January 8th
After a two hour flight we landed in Curitiba on a rainy Sunday morning. All the shops were closed and the city was nothing like any of the other places we had gone on the trip. It seemed like a ghost town at first. One of the girls had a severe eye infection possibly resulting from swimming in Rio, so Tait took her to the hospital and we wandered about in search of food. The city had a feel to it that was very different from what I had learned about in my Intro to Sustainability class a few semesters prior. I was expecting to see busses and people buzzing by like in all the pictures, with parks and recycling trucks and everything else I had learned about. Instead, there were empty streets and lots of graffiti. The Lancaster hotel we stayed in was very nice and I felt comfortable there. Again this hotel had excellent wifi which was very helpful. I went out and found a buffet which had really good food and filled up with more beans rice and meats. They had a desert area included which satisfied my cravings for sugar and chocolate that were getting a little out of hand. After lunch Jacalyn, Andy T and I walked back to the hotel and I spent some time catching up on my reflections and watching the rain fall outside my window. There was one mural down the street that really caught my attention. From one side it was a turtle all in color and alive. From the other side it was in black and white and a skeleton. The mural was extremely moving. It said Cause and Effect in Portuguese. I interpreted the mural to be a reminder that our actions have effects on the ecosystems around us. By polluting the oceans and contributing to global climate change, humans are hurting the delicate balance of nature they are surrounded by. Soon our professor was back from the hospital with our friend and we were relieved that she had medication to heal her eye. We went and ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant since everything was really closed after dark. It took a long time to get there but the food at the hotel was incredible. I had a warm soup and cake and it was great. Catalina and Kim presented their powerpoint on Tijuca Forest and then we all got some sleep. Walking toward the East you see this mural
Walking to toward the West you see this mural
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Our hotel from the empty street
The lobby of the Hotel Lancaster
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Our first meeting of the day with Daniele Morales
The environmental facility
Inside the environmental facility with Carlos
Walking to Barigui Park
Walking over a bridge in the park
Capybaras near the riverside
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January 9th
January 9th is my birthday! We started the day by meeting with Daniele Morales at the municipal center of the city. She was an architect and urban planner for the past six years. She explained to us that there were 29 cities in the metropolitan area, Curitiba plus 28 others. She told us that there were 1.89 million inhabitants with a percent growth of .99% per year and the neighbor cities were growing 2 times faster. Due to the close proximity of the cities, all of the different municipal policies all affect the same water in the Iguacu River. She discussed the history of the city and how on March 29th,1693 the city was founded. In 1854 Curitiba became the capital of the state. The Taulois plan of 1853 was the first attempt at urban planning presented by Pierre Taulois. In 1943 the increase in population brought rise to the Agache plan. It was the first master plan that included the density being higher in the downtown area. It was around that time that the planners began thinking of land use, road network, and public transport with environmental, social and economic aspects included. This was quite an early start to sustainable thinking as the sustainable development of the Brundtland report was not established until the 80s. The next plan to come about was the “Avenue Plan” where every sector had a purpose. However, this plan was very expensive because they had to get land for it. The idea was to have a wide avenue connecting government, religion, and the city center. Mrs. Morales continued to explain how traffic became an issue in the 1960s. Everybody had to displace to get where they were going and that had been causing mobility issues. In 1965 the New Plan was proposed by Jorge Wilheim. On December 1st, 1965 the IPPUC (Curitiba’s urban planning institute) was created to keep the plan in place. The city began to focus on mixed use of buildings, as well as keeping work and home close by. She discussed the formation of the Bus Rapid Transport system and the cities maneuvers to discourage the use of cars in the city. With transit oriented development, the traffic issue disappeared and people began occupying buildings all around the city instead of in one concentrated area. There was a revision to the master plan in 2004 that promoted public participation and democratic management. There was to be a new road 18 km long built. In 1972 a busy street was closed for cars and transformed into a pedestrian mall within 72 hours. Mrs. Morales discussed how proud the city was of their history and how they plan to include bike sharing programs, more green space, and an underground subway system in their future plans for the city. After Mrs. Morales’s presentation we got in taxis and met up with our soon to be friend, Carlos for a tour of the environmental facilities. The tour was a little unusual since the building was under construction, but it was still a fun experience. Carlos explained how Curitiba was named due to the Pine forest. Upland natives told the colonists to come where the pines were to be on high ground. He explained that the building we walked in had poles sealed with dangerous chemicals (chromated capo acetate), the same chemical used in playgrounds. He said that the best disposal was reuse. The bricks in the building were apparently made nearby at an old brick factory. The stairs were made from Bracatinga (pine) wood from the old railway. We walked outside and into a straw hut that was surprisingly cool despite the humidity outside. The strange structure outside was made from bamboo and palm. The warm air comes in the hut, collects in the top and then cools down in the shaded area, falling to the ground where we were standing. After admiring the hut we went to a classroom area where Carlos gave us another presentation on Curitiba. He discussed the recycling program that was in place where 4 kg of recyclables could be traded in to the township for 1kg of food. Apparently there are 102 trading sites throughout the city where the recyclables can be brought. He also discussed the water watch program. Water watch is for the students in school, they give them a little lab kit to help them build an interest in the environment and sustainability. I thought that these programs were very nice, but unfortunately I began to get a little sick at this point in the trip. For unknown reasons I began uncontrollably laughing and had to go sit outside so as not to disrupt the rest of the class. I don’t really remember what happened the rest of the day because I started to have memory issues and run around like a crazy person. I do remember walking to Barigui park, which was one of Curitiba’s famous parks that I was really looking forward to visiting. It was a very sunny and warm day and even though I had been drinking plenty of water my mind started to leave me. We did see the largest rodent in the world, the capybara swimming in the river running through the park. We stopped at a little restaurant and had acai bowls and I started dancing to the music. On the taxi ride back to the hotel, I began to really get out of control. When we got back I laid in bed and caught up on some much needed sleep. I think I woke up a few hours later and felt a little better. Since Andy C’s birthday was the day before and it was my birthday we decided to go out for a big dinner. We walked down the street at night to a big mall and had dinner at a restaurant where the waiters continually brought meat kabobs out. My favorite part was at the end when they brought chocolate covered fruit out on sticks. Later we went back to the hotel and I fell right to sleep again. Some of my classmates in front of the bamboo structure
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January 10th
Feeling much better than the day before, I woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast. The Lancaster Hotel always had amazing choices for breakfast. There was always abundant fresh fruit, oatmeal, eggs, and meat. Oddly, breakfast in Brazil also always included cake. At every hotel we stayed at they offered plenty of cake varieties first thing in the morning. After filling our bellies, we went to visit Curitiba’s bus system. On our way to the bus meeting, we were interrupted walking by a pickpocket. He wasn’t a very good pickpocket because he tried running into everyone in our group. As soon as he stumbled into the first person, they said “pickpocket” and the rest of us all looked at him until he finally left us alone. At the meeting, the speaker explained Curitiba’s Integrated Transport Network and how they focused on keeping reliable transportation near commerce and homes. They realized the importance of the social structure of the city as a factor in transportation, as well as the financial and environmental aspects of a city wide system. The Curitiba bus fleet carries 1.4 million people of the total 1.8 million people in the city. Out of the total percent of vehicles in the city, cars are 82% while buses are only 1%. However, out of overall transportation use, cars are only 22% while buses are 45%, pedestrians are 20% and bikes are 5%. The URBS- Urbanizacao de Curitiba company is in charge of transport including public buses, school buses, motorcycles and taxis. The speaker also noted that the new transport trend, uber is interfering with the planned transportation in the city. She said that over time as new technology and trends in transportation come out, it is of greater importance to have a flexible, adaptable transportation plan. The Curitiba bus system allows large access to any destination with just one paid bus fare. The city roads favor public transport over private, further discouraging the use of private vehicles and ultimately higher carbon emissions and lower air quality in the city. The system is designed with main bus lines as a trunk with smaller lines reaching out into the surrounding neighborhoods. The buses are color coded depending on where they go and how many people they can hold. The red and blue buses are part of the BRT (Bus Rapid Transport system) so they stop everywhere, the blue stop only at terminals. The gray buses are part of a direct line stretching far across the city while the green buses are inter district. Yellow buses are feeder lines from neighborhoods to the terminals. In Curitiba, the bus terminals are designed so that no one would ever need to walk more than 500 meters to a bus. After the lecture on how the system works, our class went and visited a control operating center. We peeked in the window and saw all the people in an office monitoring screens. In the front of the room there were big screens with different cameras recording the city. It was interesting to watch the live cameras, seeing the people walking and going about their daily activities. It made me wonder if they saw us coming and the pickpocket. It was a pretty cool set up and apparently there are many of them throughout the city. Our guide explained to us that they keep the city safe by monitoring bus stops and that when a person is alone at a stop the people in the operating room can send a policeman to the area for additional safety. Overall, the system is quite intricate and advanced. I also thought it was interesting that many people do not have to pay to use the system, including elders, disabled, retired for disability, accompanists, justice agent, staff inspectors, operators, postmen, police, students, and poor people. After the tour of the bus system, we took a ride around the city on a double decker bus. City on the top of the bus was so much fun! It was warm and sunny and you could almost touch the wires and trees when you lifted your arms overhead. Curitiba is very hilly and the bus made sharp turns and sped all up and down the highway. Our first stop was the famous botanical gardens of Curitiba. The gardens were absolutely beautiful. There were constantly people selling water and ice cream in the streets. It was funny on the bus because there were vendors who had long poles with baskets on top to sell water to people sitting on top of the bus. After the botanical gardens we went to see the opera house. The opera house was a cute little walk into the woods. We walked across a lake that had humongous carp swimming around in the dark water. The opera house was a big wire structure but unfortunately it was closed. When we walked back out we missed the next tour bus and had to wait for another to come by. By this time we really had to use the bathroom so we walked across the street to a gift shop. When we asked for the bathroom we had to pay to use it which I found a little odd. We flagged down the next bus and got on board for another fun ride around the city. I started to feel a little out of it again and fell asleep on the bus. When we got back to the hotel I couldn’t stay awake for dinner so I retired to my room early and got some much needed sleep. The carp are so big you can see them in the picture
Me trying to understand how much sediment must have been washed into the water to make it its color
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The usual cakes for breakfast
Our class listening to a lecture on the bus system
Our class viewing the people working in the bus operating center
Me walking into the botanical gardens
The botanical garden
The bridge to the opera house
Walking into the opera house
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Our class after the meeting, waiting to leave
Curitiba's new cultural center location
Our class discussing the meeting
One of Oscar Niemeyer's building's, the "eye"
The revolving mirrors
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January 11th
I woke up still feeling somewhat unusual. Our class dressed up in the nicest clothes we had and got in taxis. We went to see the city officials for another meeting. The meeting was in the city’s cultural center which was an old warehouse. The idea of reusing buildings for new purposes was brilliant, but their execution of the idea wasn’t the greatest. We walked up outside stairs and sat in a room that literally was an old warehouse room. There were chairs set up and a screen, but it was so hot I felt even more sick. The speakers didn’t really have much to say to us and their English could have been much better. They tried to speak about their future plans and how the city was going to have a new center, but when we asked them questions the language barrier was not really fun anymore. They didn’t exactly answer any of my questions or anyone else. I think maybe the recent change in officials may have caused some of the confusion. Anyhow, it was really funny when they took pictures of us and interviewed some of my classmates and then referred to us as American researchers in a published article. After what felt like a long time we finally left the uncomfortable situation and went back to the hotel. Our professor then told us that we were going to an art museum. At first our class was a little disappointed because art seemed to be very unrelated to us as science majors. However, the museum turned out to be very meditative and I think it highly benefited the mental state of our class. I physically felt a lot better and calmer afterward. Inside the museum there were a bunch of tiny replicas of buildings in the city. The museum was dedicated to Oscar Niemeyer, one of Brazil’s greatest architects. We looked at his little buildings and walked through an interactive area where we learned all about his buildings and designs. My favorite part of the museum was one dark room. The room was pitch black with mirrors all on one wall. The other side had a few tiny glass mirrors hanging, slowly spinning. A light shined on the little mirrors that made them reflect all over. A few of us sat on the carpet and were mesmerized by the calming spin. After that we went and ran up a big wall of carpet and slid down like little kids. It was a lot of fun. After the museum we went back to the hotel and I stayed in for dinner and ordered room service. The people at the hotel were so kind it was refreshing. I had a relaxing meal in my bed and finally started to feel like myself again. I presented my presentation on the parks of Curitiba with my partner, Ana. Anna T and Tyler gave us their presentation on sustainability in Curitiba. Then we all went to sleep excited for our last day in Curitiba. Tyler helping me add some art to the museum
One of the Oscar Niemeyer exhibits
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January 12th
We woke up bright and early for the best day yet in Curitiba. We took a ride over to the train station. I had never been on a train before and I was so excited to see what it was like. Subways and taxis really aren’t my thing, but I’ve always had an interest in old fashioned type things like trains. The train station was busy and had a little model of the train inside. I loved all the little details in the model, it was so cute. There were little kids everywhere and I accidentally got pushed into a gift shop in the hustle of the station. The shop was incredibly small and I couldn’t get out because there were people everywhere. I looked down and saw little bells with trains on them. I thought of my sister at home and her bell collection and thought how cool it would be to bring her a Curitiba train bell. I picked up the little bell and wiggled my way toward the cashier. It was only a few reals which came out to be just a dollar or two in American currency. Eventually I squirmed my way back to meet my class. We boarded the train and immediately realized our guide was under the influence of some kind. He was very happy and made very funny yet slightly inappropriate jokes. It just set the tone for the fun, quirky experience we were about to be on. The train had revolvable seats, which Tyler found out shortly after we sat down. I was sitting next to Jacalyn and Tyler turned us around to face him and Kim. The four of us just laughed because it felt like the scene from the Polar Express. Going backwards as the train went on was very fun and the gloomy day outside passed by in a blur. Before we knew it, we were up on the mountain tops, steadily moving toward the coast. The views from the train were absolutely incredible. My professor was confused as to why I wasn’t taking pictures of the amazing views like everyone else was, but really I was just so entranced in the beauty of what stood before my eyes I didn’t want to waste those precious moments attempting to capture them. Many of the best moments on this trip will never be shared because they were simply uncapturable. At those times I just sat back and took in what was all around me. Realistically the pictures and words on this blog will never even come close to explaining what I experienced. It was truly that amazing. We saw all kinds of beautiful waterfalls and flowers dripping out of the forest. We went on for miles and only saw forest before us, I wanted to get out and hike in it and climb all the trees and watch all the animals, but the train kept going on. The dreariness of the day somehow enhanced the beauty of the forest, the clouds just seemed enormous and powerful as we went through them and under them. For some part of the trip the train had a momentary issue and stopped for a few minutes. Our group had noticed that there was no music on the train and began to joke by saying “no music” with a catchy rhythm. There were three little boys who thought that was just the funniest thing in the world, even though I’m pretty sure they didn’t know English. They went to the front of our train car and our cooky guide allowed them to sing into the microphone. The boys started to sing songs in Portuguese and one of them sang Don’t worry be happy. It was a joyful time as everyone joined in singing or humming and the cultures mixed so well and free. The language barrier really was a fun component to the trip. Sometimes it made things challenging, but I always love a challenge. The train eventually came to a stop in the small little town of Morretes. We got off the train and ate lunch in a pretty little restaurant. The meal was very different from other meals we had eaten in Brazil. The main course was in the center of the table, a big bowl of meat in gravy. There was another bowl off to the side that had a thickening agent that the waitress showed us you mix into the meat to properly prepare the meal. On the side was fresh little crispy shrimps which were practically like potato chips. There were also little cinnamon tasting sugary balls of dough. I ate about three plates of those by myself. There was also salad and a few other odd tasty foods on the table. I liked this restaurant because you could eat as much as you wanted and they would just bring out more as you needed it. The owner of the restaurant came over to our table. He was quite an incredible older man. He spoke several different languages and knew a lot about business and about different cultures. He gave us tips on the best places around and told us all about how he makes a type of ginger alcoholic beverage. He also told us that there was really good ginger ice cream nearby. After our meal we were able to explore the little town on our own. I found a duck call in one store and thought it was very funny and I just had to buy it. There was little stream running through the town and the buildings were all brightly colored. We stopped and I got pitaya ice cream which was absolutely amazing. Jacalyn got ginger ice cream and that was very tasty as well. We had a nice little walk around and it was such a cute little town up in the mountains. Soon we boarded a bus to make the trip back to our hotel. We stopped at a little church on the way and walked around. The church was absolutely beautiful inside and there was a book of people who had visited and said a prayer so we left our names and our home country in the book as well. We walked outside and enjoyed the view over the water, watching the sailboats slowly drift by. The bus stopped one more time before we got back to the hotel. We stopped at a produce market and there was every kind of fruit you could ever imagine. Jacalyn had been to Africa and she talked about a fruit that she had there that she loved. We bought one at the shop and my professor bought a bunch of passion fruits. I tried some Brazilian candy, which made me realize that Brazilians are much better at things that aren’t candy. After we all made our purchases we loaded back up onto the bus and headed to the hotel. When we got back we decided to ride one of the double bi-articulated buses that were famous in Curitiba. We walked down the street to one and paid the fair to enter the terminal. It was rush hour and the terminal soon became very crowded. After riding it a few blocks we got off and crossed the street to get into the next terminal. The bus ride was similar to other buses I had been on, but this one was different because it had an accordion like center that allowed the bus to be flexible at the center to make it around turns. After our bus ride I ordered room service again, but when I came down to order from the kitchen my a few of my classmates were trying to open up the jackfruit that Jacalyn loved so much in Africa. After we got it open it was so weird inside! There was a gluey like consistency inside that held a bunch of inch long seeds. You put the seeds in your mouth and sucked the fruit off, spitting the seed back out after. There was a lot of fruit inside this huge chunk. I took some back to my room for Heather and Georgie to try. The extremely kind waiter offered to make some of it into juice for us, it was so refreshing and sweet. I fell asleep after that. The little church we stopped at
Our class waiting to board the double bi-articulated bus
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Looking back on the train
My beetle friend stowing away with us
A beautiful view from the train
Another view from the train
Walking down the street in Morretes
Andy T, Jacalyn, and I with our Brazil fruit flavored ice cream and a mural of the train
Lunch with Emmanuel, the restaurant owner
The stream through Morretes
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