Upcoming Work and Travels

Today, we completed field work for the physical fitness study that I have been working on. Over the next few weeks, we'll be analyzing data from this project in addition to moving forward with more lab work for some of the other projects that are ongoing. I also was able to submit my proposal for a study of the effects of chronic early childhood diarrhea this week to the Brazilian institutional review board (IRB), and hopefully will be able to get started with that in early January. Over the next few weeks, I'll be traveling a bit courtesy of two national holidays, and in late December I'll be back in the US for two weeks. My itinerary for the next few weeks follows:

November 2 - November 5 São Luis, Maranhão and Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses
November 11 - November 19 Amazon Trip
November 11 Fly to Manaus
November 11 - 15 See Manaus and Take 3-4 day jungle trip
November 16 Fly to Santarém and spend 1 day there
November 17 Fly to Belém (the mouth of the Amazon)
November 17-18 See Belém and surrounding area
November 19 Fly back to Fortaleza

Ferroviário vs. Criciúma

Ferroviário vs. Criciúma
Estádio Presidente Vargas
25 Out 2006
2030

Ferroviário squared off with Criciúma in another important Serie C matchup Wednesday night. Ferroviário entered the game in fifth position in Serie C, one position out of the last promotion spot. Ferrão needs to continue to win at home to move back into the promotion zone.

Criciúma dominated play early with the home side seeming a step slow. Some big saves by the Ferrão keeper kept the team in the game early. The most notable save came on a near breakaway by Crici~uma in which the Ferrão keeper was able to charge the shooter and parry the shot away, keeping the score at 0-0. A few moments alter Ferroviário finally penetrated deep into the penalty area and blasted a shot past the outstretched arms of the Criciúma keeper to give Ferrão the 1-0 advantage. The score remained unchanged at halftime.

After the break, Criciúma returned with a flurry of attacks. Early in the half, a Criciúma appeared to receive the ball in an offside position before being fouled in the area. The assistant referee, who of course had the best vantage point to judge the offside ruled that the player was onside, and the referee awarded a penalty kick for the foul. The kick was converted squaring the score at one all. A few moments later, a Ferroviário striker fell to the ground in the penalty area, appealing for a penalty, but to no avail. With 20 minutes remaining, a Criciúma attacker sped past the defense and was met with a harsh tackle from the Ferroviário keeper inside the penalty area, completely missing the ball. This led to the game´s second penalty kick, again converted by Criciúma, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead. Ferroviário managed little in the way of attacks or chacnes late, and the visiting side left Fortaleza with the win, leaving Ferroviário in need of much improved play as they take to the road for their next match.

Fortaleza vs. Atlético

Fortaleza vs. Atlético (Paraná)
Estádio Presidente Vargas
22 Out 2006
1600

Atlético of Paraná journeyed to Fortaleza for what seemed to be a must-win game for the home side. Fortaleza entered the game deep in the relegation zone of Serie A, and needed to win a number of games in the last 2 months of the season to have any realistic chance of remaining in Serie A for the 2007 campaign. The crowd was quite boisterous as they welcomed the tricolors to the field with chants of "Fica leão na primeira divisão," which translates as "Stay lions (Fortaleza's mascot) in the first division." Fortaleza came out with a spark, and earned a number of early corners. Those attempts were parried by the strong Atlético keeper. Fortaleza created another chance 15 minutes in, and their striker buried a chance from 12 yards out, giving the Atlético keeper no chance. Unfortunately, the typically porous Fortaleza defense then gave up two quick goals to Atlético giving the Paranaense side a 2-1 advantage.

Midway through the second half, the Fortaleza attack awakened and replied with two goals in short order, each thanks to a series of precisio passes that found a striker wide open 12-15 yards from the net. Fortaleza held a 3-2 lead with their fans holding renewed hopes of remaining in the first division. In the 75th minute, Fortaleza had a great chacne to make it 4-2 when a striker exploded past the defense and faced the keeper all alone, but shot wide of the net. A great effort by Fortaleza for 80 minutes seemed to have the side poised to capture three points in the standings with a win. Unfortunately, some errors in the midfield, and further poor defensive play, and forgettable goalkeeping yielded two goals to Atlético in the final ten minutes, giving the visitors a 4-3 advantage. A Fortaleza striker flopped in the penalty area late, appealing for a penalty that could have tied the game, but the referee would not fall for the dive, wagging his finger at the attacker. Fortaleza remains in the relegation zone with the loss, and appears headed for Serie B in 2007. They next play at home on national television against Corinthians in Estádio Castelão next Wednesday.

Football Photos: Fortaleza vs. Atlético

Fortaleza Enters the Field with Children Dressed in Fortaleza Jerseys
Pregame Festivities


Fortaleza has an Early Chance on a Corner Kick

Unveiling the Fortaleza Flag

Injury: Bring on the Unimed Cart

Referee issues Game's First Caution (I do miss refereeing...)


It's in the Net: Fortaleza Makes it 1-0

Fortaleza Celebrates a Goal

Halftime: Protection for the Referees

Corner Kick

Fortaleza Fans Celebrate Fortaleza's Third Goal: Fireworks

Late Game Action

Fights, Football, Fire: Ceará vs. São Raimundo

I went to a Ceará game Saturday out at Castelão. Originally this game had been scheduled for the smaller stadium, Presidente Vargas, but the game was moved to the larger Castelão as of last week. Until I arrived at the game I was curious as to why the game was moved, but any question was resolved after I arrived at the stadium. I arrived to see the stadium surrounded by approximately 30,000 fans seeking to get in to join 20,000 already inside the stadium. Seeing the crowds which undoubtedly would pack the upper deck beyond capacity, I thought that this might be a good time to go ahead and pay the extra $5 to sit in the much less crowded lower deck. The entrance and ticket office for the lower deck is on the opposite side of the stadium from the upper deck ticket office and entrance, and so I began to walk around the stadium. I quickly encountered a woman running with her child, who grabbed me and said, "Briga!". As I walked a little further I quickly realized that briga apparently can be translated either as large fight or small riot, depending on your perspective. I immediately turned away from the growing fight and crowd of military police and rejoined the long queue for seats in the upper deck.
I entered the stadium to see the largest crowd I have seen at a game here in Fortaleza.The upper deck was filled to capacity with people seated on the stair wells and in every available position in the aisles. The lower deck was only about half full, but the experience was incredible in the crowded upper deck. The game proceeded with a very boisterous Cearense crowd screaming at the referee frequently and cheering on their team with great enthusiasm. As the team entered the field, the fans had thrown toilet paper onto the field, covering the area around the field between the two moats (Yes the stadium has two moats). Late in the game, an errantly launched firework hit some of this toilet paper resulting in a fire adjacent to the field during the last ten minutes of the match. It was quickly brought under control by security. The game report follows below, but the game certainly could not compare to the excitement outside and inside the stadium…


Ceará vs. São Raimundo
Estádio Castelão
21 Out 2006
1800

Ceará looked to continue their winning ways against São Raimundo in a Serie B match Saturday. Ceará has climbed from 20th (last place) in Serie B to 15th in the last few weeks, and with a win today would climb to 12th position.

The match got under way with a few quick chances for the visitors, easily parried away by the Ceará keeper. In the 10th minute of the match a Ceará striker received the ball just inside the penalty area, and blasted a shot inside the left post to give Ceará a 1-0 lead. The teams traded chances over the next 20 minutes. During this time a São Raimundo midfielder was cautioned for a reckless challenge to the legs of a Ceará attacker. In the 30th minute, the player repeated the infraction and was sent off for a second caution. This left Ceará with a man advantage for the remainder of the game. Ceará controlled the flow of play with the man advantage, with the best São Rainmundo chance deflecting off the woodwork late in the game. The game was marred by a pregame riot outside the stadium, and a fire in the stadium late in the game. The fire which consumed some of the toilet paper thrown onto the field during the pregame celebrations, appeared to result from an errantly deployed sparkler or other pyrotechnical device which made its way onto the field adjacent to the playing service, igniting the aforementioned toilet paper. The fire was quickly extinguished as Ceará held on to win the match 1-0, advancing in the standings to 12th position.

Miscellaneous Photos

A few more photos from the last few months follow. Included are photos from our not so successful attempt at hosting a barbecue. As our guests arrived, we realized that we had foul-smelling spoiled chicken, the wrong kind of barbecue sauce, the wrong kind of salt, the wrong kind of lighter fluid, and not enough charcoal. Fortunately, one of our Brazilian friends rescued our barbecue with his more extensive culinary experience.

Avenida Beira Mar (I live less than 2 blocks from Beira Mar)














Realizing that our barbecue was in Serious Trouble














Fabrizio Rescues our Barbecue














Friends at our Barbecue

Canoa Quebrada

As may be obvious from the contents of this blog thus far, the only thing Brazilians seem to like more than soccer is holidays. We seem to have a federal holiday at least once a month forcing us to take tough four day weekends in locations such as Canoa Quebrada...


Enjoying the Beach

A Look Along the Coast of Canoa Quebrada

Relaxing on the Porch at our Accomodations for the Weekend

The Atlantic Ocean

Checking Out the Town - Canoa Quebrada


Brazil Fogarty Reunion

Life is Tough Here in Brazil

Working - Physical Fitness Testing

Indeed amidst all the traveling and moving, I have actually been working on the physical fitness study. Finally, some photo evidence of our progress...


Eller at Work Checking a Blood Pressure

Preparing for Physical Fitness Testing

Chris Performs the Harvard Step Test

Moving

Here are the photos from our move to an apartment 2 blocks from the Atlantic. You may recall that this move involved misadventures such as pushing a stalled car through a busy intersection and dropping chairs from the rooftop of our apartment...


The Rooftop Verranda

Election Advertising Near Our Apartment (Complete with Fireworks)

Chris is Asked to Tend the Keymakers Shop While He Goes in Search of More Keys



What Happens When Four Medical Students Try to Get Furniture to the Rooftop Verranda

Success!

Our Wall

Nate in Our New Living Room

The Only Way to Decide Room Assignments
(The Most Intense Game of Rock/Paper/Scissors Ever)


Our Rooftop Verranda

Salvador Photos

Finally, the long promised photos from our September journey to Salvador, Bahia, a city further down the coast of Brazil, and also home to the other Brazilian Fogarty Fellow, Tracey.


Nate, Chris, Tracey View a Sunset Over the Bay

Chris at an Isolated Beach North of Salvador

The View from Tracey's Apartment

Near the Pelourinho in Salvador

Nate, Tracey and Chris at Dinner by the Bay

Ben Tries the Drums

Pelourinho

Mass Transit, Salvador Style: Elevator Lacerda

Corte de Cabelo

Antes:





Antes:



Depois:

Reflections at the 25% Point

The last week in Fortaleza has been reasonably eventful. Aside from the soccer games which I have already written about, I have continued with my work and enjoyed a holiday weekend at a beach town further down the east coast of Ceará.

We are now approximately halfway done with the physical fitness testing, and should conclude the testing late next week. Then, we'll have a large amount of data to enter and analyze, and also will have some saliva samples to analyze in the laboratory before we conclude this study. In addition, things are progressing well with the paperwork for the study of vision deficits that I hope to start later in the year.

Thursday of last week was another national holiday, which of course could only mean one thing – another four day weekend. On this occasion, rather than flying to a different part of Brazil, we chose to visit Canoa Quebrada, a beach town reachable in 3-4 hours by bus from Fortaleza. Tracy, the Salvador Fogarty Fellow, flew to Fortaleza to join us for this holiday weekend.

Canoa Quebrada was a beautiful place. The sand dunes and rock formations were slightly less impressive than those of Morro Branco, but the town was a little larger and more fun. Events of the weekend included spending time on the beach, listening to the loquacious owner of the guesthouse/pousada where we stayed, and time walking through the town of Canoa Quebrada. As you would have noticed had I actually posted any photos in the last several weeks (I do plan to catch up on that before this weekend), my hair was getting a bit long for my liking. I usually have it cut every 3-4 weeks in the US, but had not had it cut since mid July. And so, for the cost of five reais ($2.50), I had my first Brazilian haircut while in Canoa Quebrada. Photos will follow, but I was quite pleased with the outcome. I returned to Fortaleza Friday night feeling a little ill thanks to whatever organisms (amoebas, worms, bacteria or viruses) that seem to have found a home in my intestines. After a day of rest though, I was back to my usual self, ready for physical fitness testing in the community on Monday.

Thus far this week, in addition to physical fitness testing and other work, I have continued to enjoy running on Avenida Beira Mar right along the Atlantic Ocean. Tuesday night, I enjoyed about a 15 mile run, which is the longest run I've been on in a while. I hope to be able to run a marathon (26.2 miles) either here in Brazil or after I return to the US, and think that I'll return to the US in better shape than I have been in for a while.

The next month includes two more national holidays, and so I'll be traveling a bit more in between continuing my research. November 2-5, I'll be in São Luis, a city in the state of Maranhão, just west of Ceará. Near the city is one of the most beautiful national parks in Brazil, with sand dunes and lakes and picturesque views. We're also working on planning our Amazon expedition which likely will take place November 10-19 surrounding another federal holiday.


It's hard to believe that I have been in Brazil for two and a half months now, meaning that my fellowship is 25% complete. Fortaleza definitely feels like home now, and the surgery rotation that I ended my third year with seems quite remote now. Thinking back on the last four years, I admit that I could not have imagined that I would be here in Brazil for a year now. A little over four years ago, I had never been on an airplane, nor had I ever been further than 8 hours from my home in Maryland. Since that time, I have had the great privilege of traveling to serve in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal in West Africa on three occasions, and in Zambia in Southern Africa for a month as well, all as a volunteer missionary with the SBC. Now of course, I am spending ten months in Brazil doing global health research, and I am reasonably confident that this will not be my last journey outside the borders of the US. I probably would have laughed had someone told me five years ago that I would have the well-worn, heavily-stamped passport that now lies in my desk, along with the many images, memories, and people that will forever be etched in my mind as a result of the last few years travels. I have greatly enjoyed the challenges and joys of working abroad, and look forward to the remainder of this year and future experiences abroad.

Later this week, I hope to post some photo updates with photos from Salvador, Canoa Quebrada, and our new home in Fortaleza, as well as some photos of me at work on the physical fitness project. Until then, I'll be doing physical fitness testing and continuing to write research protocols and consent forms in Brazilian Portuguese.

Ferroviário vs. Vitória

Ferroviário vs. Vitória
Estádio Presidente Vargas
15 Out 2006
1600

Ferroviário returned home after a midweek loss to face Serie C leaders Vitória of Bahia. Ferroviário entered the game tied for third on points, tied for fourth based on the first tie breaker of goal differential. Facing one of the favorites in Serie C, Ferroviário needed at least a tie, and had to be looking for a win on their home pitch.

Things got underway on an especially hot afternoon. Ferroviário looked a step slow for the first fifteen minutes, with Vitória winning all of the headers and 50-50 balls. A few moments later however, the Ferroviário strikers combined on some rapid one touch passes to penetrate deep into the penalty area, where a Vitória defender brought down an attacker with a trip. The referee pointed to the spot, awarding a penalty kick. Ferroviário converted the chance, scoring the only goal of the first half. The remainder of the first half included a few near misses for both sides, but no further scoring.

The second half resumed with Ferroviário attacking constantly. An early chance skipped just wide of the goal post, denying Ferrão a two goal lead. Approximately ten minutes in, another nice sequence of passes found a Ferroviãrio striker wide open ten yards out. The striker buried a shot into the back of the net, leaving the Vitória keeper little chance to react. The score stood at 2-0 in favor of the home side. Ferroviário moments later had the chance to make it three goals, but a nice save by the keeper kept the margin at two. A breakdown in the Ferroviário defense 25 minutes in allowed Vitória an unmarked shot on goal, narrowing the gap to 2-1.

Thirty minutes into the second half, a blatant elbow to the face of a Ferroviário midfielder lead the referee to show the red card to a Vitória player, giving Ferroviário a man advantage for the remainder of the game. Ferroviário quickly set up another beautiful series of passes culminating in their third goal, making the score 3-1. A late chance by Vitória rattled off the cross bar, hitting the goal line, but never fully crossing the line, leaving the score at 3-1. No further goals were scored, and Ferroviário ended the game quite satisfied with a 3-1 victory against a strong Vitória side.

Work: Diarrhea, DNA, Documents

Indeed, amidst all of the traveling, beaches, and football games, I am actually working. I admittedly have not spent much time discussing my work in this forum, and so I endeavor to share at least an overview of my work. I'm currently involved in a number of research projects and also have some opportunities to see clinical medicine practiced here in Fortaleza.

Research Projects:
1. Effect of Chronic Early Childhood Diarrhea on Physical Fitness
In this study, we are looking at children who now are roughly ages 8-16, whom were surveilled for diarrhea during their first 2 years of life. Our lab previously showed that children with high diarrheal burdens early in life had decreased physical fitness at ages 5-10, and now we will investigate whether these adverse effects on physical fitness persist. Currently, I spend 4-6 half days a week in the community administering physical fitness tests, and checking blood pressure, height, weight, and other anthropometrics. Administering the physical fitness test involves supervising a balloon game in which children wear watches with motion detectors, and admnistering a test called the Harvard Step Test. This has turned into a physical fitness challenge for me as well, as I perform each harvard Step Test along with the children to help them maintain the appropriate pace. This involves five minute stair climbing sessions that complement my evening runs well as I try to improve/maintain my own physical fitness. This study is very enjoyable as it allows me to spend time each day in a favela near our lab working with the children in the community.

2. Effect of Chronic Early Childhood Diarrhea on Vision
This is a study for which I am currently writing protocols for submission to the Institutional Review Board. This study is a study that I will hopefully be coordinating from start to finish, beginning with developing the hypotheses and writing protocols, continuing with data collection and analysis, and ultimately with reporting the results in the form of a paper. Currently, my time on this project mostly involves writing protocols and preparing documents, but by January or February should be in the community conducting vision tests with a similar time commitment as the physical fitness study, which will have concluded by that point.

3. PCR Studies
I'm also involved in multiple other studies that utilize PCR (Polymerase Chain reaction). PCR is a mechanism for amplifying DNA. It is used for multiple diagnostic tests for various infections. Effectively, I start with a stool sample which contains human DNA, and the DNA of many normally present bacteria, as well as any pathogenic bacteria or parasites. I then extract DNA using a series of chemicals that allow me to progress from a stool sample to a solution that looks more like water, which contains the DNA. I then need to isolate the DNA for the bacteria or parasite for which I am testing. For this we use special sequences of DNA called primers, which allow us to use PCR to amplify only a specif region of DNA corresponding to the organism of interest. We then can assess samples for the presence or absence of this sequence of amplified DNA using a process known as gel electrophoresis. In summary, these projects will involve me conducting laboratory tests to determine whether patients have one of two parasitic causes of diarrhea (Cryptosporidium or Giardia) or a bacterial cause of diarrhea (Enteroaggregative Escherichia Coli). There are also other PCR tests for many other bacterial and parasitic causes of diarrhea, but I will focus on the three mentioned above. I'll be using these tests in three different populations to assess the causes of diarrhea in those populations. Currently, I spend a few days a week working on these assays, trying to get them up and running before I begin receiving stool samples to analyze en masse.

Aside from this research, I also have opportunities to observe the practice of medicine at the local hospitals. I was able to round at the ID hospital and hear many diagnoses discussed that rarely are mentioned in the US. I hope to take advantage of these clinical opportunities more often as the research begins to flow more smoothly.

And so, indeed I am working in addition to enjoying the football, food, and praias (beaches) of Brazil. I should also qualify this description of my work by mentioning that this Thursday is yet another Federal holiday, which means another four day weekend. On this occasion, our fellow Fogarty fellow from Salvador, Brazil will be visiting Fortaleza. We plan to visit Morro Branco and another beach 3 hours east of Fortaleza called Canoa Quebrada, in addition to seeing a bit of Fortaleza. We'll return to Fortaleza some time Saturday, and head back to work on Monday. November brings with it two holidays, and plans for those are still in the works. The latter holiday may present a good time for a 7-10 day trip to the Amazon. I had planned to try to visit there during the second half of the year, but have learned that during that time (the rainy season), the weather may not be as optimal. For that reason, we may consider undertaking this journey in mid-November. For now, its off to bed to rest in advance of another expedition to the Policia Federal to attempt to register as a foreign citizen in Brazil. I received my passport via DHL today (although a bit wet as they apparently lost it briefly en route) and it now has all of the appropriate notations, thus I expect that this will be less of a pain than my last few trips to their office.

Ferroviário vs. Barueri

Ferroviário vs. Barueri
8 Out 2006
1600
Estádio Presidente Vargas

Ferroviário opened the fourth and final stage of Brasilian Serie C play against Barueri. Barueri had won their phase 3 group, with Ferroviário finishing second to Bahia in their phase 3 group. As the home team, Ferroviário had to be looking for a win and the associated three points in the standings to open their campaign to advance to Serie B. There are eight teams in phase four of Serie C, with the top four advancing after each team plays 14 games, home and away against each other remaining team.

Ferroviário started quickly tonight, gaining three corners in the first five minutes. Unable to convert these chances, the game remained scoreless. Ten minutes in, Ferroviário played a beautiful diagonal through ball between the last two Barueri defenders. One defender slipped, leaving the Ferroviário striker on a breakaway with the goalkeeper. The striker beat the keepr, but was unable to beat the crossbar, and the game remained scoreless. The sides traded chances for the remainder of the first half, but the score remained nil-nil at the half.

In the second half, Ferroviário continued to attack, slotting a few shots just wide of the post. Throughout the first half, multiple yellow cards were issued for tactical fouls and reckless play. Fifteen minutes into the second half, a Ferroviário midfielder committed a reckless tackle from the side for what seemd to be the fourth time. This lead to the player´s second yellow, and thus a sending off. With the score knotted at zero, and now a man down, Ferroviário could easily have went into a defensive strategy. Instead, Ferroviário continued to attack and scored after penetrating into the penalty area and ahving a shot deflect off a defender past a bewildered Barueri keeper. The score stood now at 1-0, favoring Ferroviário. The partisan crowd came back to life with chants in support of the home side.

With the man advantage, Barueri continued to attack, just missing wide of the post on multiple occasions. With fifteen minutes remaining, a Barueri midfielder was sent off after a vicious tackle from behind aimed at the back of a Ferroviário players knee, leaving the sides to play 10 vs. 10. Five minutes later, a second reckless challenge from a Barueri player playing with a caution lead to a second red card, this one for a second caution. Ferroviário played with a 10 vs. 9 advantage for the final ten minutes narrowly missing a second goal, and withstanding the final attacks of Barueri. There were no ties in Serie C action today, so Ferroviário is tied for first on points, and sits tied for second in Serie C on goal differential, after an excellent start to phase four action in Serie C.

Fortaleza vs. Figueirense

Fortaleza 1 Figueirense 1
4 Out 2006
1930
Estadio Presidente Vargas

Fortaleza, currently mired in the relegation zone of Brasilian Serie A squared off with Figueirense Wednesday night at Estadio Presidente Vargas. The tricolors need to finish the season with a run of victories if they are to avoid relegation to Serie B for 2007.

Figueirense controlled play in the first half, scoring first after a nice cross found a striker wide open in front of the Fortaleza keeper. Fortaleza figured to need some help in the second half if they were to get back into the game. This help came in the form of misconduct by a Figueirense midfielder. Early in the second half, the player challenged a Fortaleza attacker hard, with the foul deemed worthy of a caution. In the aftermath of the foul, the Figuiriense midfielder shoved the Fortaleza attacker, earning a simultaneous second caution, mandating a send off. This left Fortaleza with an 11 vs. 10 man advantage for the remainder of the game. They quickly had an excellent chance and the ball appeared headed into the goal when it was touched by an offisde Fortaleza attacker, negating a potential goal. A few moments later, Fortaleza again entered the penalty area with numbers, and converted placing a shot into the upper corner of the net. Figueirense settled into a more defensive posture for the remainder of the game, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. The draw left Fortaleza in 19th postion of 20 teams in Serie A, needing multiple victories to avoid relegation.

In other soccer news, Ceará of Serie B has been on a winning streak, positioning itself to potentially avoid relegation to Serie C. Ferroviário commences play today on Sunday 8 Out 2006 in the final group of eight in serie C. The top four teams from this group of 8 will play after each team plays a series of 14 games, playing each other tram home and away. A distinct possibility exists that Serie B could have a decidedly Cearense flavor next season as Fortaleza will likely be relegated, and Ferroviário could be promoted to join Fortaleza and Ceará in the

Casas, Cars, Churrascos

Last weekend was quite the busy weekend in Fortaleza. We arose at 8:45 am on Saturday, after a late dinner at a friend's house the previous night. We headed to meet the landlord for the apartment that we planned to begin renting on Saturday. We arrived at the apartment, reviewed the rental documents in Portuguese and prepared for a day of moving. The first task we faced was making copies of the keys to the gate, two ouside doors, and doors to our first floor porch, and roof top patio. Noticing a key maker adjacent to our apartment, I quickly came to the conclusion that perhaps for the first time a task could be accomplished easily in Brazil. Little did I realize that the key maker did not have enough keys for the sets that we needed. Thus, he did what any shop owner would do, he asked me to sit and watch his shop while he set off on his bicycle to acquire more keys. I assumed that he would just be headed around the corner, but instead he arrived back nearly an hour later, keys finally in hand. The first task of the day now complete, we qte a quick lunch, and set off in search of a rental car to move our things and make a trip to the local Hiper Bompreço (Walmart Brasil) for supplies for our new home.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, we finally were able to obtain a small rental car for $30 for a day. We were told that the car had no gas, and so we quickly headed to a gas station. We were not told however that this car had a habit of quitting when stopped, AND had some problem with the battery that prevented it from restarting. And so as we journeyed to our old home in Rodolfo Teofilo to pick up our things, the car quit just as we rounded the final turn. Fortunately, the car had a manual transmission, and we were able to have three of us push the car, while the third person steered and popped the clutch to restart the car. We then began to move our things, planning to pack the car as full as possible along with 2 people (one person to drive and one to push should the car stall). Chris Brown and I made the first trip, and indeed the car stalled out on a busy street at an intersection. Fortunately, I was up to the task of pushing the fully loaded car through the intersection, eventually achieving a high enough velocity to allow Chris B. to pop the clutch and get the engine restarted. After a second trip, we headed to Walmart Brasil to purchase items for our new home.

I am not a fan of shopping at large department stores in the US, and this trip to Hiper Bompreço reminded me exactly why. After scurrying around the store for a long two and a half hours, we finally felt that we had all that we needed for our new home. Ben and I took a car full of things back while Chris and Nate took a taxi back to our new house. We then began to unload our things, which included some furniture for our rooftop patio. We quickly realized that this furniture would not fit up our narrow staircase, and devised a cable (actually an old piece of coaxial cable connected to an exercise band) to raise the tables and chairs to the roof. This process went reasonably smoothly, with the exception of one chair crashing to the ground from near the roof as it slipped from our poorly tied harness. Exhausted, we finally were able to catch up on our sleep. We planned to have friends over for a barbecue the next evening, an event that would teach us amny more lessons about life in Brazil.

Regarding our barbecue, we purchased some chicken from the store from the refrigerted section. First mistake: In Brazil, apparently one should always purchase frozen chicken unless they want inedible foul smelling poultry. I had also purchased some charcoal and lighter fluid. Second mistake: Purchasing not enough charcoal, and the wrong type of lighter fluid. We had planned to barbecue the chicken American-style, and had purchased some barbecue sauce and salt. Third mistake: I purchased regular salt, not realizing that to barbecue, one needed to purchase churrasco sal, salt designed just for barbecuing. Also, apparently to properly barbecue chicken Brazilian style, one needs to use pepper and other spices, rather than barbecue sauce. And so as our guests arrived, we were informed that we had spoiled chicken, not enough charcoal, the wrong kind of salt, and a complete absence of suitable spices or Brazilian side dishes. Fortuantely, our friends Fabrizio, Germana, and Fabiana were able to resuce our barbecue by bringing more meat, and suggesting appropriate spices to use. And so the barbecue ended up going well, just with a bit of a delayed dinner secondary to all of our "mistakes."

Novo Endereço

I indeed now have a new address as the title of this post might suggest.
After spending two months in Rodolfo Teófilo, far from the ocean, I now live
in an apartment less than 2 blocks from the Atlantic, in a much nicer part
of the city. Some humorous stories will follow regarding the move, but for
now, my new address:

Chris Eller
Rua Antonele Bezerra 303 Apto 3
Meireles
Fortaleza-CE
CEP 60160-070

It has been an eventful week for me as I have moved, and commenced physical
fitness testing in the community for our Physical Fitness study, designed to
assess the effect of early childhood diarrhea on long-term physical fitness.

In addition, it has been an eventful week for the people of the Brasil, with
the first round of elections Sunday leaving incumbent Lula just shy of a
majority. Lula gained a plurality of 49% to top challenger Alckmin's 42%,
forcing a runoff election in late October. This election occurred in the
wake of allegations of corruption among staff members of Lula's campaign and
government. It remains to be seen if these allegations will further cut
into Lula's lead into the polls as the day of the runoff election
approaches. Last week also ended with sad news, as the worst aviation
accident in Brasilian history occurred with a Gol plane traveling from
Manaus to Brasilia plunged to the ground after a collision with an American
piloted smaller plane. The American plane was able to land safely, however
the Gol jet fell to the earth with no survivors among the passengers and
crew. Investigations into the accident continue, dominating the news in
Brasil along with the election news.

Updates on the move will come shortly, and with the installation of internet
at our new apartment, I should be able to post the long promised photos of
my Salvador trip, along with photos of my new apartment.