Brazil Day 2 thru 4 - ICTAC Conference in Sao Pedro
It's been a hectic three days with 4 of my 5 presentations done. Conference has been excellent: highlights have been the use of DEA to measure the drug as it was dispersed at different depths by varying the frequency and the nano thermal analysis systems designed for scanning force microscopes. My presentation on DSC-Raman was well received and generated a lot of interest.
The food has been amazing and the list of dishes offered in the meals continues to grow. How the heck this country produces those models has to involve some genetic engineering! I'd weigh a ton if I lived here. I've seen foods like bread with bits of bacon, fruit or cheese like you see in Portuguese communities in the US, stews made from pig ears, feet, and tails - which was great - like from French recipes, a stew of multiple types of sausages, more variations on mousse and flan (custard) than I can remember, and a wide range of fish and shrimp. All of it comes with a choice of about a dozen types of hot peppers.
The fruit still amazes me: 4 types of mangoes, three different kinds of bananas - not plantain as there are 5 or 6 kinds of those, 4 different types of pineapple, etc. All with their own flavor and texture. Plus a bunch of fruits I don't have English names for. The vegetables are plentiful and fresh but the fruits are amazing...
The focus on biofuels here is amazing. The fuel prices are low, even by local standards. You see sugar cane every wheres. Any unused ground seem to be planted with it and it appears to grow like weeds. Cane liqueur, sugar and fuel are the products and they make enough of the latter to export. If we'd drop the ADM driven tariff on imported ethanol...
While the conference had a tour of a ethanol plant, I walked to the top of the hill the hotel is one and the sugar can fields were tucked into corners of the working farms up there.
Turkeys, pigs, goats, guinea fowl, ducks, horses, pineapple plants and product were all there, along with a bunch of sleepy dogs.
On the way is a little Catholic church. Brazil is still very Christian and no one even does the "holy air" thing if I pray before my meals.
Discussing Brazil with Dionisio, it is in some ways very similar to the US in the diversity. Certain regions have dominant ethnic groups and the culture varies. The South is apparently very German, very business like and more standoffish. The coastal regions, especially near Rio, more like the US South - more laid back, slower paced, friendlier. (Note this has to be set on a Brazilian rather than American scale). The North has the strongest native influences and its music is very distinctive. Of course we are generalizing a lot but the variations in food, language and culture are still there. One final view from the top follows:
Photos to follow after dinner.
The food has been amazing and the list of dishes offered in the meals continues to grow. How the heck this country produces those models has to involve some genetic engineering! I'd weigh a ton if I lived here. I've seen foods like bread with bits of bacon, fruit or cheese like you see in Portuguese communities in the US, stews made from pig ears, feet, and tails - which was great - like from French recipes, a stew of multiple types of sausages, more variations on mousse and flan (custard) than I can remember, and a wide range of fish and shrimp. All of it comes with a choice of about a dozen types of hot peppers.
The fruit still amazes me: 4 types of mangoes, three different kinds of bananas - not plantain as there are 5 or 6 kinds of those, 4 different types of pineapple, etc. All with their own flavor and texture. Plus a bunch of fruits I don't have English names for. The vegetables are plentiful and fresh but the fruits are amazing...
The focus on biofuels here is amazing. The fuel prices are low, even by local standards. You see sugar cane every wheres. Any unused ground seem to be planted with it and it appears to grow like weeds. Cane liqueur, sugar and fuel are the products and they make enough of the latter to export. If we'd drop the ADM driven tariff on imported ethanol...
While the conference had a tour of a ethanol plant, I walked to the top of the hill the hotel is one and the sugar can fields were tucked into corners of the working farms up there.
Turkeys, pigs, goats, guinea fowl, ducks, horses, pineapple plants and product were all there, along with a bunch of sleepy dogs.
On the way is a little Catholic church. Brazil is still very Christian and no one even does the "holy air" thing if I pray before my meals.
Discussing Brazil with Dionisio, it is in some ways very similar to the US in the diversity. Certain regions have dominant ethnic groups and the culture varies. The South is apparently very German, very business like and more standoffish. The coastal regions, especially near Rio, more like the US South - more laid back, slower paced, friendlier. (Note this has to be set on a Brazilian rather than American scale). The North has the strongest native influences and its music is very distinctive. Of course we are generalizing a lot but the variations in food, language and culture are still there. One final view from the top follows:
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