AZP Class 13 Last Night in Brazil Last Blog

First of all I thought you all would like to know that on the long trip we drove 3100miles. That's the most miles we have driven since I have been doing the program. Lots of bus time to say the least but if you look at a map we covered several inches and saw several sites. :)

It's late Wednesday night and time is winding down. There are some students extremely excited and ready to come home and then others who want to stay longer. That is similar with other years. Now for earlier in the week.

Our field trip on Monday had us leaving Antonio's at 6:00 am (no rest for the weary) and took us to Itatinga/SP where we visited one of ESALQ's Experiment Stations. The focus of the station was on Eucalyptus trees. Several acres are set aside for various research projects. We saw several different species of trees and had a nice fast paced walk through the woods. Eucalyptus trees are an important industry in Brazil because they grow fast, are very resistant and a strong wood.




In the afternoon we visited a large beef cattle ranch with Melore cows where we learned about how the farmer did his pasture rotation with his cows which was very unique for that region. We saw his feedlot although he had no cows on the feedlot. The feedlot is usually used from July to November because its too hot the rest of the year. His cattle were divided in groups of 500 and rotated every four days between nine different pastures. This gives the grass growth time of 35 days between feedings and time to fertilize. This system was used with several different groups of cattle. It was quite interesting. He buys about 6000 head a year when he goes to the auction. The students had lots of questions for him and his English was very good so he took time answering each question. He seemed to have as much fun as the students.


The students took a break from paying attention and I caught them in action. On their behalf it was a very hot afternoon in our jeans and blue AZP shirts.
Monday night we returned to Antonio's and the students worked on the remainder of their projects and fine tuned them for presenting on Tuesday. Some got a good nights sleep while others worked late into the night. The projects went really well on Tuesday and you can see a sample of the groups.


Tuesday night we had our final dinner with the host families. The students were excited to see them again. Some have seen them since the host family weekend while others had not but all families were there. The restaurant we go to is a pizza restaurant but the waiters come around with 26 different pizzas. You name it, it's there including anchove, three cheese, celebreze, egg, shrimp, pineapple, banana, chocolate-strawberry etc, etc.





Today was a service learning day. There is a service organization in Piracicaba (MUCCAP) that for many years has built houses at a very low cost selecting families from those who apply for the project. AZP has painted 29 houses since we started and we added three more houses to the list today. We broke off into three groups, one group of five, one of ten and another of five. The second house was the biggest that we have ever attempted and the third house was probably the cutest. These houses are in a very poor part of Piracicaba and the third was deep into the flavelas. I was with the group of five who painted third house. We worked together really well. I know that at least two of the houses were featured in the local newspapers and some of the students were interviwed. The students worked very hard to complete all three houses. The families and MUCCAP are very appreciative of our efforts.





Throughout the blog I tried to include pictures of all the students. One student seemed to be a little camera shy and clearly avoided any pictures being taken of him. Well I grabbed him today on the way back to Antonios after painting. I didn't want you to think I had forgotten him throughout the pictures. The students were also treated to ice cream this afternoon. Oh by the way it was 104 degrees today while we were painting!! Yes, 104!!!! I will have to say that the students burned off all the calories of pizza they ate last night!!

Tomorrow morning many of the girls are treating themselves to manicures and/or pedicures, some students are buying last minute gifts and some will be sleeping in as they are enjoying their last night in Brazil at one of the interns fraternity houses. We had a nice barbecue and I left them dancing and enjoying themselves to finish the blog. We have a closing luncheon at a restaurant along the Piracicaba River and then we leave the hotel for the airport at 4:00 pm. Thanks goes to Ricardo Shirota, Ana Vitoria, Andres, Cristina, Professors Peres, Mello and Caron and the bus drivers.

I will have to say this has been another great group of students. I am very proud of them and their host families commented last night how much they had changed between their first meeting and last night. "So quiet and now so talkative and confident" they said. I always enjoy watching each student from Seminar 1 through the Washington D.C. trip. They each grow in their own special way but I always see that self confidence emerge. Class #13, you've been great!!! Please keep in touch.

Next time you hear from us we will be back in the United States.