Brazil is the Place To Go

Brazil is an amazing place with tons of things to do. It has one of the seven wonders of the world, and is hosting the 2014 World Cup, along with the 2016 Summer Olympics. Brazil also has the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest. Most likely because of this, Brazil is also home to more than 4 million different species of plants and animals. Brazil is also big producer of coffee, exporting more than 3 billion pounds a year, which is about 30% of the global market. That means if your a fan of coffee, this is the place for you. If you are a fan of soccer, of futbol, then Brazil is still a good place for you to go. The Brazil national team has won the World Cup 5 times, and soccer is a very popular sport there. Basically, in Brazil, there is plenty to do, and with such a diverse culture, anyone can fit in. Go to Brazil in 2014 or 2016, and see some exhilarating sporting events, along with a diverse culture!

July 14, 2014 - Anima Mundi and Take Off

Today is our last day in Brazil. It has been an excellent trip, one we will never forget. Since we didn't want to waste our last day, we decided to attend Anima Mundi, which is an animation festival in Brazil. It shows all different kinds of films, from films made by children, to full fledged films that are for hire. The people who attend are all given ballots, and there is a competition for the general vote. As we walk around, we see lots of cool films, some extremely amateur, and some amazingly professional. One film we saw, which we are not allowed to discuss with people outside the festival, was complete with special effects and other amazing features. The movie sold for 13.3 million dollars, and will probably be released soon. Matt, John, Josh, and Will are all interested in the action packed thriller type stuff, but I also go and watch some claymation films, which are movie made picture by picture of slight movements of clay figures. We all got so immersed in this one movie, that we lost track of time. When we look at our watches we realize our flight is leaving in 2 hours. We rush back to our hotel, and get packed as quickly as we can. With an hour left until our flight takes off, we are just leaving the hotel. We got to the car rental place, and turn in our car. Then we have to take a taxi to the airport. When we reach the airport, we have less than 30 minutes until departure. We hear a call for our plane in the distance, but it is so faint we can't make out what they are saying. We rush through all the steps, and get quite a few angry stares along the way. We finally reach our gate, only to find that our flight had been delayed by an hour.

July 13, 2014 - World Cup Final

July 13, 2014
    Today we are going to the World Cup Final. We are all super excited. We decided to head over to the stadium early to see if there were any pregame parties. Apparently we weren't the only ones. When we got within a mile of the stadium, the streets were packed with people. We decided to park, and walk to a bar to wait for the game to start. While we were at the bar, multiple people got into fights over who would win the game, and plenty of other people were placing bets. About an hour before the game started we decided to head to the game. It took us forever to get into the stadium. They checked us and our bags, and our tickets. It was like trying to get into an airport. As we walk into the stadium, we see the huge arena. There are thousands of people here and there are almost no seats empty. We try to find our seats, but soon realize we are on the wrong side of the stadium. We rush to the other side, and when we get there and rush up to our row. As we sit down, the whistle blows to start the game.
    After the game, there are a lot drunks walking around the city. When we reach our car, it is surrounded by people when we start it up, people start pushing it back and forth. The car starts tipping back and forth. Soon they get bored and move on. It takes about an hour to get back to the hotel. We are all extremely tired, and go to sleep as soon as we get home.

July 12, 2014 - Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge

Today we are going to the Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge, which is in Brazilia. The bridge spans Lake Paranoá and is 1,200 meters long. It has areas on both sides for pedestrians and cyclist, but also has 3 lanes for car to drive in both directions. It is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, a former president of Brazil who decided to make Brasilia the capital of the country. The bridge is supported by massive 200-foot tall archways that go diagonally across the bridge. The bridge was designed by Alexandre Chan and Mario Vila Verde.
We start by going to were the bridge starts and parking the car. We have decided to walk along the bridge instead of simple drive across it. When we start walking, we are all excited. Once we get out onto the bulk of the bridge, we all look down. It is a huge drop. We decide not to do that again, and just try to forget about it. John, trying to act cool, decides to look over the edge again. Apparently that was to much for him, and he got a little light headed. We stop for about five minutes, and John drinks some water I had in my backpack. Then he says he feels fine, and we start walking the rest of the way across, while making sure that John stays away from the edge. We get halfway there, and decide we don't want to have to walk all the way across the bridge twice, there and back, so we turn around and walk back to our car.

July 11, 2014 - Oswald Cruz Foundation

Today we are taking a tour of the Oswald Cruz Foundation. When it was first started its goal was to develop a cure of vaccine for the bubonic plague. Later it starting delving into researching other experimental vaccines and testing them. In 2007 it announced that they might have made a gel that would reduce the spread of HIV. The center now has a large role in keeping the citizens of the country healthy. That includes emergency care, health-related research, training health workers, and a general hospital.
After driving over to the center, we all get out and walk up to the front. It is unlike anything else we have seen so far. You can see that the building is not new, and has been used, but yet it still looks amazing and magnificent. So after standing outside for a minute we all walk inside and join our tour group. While we are following our tour group, I decide to slow down and look into one of the rooms.Then John, Will, Matt, and Josh, seeing me behind, decide to wait for me. By the time I get back up to them, our tour group is gone, and they have no idea where they went. We manage to find some people, but they all spoke portugese, and apparently they were telling us to leave, because the next thing we knew we were outside trying to figure out what to do next.

July 10, 2014 - Praca dos Tres Poderes

Today we are going to visit the Praca dos Tres Poderes. This is a place were the three branches of government can meet and discuss things. When the name is translated it means Three Powers Plaza. The flag there is the biggest flag in the world that is flown on a normal basis. It weighs about 1300 pounds and has been flown since Brazilia was made the capital in 1960, not counting the monthly replacements.
When we arrive there, we pull up and got out. The first place we went was the visitor center. Here they had some displays talking about the basic history of the plaza and told you some things to check out. After going to the visitor center we go outside and walk around. The first thing we go and see are the big statues. These are called "The Warriors" and were made by Bruno Giorgi. From there we walk over to the museum. This contains a detailed history of how the city became the capital, and when it was constructed. We get bored of this fairly quickly, and decide to leave and just walk around the city. While we are walking around the city, we see a fight break out, and Matt almost gets punched in the face. Afterwards we decide to quickly get home, trying to avoid another problem.

July 9, 2014 - Cathedral of Brasilia

Today we are going to the Cathedral of Brasilia. The cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral that was completed on May 31, 1970. The building is supported be 16 concrete columns, and each one weight 90 tons. In between the concrete pillars are stained fiberglass segments in shades of blue, green, brown, and white. The cathedral see little use for actually Christian services, and is mainly just a tourist attraction. It is a huge Cathedral, but it looks more futuristic than anything. When we got there, there were already tons of people. It was basically just one ginormous building. It was surprising that it does actually serve as a church, but mainly for tourist and the people that work there. We were all quite fascinated by it, and how futuristic it seems. Then John had the idea of climbing up the fiberglass windows. Luckily, we all managed to talk him out of it. The thing we didn't manage to talk him out of was climbing up the statues outside the Cathedral. Will soon joined him, but they only managed to get on top of the ankles, because the legs we too smooth. Then we walked around the outside, admiring how big it was. When we got inside, it was mainly just a big space with pews and an altar. There were a few things there to store chairs, and other equipment that probably rarely gets used. Then we decided to go back to our hotel. When we got back, we walked down the street and went to a local restaurant for dinner. When we got back, Will and Josh decided to play some FIFA, while the rest of us just played games on our phones.