Things are a Little Different Down Here

I am sure you could have guessed that, but did you really know for sure (QM).  This week (after 2.5 weeks here) we had our first FULL free day.  We could do whatever we wanted.  We chose to spend it at Denises lake house.  It was just what we needed to re-energize before we had to get back to work.

On Tuesday, we visited an Ethanol factory. You may be thinking to yourself that this is no big deal.  What if I told you that the whole process takes so many people that they have their own school for employees children as well as what seems like their own fire department (I might have made that part up, but according to the video, that is what it looked like.)  The family that owns this factory grow their own sugarcane.  They are the second largest land owners in the world.  They own 95% of the next state from where we are staying.

We have been visiting a lot of schools funded by different foundations and hospitals too. Tonight, we got to visit an orphanage for about 60 kids.  For the Brazilians reading this, I found this fascinating, because we do not have orphanages in the USA anymore.  We have a different system where children live with foster parents.  The children that we met all seemed REALLY well taken care of and REALLY happy.  Some of the kids put on a performance for us.  After dinner, we talked, danced and laughed with the kids.  For me, this was another difficult moment of the trip.  I fell in love with a little cutie, that is too young to know that her living situation is not the only way of life.  The kids made it hard to leave.  How are things different in Brazil besides that we have orphanages and the USA doesnt, you ask.  This place receives $500 a month from the city government to take care of the almost 60 kids.  It also receives some money from the state, but most of the funding comes from a foundation and an Italian mission.  I can not even think about these beautiful children in their previous living situations.