Guarapuava Day 3 - Eric

At this point the group is getting split up for different activities and vocational visits. We do some things together, like eat lunch, but then we split up the group to see our vocations, or related fields here in Brazil.

I started out the day with breakfast with my host family, it is pretty quiet as they don't speak any english. I get by with my phrase book and google translate. Edder, the son of Doralice can speak a little english so that definitely helps.

The group met to get a tour of the University Unicentro and meet the director. It was a good overview of all the programs and we had the help of a translator to fully understand. It is great that as long as the student has good marks here, they do not pay for University, it is paid for by tax dollars.

After the tour we went out for yet another delicious lunch and then went to our vocation visits. I didn't have anything scheduled for a little bit so Edder took me to his families cottage just outside the City. It is a beautiful piece of property with a cottage and even a soccer field.

After that I went for a vocational visit to the water and wastewater treatment plants. Very similar to Canada in design and operation, with some differences. It was interesting to see their processes, the water treatment plant was under construction due to some changes in environmental policy and also to increase efficiency and recycle more water.

Tonight, we are off for a nice dinner and then I have heard about a party with my host families son so it should be a fun night, stay tuned for more pictures!

We are in Guarapuava!

We officially started the GSE experience yesterday in Guarapuava with another warm welcome - this time from our host families. No time was wasted as we jumped right into a tour of Entre Rios (a district within the city composed of 5 Germanic-Slavic colonies) and a visit to the cultural museum. A quiet evening with our host families rounded out the day.

Today we had a visit with the Mayor of Guarapuava followed by an afternoon visiting one of the local Rotary projects - a collaboration of the Rotary and the military. This project provides space and resources for kids and youth to access extracurriculars - more study time, sports, music and art. We were welcomed to take part in a Mother's Day celebration for the families of these boys and were definitely an attraction to them! Tonight we are off to our first Rotary Club visit and presentation. Wish us luck!

Words cannot express the gratitude for all that we have received here in Curitiba thanks to the kindsness of Rogerio and Joao carlos of Fransico Beltrao.

Curitiba Day 2 Part 2

After the botanical gardens, we went for a tour of the future World Cup stadium in Curitiba, this was such a nice privilege and not many people get to stand on the field and walk through the same spot the players do.

Standing on the field where players will be playing the World Cup matches in 2014!

Lunch at Madalosso, the biggest restaurant in Curitiba, they feed you so much food here!

Tangua Park, one of the beautiful parks around Curitiba, the view was amazing!

The view from one direction, pictures do not do it justice!

Waiting for our ride for a night out at Taj, a very fancy Japanese bar, it was so dark in there we needed flashlights to read the menu!

Afterwards, Taj was a blast!

Last day in Curitiba

We got to sleep in a bit today which was a nice treat, we then went for a talk from the Governor's daughter who works at IAP, an environmental organization that works to protect and conserve Parana's environment. This was a very informative session and it was great to learn about the issues that Parana is facing environmentally.

Well what can we say ... 2.5 days is not enough time to see all of the amazing things this city has to offer. But we sure are trying! Today included a visit with IAP (the Environmental Department of the Parana Government), a tour through the world famous Museu Oscar Neimeyer and a stroll through a very large mall. Tomorrow we are off to our first official GSE stop in Guarapuava. Thank you to our wonderful hosts in Curitiba, and we look forward to meeting our next hosts!

Curitiba Day 2 Part 1

We woke up well rested for our busy day touring the beautiful City of Curitiba. We had a lot of stops and sights so see and it was supposed to be a hot day, around 27 degree high.

We started off the day with a tour of the botanical gardens, it was a really nice park right in the heart of the City.

Jardim Botanico

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Curitiba Day 1

We checked into the hotel and took a bit of time to get ready before we headed our for lunch. Unfortunately it was Mother's day so everywhere was very busy, we found a great place that only had a 20 minute wait, the restaurant had food and cachaca outside to make the wait easier. We were all excited to try our first Churrasco! And let me tell you, they did not stop bringing us food, we all needed a nap after this lunch.