NEWS ALERT!

Biodiversity in the Amazon

BELEM, Br. – The Amazon jungle is slowly loosing its species and if destruction continues, it could shrink to one third of its original size in just 65 years, warns Thomas Lovejoy, world-renowned tropical biologist.

Climate change, deforestation, and fire are the drivers of this potential Amazonian apocalypse, according to Lovejoy, biodiversity chair at the Washington DC-based Heinz Centre for Science, Economics and the Environment, and chief biodiversity adviser to the president of the World Bank.

Stretching out from the equator on all Earth’s land surfaces is a wide belt of forests of amazing diversity and productivity. Tropical forests include dense rainforests, where rainfall is abundant year-round; seasonally moist forests, where rainfall is abundant, but seasonal; and drier, more open woodlands.

Tropical forests of all varieties are disappearing rapidly as humans clear the natural landscape to make room for farms and pastures, to harvest timber for construction and fuel, and to build roads and urban areas.

Although deforestation meets some human needs, it also has profound, sometimes devastating, consequences, including social conflict, extinction of plants and animals, and climate change—challenges that aren’t just local, but global.

Zoo Museum

Antonio Messias, whom works at the Museum as a veterinarian, mentioned with the deforestation, the population of species begin to decrease. Human, like ourselves, slowly crop down trees and ruin the animals habitat.

Some species, like jaguars, are endangered. Poachers from all around the world catch them for their fur and sell them in the markets or online to make profitable amount of money. Hunters or Poachers are more interested in making money than saving an animals life.

Sadly, before the end of this century many, and perhaps most, of those species will become extinct. After millions of years of existence many plants, insects, birds, animals will never be seen again on the Earth. Habitat loss and climate change will be the biggest reasons for their extinction.

Many species are so specialized to microhabitats within the forest that they can only be found in small areas. Their specialization makes them vulnerable to extinction. In addition to the species lost when an area is totally deforested, the plants and animals in the fragments of forest that remain also become increasingly vulnerable, sometimes even committed, to extinction.

Scientific Investigations

Lovejoy, head of the committee responsible for this major scientific investigation, said the Amazon has already lost 17 to 18 percent of its forests. Furthermore, "it has a remarkable hydrogeological system where the forest generates at least half of its own rainfall."

This literally means the rainforest makes its own rain, but it also brings rainfall to many areas outside of the Amazon, including Brazil.

What the study shows for the first time is the combination of global warming on a path to reach two degrees Celsius and forest fires that undermine the Amazon's unique hydrogeological system.

The Amazonian south and southeast will receive much less rainfall. Less moisture means those areas will be more prone to fires, which not only destroy the forest but also further dry out the surrounding forest - all of which reduces the Amazon's ability to produce rain.

The report's conclusion: "For the Amazon as a whole, the remaining tropical forest will shrink to about three-quarters of its original area by 2025 and further to about only one-third of its original extension by 2075 as a result of these combined impacts of climate change, deforestation, and fire."

The climate changes, including with human deforestation, will change the habitat of species causing the animals to slowly die. The extinction can also harm us too because we are not taking care of the environment.

Bom Jardin

The Amazon is a completely different from what we have learned in school. Not only did I gain experience and knowledge from a professional veterinarian, Antonio Messias, but from other Brazilians perspectives.

Biodiversity is supposed to grow and increase its population rate; however, as the years go by, it decreases because people are more interested in making money. With this economic problem around the world, families struggle to live with bare minimums, so they want to make as much profit as possible to help their children grow up and become more intelligent.

With all the lushness and productivity that exist in tropical forests, it can be surprising to learn that tropical soils are actually very thin and poor in nutrients. The underlying “parent” rock weathers rapidly in the tropics’ high temperatures and heavy rains, and over time, most of the minerals have washed from the soil. Nearly all the nutrient content of a tropical forest is in the living plants and the decomposing litter on the forest floor.

Tropical forests are home to millions of indigenous people who make their livings through subsistence agriculture, hunting and gathering, or through low-impact harvesting of forest products like rubber or nuts. Deforestation in indigenous territories by loggers, colonizers, and refugees has sometimes triggered violent conflict.

Attending the boat trip with CESUPA SIFE team was an incredible journey. Not only it affect the community, but affected the environment, which they lived in. Growing crops from miriti palms to açaí palm, it affects the species that live in the jungle.

último dia inteiro em Belem..

can't believe this week went by FASTER than last week! like what the flip!?!?

i caught a cold. now i am sick :( very very sad. hopefully lucas and isabella can take me to buy medicine so i can party tonight! haha <3>

breakfast. class. and it's a secret for the rest of the day :X

i love my new friends! lucas, isabella, alejandro ;D, and juliana!!! without them this trip wouldnt be exciting!!!

just finished my video!!! so watch it :) it's not a professional video ok so give me break :)

class was a mission today!!!

i went to bed around 230-3am and suddenly woke up at 830! my alarm clock didnt even go off! like UGH i was absolutely mad. Not to mention the old man who complained to Marisol, Tracy, and me that we were being to loud last night, well you know what! HE WAS BEING TOO LOUD this morning! did not have a good night sleep and waking up to his horrifying voice was even worse!

went to class. marisol and tracy woke up late AGAIN! nothing usual but we left them..i felt very bad, but sorry ladies!

we had a guest speaker by the name of Julio Patricio.

Karissa and I decided not to go on the boat trip because I was not feeling very well and I wanted to save my energy for the rest of the night ;) The others went on the boat trip and I heard so much great things! I fell asleep for about 4-5 hours because of the medication and not only did it help me, but I feel much more relaxed and a lot less sick!

Karissa came to my room and we just blogged and talked and downloaded pictures. So much you can learn from one person within a couple of hours! Small world, Karissa and I know the same people in high school for the past 5-6 years! She also lived across the street from me too! haha such a small small world!

Others came back and we waited for Lucas and Isabella to call us and party all night long! It was our last night in Belem, Brazil and we wanted to stay up until sunrise! The night was still young so why waste this last night staying in our room!?!?

We went to Favela to eat. I absolutely love the french fries and that toast with steak and cheese we ate. That was super yummy. The band that was playing, one of the boys was really really cute! HEY ;) haha best part of the night was when Karissa told our brazilian friends about Patrick and the monkey!

Lucas said, "Monkeys like blonde boys!" i could NOT STOP laughing. I think Patrick had the most "incidents" on this trip. The girls wanted him to go somewhere with them and he said, "NOOOO OBRIGADO...." with the hand motions too! We could NOT stop making fun of him this entire night!

This is also a short video of Lucas making fun of Patrick a couple of nights ago! Oh how i miss all of these memories! Why did everything have to end so quickly!

Juliana was not able to go out with us again tonight :( because her sister was in the Hospital...I am praying for your family and your sister! Very disappointing because she got us into the Country Club for FREE and got us into VOGUE. VIP status at the club was BOMB! people looked at us and were like ugh Americans, but hey we got the treatment and we had lots of fun! Did i also mention, why there were no doors in the ladies bathroom. AWKWARD!!! There was only one bathroom with a door and that was the only bathroom I would walk into. We were at the club until 330am. and by the time we got to our hotel it was almost 4am i think! Great way to end this trip!

Special shout outs to Lucas, Isabella, Vivian, Arthur, Ale..Ale..Alejandro, Juliana, Maryna, and the rest of our Brazilian friends! They made each day of this trip unforgettable. They have done sooo much for us and especially just BARELY meeting us and with the language barriers, we were able to learn MORE portuguese from them, and they were able to learn MORE English from us. I miss the food already, especially my cairu ice cream: Acai and Tapioca = Mestico!

dois dias deixaram...

presentation was alright even though i got picked on. but it was ok! even though I have been hanging out with the same people for past week i still get nervous presenting in front of the classroom. SORRY! ><

My presentation today was about chapter 35 on climate. Climate is talked about everyone in the world, from weathers to politics and much more. Environmentalists feat for the very future of the planet, while conservative politicians and energy industry leaders dread pollution controls that could threaten the nation's prosperity.

Much climate change coverage exaggerates potential problems or greatly oversimplifies the issue. Climate change can be dramatic because it affects the people in the future.

A basic example would be the greenhouse gas affect, which is the trapping of heat near the planets surface by gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that let in radiation from sun but not the heat. Not only does it harm the environment but causes the heat to increase about 1 degrees Fahrenheit.

On the other hand, politics is different. From different, I mean reporters quote scientists who often say the opposite and not reporting both sides of the story or being biased or straight to the issue. Large amounts of current research from a wide range of source. An example would be, one psychiatrist in favor of one issue and the other psychiatrist is not favorable to the issue. The reporter omits the information with "he said, she said" and needs to confirm with reliable sources.

An uncertainty with climate is that audiences are looking for questions to find answers. Gossips are from one-ear-to-another. More research and credible information is obviously needed to understand what is happening to the Earth and how it may play out.

Just keep looking for the right person or issue to help you cover the large story. When all else fails...people like to talk about the weather.

Jardim Botanica da Amazonia as known as the Botanical Gardens was our field trip for today. as we walked in we saw a sloth hanging from the tree! it was a three-toed sloth. how do i know? well i just know because we learned about animals a lot in high school and i always dreamed of becoming a veterinarian but i decided i was more into public relations :) i just know and it's a natural instinct that I know things about animals!

This area was preserved from the Amazon and NOT MAN MADE like the zoo was.

We were there for about over 2 hours and not much to see because it was similar to

the zoo, but more muddier and kind of swamp-ish. When we walked into the garden,

we spotted a sloth hanging from up above! It was a perfect view and i thought it was

going to fall down because the branch looked really thin and who know, he might fall down; however, he didn't.

this is also a short video we saw of a spider monkey trying to escape the botanical garden! I think he was lonely and wanted to leave the city. After we saw him almost escaping, i think he ran back inside because he was scared. I wished I had a banana to give him because I wanted to take him back to our hotel! or to lunch to eat with us. Now that would have been a LEGIT day :)

Afterwards, we went to Boulevard Shopping to get some lunch. I went to my all time favorite place Spoleto! Sounds like an Italian place and it is somewhat. They have best pasta ever! I am in love with pasta for now and forever in eternity! You get to choose the type of pasta you want, the sauce, and 8 ingredients: bacon, mozarella, spinach, cilantro, peas, bologne, brocoli, etc. Best part of all...it is made fresh everyday!

I forgot to mention, Brazilians do not eat fast food like Americans do, probably why in America we have so many people who have obesity. Brazilians eat healthy food and the food they have is all natural! Even their ice cream is too! Cairu has mestico, mixed Acai and Tapioca, best ice cream I had in ages! Their cookie is also delicious as well! I will miss their food a lot when I get home because it will not taste the same anymore :(

three-in-one COMBO :)

june 16th -- so much fun i honestly don't know where to start!

we practically saw the amazon! but just in the city! From animals i have never seen in my life until today! Here are lists of things I never ever heard in my life before!

MY TOP 10 INTERESTING FACTS!

1. Tapir - related to horses [even though they look like rodent/anteaters]

2. Chanel no. 5 is made out of pao rosa trees! or rosewood!

3. Lily pads - change colors everyday from 5pm until 7pm the following day.

4. Coba Iba - is an amazonia natural medicine tree

5. Sloth's turn their head 270 degrees and come down from the tree ONCE a week

6. miriti - super light wood, made to do crafts like boxes or toys.

7. river otters are very vicious. their little itty bitty eyes are very suspicious and as i looked into their eyes, i felt as if i was going to be attacked if i was inside their territory.

8. giant south america river turtles lay up to 200 eggs! oh my gosh! how many babies can she deliver!

9. canauba trees make vinyl records back in the days

10. there is a specific palm tree that moves from one destination to another. The trunk of the tree dries its root and moves to another spot.

CESUPA's SIFE team, previously mentioned about the Miriti tree, how they make their arts and crafts. A Miriti Palm is a common name for Mauritia Flexuosa (Palmae), a tall palm native to tropical America and along the Amazon.

The Miriti gets to be the largest of the palms in the Amazon and the wood is the favorite for making arts and crafts because it is very light, much like balsa wood. In recent years, a number of small toys shops have opened up in Belem, providing employment for kids and adults alike.

I spy with my two little eyes, something brown and super hairy! haha! like Messias said, "I have hunter eyes!" He asked us to search for a sloth and guess who found it! ME ME ME! :) I found both the two-toed sloth and the three-toed one as well. They were both high up in the tree but with my awesomeness 20/20 vision I can spot anything!

As the name implies, they only have two toes on their forefeet, although, like other sloths, they have three toes on the hindfeet. They are also larger than the three-toed sloths, having a body length between 58-72 centimeters and weighing about 4-10 kilograms. Other distinguishing features include a more prominent snout, longer fur, and the absence of a tail.

On the other hand, the three-toed sloth are not closely related. Phylogenetic anaylses support the morphological data from the 70s and the 80s that the two genera are not closely related and that each adopted their arboreal, tree dwelling, lifestyles independently. Although they are quite slow in trees, three-toed sloths are agile swimmers. The offspring cling to their mother's bellies for about 9 months or so. They cannot walk on four; therefore, they must use their front arms and claws to drag themselves across the tropical rainforest. Their large curved claws help the sloth to keep a strong grip on the tree branches.

Another animal I have never knew existed was a tapir. Tapirs are often mistaken for pigs horse and rhinoceros. All four species of tapir are endangered.

Lowland or Brazilian tapir: This species, Tapirus terrestris, inhabits not only Brazil, but much of the wet jungle are of South America. Its range is from Colombia through most of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Its most prominent feature is the crest or ridge developed along the back of its neck, possible as a protection from jaguars. This gives its face somewhat of a sculptured or concave look.

Its coloration is normally tan to brown, and its has more color variation among individuals than the other three species. Some of these variations may represent subspecies, but no general agreement has been reached on that point. The lowland tapir tends to a bit smaller than the Baird's tapir, but larger than the mountain tapir. Sizes are relative on the small or large side, overlapping the size of other species.

After this adventure at the zoo! We went to a private club! Thanks to Juliana our awesome friend! Without her, we would not have gotten the VIP treatment! Pool, massages, sauna, and much more bonding time with Isabella!

This country club was unbelievable! When we arrive, we thought it was unreal! Patrick was under some pain in his neck and his dream pretty much came true! He enjoyed himself and so did the rest of us!

We swam, talked about our personal lives, joked around, etc. It felt as if we knew Isabella for such the longest time ever! She is our genuine friend! I wished all of our other brazilian friends came with us too! Best part of all the massage was 13 reais, and in American dollars, it was between $6-$7. Cheapest massage for 30 minutes I have ever had in my life and the massage was LEGIT! i fell asleep right when I got into the table!

Lucas played a joke on Isabella saying that Vivian was not on the list but she really was and oops my bad I killed it haha! We went to a sushi restaurant! sooooo yummy! all you can EAT TOO! how terrific was that!? I got my miso soup because i was getting SUPER DE-DUPER sick and wooh I felt like I was on the happiest place on earth!

Professor Rafael from CESUPA also mentioned to Stephanie, TrayC, Patrick, and me about their trip to Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina in January 2012. They are traveling for 33 days to different companies and learn about their economic issues and business wise too. We are invited to come on this trip too! Time to SAVE ME SOME MONEY!!! :)

BRAZIL WON ♥

woke up got dressed and totally forgot about the World Cup game today! So I changed into my Brazil Flag Dress :) did not eat breakfast because I was not hungry. We went to class and had a guest speaker named Luiz Ongaratta. He is a professor at the CESUPA school and he teaches International Economics.

The economic crisis in Brazil is slightly different comparing to the United States. He talked about the eucalyptus tree the most because Brazil Companies uses it as a plywood to make furniture and other goods. The eucalyptus tree are tall trees, which takes all the water from soil, leaving poor soil for other plants. Other trees that are trying to produce more are not able to grow because the eucalyptus trees take all the nutrients from the soil. Brazilian companies preferably choose to make more many than save the environment.

Companies have said mentioned about reforestation, but their knowledge of reforestation is to plant more eucalyptus tree to make more money, than save the environment. The environment needs to grow and not decrease. Decreasing the environment by planting more eucalyptus tree can harm the habitat of many other animals in the Amazon.

The Amazon is a lab to do research and invest for cancer research. Scientists travel without licenses or authority to do research. With the lack of government officials, people are freely pleased to do what ever they like. They should restrict and have more government officials to highly enforce the research because not only is it harming the environment and the species in the Amazon, but Brazil can build their economy by enforcing researchers to pay a fee to do research. If they were to do that, they would be able to make more money and reconstruct their surroundings. This also does not solve the problem about the Eucalyptus tree because there are thousands of those types of trees but it does not help the species reproduce; therefore, it causes animals to either die or become extinct.

After class, we went to the tower, by the ecological center called Manghal das Garcas. At the top of the tower, we were able to see the entire city and learned where the city started. The city began at the Cathedral and with the trees nearby it. The city began to grow more and more as the years went by. This was an amazing view to see all the places around Belem! I wish our hotel was like that so we can see the beautiful city every day and watch the sunset and sunrise!

We went back to the docks for lunch and watched the Brazil game against North Korea. The game was very interesting because North Korea is not "that great" yet their defense was strong. Brazil had the ball 60-70% of the time which was very good. They had over 10 chances of scoring but their opponents defense was strong; however, they continued to work toget

her as a team to win the game!

Two players, no. 2 and no. 7 both made a goal the second half of the game and the crowd's energy was very entertaining. I felt as if I was at a high school game all over again, but the World Cup was a hundred times more important than anything else to the Brazilians.

Overall, the game was intense with all of Brazil watching the game, absolutely nobody was out in the streets! It felt very peaceful to see everyone supporting their team in the World Cup. Brazil wants to win this World Cup to beat Italy on how many trophies they have receives. Brazil has won 5 world Cups and determined to win this year as well. The competition is for everyone is like a swimming pool because they do not know what to expect from any of the teams.

I believe teams with an open mind and those who are not "cocky" will have a chance if they put their mind into the game. While other teams who are "cocky" will have a 50/50 chance of winning the game. I do not think I have seen everyone dressed up in yellow and green and giving all their might to support their country. People from Sao Paolo, Rio de Janiero, Belem, etc, were all cheering on their team. As citizens of the US we showed our pride for them and I really enjoyed people having so much spirit! I was even in the game yelling and cursing too!

We left around 40 mins and sadly, North Korea scored a point!!! I believe we were their good luck charms ;) If it wasn't for us, they probably lost the game haha! just kidding. but I cannot believe that North Korea scored a point! WHY BRAZIL WHY!?!?!? but it was ok, maybe the guys were being nice to let them score, even though they knew they would win the game!

Score came out to be 2-1 with Brazil winning! Now when i come back home. I must watch the brazil game again and scream and support BRAZIL!!! GO BRAZIL! ♥

This is a highlight of the game today.

readings:

Karissa's presentation was about Nature, chapter 33. Nature is just not only about the facts but using our imagination to create beauty in our eyes.

She mentioned about the author giving us an example of how "it is hard writing about nature in Delaware," he said, "because there is no nature in Delaware." There was something emblematic in this comment, something that revealed the difficult that young writers have in conjuring exactly what "nature writing" means.

For the nonspecialist, "nature writing" can seem especially intimidating, since it seems, at first glance, to be a subject without human drama, without a narrative trajectory, without a beginning, a middle and and end--as opposed to, say writing about cops, or courts, or politics, or sports. It can seem abstract, even irrelevant, especially to urban audiences who think of "nature" as something they encounter on holidays out west.

Most commonly used is a narrative arc: tales of expeditions, natural disaster, spiritual pilgrimage, ethnography, or scientific exploration that serve as a frame on which to stretch larger philosophical questions.

ch. 20 - explanatory writing

This chapter clearly explains how to explain a topic. An example would be "I was slowly learning that any talent I had didn't lie within the realm of music. Already the aspiring little scientist, I was able to learn enough of the logic basic harmony theory to execute the mindlessly simple algorithms called bass riffs, and if pressed I could even fire off a bass solo, the dread of concert goers everywhere." We can see how detail and complexity can change a reader's thought because we are explaining the situation; however, explanatory writing can become off topic because the writer can continuously explain step by step for a long time, yet s/he does not get to the main point of the situation.

school is a place to learn

yesterday ---

I woke up super early because i wanted to get ready and look cute for the festival! Lucas told us to be ready by 9am and then it went to 930 to 10. So good thing he came later because I was able to work on my video! At first I had a difficult time to finish the video because I forgot how to use it! But then I kept on playing around with it and figured how to use it again! Dislike how I used it every other semester :( We went to the plaza to buy souvenirs for friends back home but there was not as much as the market place. maybe there was but I could not find that many. I got some stuff like shirts, purse, necklace made out of acai [type of fruit], etc.

OH MY GOSH! did i mention patrick ate a CAT! bleh. Lucas told me it was cat but who know the "BULLY" might be kidding with me, but i know it was not pork or beef! haha.

We went to the Boulevard Shopping Mall. According to Vivian, Lucas' girlfriend, "Newest mall here in Belem, Brazil and it opened in October 2009." We decided to make life easier by going inside the elevator and there was 10-12 of us in there and the elevator wouldn't go up! Like i freaked out because I used to be stuck in the elevator once and it was tramatizing or maybe because I was a kid I got scared. However, the elevator went down and lost its alignment so some of us decided to get out of it and let the other 4-5 go up first. They made it upstairs, while the rest of us walked to the escalators. It was big pain in the hind....

Ordered food at Spoleta, I believe that is correct. Choose your type of Pasta and up to 8 ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, mozarella, eggs, bacon, etc. I never tasted any thing better than this pasta! It was heaven on earth! If America was this healthy, I believe we would not complain about the obesity or the fatty food everyone has been "trying" to decline. Brazilian food is super healthy no fatty oils or junk food, especially frozen foods. Everything here was awesome!

Last BUT NOT LEAST! we went to a sports bar or a regular bar. WOW music was awesome and I wish i stayed there longer but i was way toooooo tired! Absolutely, best night i ever had in quite awhile :) we met new friends from SIFE organization at CESUPA suzy and "ale... ale...alejandro" last night was totally amazing especially the rain!!! the rain felt so good especially when we have been in the hot weather all week long! Brazilian people are super friendly and there are those creepers here and there but people are very friendly and always willing to help you!

today ---

Not much happened besides Tracy and Marisol's presentation about the readings, down below. We all went to Yamada, it is similar to Walmart just two-levels, to buy nail clippers and didn't find any. Unfortunately, I was only able to get nail polish. We were going to go to the Cathedral by the Heart Museu we went last week, but they were closed; however, we ended up going to the park for ice cream. BUT IT WAS ALSO CLOSED! My assumptions are they work hard all week long, especially sunday [stay open later] but close on mondays because they need rest. There are some places that are open, like your typical markets or laundry places, otherwise everything was closed. I was really excited to get my ice cream, but it was a mission failed!!! i want acai with tapioca! that is LEGIT ice cream!

Patrick and I went to do laundry! Damn 10 pieces of stuff for me was 54,90 reais, which equals $25 just to do laundry! like ugh, but whatever i just picked out the cute clothes haha! rest i pretty much got under control :) I felt accomplished because I was speaking portuguese/spanish -ish! haha. Finally got my darn laundry done for past week that I have wanted to get done!

readings:

ch. 30 - technology and engineering

This chapter talks about technology and engineering, especially how to write about it because if the writer does not have accurate information for the readers, then s/he will not gain a lot of interested readers. Readers want to know about technology and engineering and how the economy will decrease or rise. The author discussed about six topics: oversimplify, look for everyday units, fish for analogies, a little expertise is a good thing, draw on experience, and provide context. Reader's are highly interested in how the product will gain or help the economy. It also helps to research or asks researchers more information.

ch. 32 - the environment

On the other hand, this chapter covers about the environment. The challenges in overing environmental problems today are far greater, for a host of reasons. Some relate to the complexity or subtlety of most remaining pollution and ecological issues now that glaring problems have been attacked.

A little reflection is useful. Most journalists of my generation were raised in an age of imminent calamity. Journalists should communicate with various scientists in order to receive accurate information. Some journalists do not cover but briefly explain the issue or the problem of the product without scientists consent. Scientists are one of the people who help us with the environment; therefore, we rely on their sources.

good bye blogger! i will see you manana!

ps. realizing that we have less than 1 week left until going back to the US we will really miss all of our friends :(

weekend combined together

Saturday, June 12th--

Woke up at 5am just to get ready for this exciting boat trip! not only was it the best trip ever but a touching trip as well. The students at CESUPA are involved with an organization called SIFE, Student In Free Enterprise.

In villages, towns and cities around the world, SIFE students are demonstrating that business has the power to inspire hope, create opportunity where little existed and ultimately improve lives and strengthen communities. As these students succeed at helping others they develop stronger business and leadership skills, as well as a sense of service and responsibility to the community and the world around them. They are emerging as leaders who understand the opportunity for business toe make a positive economic, social and environmental impact. Their achievements are the story of SIFE's success.

This short video-clip demonstrates the students at CESUPA want to help the community at Bom Jardin make a a difference.

The community at Bom Jardin, Good Garden, gathered together to talk about their problems and concerns with their living environment because they do not have much money to spend to support their family. As from a student perspective, living conditions are harsh and interacting with one another is difficult as well. The CESUPA students communicate with the community weekly and/or monthly to update with the people on this island because they want to help them build a business and be able to grow. Third-world countries do not have as much to do as others do. In order for this community to grow and develop, they need to build their knowledge and construct the environment they live in.

Juliana said, "We are trying to help them grow and become successful people. With the Acai and Cacao growing around their area, they are able to sell and make more profits, instead of selling it for a little amount of money."

Not only was this trip touching, but watching the students interact with us. They taught us Portuguese, while we taught them English. The children are very intelligent and we can see them growing and becoming more intelligent in the future, with the right teaching skills. English is easy to learn in Brazil, from what i have heard, but it is also depends on the person, whether they want to learn it or not.

Watching the kids jump in the water was very frightening for me because we, americans, don't know if the water is safe for us; however, the children know what they are doing and what they have learned.

The young boy on the left, he stepped on a nail, we assumed because he had something stepped on something and was bleeding. As he walked around, we can see how much pain he was in, but there were no doctors, ambulance, or any emergency rooms. He just had to wrap it around with a cloth and be calm about it.

Watching him in pain made me feel very sad and wish i could help him, if i was a "real" doctor.

I enjoyed every moment with the children in the community because I was raised in America and never experienced the way they lived. If I had the chance to live there for a day or a week, I would totally do it and see how their life is compared to mine. Stephanie and I interacted with this young boy name Wellington. He is very outgoing, energetic, smart, and tons of fun to play with! All he wanted was to use Stephanie's fan as a knife! which was very scary at first because we wondered who taught him these stuff, but than we learned how to change the knife and use it as a real fan. We wanted to teach him the "good" things.

In this community, the men do most of the hard work, like climb the Acai Palms to sell or give to the women to cook, make canoes or boats, and the more "manly" stuff, while the women are cleaning, cooking, the typical female or a stay-at-home mom. This is our tourist and I never got his name. Some of the names i can understand and others i could not because of the pronunciation. During the day, the men usually climb up the Acai Palms and get the Acai down. Watching them do it was very simple, but when Patrick did it, we were all afraid he might fall down and hurt him but it was OK we have insurance for a reason ;) haha! Patrick managed to go up somewhat but than he came down. GO PATRICK!

In the end, I though long and hard to myself that I am lucky to live in the US because we have so much more than other countries and we don't take into consideration how everything we do, others might now have.

As a young girl growing up, I have watched thousands of videos about countries in poverty. Finally receiving this once in a lifetime experience, I want to give more back to my community and teach my cheerleaders back at home that they should participate in all sorts of community service. Giving back to the community is like changing someone's life.

day 5

yesterday was a mission! woke up went to class for a bit and we were suppose to have a professor from the university talk to us. somewhat like a lecture/interview, but i guess she canceled. Another interesting thing that happened was we met five new brazilian students. I cannot remember all of their names but I can remember Luisa, Matthew, and Paola. They were super friendly and talked to us about their media and how people rely on the television more because people have television sets in their home instead of going outside to purchase a newspaper. Internet is more for the younger generation but it is slowly developing in the country.

Another interesting thing I forgot to mention was Brazil is going to be developed into three different states because it might be able to help them expand and with the economic issues, they will be able to grow and reconstruct their surroundings. After observing Belem, i feel very welcomed and the city might be crowded with the cars "having no respect" for the pedestrians is a major issue because people can be run over and accidents happen. Something that is very shocking for me is busses. Busses are ridiculously DANGEROUS! they definitely have no respect for anyone! they just cut people off whenever they feel like it because some of them either drive to slow or like most busses they have to stop and let people off.

We went to Basílica-Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazareth and the church was beautiful! Isabella told us it was the biggest church in Belem :) I had a little prayer for my parents and my family, especially to my friends whom I am grateful to be with! Afterwards, Patrick was lucky to go pick up his luggage at the airport after four long depressing days! :( felt very bad for the guy because he had no clothes and we had to go to our FAVORITE STORE in Brazil called YAMADA! it is somewhat like a Walmart but two-levels and has produce, meat, etc. Very convenient to walk and purchase everything there, but the only thing is that it is super crowded and drivers are RUDE! like big time rude! if America was like this, i think there would be a lot of fights or people yelling and complaining like we do most of the time.

After the church, we went to walk around the area to explore and see what other stores there were. Interestingly, the bathing suits here are like thongs but thicker haha! I could not stop laughing because it was very funny! back at home people are used to super tight bikinis but not the bottoms because in brazil it is like a thick thong. I thought it was very amusing. Isabella told us about it and even she laughed. We saw Lucas looking at speedos! I assumed speedos are very common but I guess not :T after going to department stores, they did not have a variety of options for guys for swim trunks or pants type of beach gear. They had mostly speedos; therefore, we tried to get Patrick and force him to wear one! haha that was very enjoying. We went to lunch and we eat like what we eat mostly everyday, but the food in Belem, Brazil is FRESH and i mean FRESH like SUPER FRESH made early in the morning! They have sooo many options that I do not know where to start but my favorite of all times is the steamed bananas that are glazed! OHH YUMMY IN MY TUMMY! The buffets are sold by kilos [pounds] so about 1 kilo is a little over 1.5lbs i believe for 18-20 american dollars but the money in the brazil is called Reias, pronounced as Hi-us. [sorry for my spelling!]

We went to the Mineral Museum because most of Belem has the most minerals and this is where the minerals and the diamonds/ amethysts are found. The Mineral Museum doesn't have very much souvenirs like i wanted to purchase because everything in there is like hundreds of dollars! I doubt I can afford any of that! haha some of them were cute but still pricey! But Lucas told me to save my money for sunday!

day 4

toooo long to explain so ill update it in the morning i am going to knock out!

bon noite <3

ps. thank you lucas and isabella for everything!

readings

ch. 6 - Finding a Voice and a Style

Writers crave an individual style, and while we yearn for distinctive voice for ourselves or the subjects we profite, those goals remain among our greatest challenges, and even experiences practitioners can retreat into debates over their mystery. Many science writers also must contend with journalistic precepts that subjugate or even eliminate individual style.

For the purpose of this chapter, we will define voice as a writer's personality on the page. Style is the personality imposed on our writing by outside rules and/or our own techniques and mindset. Voice is an individual writing personality, whether distinctively on our own, one we recount or create, or sometimes inescapably.

1. Study strong voices. Learn how to identify specific technical elements of voice and style.

2. Imitate. Exchange and discuss imitations with writing compatriots.

3. Freewriting and journaling. It involves putting your fingers to pen or keyboard fora certain number of minutes each day and writing about the first thing that comes to mind and continuing to write about it without lifting your fingers and working about punctuation or spelling or language or even how to express yourself but sticking to the subject and trying to relate the first thoughts that come to mind.

4. Tape yourself. Have someone record yourself without your knowing it. Anayze how you speak.

5. Revise for style. rewrite different in comparison of another magazine

6. Don't write what you know. Avoid subject that you are close to. Research and find more information about your topic.

7. Examine your personal letters or e-mails. This writing often is designed to express feelings than ideas to speak casually rather than publicly.

your writing personality is confirmed by how comfortable you are with it. even if you cannot define either term, the more you give voice and style to your words, the more singularly the individual a writer you will become.

ch. 29 -

day 3

this morning was like any other morning. eat breakfast like usually and head off to class :( by the way the weather is slowly getting cooler by the day or maybe we are just used to the heat. anyways after class our professor went to find another professor from the university so we can find out more about the boat trip this saturday! guess what!!! this boat trip will be unbelievable not only is it just for fun but we are helping the children down this river learn, dental hygiene, etc. one of our NEW FRIENDS LUCAS is on the SIFE team! maybe if you watch this video first then you'll understand where I am coming from :)







not only is this a volunteer work but it is also a project for their school! we tried looking one up for cal state long beach but they dont have one!!! if i knew about this ahead of time i would have created a club or an organization because they help everyone possible! we also went to this exhibit and sooooo beautiful and incredible! from birds to the river. felt very relaxing and romantic as well! Lucas also brought another friend with him and her name is Isabella!!! Isabella and Lucas were on the SIFE team together and they are both coming to the states i believe next month to learn English! i really wished they came to California so that we can show them everything there is to see!!! after our exhibit called Mangal [ i believe that is what is called!]


this is our pet as well FEDRO!!!

readings -

ch. 5 - taking your story to the next level

I like to think of journalism as bricklaying-a noble craft but a craft all the same. To build a wall, I need bricks. I need the best bricks ever. Facts are the bricks of the story and finding the right bricks requires serious reporting. When a good story idea, meticulous reporting, great characters, and the right perspective combine in a single article, the results can be riveting.

ch. 28 - human genetics

Genetic research is moving faster than a nematode poked by a platinum needle. Every week, the scientific journals report a score of new gene discoveries made in mice, worms, and men. One thing to keep in mind is it is often the methods or scientific tools behind these molecular discoveries, not the discoveries in themselves, that present the best story possibilities.

Tool stories are big-picture stories that can be newsy but the trends tend to have a long shelf life. THey go through numerous news cycles and ultimately nearly every outlet in the journalistic food chain will cover the big ones. Some reporters will be content to watch the story unfold and cover their piece of it when it is right for whatever market they happen to be writing for.

Reporters at general-interest outlets should be sure to read the trades. Even though they publish a lot of inside baseball, these publications remain a great place to find stories crying out for a wider audience.

Bees Bugs and Bio Criminals

The story of a new tool in genetics research goes through cycles. At first, there

is a big wave of coverage as everyone realizes the revolutionary potential of peeling

that darn onion that much faster or better