In Brasilia

Remember that Brasilia is in the Southern Hemisphere. That means that September is spring not fall and we are heading into summer.

The winters here (summer in the States) is very very dry. So dry that there is no rain at all for months. Now that spring has arrived so have the occasional thunderstorms.

And sure enough it was raining soon after I arrived.

The house where I am staying is the official US embassy residence of the deputy chief of mission -- the #2 in the embassy.

She is Dani's aunt.

Here is the story of Brasilia:

• The idea of a new capitol city started way back in 1823.
• By 1922 the first foundation stone was set just outside the current city.
• In 1955 presidential candidate Juscelino Kubitschek promised to build a new capitol city if elected.
• The first streets were paved in 1958.
• The city was inaugurated in 1960.
• The main design is called the "Plano Piloto" or Pilot Plan. The main part of the city is shaped like an airplane.

The buildings and design of the city were done by Oscar Niemeyer, who just turned 100 years old this year.

Here are some pictures of the building of Brasilia.


This is the construction of the Congress building

And this is the national cathedral under construction.

Compare those two pictures to this one of the city taken early July 2008.

Moving from Beloit to Brazil

So after a very nice visit with Adam in Beloit, we finished up the visit with brunch at Denny's. (Nothing like easy over eggs, sausage, pancakes, and hash browns to remind one about what makes the States famous.)

From brunch Dan and I headed for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

We got in pretty early.

The flight was slated for 9:30 p.m. but was pushed back to 10:30 p.m.

We arrived at the airport about 3 p.m.

Yep, that meant a lot of time sitting around. Fortunately, Dan is a member of the Red Carpet Club. So we sat in relative comfort and had plenty of free soft drinks, cheese and crackers, and vegetables and dip.

We also had a Wi-Fi connection so Dan was able to take care of e-mail and other online goodies. The really cool part was talking with his wife via SKYPE. (This is a great set up for free communication between Skype members and really cheap phone calls to non-members.)

Eventually we left the club for the departure gate.

We climbed on board and were lucky enough NOT to have anyone next to us.

Dan was able to stretch out and be comfortable.

The 9 nine and a half hour flight went pretty quickly. (Slept a lot on the overnight flight.)

Got to Sao Paulo, picked up our bags, cleared customs and headed for the check-in area for the flight to Brasilia.

We arrived in Brasilia at 5 p.m. ADT (Atlantic Daylight Time).

That meant from the time we got on the plane (10:30 p.m. CDT) until we got off in Brasilia (5 p.m.) we were traveling for almost 16 hours. (Suddenly makes those 2 hour trips to Ypsilanti seem easy.)

So now we are in Brasilia.

Moving on...

Just a couple of things before we start talking about Brasilia.

1. It is a long-long-long way away. We took a 9 1/2 hour flight from Chicago just to get to Sao Paulo. Then we waited about three hours for an hour and a half flight to Brasilia. All told from the time we got on the plane in Chicago until we got to the house in Brasilia, we were traveling 17 hours.
2. Brasilia is not in the Amazon jungle. (Sorry folks, better learn your global geography better. All of Brazil is not rain forest.) It is in the high plains of south central Brazil. And as summer approaches (south of the Equator and all) the area is heading for the rainy season. And I do mean RAIN.

Okay, so now let's talk about getting to Brasilia.

In Ypsilanti I got stuffed into a suitcase for a pretty easy flight to Chicago. From there by car we went to Beloit, Wisc. (Actually I stayed in nearby Janesville, Wisc.).

The guy who took me on this excursion and later to Brazil is Dani's uncle Dan.

We were in Beloit for a family weekend. Seems Dani's cousin, Adam, just started attending Beloit College.

So Dan and Adam looked around the place. Dan attended some of Adam's classes -- including Chinese.

They went out to dinner.

Dan met some of Adam's friends.

And they went to a concert by the Cajun band Beausoleil. (Left me in the room.)

Got a couple of pictures while in Beloit. This is the new science center on
the right.

On the left is a picture of me in front of the campus. One of the really neat things about this school is its anthropology department. (Some say the character of Indiana Jones was based on the head of Beloit's anthropology department. Not sure if that is true, but it's a great story.)

In the picture on the left you can see slight mounds behind me. Those are ancient Indian mounds.

The college only has about 1,200 students. So the professors and students really get to know each other. And Adam said over and over how much he enjoyed being at Beloit.

In another posting I'll talk about getting from Beloit to Chicago to Brazil. (Believe me, you don't want all of this in one shot!)

Made it to Ypsi.

Got a good start on my journey.

Here is a picture from Ypsilanti with my travel mate and good friend Danika's grandparents.

The Journey Begins

So far Goliatha has made it from Bryan, Ohio, to Ypsilanti, Mich. But soon the dear beast will travel to Chicago, Beloit, Wisc., and then Brazil.

Trying to figure out where she will go next is difficult. We think she will head for Peru next. But first, there are many things to see and do in Brazil. (Actually after a couple of days in Brasilia she will be ready to move on.)

Stay tuned!