Peace Corps Journals / Brazil / blog updates

TRIP TO BRAZIL - To Be Rescheduled

Sat, 29 May 2010 06:05:17 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
It has been nearly 41 years since I was last in Brazil when I served in the Peace Corps. The other former Peace Corps Volunteer who served in the same town as me (Brunie) and I were planning to ...

MY SECRET FRIEND

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:01:02 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
I have written several posts about how difficult it was for me to learn Portuguese and some of the humorous mistakes Americans have made when trying to speak the langu ...

MISUNDERSTANDING PORTUGUESE #2

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:47:42 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
SOME HUMOROUS MISTAKES MADE IN PORTUGUESE Everyone makes mistakes with a foreign language and of course I was no different. &n ...

MY MOTHER 3/18/1909 - 11/25/2009

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:42:16 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
My 95 year old mother had been on a waiting list for an assisted living facility for over 14 months. Meanwhile she had in-home help when I couldn't be there.Her health and dementia had slowly worsened ...

PEACE CORPS 50th ANNIVERSARY REUNION

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:26:18 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In 1961 John F. Kennedy believed so strongly in the idea of the Peace Corps that he used his discretionary funds to fund it instead of waiting for approval from Congress. In 2011 the ...

PEACE CORPS: 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:23:44 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
The Peace Corps will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011. To record personal stories from former Peace Corps Volunteers camp construction workers and camp workers a group of four representatives ...

OPHIDIOPHOBIA - fear of snakes

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:19:57 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
OPHIDIOPHOBIA (according to Wilipedia) refers to the fear of snakes. It is one of the most common zoophobias (animal phobias). A typical ophidiophobic would not only fear them when in live contact but ...

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:23:51 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Today I am thinking of forty years ago when the men landed on the moon. I had been discharged from the Peace Corps about 10-14 days earlier. I flew with several friends from Rio to Lim ...

St. John's Day- June 24th - Festa de São João

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:50:32 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In Glória on June 24th we celebrated the Festa de São João St. John's Day celebrating John the Baptist. Like many religious holidays the celebration had little to do with religion. This ...

ALEGRIA! ALEGRIA! Part 2

Tue, 26 May 2009 07:41:42 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Overland a former student is now a meteorologist in Aracajú.Alegria! Alegria!continuedMaking contact: In my previous post Alegria! Alegria! Part 1 I explained that I had been trying to ...

ALEGRIA! ALEGRIA! (Happiness! Happiness!) Part 1

Tue, 26 May 2009 07:31:53 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Alegria! Alegria!Losing contact: When I left Brazil in 1969 I wrote to people there for a while but (at least at that time) Brazilians weren’t great letter writers and many people took ...

GLÓRIA IN BLACK AND WHITE

Sun, 17 May 2009 09:19:38 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Click on any photo for a larger image. When I arrived in Glória Brunie had already been a PC Volunteer there for about a year. She welcomed me into her home which we shared until she le ...

MISUNDERSTANDING PORTUGUESE #1

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:48:34 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In a previous post about Peace Corps Training I explained how difficult it was for me to learn Portuguese. I had no confidence in my ability to learn the language. I was in the lowest le ...

TOAD SOUP

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 02:08:01 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
When I arrived in Glória my Peace Corps site Brunie had already been there a year. Kindly she let me share her small house with her. At first the plan was that I would stay until I go ...

PEACE CORPS TRAINING - not for sissies

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:49:45 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Click on map for larger image.Peace Crops training is different for every country and every group. Here you will find the saga of my training to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in Brazil.BEFORE TRAININ ...

"THE DOORS OF RIO" - Ruby Tuesday #2

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:49:04 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
This image is in response toRUBY TUESDAYClick on the link to post your own photoor see what others have posted. Several years ago there was a popular series of posters titled "The Door ...

HAND WASHING - Photo Hunt #1

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:43:23 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
This image is in response toPhoto HuntClick on the link and post your own photoor see what others have posted.This week's assignment is to post a photo with the topic: HANDS.The photograph above is a ...

THE ROAD TO HEAVEN - Sky Watch Friday #2

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:35:31 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
THE ROAD TO HEAVENThis image is in response toSky Watch FridayClick on the link and post your own photoor see what others have posted. In Brazil I was stationed in Glória "heaven" in ...

WAGING PEACE

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:13:00 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In my previous post I published my thoughtson the Peace Corps after attending the 25th Peace Corps Anniversary Conference in Washington DC in 1986. The following isan update I wrote three years af ...

THE TOUGHEST JOB YOU'LL EVER LOVE

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:12:42 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Originally this was written in October of 1986 thus many references are to that time.Much of this is still relevant today.[In October 1986 I wrote:] Nineteen years ago on an August even ...

THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY - Cowb ...

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:32:20 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
This post is in response to A Thousand Word Thursdayat Cheaper Than Therapy blog Every Friday late in the afternoon local cowboys sauntered into town on their horses driving a small her ...

WATERING HOLES

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:30:59 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
This post is in response to A Thousand Word Thursdayat Cheaper Than Therapy blog"Wash Day"(©1969 C.J. Peiffer)"Water Gatherers"(©1969 C.J. Peiffer) When I served in the Peace Co ...

MARKET DAY - Part 2 Shopping

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:30:40 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Brunie (blue blouse) and I (straw hat)choose fruit from the weekly market.This is Part 2 of a 4-part series describinga typical Saturday ---Market Day ---in Glória.Note: Some of the names in this sto ...

MARKET DAY - Part 1 Dawn

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:53:42 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
This is Part 1 of a 4-part series describinga typical Saturday ---Market Day ---in Glória.Note: Some of the names in this story havebeen changed because I can’t remember thereal names of all of the ...

MARKET DAY - Part 3 Morning & Afternoon

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:44:47 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
This is Part 3 of a 4-part series describinga typical Saturday ---Market Day --- in Glória. Note: Some of the names in this story havebeen changed because I can’t remember thereal names of all ...

"HOLE" NUMBERS

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:25:23 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
The following describes a typical Saturday night in Glória for Brunie (another Peace Corps Volunteer) and me. After dinner Brunie and I strolled around the praça near the c ...

LOSING IT IN BRAZIL

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:32:19 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
When I was in Brazil there was a joke among Peace Corps Volunteers: Why did male volunteers lose weight? Because they cooked for themselves. Why did female Volunteers gain weight? Becaus ...

FLAMED

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:54:06 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
When I arrived at my Peace Corps site and discovered I would be living without electricity or running water it seemed like my life there would be much like a two-year-long camping trip. ...

SAUDADE DO FUTURO - film review

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:06:11 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
"Saudade" is a Brazilian Portuguese word difficult to translate into English. It is a longing missing or nostalgia often bittersweet. "Saudade do Futuro" roughly means "Longing for th ...

ON THE SKIDS

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:12:13 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In previous posts I have written about my experiences in the Peace Corps serving in a small town called Glória. I served along with Brunie who had been there a year before I arrived. She spoke Portu ...

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:10:19 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
While serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Brazil in the late 1960’s I used my month-long vacation time to travel by bus from the Northeast of Brazil through Salvador Belo Horizonte ...

WORLD CLASS TRAVELERS

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:02:00 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
After college I spent two years in the Peace Corps in northeastern Brazil. During my second year I used my vacation time to travel through Brazil by bus. Although it was winter in South ...

POWERLESS

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:34:24 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
“Technology gives us power but it doesn't make us happy.” (one of my husband’s insightful observations) When a lived in the small interior town of Glória during my Peace Corps se ...

MARK TWAIN ON TRAVEL

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:52:07 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
From Innocents Abroad 1869 “Travel is fatal to prejudice bigotry and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad wholesome charitable views of ...

PRESIDENT OBAMA

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:10:56 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
I thought some of our new president's comments would be of interest to former Peace Corps Volunteers and those interested in the Peace Corps."To the people of poor nations we pledge to work alongside ...

AN AMERICAN BY ANY OTHER NAME

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:52:20 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Right: My first sighting of the Brazilian town of Glória barely visible on the horizon.Note: Although the following is true some names have been changed. (I couldn't remember the names of all the B ...

IGREJA - Nosso Senhor dos Passos

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:13:02 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
"Igreja - Nosso Senhor dos Passos"(©2002 C. J. Peiffer)digital enhancement of a work originally renderedas a three-color reduction wood cut print inspiredby a photo taken in Salvador Bahia c.1968Pr ...

A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:21:31 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Glória's Independence Day parade (September 7th) marches around the town square a few weeks after I arrived (1967). In the pile near the center of the photo are the concrete poles which will be used ...

WHAT PRICE WISDOM?

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:05:53 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In response to a writing prompt "worst dentist experience ever" posted on 12/10/08 on Mama's Losin it blog: The Peace Corps dentist in Salvador (a large modern Brazilian city) informed me ...

SENSELESS

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 07:22:24 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
In response to a writing prompt on Mama's Losin' It“Describe a New Year's where you would have been better off just staying home."I’m not sure if I should have stayed home that New Year’s Eve b ...

TETHER THE SUN

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:00:03 +0800

(Brazil / A LITTLE "PEACE" OF BRAZIL)
Although this isn't strictly a story about my Peace Corps experiences it belongs on this blog because I traveled to Peru on my way home from Brazil along with Don and Sharyn Volunteers from my Peace ...

THE PROJECT

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:21:26 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
A Peace Corps experience is something to be remembered. The volunteers in the original Brazil 4-S project felt this was particularly true of their experience. They were the pioneer group in Brazil bl ...

THE VOLUNTEERS

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:03:58 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
We are getting close to our 50th Anniversary even thou we are about four years away but the time passes very fast and we should be prepare to plan our reunion activities. The Peace Corps 50th Anniversary is in 2011 and our in 2012. There is a chance our group - Brazil I and MOBs [...]

PEACE CORPS - BRAZIL I 4-S PROJECT (1962-1963)

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:45:11 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
Welcome to this mean of communication that will allow us to be informed about our activities. You will have the opportunity to comment to every post of this blog. We hope you can participate and let u ...

PLEASE PARTICIPATE - CLICK COMMENTS

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 21:43:23 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
We would like Ito encourage all RPCVs from the Brazil I Project MOBs Replacement group or anyone who served in this country to use this blog to share their thoughts comments or suggestions for this ...

THE 25th ANNIVERSARY REUNION - PUERTO RICO 1987

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:17:57 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
The 25th Anniversary reunion took place at the same site we had our physical and survival training in the mountains of Puerto Rico Camp Crozier from July 5 to 11 1987. Many of us had the opportunit ...

40th ANNIVERSARY REUNION - VALLE CRUCIS ...

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:13:19 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
This reunion took place in the beautiful and peaceful surroundings of Valle Crucis North Carolina in the Summer of 2002. Francis & Sybil Pressley were in charge of the organization. The pictures ...

45th ANNIVERSARY REUNION - PUERTO RICO

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 15:48:34 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
During the week of June 25 – 30 2007 members of our Brazil I 4-S Project gathered in the city of Aguadilla Puerto Rico to celebrate its 45th Anniversary. The reunion site was a collaboration of th ...

ABOUT THE BLOGGER

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 14:33:45 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
This site has been created by Juan E. Rosario-Rivera a former Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) in the Brazil I 4-S Project. Our goal is to serve as a resource to every member our project to communicate a ...

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR PROJECT AND THE TR ...

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 20:03:09 +0800

(Brazil / U. S. Peace Corps - Brazil I 4-S Project 1962-1963)
There are some documents you may want to see: Handbook of Intercultural Training Dan Landis Janet Bennett Milton J. Bennett 3rd. ed. Copyright 2004 Sage Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Tho ...