Another Chapter...

Just twenty-five short hours after leaving Berkeley, I have arrived at the Manhattan Apartments in Porto Alegre, Brazil.  I'll be here for the next 13 days participating in a technical workshop.  If you want to know more about what I'm actually doing, you can check out the program website at http://www.engr.utexas.edu/pasi .  The primary detail about the program that matters is that it gets me a free trip to Brazil!  Although the workshop ends on June 15th, I don't return to the states until July 15th (give or take a few weeks), leaving plenty of time to experience the multitude of tastes, sights, sounds, and climates of Brazil. 

 

After the next 13 days in Porto Alegre (which is in the south), I will probably head to Iguazu Falls, the largest waterfall in the world (i think) for a few days, and then make my way to Manaus.  Manaus is centrally located in the Amazon which is significantly warmer than Porto Alegre this time of year, a great base from which to embark on some river-boat cruises and jungle trekking, and to enjoy the annual Amazon folk festival which takes place during the second half of the June.

 

My post-workshop schedule is poorly defined at this point, but I plan to visit the northeastern part of Brazil as well to enjoy some warmer beach-weather the heavy African influence.  Time (and money) permitting, I'll shoot over to Peru to check out Machu Pichu and enjoy a break from attempts at speaking Portuguese.

 

From what I've seen on the plane, southern Brazil somewhat resembles the green rolling hills of CA (think wine country), but far more expansive.  All of the people I encountered at the airport were super nice, and I haven't gotten robbed yet!  So it should promise to be an exciting summer.  I counted, and I think this is the 25th country I've been to in the last 8 years (although i could be forgetting some...).  But still, this is the first time I will have travelled alone for an extended period.

 

Anyway, I'll be posting periodically to share my thoughts, so feel free to read along if you're interested or just bored.