Our first full day in Brazil was full of excitement,
learning, touring, and food! The day started out by visiting the Ministry of
Agriculture located in Brasilia. The Ministry of Agriculture in Brazil would be
comparable to the Department of Agriculture here in the United States. While at
the Ministry of Agriculture, the Hawkeye Community College group listened to a
speaker present about what they do at the Ministry of Agriculture in Brasilia
and how it benefits the Brazilian producers and consumers. His main topic
points of discussion included corn and soybean production, cattle operations,
coffee plants, and how important environmental conservation is in Brazil. All
farmers in Brazil have to, by law, leave 20% of their farmland untouched for environmental
conservation purposes. This helps in ensuring that farmers are being environmentally
friendly and taking good care of their land and the environment. Farmers in
Brazil also have to be very cautious when it comes to deforestation. If there
happens to be a tree planted in the middle of the field in which they are
planting, they must go around it. Farmers are not allowed to cut down the trees
to make more room for farming practices. This is a great way to protect the
environment for years to come. The Hawkeye Community College study abroad
students then had plenty of time to ask the speaker questions and compare
practices we do in the United States. We were particularly interested in the
corn and soybean productions.
After all of our questions were answered and
our time was finished at the Ministry of Agriculture our group was off to eat
lunch at a churrascaria. This is basically a large meat buffet. When you sit
down at your table you are given a card with a red side and a green side. You
set the card next to your plate and flip it to the green side when you want the
waiters to bring you meat, when you are full and no longer want the waiters to
bring you meat you flip your card to the red side. There was so many options of
meat at this churrascaria that it was almost overwhelming. The waiters probably
brought out around 10-12 different kinds of meat for us to try. They would then
cut it off right in front of you to grab and put on your plate. They had a variety
of beef, chicken, and lamb. Lunch was so delicious and all of us left feeling
very full.
After a quick afternoon nap after
being exhausted from traveling and then having a large meal, the Hawkeye
Community College group was able to tour the University of Brasilia (UnB)
college campus. The campus is all open air and very unique. At the college we
joined in on an International Business class to listen to another speaker speak
about Brazilian agriculture. It was very similar to the presentation we had
heard at the Ministry of Brazil but still very informative to all of us. After
the presentation we toured more of the college which is HUGE. Around 40,000
college students attend UnB and the campus goes on forever. Sadly it was
raining so after our tour we were soaked but seeing a college campus in a
different country and having the opportunity to tour it was so worth it. We
ended our day with more food of course! For supper we at a pizza restaurant where
they bring you several different kinds of pizza, almost buffet style. My
personal favorite was the dessert pizza which had cheese, bananas, cinnamon,
chocolate, and ice cream all loaded on to it. So delicious! Our first full day
in Brazil was busy and full of learning and excitement and was a great way to
start out the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment