Saturday, March 14, 2009
Florianopolis-Trindade visited
I was also at a dinner party on Friday (13/03), but didn't stay for long, becasue I didn't feel well (throat ache). But the 1/2 hour or so I stayed there, I met new people, several ex-governors O(including one from Niteroi - RJ), and some people who were being honoured that day. And I met yet another Canadian grantee from Rotary; a young lady (17) from Ontario. She's been here for 7 months and speak Portuguese pretty well.
Another couple of visits to Rotary meeting next week in my agenda. And two presentations have been scheduled for early April. A third one is to be confirmed.
That's it for now.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Now I have really landed
Hi Planet Rotary! I finally set up my blog! This first posting will be a long one. After that, I’ll stick to short messages.
It took a while more than I first thought it would take to set this up, but there is a reason for that: You can be prepared for change (I really was); you can have all the documents you think you might need in this and in your future lives (I had them all). But you cannot beat the Brazilian bureaucracy easily. It is extremely time consuming to get going here.
To criticize my host country does not seem like a good way to start a blog. It is not what I intend to do. But let me wash out the bad and start right away with the good things (they are so many!).
Yeah, bureaucracy is a stupid thing anywhere in the world (there seems to have a surplus of bureacracy in a lot of places...) and slows down production and lowers people’s morale.
That is it! I’m done with whining. Let’s go to what matter most: people.
You can find nice people and not so nice peopled anywhere. But
Now, as far as my host district (4651 – Florianópolis), I did not know anyone. I sent a couple of e-mails when I arrived and was literally showered with welcome messages. I am still stuck with bureaucratic procedures this week, but have scheduled two meetings. Some more next week. It will be an opportunity to get to know some people and schedule my talks. Yeah, I really want to get going with the philosophical quest. Sharing these moments are crucial to the development of my “Rotarian” job here.
As for the technical/teaching part, I have already revised a Masters thesis, discussed my comments and questions with the student. She is expected to make her final presentation March 6. I have also had a few meetings with my colleagues to start seting up an agenda of common work. It's coming along fine; slowly but surely.
More in a week or so. I promise to write shorter texts.
Please make comments, suggestions, etc. It is easy!
Cheers to all!