Brazil

 Graffiti in Manaus, Brazil of a jungle scene.

 Small village along the Amazon. Houses only accessible via foot or riverway.

 Canoeing in the floating jungle of the Rio Negro and offshoot of the Amazon River.

Arrival in Brazil

I have rewritten this entry about 10 times. Trying to figure out how to say something witty, profound and unique about Brazil. My lack of success has meant that I am writing about Brazil upon departing from Ghana. I now find that my memories of events are already fuzzy. That the book knowledge I had learned from numerous pre-port lectures is beginning to wane. What I am left with is, my feelings, sordid memories and confusion about the complexities of poverty, globalization, and my own beliefs.

Recently, Brazil has been receiving positive attention from the World. From the fascination with their most recent and successful president affectionately known as “Lulu”, to Brazil’s successful application and award as hosts for both the World Cup and the future summer Olympics. It is a country with growing economic prosperity. However, there has also been a great deal of negative attention given to Brazil regarding the state of their Favela’s (inner-cities), issues of education, and of course the deforestation of the Amazon.  It is in the management of these polarities of economic growth and poverty, development and conservation that is at the crux of Brazil’s future.

We saw this polarity as we arrived in Manaus, Brazil on a Sunday. I found Manaus to be similar to Milwaukee….an old industrial town trying to reinvent itself in order to keep pace with the future. And while Manaus has many of the attributes of a mid-size city it is surrounded by jungle and farmland making it one of the main stays of employment within the area. Everyday we saw hundreds of individuals getting off water taxis to go to work, shop for items, see the doctor, and then return at night to the same water taxis for the long journey up the Amazon to their villages and homes. The Amazon River has several functions within this area. It is a superhighway for commerce and shipping, it is a resource for food and water in rural Amazonian villages, it is main system of transportation for others and it is an economic machine that draws tourism supporting employment for many Brazilians.

Like many who visit Brazil, our adventures in Brazil focused on the Amazon River basin and Jungle. The first day of our arrival we perused the market, went to the refurbished opera house and heard a local symphony featuring the works of Beethoven and Schubert. We spent the remainder of the day arranging a trip further into the jungle. We found a local hostel and made arrangements through a small eco-friendly tour operator called Amazon Antonio Jungle Tours. It turns out the owner, Antonio, a soft spoken, humble man has reworked how tourism can work in the Amazon. He own more than 300 acres of jungle, hires only locals from the bush, has built an eco-friendly sustainable hostel and creates a non-touristy way to see the jungle, explore the rivers and better understand the people and culture that resides in the bush of the jungle.  We had the opportunity to camp in the jungle, fish for piranhas, explore the floating jungles via canoes and spent enormous time talking with our friend and guide Francisco.

As I reflect on my experiences in Brazil here are just a few of the items I discovered/relearned and realized:

• American pop culture is exported in ways I never imagined. I watched a bad Jennifer Love Hewitt film translated into Portuguese on a bus on the way back from a remote village in the Amazon. I saw more pictures of Brittney Spears on newsstands than I see in the United States.
• Fresh caught grilled fish is always tasty no matter where you are, even piranha.
• Coke tastes better when made with real sugar vs. high fructose corn syrup.
• Paddling a canoe holds the same wonderment in the amazon as it does in Wisconsin. The boats are bigger, paddles are heavier, and seats are harder.
• Progress without education isn’t always positive. By introducing refrigerators to remote regions of the Amazon, there is no longer a need for individuals to fish on a daily basis, radically changing how individuals spend their time. Leading some individuals to feel a loss of purpose, as their time has not been filled with other duties or tasks. Most people want to feel useful.
• A strong educational system is essential to develop a middle class. A strong  middle class is essential to stabilize and grow a society. Creating a strong middle class is complex with challenges, issues and polarities that I never imagined.

 

 And while I could continue the above list for probably pages, I am still learning what I learned. After 5 days in the Amazon, 7 days at sea and then 5 days in Ghana I am still processing. I imagine the complete list of “stuff I am learning on this trip” will continue for years and years.

That said, way to go Pack! Pictures will come shortly, technical problems continue......