We arrived in Nova Friburgo on Wednesday lunchtime and since then have been busy doing all sorts of things!
Day one we went and visited the Milk Bank (Banco do Leite) at the maternity hospital and the country club before heading to `Happy Hour` at the home of one of the Rotarians where there was food, ping pong, darts (until I broke the dartboard - it was an accident - I didn`t even touch it!)and merriment!
Thursday was a busy day - first stop was the RC Suspiro breakfast meeting where we gave our first presentation of the day! Then a quick change before heading out to the Swiss Quejeria and Chocolateria (Cheese and Chocolate factory - I was in heaven!). We saw how they make ricotta cheese and also had the opportunity to sample some of the local cheeses and chocolates! Delicious!!!
Our next stop was the Jardim de Negoes - a fascinating display of sculptures in a garden. The artist makes them with clay and rock and then covers them in plastic allowing moss to cover them! Each one takes about 2 years to finish!
The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting the Naval Hospital where we helped the commandent plant a tree and the Collegio Anchieta - one of the colleges in Nova Friburgo! But the day was not yet over....we then gave another presentation to the RC Nova Friburgo. My host family then decided it was time that i learnt to Samba so after the meeting we headed out to a disco where I learn the basics of the Samba (and did a bit of salsa!). I gradually got the hang of it and can now do a very basic samba!
Friday was our 15 minutes (well 1 hour of fame) when we headed to Zoom TV and appeared live on their TV show `Toda Manha` (same sort of show as This Morning in the UK). We were interviewed by Luciana and then Raph cooked ´Bread and Butter Pudding`live on TV with the help of his sous-chef (me!). Masterchef eat your heart out - the pudding was a success and was finished off by all of the studio workers! It has approximately 60,000 viewers so Raph had better practice signing his autograph!
Friday afternoon was our Professional Visits - I went to a travel agent and gained information on Tourism in Brazil and also found out some information about skiing in South America (Argentina and Chile) (Jane, I got some brochures - looks awesome!!!). I then went to visit a local artist, Angela Kramer, and saw some her work - beautifully decorated ceramics and water colour paintings!