Catarina Williams, one of our 2012 fellows, expressed her experience in Brazil through paint. She comments on her work: With the series of watercolor paintings and drawings I created while in Salvador da Bahia, I focused on emulating the rich, colorful, and vibrant life of the Brazilian people and their city. I used bright colors to enhance [...]
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Once we had returned home, we asked our Brazilian students to tell us about their experience with the US-Brazil Connect program. Here’s what they said: “We were able to work together and share knowledge at the same time. We had fun and learned many things. We surpassed our challenges and created cool videos. I enjoyed [...]
A Beautiful and Dangerous Idea
My kid and I were on the expressway last Sunday, coming back from a baseball tournament in Wapakoneta. (It’s a great name for a town, yes? Probably stolen from a now extinct local Indian tribe—but that’s a topic for another blog.) It was one of those rare opportunities for a father and son to bond. [...]
Before We Left
(Written on the day we left.) It’s 9:35am here in Bahia and our bus to the airport leaves at 3:30. I will begin the tedious flight back to the United States at 5:55pm. I thought keeping a blog on this journey would be easy, but I have found it quite difficult. Most of this experience [...]
Letter from Tayná Rabelo Andrade Santos
Here is the translation of Tayná’s letter reflecting on her experience learning English with EBEP/US-Brazil Connect in Salvador, June 5- July 3, 2012. Special thank you to Chloe Hill for the translation. FEELINGS– a language used by the heart, a set of emotions and physical sensations. In these last weeks, it was possible to experience such diverse [...]
July 4th, 1976
Words that come from the heart are never spoken; they get caught in the throat and can only be read in ones’s eyes.” ― José Saramago Dear Coaches, It was the night of July 4, 1976. I certainly wasn’t thinking about you. I was not imagining that you would be born one or two decades [...]
Shopping for the Soul
Salvador Shopping is a mall like any other super-fancy American mall. You go there to buy a little something, maybe you have a list of things to buy. Soon, you are feeling anxious because of all the variety. You get dizzy. Maybe your palms sweat. It’s the beginning of agoraphobia, a real condition. (The term [...]
Sentimentos…
Djalma Pessoa student Tayná Rabelo Andrade Santos wrote a beautiful note about her experience as a participant in the EBEP/US-Brazil Connect Program (translation in English will be posted this week) SENTIMENTOS, uma linguagem usada pelo coração, um conjunto de emoções e sensações físicas. E nessas últimas semanas, foi possível vivenciar situações tão diversas, que nos levaram [...]
Like a Duck
US- Brazil Connect Blog “Where your eyes don’t go a filthy scarecrow waves his broomstick arms and does a parody of each unconscious thing you do. When you turn around to look it’s gone behind you on its face it’s wearing your confused expression where your eyes don’t go .” – They Might Be Giants – [...]
Brazil and Sustainability: Signs of an Emerging National Consciousness
At first blush, Brazil might strike one as a nation ill-suited for leadership in the area of sustainability. In Salvador, for instance, there is little semblance of ergonomic urban planning. The morning air tastes like diesel. The streets are not pedestrian- or bicycle-friendly. It is quite the reverse. Mass transit, in the sole form of [...]
