 pm today, swim/tennis tomorrow, lunch, then return at around 11 pm Sunday evening. Other than that, not quite sure what to expect, other than lots of laughing at myself, a chance to make new friends, and a chance to proudly represent my company!

Wish me luck....Look for Part 3 - Results of Amateur Sports & maybe a few pictures!

Um abraco,
Mollie

New Things - Part 1 - Conquering Portuguese

Welcome to Part 1 of my "New Things" blog series! I'm on the tail end of my assignment here in Brazil and found that there are still many experiences and things I can do to really involve myself in the culture. Even after an intense 2 years, 4 months and 1 day to be exact, I believe it's possible for me to still absorb and grow in my experience here.


I've decided to really challenge myself the next several months to do things I've only thought of, only talked about doing, or never did because I was afraid to do!


The first "New Thing" will be to conquer the Portuguese language! I don't just mean continue to take Portuguese lessons. I mean really applying all of the grammar, conversation, and "girias" or slang to find out if I really have good Portuguese or not. What's the best way to find out? Take a test!


One of my American friends here is an English teacher for Brazilians. Her teaching method draws on some of the material from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam. I started thinking several months ago as my Portuguese lessons were becoming too routine that I need to challenge myself more with the language or quit wasting time and money in lessons. I got the idea from her that maybe there is a Portuguese equivalent to the TOEFL. Maybe I can take an exam and become "certified"  in Portuguese. Maybe I could use that to teach others about the language and help share this beautiful language with others when I return to the US. Maybe I could continue to set the bar high for myself and prove to myself that I have really CONQUERED this language while here in Brazil.


Come to find out, yes, there is an exam called "Celpe-Bras" which evaluates the ability of foreigners to read, write and speak in Portuguese. It stands for "Certificado de Proficiência em Língua Portuguesa para Estrangeiros". I'm not sure why they have the "Bras" at the end. At first I read it and thought it was the word "bra", then realized it stands for Brazil, but it threw me off for a second and I thought I was reading about something else. 



The test is offered two times per year, April and October. Recently, they published the abstract for the October exam and it seems like a good sign that I should sign up and take it. So, that is what I am going to do!! It will be my most recent "New Thing".  The exam date is October 27 and I will have to travel 90 minutes to another town, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a try! I don't have much to lose and I want to see if I can CONQUER the Portuguese language! Wish me luck!!!



Um abraco,
Mollie


For more information about the exam, go here:  
http://www.inep.gov.br/celpebras/