The ambassador, Clifford Sobel is back in town after traveling in the States and around Brazil. (Lots of important visitors in the country from the U.S.)
Hopefully Amb. Sobel will be able to take a minute or two from his VERY busy schedule to show me his office and maybe a bit of the embassy.
What I do know about the embassy is that it is VERY big.
And for those who can't remember the difference between and embassy and a consulate...
The embassy is where the ambassador is based. This is the main office in the country for the
U.S. government. The consulates should be considered "branch offices" of the embassy.Usually the embassy is located in a country's capitol. Sometimes (as in the case if Israel) it is not.
Besides the embassy the U.S. government has three consulates in the country: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Recife. And of course the embassy is in Brasilia.
Brazil is just a bit smaller than the United States but has many fewer people. (About 192 million as of last year -- or the fifth most populous country in the world.)
About half the country is jungle -- the famous Amazon Forest.
But many parts of the rain forest are under attack as landlords try to expand their farms. The problem is that the jungle soil is not very good for most agriculture. So lots more things have to be done to get the soil prepared for agriculture and in the meantime, new breeding grounds for disease-bearing insects are created and endangered species loose more of their habitats.
Plus there are fewer trees to absorb the growing levels of carbon dioxide, thus leading to more global warming. (At least that is the argument.)
Any way, here are some links to learn more about Brazil:
Gotta run.
Hopefully later tonight I will be able to post some pictures with the ambassador and the embassy.
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