Independence

Today was an early day at CADEC, so I woke up at 6:30. There were 27 kids at CADEC today and I think all of them drank a pot of coffee before they came. This is one of the most tiring jobs I have ever done. Not only are all the kids screaming above each other to be heard, I can't understand what they are saying! I really was dragging by about 10:30 and resorted to sitting down with some of the boys and just trying to talk. We had tried to teach them American games to play earl (duck duck goose, wheelbarrow race, etc) but they cheat at whatever we do. It really is hard to explain something when everyone is talking, and even harder when you don't know the language.

After lunch we had class with Jaime and Daniel at the clinic. I really look forward to our class discussions and I think this has become the highlight of my normal day. The first picture is of me and Jaime after class. We talked about a variety of subjects, but there are a few that I found very interesting. From what I gathered from our lecture today, education is one of the keys to Brazil's success in the future. The students here only go to school for 4 hours per day and many don't go or finish college. This reminded me a lot of our class sessions in Africa because it appears that both developing countries need education before anything else. This conversation made me very proud of my girlfriend and members of my family for choosing to work in education. It is such a great calling and is in such high demand. Other facts about the education here is that it is not a liberal arts education but more professional. For example, you can become a doctor here in 5 years total because the courses are focused on only medicine. This sounds great to me, but I can't imagine where I would be if not for my liberal arts education. I certainly would not be in Brazil!

Of the few who have attended higher education, most fall into the Brain Drain. I was amazed to find that there are 300,000 illegal aliens Brazilians living in America today. These 300,000 illegal aliens is the 2nd largest group only to Mexicans. Most of these people are not manual laborers but rather are using their degrees to attain highly paid jobs. For example, a medical doctor here is only allowed to work a 20 hour week at one place. For these 20 hours they are paid ~$2,500 BR per month. Usually they pick up 3 of these positions at hospitals which brings there income total to ~$7,500 BR per month. This is only equal to about $4,000 USD! Why wouldn't you come to America! (Actually I did find one reason- In Brazil there is no such thing as medical malpractice but is rather attributed to "an act of God")

After class Daniel and Geli took us to UFES. They dropped us off and then we were on our own. After 3.5 hours of class, we had to figure out our way home. Thankfully I spotted a very crowded bus that took us right past our house and bypassed an extra terminal. The bus drivers here are really crazy and I now know why there are not a lot of amusement parks in Brazil- Ride a bus!

The classes at UFES have been very helpful and I am doing better when trying to pronounce things while reading. It is when I must string a sentence together in my head that I have a lot of trouble.

After I walked Nicole home, I walked back to my place. It was actually pretty scary and I don't think I will take a bag to UFES next time. I could feel eyes on me almost all the way home. Once I got home, the house was dark. I had forgotten that my family was going to an aunt's graduation. The second picture is what I had for dinner and is pretty typical here. The rice and beans are a staple of EVERY meal and the fish here is very fresh. The third picture is of my frig. As you can see there is not much to eat around the house, especially now that I am here.