Já sei namorar

CARNAVAL!!!!!!

So we went to Carnaval...I know what you are thinking..."That is a horrible idea. Isn't that the most wicked thing on earth?" But turns out the samba parades are very family oriented...full of old people and children. In fact, I am pretty sure most of these people usually wear less clothes, but for Carnaval they all get dressed up. Its like a big marching band parade with everyone playing the same repetitive music. They make a bunch of fancy floats and walk down through the middle of a stadium. It was cool, and if I liked parades I might go again, but since I hate parades I think I am done with samba. (Disclaimer: I did leave before 10pm. It might get a little saltier later in the evening)

Here is some Pupunha. It grows on palm trees and tastes like a really fibery potato, and some how has a hint of butter without putting any butter on it. I don't understand.

To eat pupunha, one must boil it until it becomes soft.

Monkeys are hilarious, although sometimes dirty and they eat out of the trash. Of course there are a lot of people who eat out of the trash. These people, however, are not as adorable as this monkey.

This is pretty much just to prove that I was here with this monkey, and that I did not get this picture off the interwebs.

This is a delicious Sunday dinner I made for the gods.

(I breaded the pork chops with some seasoned mandioca farinha, and it was delicious)

Here is our first Self Employment Workshop group. They all have ideas to start their own businesses, some are better than others, but know at least they all have some kind of plan.

Mais fotinhas

This last week we took a little road trip to Presidente Figuereido.

Here is Edivaldo making my breakfast. Its kind of like a tapioca flour tortilla filled with cheese and fruit. i would highly recommend it.

This is for Wendy. I am teaching the local indigenous population correct creeping techniques. It is important for their economic development.

Sean and I love to do awesome things all the time.

This is on the trail on the way to the waterfalls.

After a hard day of swimming through jungle rivers and playing amazing waterfalls, Sean and I take a moment to ponder the beauty that surrounds us.

This is Cachoeira do Santuário.

This is the head of an ant that decided to bite Isabella's foot. These ants have massive pinchers that do not let go even when the body is no longer attached. I had to use a key to pry the pinchers out of her foot.

Here is a full ant that decided to bite her sandal. That thing is stuck in the rubber. The local indians have a test before a boy can become a man and a hunter, he has to put his arm in a nest of these ants.

This is over at my friend Richard's house. He has a ton of neices and nephews and although they were not quite as cool as my neices and nephews, it was a lot of fun to play games for a couple hours.

Here is me and Richard and his fiancé Ana out by Ponta Negra and Hotel Tropical.

This is the little bridge thing we were standing on in the previous picture.

These are some crazy looking little fruits that I have never seen anywhere else in Brazil. Everyone I ask tells me a diffrent name for the fruit, so I am not really sure what it is called.

The inside of this fruit might very well be the fruit from the tree of life. It is white and amazingly delicious. It is very sweet and there are a few little seeds inside.

This is genipapo. They had it in Bahia and it was one of those things that most Americans hated so I drank it all the time.

To make juice from genipapo you must wash the outside very thoroughly, then you scoop out the inside and through it away, then cut up the rest and put it in the blender with water and sugar. It tastes and looks like it you took all the rotting leaves out of you raingutter and mixed them with gasoline. but it is supposed to be super good for you especially if you have low iron.

Os industrios de Manaus

January 21, 2010

After an amazing party thrown by our first class and lunch with our office, the Employment Specialist from our office, Carlos Valente, gave us a tour of the industrial area of Manaus. Carlos is a native of Manaus and has worked his way up from selling Picolé (a kind of popsicle) in the street, to working in a factory, to being a teacher, to being a principal, to being in charge of multiple schools, to working for the Employment Center which is the highest paying of all of the previous jobs.

There is a massive area along the Amazon River outside of Manaus that has been dedicated exclusively for the use of large factories. As more factories move in this area keeps growing and they cut out more and more rain forest. There are preserves through out the whole area where factories are not allowed to build to protect the wildlife, but I do not understand how such a small isolated area in the middle of so much pollution could protect any wild animal. There are over 400 large factories in this one area and together they employ over 100,000 people. This area has been the economic lifeblood of Manaus since the rubber boom faded out in the 1920’s. As we drove around I spotted many familiar brands such as Sony, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Procter and Gamble, Samsung, Kodak, 3M, Petrobras, LG, RCA, and the list goes on. They produce everything from steel to cars to motorcycles to laptops to the little aluminum part that opens the top of your can of soda. It was truly amazing to see how much was being produced and all the people that are being employed. We got to experience a little part of this because some of the factories starting letting out the masses of employees as we left, and we got caught in a little bit of traffic. Thousands of buses take the factory worker to and from work everyday. Some were nice buses with air conditioning and others looked like Bahian buses with plastic seats. I wondered why there were so many factories and refineries here in Manaus, because to me it did not make sense to transport all the raw materials to the middle of jungle just to be transported back. After asking a few questions and confirming online, it turns out that back when Castelo Branco, the first dictator, started taking control of Brazil in 1964, the government imposed a heavy tax and many regulations on especially business, some of which exist until today. The only area that was left untouched was the state of Amazonas. This whole area was set-aside as a Free Trade Area and was thus free from taxes or regulations. Some things have changed since then, but compared with the rest of Brazil, Amazonas is relatively free of taxes and regulations with regards to big business. The difference is incredible between Manuas and Bahia where I served my mission. Manaus is buzzing center of commerce; business has flourished and the over all standard of living is much higher for everyone. It is interesting how much difference government regulation makes in how successful businesses can be.

Algumas Fotinhas

This is the afore mentioned Teatro das Amazonas

(and yes I took this picture and messed with the filters myself :)

This is our first class after the first week. They all completed the career workshop and are on their way to promising careers. It was a lot of fun, but I probably drilled them harder than necessary because I wanted the first group to do really well on their interviews....And from what I understand they all nailed it :)

Starting from the back we have Edilson, Ralfy, Jennyfer, me, Tiago, Sean, Next row: Laura, Michele, Nayara, Adeilza, Nazaré, Ceiça, Marco Very Front: Márcio and Angelo

This is just down the street about ten minutes walking from where we live. This is a floating port that moves with the changes in the level the river. This is the Rio Preto or Black River.

Another picture from the floating dock. There is a full fledge customs office here because of all the foreigners that come to this port.

This is the closest church to my apartment...unfortunately its not true :(

There were probably 10,000 people in the streets around the church for the celebration of São Sebastião. (Saint Sebastion) He must have done something other than The Little Mermaid because I didn't even like him that much in that movie.

Here is an awesome outdoor mass with some crazy loud music and sacrament. You know...just if you are into that sort of thing.

Teatro das Amazonas

On Sunday January 17^th, in the year of our Lord 2010, Sean and I were able to attend a free symphonic concert in the nearby theater. With marble from Italy, furnishing from Paris, and roofing tiles from France, the Amazon Theater is literally a little part of Europe in the middle of the rainforest. As we walked towards the renaissance style building I felt like I had been transplanted into Western Europe until I saw the brightly colored green and yellow mosaic surrounding the dome on the top that could only be Brazilian. Even though the concert was free we were still greeted by a full staff, answering questions and helping music lovers to their seats. The inside of the theater continued with the same renaissance era décor. Very ornate woodwork, crown molding, and immodest murals decorated the entire interior. We were a little bit early but most the theater was already full. Inside the main theater room was breathtaking. An enormous chandelier lit the names of every famous composer I have ever heard of and many with whom I am not familiar. We sat on the fifth story balcony in the first row so we could rest our heads on the burgundy velvet-padded banister.

As the orchestra began taking their seats I noticed the vast differences in age, appearance, and race. The audience, although not dressed as well as the orchestra, seemed to be for the most part middle to upper class, and very diverse as well. The symphony played flawlessly. I was amazed at the musician’s talent as they were able to play the lively, upbeat music in unison. I did not recognize any of the music, but it seemed familiar and it was easy to enjoy. We had to leave early in order to have sufficient time to prepare for our lesson the next day, but it was an enjoyable experience and I look forward to going back.

CHEGUEI!!!!

OK so I have been awake for 24 hours straight and in this delusional state I decided it would be a wonderful idea to start a blog (because that is what delusional people do)

When I say I have been awake for 24 hours straight that might be a bit of an exaggeration, in fact I slept for a solid 13 minutes on the plane until the handicapped guy in the seat behind me decided he liked to lean over the top of my chair. (Yes, Dad. He was retarded.) So instead of sleeping, I made a new friend and watched a lot of movies, which are two of my favorite things to do.

This is Sean Watson. He is from southern California and he will be accompanying me on my adventures. I almost said that he will be my companion but that sounds strange in a non-missionary context. So to avoid having the masses who follow this blog via the interweb think that I am living some kind of alternative Brazilian lifestyle, I will simply state that he is

my room mate and he will be working in the same office as I. Sean is a great guy and I am excited to get to work with him. He also slept very well on the plane and is asleep right now, so when I slip into a coma here in a little bit I will expect him to periodically brush the flies from my face. Just kidding… There are no flies in my apartment. It is probably one of the nicest apartments in which I have ever lived. Wood floors. Tile bathroom. Hard wood furniture. TV in the bedroom and living room. Fridge. Two AC units. Pool. Gym. AND our apartment building is in the center of the city and very close to all the old town buildings like the Opera House.

Here is Sean napping in the sauna. Why is there a sauna in the rainforest? I don’t know. It is just slightly hotter and more humid than outside, but I guess it makes people feel rich and fancy.

We were picked up this morning by our office manager, Carlos Pires. He is an amazing guy who got his MBA from BYU and has worked for a few very large corporations both in the US and Brazil. We swung by the office, which is incredible, and it really got me excited to start on Monday. I had better sneak a nap in before I am expected to do anything. Ate Mais!!!!