Diary of Activities: Spring 2013 21/1/13 - 16/05/13

JANUARY

Monday 21st – UNIVERSITY ORIENTATION: The university orientation was an event to introduce our host university, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), and the International Relations Office, to the newly-arrived USAC students and vice versa. Professor Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, Secretary for International Affairs, and Juliana Kumbartzki Ferreira, responsible for the Science without Borders Program and the principal liaison for USAC in the university, welcomed our students and gave a presentation on UFSC. After the presentation, Juliana walked the students through the Campus to show the main places of interest, including the library, President's office, transport links and places to hang out.

Tuesday 22nd – CITY ORIENTATION: The morning was spent exploring the downtown area of Florianópolis, including the historical center with its market, main square, cathedral and old customs’ house, and some useful and practical places for the students, like banks and stores. USAC staff also arranged for each student to obtain a bus pass.

Juliana Kumbartzki showing the UFSC Campus UFSC and USAC Staff giving a welcome to the Students

Photo Credit: Kellie Koester

Wednesday 23rd - TOUR OF SANTA CATARINA ISLAND: For this event USAC Staff, students, buddies and guests met at Centro de Cultura e Eventos to discover the island on a day-long bus tour. The aim of the tour was to give a presentation of the magic place that the group were about to live in, the Island of Santa Catarina. We went to many interesting spots on the island, such as:

• Morro das Pedras (right) • Campeche Beach • Lagoa da Conceição Downtown • Avenue das Rendeiras, with a picnic on

the grass consisting of some typical Brazilian snacks or salgadinhos, from where we could enjoy a lovely view of the lagoon

• Joaquina Beach, where we swam and hiked along the rocks adjacent to the beach

• The famous Jurerê Internacional Beach (right), where we rounded off the day’s event with another picnic and more fun at the beach. By this time an initially cloudy day had turned into a beautiful sunny one!

During the bus ride, some Brazilians talked about their favorite places on the island, and when passing by a point of interest, they made commentaries about the history and curiosities about that place.

FEBRUARY

Saturday 2nd - FIELD TRIP TO LAGUNA For this field trip USAC Staff, guests and students gathered at UFSC to take a bus to Laguna. Laguna is a historic city with beautiful natural scenery. The 3rd oldest city of the state, founded in 1676, it has a historic district with 600 historic buildings. The city is known as the birthplace of Anita Garibaldi, a Brazilian independence fighter and wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi, and for being one of the cities crossed by the “Treaty of Tordesillas” line. In the first part of the day we visited:

• The historical center. • Anita Garibaldi’s museum. • Water fountains build by the slaves in the 1800s.

In the afternoon we drove up to a religious monument offering stunning views of the city and surrounding area, and finished the trip with a walk along the beach.

Morro das Pedras/Photo Credit: Telli Narcizo

Jurerê Internacional/Photo Credit: Telli Narcizo

Saturday 16th - FIELD TRIP TO PORTO BELO/ BOMBINHAS For this field trip USAC Staff, guests and students gathered at Centro de Cultura e Eventos at 9:00AM and took the bus from Florianópolis to Porto Belo, an hour’s journey north of the island. There they boarded a thematic “Safari” bus with a guide to take them to the main sites of interest in Porto Belo and Bombinhas, known as the most ecological area in the state and famous for its snorkelling. The bus stopped for some views from the top of the surrounding hills, so the students could take pictures and look at the natural reservation surrounding the city. The tour took the group to 4 different beaches, Bombas beach, Bombinhas beach, Cardoso beach and Sepultura beach. The water on this peninsula is extremely clear, because it is naturally cleaned every 10 minutes, making it one of the best places to dive in Brazil. The tour also took the group to some local shrimp farms and to a typical seafood restaurant where everyone had a hearty lunch to end the first part of the trip. In the afternoon the group walked to another beach, and from there boarded a big schooner, where the tour guide showed us around the peninsula. On board ship the group started dancing to some Brazilian hits and fresh fruit was served inside the boat. The schooner ride ended with some snorkeling off Sepultura beach, with great fun among the group. Afterwards we stayed at the beach before returning to Florianópolis before sunset.

Water fountain, Laguna Historical Center

Snorkeling Safari Bus

Saturday 23rd - EXCURSION TO NAUFRAGADOS “Shipwrecked Beach” has an aura of mystery because of the historical events in this isolated part of the island. The principal incident, which ended up giving name to the area, was the sinking of two sea vessels used by the Portuguese, off the beach in 1753. Following an edict by the Portuguese Court, about 250 Azorean settlers had traveled to Rio Grande do Sul when the accident occurred at the place now called Ponta dos Naufragados. Only 77 settlers escaped, some of whom remained on the island and others went to Laguna and Rio Grande do Sul. For this excursion, Renato and John met the students at UFSC campus at 8:00AM. They all headed together to the south of the island, passing through the neighborhoods of Rio Tavares and Ribeirão da Ilha until they got to the beginning of the trail at the extreme south of the island. From there they hiked for 50 minutes until reaching the Beach. On the beach they played cricket, swam and had a typical Brazilian lunch in a very picturesque venue overlooking the sea.

MARCH

Friday 1st – FUN DAY TO MARK THE END OF THE INTENSIVE PERIOD The team at USAC held this event for the staff, professors and students to commemorate the end of the period of intensive Portuguese courses and the beginning of the upper level ones. The event took place in the events room of the building where Aline’s parents reside, in Ingleses, a beach neighorhood in the north of the island. A large amount of typical Brazilian barbeque food was prepared for the occasion. The “churrasqueiro”, or chef, was Aline’s father while Aline’s mother prepared the side dishes. For drinks lots of “guaraná” soda and juices were served to deal with the very hot weather. Throughout the day the USAC team organized several activities, including a trip to the nearby beach, and many different sports were played, including soccer, ping-pong, tennis, racquetball, rugby and cricket. The event began at lunchtime and lasted until evening.

Photo Credit: Melissa Molina

Beach sports/Photo Credit: Melissa Molina

Reflections on the 1st part of the semester Students enjoying the barbeque

Saturday 2nd - HIKE TO LAGOINHA DO LESTE For this event, Renato met the students at UFSC campus at 10:00AM. From there they took a bus for for the Armação Beach, where there is a small bridge and path across Matadeiro Beach, where the trail to Lagoinha do Leste starts. This is a 3-hour hike for all standards offering beautiful views of the surrounding beaches. The only access to the beach is via the trail, making Lagoinha do Leste a particularly tranquil place that seems far from civilization. Once there it is possible to swim in the lagoon. The lagoon is very shallow and we organized a game of volleyball inside it. The students spent about 2 hours there, and then before the sun went down they headed to the back trail that took them back to the city but this time via Pântano do Sul beach.

View from the top/Photo Credit: Kellie Koester

Lagoinha do Leste/Photo Credit: Ryan Knight

Wednesday 13th – MEETING WITH THE UFSC VICE-PRESIDENT At this meeting the Resident Director officially introduced USAC as an international program and its first group of students, along with staff and professors, to the UFSC vice-president, Lúcia Pacheco. The meeting took place as part of a week-long seminar on the internationalization of the university, and was hosted by Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, the head of International Relations at the University. The RD, staff and students met some other UFSC university authorities such as Lauro Mattei, vice-president of Students Affairs (PRAE); Joana Pedro, Vice-President of Undergraduate Studies (PROPG); Rogério Luiz de Souza, vice-president of Graduate Programs (PROGRAD); Jamil Assereuy, vice-president of Research (PROPESQ); and Paulo Berton, Secretary of Culture (SECULT). After the meeting everyone was able to enjoy a Brazilian coffee break and have a personal chat with our hosts. Saturday 23rd – HIKE TO POÇÃO

For this “urban trail”, Renato met the students at the beginning of the path, with is just one mile away from the University Campus. It is a short hike to reach the Poção, an beautiful waterfall with crystalline water and a nice natural pool to swim in and relax.

USAC Group & UFSC Staff

Poção waterfall/Photo Credit: Jacob Wagner

APRIL

Saturday 6th – STAND UP PADDLE-BOARD AT LAGOA

For this event, USAC Floripa Staff gathered with the students at one of the most beautiful spots in Florianópolis, Lagoa da Conceição. It was a really sunny day, with just the perfect weather to do water sports. Kika, the surf teacher, met with everyone there to teach us how to do Stand Up. A total of 12 students attended. Afterwards there was an Açaí (Amazonian berry) tasting for all the Stand Up surfers.

Thursday 11th – USAC MOVIE CYCLE #1 Every other Thursday from April 6th to May 9th , USAC Floripa presented a Brazilian movie to the students, showing a selection of films which reflect Brazil’s history and identity. Brazil has a very important and idiosyncratic national cinema which includes some contemporary classics and lesser known works. During the presentation USAC staff served popcorn and “guaraná” (Brazilian soda) for the students. For the #1 USAC Floripa presented “Tropa de Elite”.

Stand Up Paddle-board lesson

Saturday 13th – WEEKEND TRIP TO CURITIBA Renato and three other students went to Curitiba for a weekend trip. The main feature about Curitiba is how green and efficiently-run the city is. It is considered one of the most ecological cities in South America. The group visited more than four city parks and went to two of the traditional downtown markets. They were also able to have lunch at the 2nd biggest restaurant in the world and to visit the 24-hours market, which never stops!

Thursday 18th – USAC MOVIE CYCLE #2 This time USAC Floripa presented “Guerra de Canudos”, with tells the story about the dry hinterland northeastern of Brazil and Antonio Conselheiro, an influential religious leader of the 19th century who waged a military campaign against the nascent Brazilian State. The film was particularly relevant for students of History and Literature who had studied this astonishing chapter in the country’s history.

Botanical Garden

Barigui Park, Curitiba

Friday 26th – TAMAR FIELD STUDY This was an event divided into two sessions. For the first session we invited two specialists from the Tamar Conservation Project to speak about the history of the project and the different initiatives to protect and preserve turtle species in southern Brazil. For the second session the group were taken to the headquarters of Tamar Project to visit all the turtles who are under protection in Florianópolis.

All aboard

Marine turtles Turtle Shell

MAY

Thursday 2nd – USAC MOVIE CYCLE #3 USAC Floripa presented “O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias”, which tells the story of a young boy experiencing the period of military dictatorship in Brazil and his love of futebol. For this movie session Visiting Professor Maria José Barbosa gave an illuminating introduction to this beautiful film. Thursday 9th – USAC MOVIE CYCLE #4 USAC Floripa presented “Carandiru”, with relates the history of one of the most brutal prison massacres in Latin America, in which over 100 prisoners died. The history is based on the witness account of the former prison doctor of the prison. The film is important because it highlights the conditions of Brazil’s penitentiary system and the human righs abuses which go on within it. One student, Jake Wagner, focused on this event for his Intermediate Portuguese portfolio.

FRIDAY 10th – USAC FLORIPA SPRING 2013 FAREWELL PARTY As the end of the semester approached, USAC Staff organized a good-bye “Churrasco” (barbeque) at the Resident Director’s home. As well as our 24 students, professors, hosts and buddies were invited. Students in the Brazilian Cuisine class were given the task of making salads and a traditional Brazilian desert under the guidance of our excellent cooking teacher Rosane, a professional chef. The meat was wonderfully prepared by Delmo, friend of USAC and host-father of Ryan Knight. As well as the dinner, USAC staff gave a presentation highlighting some of the memorable moments of the semester. The students were lauded for all their achievements throughout the semester and some prizes were awarded.

Preparation Dinner

Watching the sun going down Farewell from the staff

ADDITIONAL EVENTS – SPORTS & BUDDIES

In addition to our official courses in surfing and Brazilian cooking, USAC was delighted to be able to offer the following regular activities to our first group of students in Brazil: Soccer and Volleyball with USAC Every Thursday at 2:00PM, staff, students and buddies gathered at UFSC sports courts to have a sports afternoon. Other students from UFSC and the international community of UFSC were also invited to play with the USAC group. The most popular sports were volleyball and 5-a-side soccer. Capoeira with USAC “Capoeira” classes were taught during the whole semester, every Monday afternoon, by Mestre Sardinho, a Capoeira Master from Bahia. The students had a great time getting to know this Brazilian martial art that combines music and dance and is such an important part of the national culture.

Soccer with USAC/Photo Credit: Kellie Koester

Practicing capoeira

OTHER SPORTS – with UFSC students Tennis Classes at UFSC Camila Lima and Margaret Lovallo had tennis classes with UFSC PE professors. Camila and Margaret’s skills noticeably improved as the semester progressed! Volleyball Classes at UFSC Nicole Van Velzor and Cristina Villaroel played volleyball in university training sessions. Swimming Classes at UFSC The following students participated in swimming classes: Laura Morales Royston Schulte Kaine Baptist Samuel Mitchel Ruth Netzahualt Michel Norris Melissa Molina Raul Alvarenga Lexie Siebuhr The classes were very popular for swimmers of all levels. One student took advantage of the class to learn to swim, which he had never had the opportunity to do before.

EVENTS WITH THE BUDDIES There were several events with the UFSC buddies, both organized by USAC and later on by the students themselves. The inaugural event was a pizza evening and chat at the UFSC Campus. At this event buddies and USAC students met each other and conversed in both Portuguese and English.

Picnic with Buddies Party with Buddies/Photo Credit: Kellie Koester