First week in Brazil

After a really difficult goodbye to family and friends the journey starts. Me and my mom spent the night before departure at Van Der Valk Hotel near Schiphol airport. This way we didn't risk to get stuck in traffic jam. At D-Day (Departure Day 😉) we had breakfast at the airport and again after a difficult goodbye we went to the customs. But time was short and the queue was really long, really... long... and we were the last in line. I figured we wouldn't make it in time to pass through the customs and board on time, short story we will miss our flight this way. (By "we" I mean Katinka and I, Katinka is a fellow student from the HAS who is also going to Brazil by Living Lab Biobased Brazil). 

Sooo I asked an airport employee what to do, because our flight was already boarding and we have 30 minutes left. It was genius, we could skip the whole row and were directly at the customs turn. After the customs we hurried to the boarding gate and we were one of the last to board (10 minutes I think before departure). Departure time was planned at 10:35 local time, we departed at 11:15. 

It was a long flight to Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport, about 11,5 hours. Luckily time passed quickly and I wasn't alone to travel. I watched 2 movies (The Accountant and The Secret Live of Pets), good movies 😄. The rest of the time I eat or talked to Katinka. 

I believe we arrived as planned around 18:35. At Rio we went first through a Federal Police check, after that we could get our luggage. Our next flight from Rio to Belo Horizonte departs at 22:00 local time (LT) (time in the Netherlands was 4 hours later). But there was (again) little time to rest... we had to get our boarding pass. And that was harder than it should be. Short story, we had to walk a lot back and forth along a long distance within the airport. This was due miscommunicatie, if I think about it its a funny story for another time. Eventually we arrived at the right person and we were helped smoothly but a little bit odd (different than everybody else). Now there was a short time for a Starbucks.

Again we had to hurry through the customs (which went smooth) to the boarding gate were they already started boarding.

When we finally arrive in Belo Horizonte we were picked up by a professor who's working at EPAMIG Belo Horizonte. But by this time it was already past 23:00 (LT), so it was planned to spent the night at his home. It was over 1 hour driving to his home, but it was worth it. On our way to his house it was foggy and it started to rain, the it can in the tropics. The final part of the road was really steap and slippery, truly sensational. The house was located in the subtropical jungle, the neighborhood was guarded by man with guns...😯

At our arrival it was past 00:00 (LT), but we couldn't go to bed without trying some bread, cheese and palmito (=palmhart, het binnenste van bepaalde palmbomen) with cachaça (strong alcoholic drink).

For the sound impression

Real jungle sound everywhere, beautiful house. The next day we got a Brazilian breakfast consisting of bread, cheese, fruit, chocolade bread (not Brazilian) and pão de queije (=kaastbrood). Afterwards we got a small tour around his house and later we had lunch with rice and beans, some fries, a salad en fruit. Now it was time to leave for Viçosa. On our way we discussed different political topics (corruption, the economical crisis, the large differences between rich and poor and more). And we enjoyed the diverse landscape.

After a 4,5 hour drive we finally arrived in Viçosa. I was welcomed by my housemates and their friends. The same day and next few days I was busy with finding my way around Viçosa. Nathan (one of the housemates) helped me with finding furniture and helps me with everything I need to know. For now I only have a bed and wardrobe. I still not completly used to the climate and the time difference. The South-American people or Brazilian people as the prefer to be called strikes me as really relaxed. And most of them are really nice and willing to help wherever they can. And then there are the meals... it is really tempting to go out for diner for lunch and diner. Most restaurants have a buffet where you pay per kilo, can you believe that! And the price per kilo is also really affordable, mostly I pay around €4,- per meal.

Traditional lunch in Brazil

And lucky for me the have also some good thing that will remember me of the Netherlands! Like they have Nutella and Heinz!! 
I'm Loving it! 

I always feel sorry for these stray dogs.

One is even on the doorstep of 

my apartment building.

Another thing I noticed is, there are a lot of stray dogs. I was told citizens occasionally take care of them. They wash them, feed them and pet them for a short time, but afterwards they have to let the dog go because they don't have sufficient money to pet them for ever. It is a sad story with a silver lining. Speaking of dogs, Nathan has his own dog at the apartment. And one of the restaurants owners has also a dog. It seems both are very fond of me, check pictures below.

The dog on the right sleeping on my feet is Boris. This is Nathans dog. The fluffy dog right beneath Boris is the restaurant dog. Probably he likes me due the food 😇, he ain't getting anything... alright maybe... a little bit... No I am joking, I didn't do anything, I am just a dog person 😊. His name is Paco by the way, aren't you hypothesized yet? Those eyes...

Because of the holiday I can't really start yet with my project. The schools will start on March 6th. Also I received additional information about my project topic. I will not only work with the drying technique of coffee beans but also with the preparation of the green berries after harvesting. Most likely I will explain this in another post where I will explain the whole coffee production process. Because in order to fulfill my project I also need to know the whole coffee production process. So more about that later.

Lastly some pictures I made during my days of discovering Viçosa, see below.

This is the view from my bed.

This is when I look down from my window. It is kind of a park, there is actually a funny story about it. So if I understood it correctly, Brazil has a law which forbid to build buildings above a river. The original building plan for this apartment building was to make one whole building. But when the contractor discovered that this wasn't possible because of the river (if you watch closely you see a river in the green zone). So they split up the building and made a green park between them above the river. 

This is where the campus starts (campusview).

This is (as far as I know) the only church in Viçosa. In front of it there is a square with a small market.

Well that is it for now, you will hear from me soon. I hope you enjoyed reading this. 

Over and out 😎