January 23 - 29

On January 24 we visited one of the largest dairy farms in Brazil located in Tapiratiba/MG. No pictures were allowed but it was quite a facility. The students asked lots of questions. They had their own brand name, Fazenda, and the students were able to process. They even tasted some COLD milk packaged at the farm. Some students liked it and others did not. It did taste different. In the afternoon we visited Cooxupe, a large coffee cooperative in Guaxupe/MG and a coffee farm. Between the two visits we observed the whole process of coffee production including planting, picking, drying, delivery to cooperative, grading and selection of coffee beans, more drying, storage and delivery to consumer. Specialty coffees are the next on agenda of the cooperative. You can see two students stepping up to experience coffee tasting and having the knack of swishing the coffee throughout the mouth to get the full taste and then spitting it out for the next taste. What about that O-H-I-O in the coffee field.







On Thursday a group of us stopped at lunch to see if we could find the monkeys at ESALQ. So far we had not seen them. Darcy left a banana and we stopped to get ice cream. We returned after the ice cream and they had found the banana and were eating. The students had a grand time feeding two bananas to several Tamerin monkeys.


Thursday afternoon the students had their written exam and then we left a little after 8:00 pm the long trip and drove all night before reaching Sete Lagoas/MG . We spent the day at one of Brazil’s EMBRAPA national research stations focused on sorghum, corn and millet. They are researching three types of sorghum with the tallest containing more sugar. We also saw corn plots. Then we were able to see fruits not found in Ohio or the U.S. – ­­­­­papaya, avocados and star fruits.










Saturday morning we visited a large integrated hog farm. They purchased the grand parents of the F1 generations and then bred, birthed piglets, fed them out, sent the males to market, kept those females they selected and sent the rest to market. He had 500 sows, 6100 total pigs and sent 50 hogs a day to be slaughtered. Those sent for slaughter came back to farm after slaughtering and the meat was processed and then sold to restaurants and industrial food companies. Brazil had 5-6 cuts because most of the meat was bought in bulk but over time the family size has decreased and therefore this farm has developed 30-40 different cuts. Extremely successful and the farmer started small and grew over time since 1968. He now has a bio-digester for the waste which he plans to use the methane to run an engine for electricity.












We currently are on our way to Bahia. It will be a 13-16 hour drive. The beach is at the other end of the ride!!! Stay tuned for more next time.

Take care, Class 13

January 17-22 Preparing for the Home Stay

Tuesday, Thursday afternoon and Friday were with a new professor, Dr. Caron. Dr. Caron focused on music, art and culture. How culture impacts the growth of a country. We watched two movies, one on the Canudus and the other Rio. We listened to lots of different music also.


Chris celebrated his 21st birthday several times J. We went out the night of January 16th into the 17th and then had a cake for him in class.


On Wednesday we visited a Case IH plant in Piracicaba which makes coffee and sugar cane harvesters and sprayers. Pictures were not allowed most of the time so what we saw is not necessarily depicted. We were able to see the equipment. The sugar cane harvester is pretty amazing. Brazil is the largest producer of sugar cane. What is important to know is that In Brazil by 2014 all sugar cane production is to be done by machine. One new machine will replace 90 people. The topography of the land will determine if production can be done by machine or must continue to be done by hand. The estimate is that 90% of the sugar cane production will be done by machine. What is Brazil going to do with all the displaced people who depend on their income from sugar cane? The economy must be growing to absorb these workers.

Wednesday evening the students celebrated Stephanie Verhoff’s birthday by going to Andre’s house and having hotdogs and beverages. I did not go. There are times when I think its best for students to experience the social culture without me being there. Also, I am just getting too old to go out every night How could that happen?


Wednesday afternoon we visited Coplacana which is one of the largest cooperatives in Brazil. We visited the biofuel facility and their recycling facility. We observed soybeans being made into soybean meal and then oil. The oil will then be converted to energy. In the pictures you can see the soybean meal and then oil being produced. The facility is not approved yet to take that last step from oil to energy so they sell the oil as they wait for approval.



Coplacana is also very proud of their recycling facility. Brazil is very conscious of the concept of recycling. You see it everywhere. While we were there the President of Coplacana stopped by. All farmers are required to recycle all chemical containers. You can see the truck loaded in the background with compressed plastic containers. You can also see the gift we gave to the Coplacana administrator who handled our tour.



The family stay has always been a highlight of the trip for most students. On Wednesday night the students met their host family. We had a splendid dinner together. The pictures show the students as they arrived. You can sense the nervousness and see the pieces of paper on which they have their introductions written. Each student introduced themselves in Portuguese and then was matched with their family and then sat with them for dinner and conversation. You can see some of the students introductions and then their family member coming up to greet them and take them to their seat. I am sure each student took lots of pictures of their home stay so ask them about what they did and what they observed about the family. The culture of the family is much different in Brazil than the U.S.








Thursday we visited the ESALQ dairy farm and learned the techniques and processes used and then listened to a post doc’s research on grasses.


Students and families always ask what I do over the weekend while the students are gone. It is always different each year. Friday night I went to the formal commencement party after the actual graduation ceremony. Graduates, family members, students and faculty were invited. About 300 students graduated. It did not start until 11:00 pm and probably went on until 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning. The entertainment was unique. I am not sure I can even describe the group. Tons of food was served, lots were dancing but mostly students, some parents. I don’t think we could pull off anything like this in the U.S. I did work most of the rest of the weekend including answering e-mails and quarters to semester conversion.

The last picture is taken out my window from Antonio’s. If you look close the Piracicaba soccer stadium is on the right. It was full for the first soccer game of the season. A big game and one of the best teams in the league were the visitors. Some of the students actually went to the game. It was loud and it ended in a tie. The smoke to the left was fireworks that were set off at one point I think before the game.


This week will be the last of the classes, tomorrow we will visit the largest dairy farm in Brazil in Tapiratiba and then a coffee cooperative in Cooxupe, and the written exam will be Thursday afternoon. We will leave for the long trip Thursday evening.

Take care,

AZP Class 13

The Second Weekend in Brazil - What a Blast!!

Volleyball and Basketball - Thursday night the group went to ESALQ's recreation center and played basketball and volleyball. It was a nice night of exercise and fun.



On Friday we left early in the morning and headed to Sao Paulo which is about two hours from Piracacaba. On the way we stopped at Cajamar and toured Natura which is Brazil's largest cosmetic and cream factory. It was very impressive. They had 7500 workers at the location in Cajamar and on location they had a restaurant, health care options, smoking cessation classes, a 170 child day care and a training center. They worked three shifts Monday through Friday and they rotated responsibilities throughout the day.


Natura had a wall with wood inserts in their conference center which identified those consultants who had worked for Natura for more than 15 years. One might compare Natura to Mary Kay Cosmetics. The marketing of the products was all done by consultants.



From there we traveled to Osasco to visit Mcdonald's Food Town and oberserved the production of buns for McDonalds. McDonald's Food Town produces all the products for McDonalds and each year I have been to Brazil I have seen different sections of the company. The students immediately noticed how clean it was and were fascinated by seeing a large amount of dough being mixed and made into buns. No pictures were allowed so ask your student about the visit.

We checked into the hotel in Sao Paulo and got settled in and cleaned up for supper at McDonald's, Samba School and the Carnival experience. We ate dinner at McDonald's to compare U.S. and Brazilian McDonald's and to eat the buns we had just seen made.

It is really difficult to explain the Samba School and Carnival Experience. Carnival is a Brazilian Celebration which happens annually in February. It lasts three days and throughout the country it is a time of celebration, parades, dance and music. You could compare it to the Mardi Gras but then think about that country wide. Communities have dance groups which join together to create a theme and recreate the theme through music and dance. They parade through the streets presenting this theme. Formation and presentation of the theme is judged. In essence what we experienced was the gathering of one of the community groups in their center, learning the samba from one of the members and then going out onto the street and very quickly learning the song and dance movements so that we could join the group in one of their rehearsals. We then danced the samba and sang the song with the movements in formation back to the community center.


You can see the students here modeling some of the Carnival head pieces in the traditions O-H-I-O!!

These pictures were taken while we were outside parading back to the community center.



We left about midnight very hot and tired. A good night's sleep was necessary for Saturday's activities of a soccer game, the zoo and a nice night out in Sao Paulo.


In our group of four people there were at least 50 pictures taken of this hippo. The hippo just caught our attention and we watched for a long time. He finally came up to the fence right we were standing.

The bear appeared to be enjoying the afternoon just sitting there soaking up the sun.

Sunday we went to the hippie market which gave us the opportunity to buy homemade gifts for friends and family members. Very interesting looking at the the items related to Brazilian culture. From there we visted a large cathlolic church in Sao Paulo for their 11:00 am mass.

Shirota often talks about the lunch on Sunday in Sao Paulo and not eating supper and breakfast before so that we are hungry. This Sunday lunch is what is called a Brazilian Churrascaria. Sunday is a family day in Brazil and most families go out to eat. The group was served meat, fish and cheese along with a grand salad bar until we could eat no more. There was no reason to go away hungry. I think for the first time two students ate more than Shirota. That is a lot of meat!!


The students slept all the way back to Piracacaba. They could barely move when they left Charrascaria. It was a quite night of settling back into Antonio's Palace and getting a good night's sleep.

Take care