Busy in Marechal

We have been in Marechal Candido Rondon for a couple of days now and it has been non-stop ... and great! We were greeted by a large crowd of welcoming Rotarians on Tuesday afternoon at the gates of this European-founded city and whisked off to some tours of local whey processing facilities. A yummy German style dinner with our hosts at a local brewery ended our first day in this new city.

Our second day in Marechal began with a visit to the Mayor's office, followed by a tour of the city. In the afternoon we visited a property out in the country that makes ice using power from the river. It was really cool. Pun intended. We also had the opportunity to check out the construction site of a new hydroelectric dam, and had coffee and wonderful cakes and goodies at an orchid farm. A successful presentation at the Rotary club meeting ended our night. 

Today we were taken to the nearby town of Palotina to spend the day with some new Rotarian friends. Palotina is an agricultural town and so we spent the day touring various operations - leite, frango, peixe and porco. Lot's of farms! 

Rotary Meeting Francisco Beltrao Snapshots

A birthday gift for our good friend Nevio.

Some Toledo Highlights

Exploring the nice parks of Toledo!

Taking a moment to think.......

Meeting with the Mayor of Toledo, was a very good conversation.

Very nice vineyard, do you think I could bring this bottle home?

So much beer! It was very interesting to see the process, something like 10,000 cans/hour.

Colonia Brewery, you can't get much fresher beer than this!

Presenting at the Toledo Rotary Club

Relaxing by the pool, was such a nice day!

A Relaxing Sunday in Toledo

We enjoyed a relaxing Sunday fishing, chatting and soaking up the sun. The meal was delicious with freshly caught tilapia.

Rotary Club Meetings

One of our roles throughout this experience is to be ambassadors for Rotary - to build relationships across cultures and across clubs. In each city visited so far we have taken part in a meeting of one of the local Rotary Clubs where we have presented about ourselves, our vocations, Canada, and a little about Canadian culture - all in Portuguese. The Rotarians here in Brasil are very kind people ... and are patient with our attempts! 

                                          Iga speaking at the Guarapuava meeting

                                          Our group with Rotarians in Guarapuava

Francisco Beltrao

It's been a couple of days now that we have been in the beautiful city of Francisco Beltrao. As in the other cities, our host families have been very welcoming. We have been able to spend some quiet time with them which has been much appreciated. So far we have also toured the Flessak and Morel factories, had some vocational time, drank great wine at the beautiful Urio Park (where we had a tree planted in honour of the last GSE experience), sat in (and in some cases, took part in) a capoeira demonstration, and climbed up to see the Cristo. A great experience so far! 

Snapshots from Pato Branco

A few photos from my Pato Branco experience, I had a great time and met many great people, thanks to everyone who made the stay so enjoyable.

Watching the game with the guys

Caught two tilapia using a very primitive bamboo pole!

Traditional Brazilian tea, chimarrão, everyone drinks this in Pato Branco! Tasted like green tea.

Hydro Electric Power Plant

Beautiful church, the mosaic took 10 years to complete.

Me and my host family, very nice family!

Worshiping the sun! The view was amazing.

Last day in Pato Branco

Our last day in Pato Branco was a great one. We kicked off the day with a tour of the radio and television station, then off to the newspaper for a tour and interview. 

After yet another delicious lunch we were taken on a bus for a beautiful country drive to tour the hydraulic electric plant.

For a little relaxation, we visited a gorgeous home on the lake where we picked fresh oranges. Ohhh so sweet! Thanks to all those that made our stay in Pato Branco so enjoyable.

Arrival to Pato Branco

On Saturday morning we said our goodbyes to everyone in Guarapuava.  Two hours later we had a very warm welcome to Pato Branco with over 30 people greeting us with a welcome banner. After meeting our host families, we went to the local TV station for a quick hello and introduction on TV, we will be going back for an interview on Monday. We then went for a typical lunch which was delicious as usual. We all split up for a few hours and rejoined for dinner at a nice pizzeria and bbq place... the dessert pizzas were amazing!!

We were on after these guys......