Posted in Brazil on Dec 14th, 2008
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Santos Dumont
museum
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The 14-bis – Objections – Ingrained fact – A contract – Cluster Ballooning. (Map this!)
I have it on good authority that the Wright brothers were NOT first in flight. That distinction belongs to Alberto Santos Dumont of Brazil. Santos Dumont was born in Brazil and spent most of his aeronautical career in France. It was there that he designed and flew the “14-bis”, the name of his aircraft that has the distinction of producing the first powered heavier than air flight in Europe. On September 13th, 1906, Dumont took to the air with the 14-bis, and found his way into the history books. Or not, it depends on who you talk to. Brazilians will stick to this story as it is what they have learned in school.
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Posted in Brazil on Dec 10th, 2008
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With Dalva
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Visiting Panambi – Community – A talk. (Map this!)
“Panambi?, Where’s that?” The immigration officer at the border at Saõ Borja asked us. Panambi is a small town of 30,000 people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The residents are mostly German immigrants, the Portuguese spoken here varies quite a bit from the language we heard in the Northern states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana. Set in a hillside among trees, the town with its German architecture is quite pleasing.
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Posted in Brazil on Dec 4th, 2008
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Madonna
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Utopia – Happiness – Jesuit Missions – Seductive idea
According to the Cambridge dictionary Utopia is defined as “a state where everyone is happy”. All of us may not agree with this definition, since the word is quite overloaded and seems to be interpreted differently by almost everyone I talked to. The Colombia Encyclopedia defines Utopia as “an ideal state where all is ordered for the best for humanity as a whole and where the evils of society, such as poverty and misery, have been eliminated”. Already we have significant disagreement between these two widely used and respected sources; the first is tautologically equivalent to unreachable, while the second may perhaps be achieved through very hard work.
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Posted in Brazil, Videoblog on Nov 29th, 2008
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Through the lens
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A swampy paradise – Tranpantaneira – Dangerous Jobs for Women. (Map this!)
The Pantanal is a tropical wetland in Brazil, a swampy paradise for birdwatchers and nature lovers. During the rainy season, a large part of the Pantanal is inaccessible due to flooding. The Transpantaneira road is a gravel road 147 kms long with almost as many bridges spanning it.
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Posted in Brazil on Nov 24th, 2008
Black Sunday- Gasohol – Blue Monday – Goodbye to Brazil. (Map this!)
Nov 23rd, 2008: Black Sunday. Today was the worst day on our trip. Today, we found out that highest grade Brazilian gas that we have been filling in our car contains more than 20% (23%, to be exact) alcohol. This much alcohol can be damaging to the car’s fuel system and can cause major problems like fuel pump malfunction. So, we have decided to abandon our grand Amazonian adventure and leave Brazil by the shortest route.
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