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. Brazil is not only my host country, but also my home country. So I can grasp people’s feelings (not only mine) very easily. And everyone hates bureaucracy. They call it burrocracy (sort of dumbocracy). Unfortunately, this beautiful country is loaded with incoherent and not-always-clear rules set up by people who profit from it. It’s been a month since I purchased a car and I still could not have the plaques changed (it is not even on my name yet!). It’s been two months since I sent four boxes by boat and I still don’t know how much it is going to cost me to get them out of the port and if the documents I have provided (tons of it!) are sufficient. One thing I recommend to people coming to Brazil with lots of luggage and who have to send it by boat: be very – VERY – careful!

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 Brazil is populated by an incredible amount of very nice people. And if you are talking about Rotarians, you hit the jackpot. The São Conrado Rotary Club (Rio de Janeiro) was expecting me (my mother belongs to this club), because we had made arrangements for a talk a few days after my arrival in Rio (Jan 21st)… I could not have asked for a better and joyful audience for my debut here. My talk is divided into two parts: one deals with my work here (research and teaching), and the second deals with my quest for the meaning of goodwill and service in my life. My firm belief is that this can become an interesting forum of discussion with Rotarians and we will all come out of it richer. And I do believe that the people at the São Conrado meeting welcomed my discussions (technical and philosophical). I was quite impressed by the quality of the questions asked and happy to spend time with such a crowd of good willing people. Click here to see the few photos taken.

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!