Goodbye Gauchos!

My last day in Porto Alegre (Sat 17/06) was beautiful but cold, a welcomed change from the rain that fell non-stop for the seven days prior.  After bidding farewell to al of the other PASI attendees, David and I repeated out exploration of the city we had done on our first day.  The city was far more alive on Saturday than on Sunday.

 

After spending an hour freezing during an open-top bus tour, I was convinced that there truly was little of interest for tourists in Porto Alegre. Fortunately, what the city's attractions lacked in character, the people I met there more than made up for.

 

During my last week there, I attended a play (a comedy about a couple that bickered non-stop--in Portuguese, of course), spent several nights at Patric's, eating, drinking and playing guitar/singing with many of his friends and several other norteamericanos, and also had a late night dancing to a live pagode band (a type of Samba) with Adnre and Simone--I can use some lessons, but I think I held my own...

 

Having experienced many of the unique cultural nuances of Rio Grande du Sol and learned enough Portuguese expletives to get myself into some trouble, I was ready to move on.  While it was sad to leave all of my new friends, I think some alone-time will also be a welcomed change.

 

As for the results of the workshop, we all co-authored a 40-page "roadmap" outlining how to develop physics-based models of manufacturing processes, invert them, and use them to improve control of the process.  The paper was mediocre at best, largely just a regurgitation of intro-level controls, mechatronics, and modeling classes, with a bit of B.S. mixed in for god measure.  I'd estimate the U.S. Government spent about $1800/page for he paper, so thank you to all you tax-payers out there.

 

Let the adventure begin...

 

As would be expected, my night in the airport was borderline miserable.  I ouldn't find a bench or otherwise cusioned surface to sleep on, and the floor was a far cry from comfortable.  The six hours I spent there seemed like an eternity, and I felt a bit like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal".

 

After a large cafe com leite to supplement my lack of sleep, I boarded a bus and then subway bound for downtown Sao Paulo.  My sightseeing kicked off with a visit to Liberdade, a district of the city home of 1,000,000+ Japanese.  Just outside the train station were stalls serving cheap and delicious japanese treats such as shrimp (tempura) pancakes, dumplings, and sweet bean cakes, which combined to form a great breakfast.

 

A short stroll from "Tokyo Town" tok me to Praca da Se, a square adjacent to the magnificent Catedral Metropolitana which was thoroughly littered with homeless people.  Some slept wrapped in blankets, some on bare concrete (which I know first-hand is not pleasant), others bathed in the otherwise ornamental fountain, and some just socialized.  I felt a tinge of guilt (maybe fear to) as I captured the sight on my digital camera.

 

I continued my tour wit a visit to the Sao Bento convent, arriving just in time to watch the monks lead perhaps a thousand worshipers in Sunday mass with Gregorian chants.  The old gold paint cast a warm glow thorughout the room.  You have to admire the power of religion to have inspired such amazing churches, mosques, etc. throught the world.

 

The rest of my day was spent visiting the municipal market stocked with exotic produce and gourmet imports, viewing incredibly creative artwork in the booths which lined the city's Praca da Republica, sampling Chilean empanadas and acai smoothies, getting a R$15 massage to undo a night spent on the floor, and relaxed in a cafe to write about my day's adventure.  Suffice it to say, Sao Paulo made for a great day while I awaited my trip to Manaus.

 

Welcome to the Jungle...

 

After a late arrival in Manaus, I enjoyed 5 hours of sleep before waking up to explore the city.  Sadly, the rest was not enough to rid me of the sore throat/cold I developed.  I stayed in the hostel for a few hours and watched a movie with some of the other travellers until the rain subsided around 2:30pm.  I had a productive day after that, seeing some of the sights, eating some fried plantains and a tasty fried fish lunch, and making a reservation for a 3 or 4 day trip into the jungle.  I'll get to see "the meeting of the waters", canoe, fish, hike, sleep in hammocks, get mauled by mosquitoes, and see lots of wildlife--I'll save the description until after I've done it...I got a pretty good deal, and will be going with Planet Tours ( www.planettours.com.br/).  I'm pretty sure they won't have internet in the middle of the jungle, so it will be a while before the next update. 

 

pictures to follow...