Fifty in Five

We hit the ground running in Brazil today! Our travels were very successful with all flights being on time with stops in Chicago and Miami flying out of Waterloo on our way to Brasilia. We arrived in Brasilia at about 9:00 AM (or 6:00 AM Iowa time). Once we claimed our luggage we met up with Juarez and our driver. We started out with a quick driving tour and visit to the national cathedral. We had plans to visit the TV tour to get a bird’s eye view of the city, but unfortunatley, it was closed due to a worker strike. This did, however, provide us time to meet up with Jose.

For lunch we made our way to a local mall and the food court. The group was split between a Brazilian buffet and Giraffes (a local burger joint). After lunch we visited the JK Memorial. This is a memorial for President Juscelino Kubitschek, who ran on the platform of moving the capital of Brazil to the central part of the country and had the vision of creating Brasilia which is now 57 years old. He implemented his “Fifty in Five” plan as president. This was fifty years of progress in five years time. JK was very successful creating the federal district in three years and creating an automobile and shipbuilding industry in Brazil among with many other advancements. We were able to see many artifacts from him and his wife, Sarah. We even got to see the remaining books of the original Shakespeare book collection given to the Kubitscheks as a gift. JK’s story is truly remarkable.

Following our time at the JK Memorial we checked in at our hotel and prepped for our evening. As we prepared to head out the rain started, so our site seeing plans changed a bit. Instead we went to the mall to pull out cash for later shopping and by the time this was completed the rain had stopped. We visited the three powers square and checked out the Presidential Palace, the Supreme Court, and many monuments. For dinner we enjoyed Mangai, which is a massive Brazilian buffet. Many loved the fresh fruits and variety of desserts.

For the past 32 hours of traveling and exploring Brazil it has felt like we have been going fifty mph on five minutes of sleep. We are now reflecting on our day on the rooftop poolside. Tomorrow we are excited to visit the Ministry of Agriculture and learn more about agriculture in Brazil. Ate amanha!!!