Brasilia

Carol and I just returned from a weekend in Brasilia. In case you did not know, it is the capital of Brazil and very centrally located within the country. About thirty years ago, the city was planned in the shape of an airplane and sectioned off into sectors for each component of the city. The hotels have their own sector, the commercial center is sectored off, and the main “fuselage” of the plan is the government offices and ministries. My favorite part was getting to see the National Congress (pictured above). If you have ever studied modern architecture, you always run across this building by Oscar Niemeyer. Brasilia is pretty much like Oscar Niemeyer’s playground. He seems to have at least one of everything designed and built there. From an architecture point of view, this was a great place to experience for its rich desire to be a Modern city in plan, form, and execution. One of the best highlights from the trip was visiting the Cathedral. I have always loved church design! Besides the great experiences in architecture, Carol and I got to stay with some friends of our friends here in Itu. We stayed with Luis and Dora Mack, the brother and sister-in-law of our friend Jorge. They are so nice. It was a neat extension of the church here to see the influence one of their members is having as he now worships in Brasilia. Luis and Dora are very spiritual people and I adore the fact that they are so hospitable, kind, and caring. They made us breakfast everyday, cooked dinner for us, introduced us to Dora’s brother and sister-in-law who also had us over for dinner, and drove us everywhere we needed to go. They don’t have a car, but they borrowed her brothers’car just for us! Carol and I joined a study abroad geography class from Texas A&M on their last stop in Brazil which was Brasilia. We got to meet with the minister of economics for Brazil and study some of the neighborhoods and surrounding satellite cities. On Sunday, we spend the day with Luis and Dora. They took us to a fabulous bridge, the waterfront on the lake, the T.V. tower which gives an overview of the city, and to visit their good friends who have a new 2 month old baby!

Here is where my favorite story begins! Carol holds the baby (Isaac) for about 10 minutes and then she gives the baby to me! His dad got really excited and took out the camera for Isaac’s FIRST picture with an American! Carol and I are both Americans of course! I just laughed because I asked what happened to his first picture with a Mexican American! Carol is great and she didn’t say anything, I think she thought it was pretty funny too! Oh, and the man asked me if I was famous in America. I should have said I was famous only to my friends, but I said no. We left on Sunday night at 8:30 and got to Itu around 11:30 on Monday afternoon! Yay for long bus trips!

Now, we are currently getting ready for our first activity as interns: A social event for the youth and yuppie group as a kick-off party for the Olympics!


For pics from Brasilia, go to:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2062003&l=706df&id=54602315