Dia Oito em Belem

Today is Monday and it feels like a very early morning after a very eventful weekend! We woke up at 8:30am and had breakfast at nine.

I rode with Raul, Karissa, Marisol, and Patrick to class a few minutes later than usual, but otherwise it was a regular morning.


Today was my re-scheduled presentation day and I was ready and energized to get in front of the class and talk about Technology and Engineering in journalism! Our plan in class today was to listen to my presentation and then to Marisol's about the Environment, and later go to the Botanical Gardens.

But today ended up being more than just class presentations. Everyone seemed to be high strung and vulnerable to their own sensitivities, today was the day when our communication with each other didn't go smoothly.

 People were homesick and confused about issues that couldn't be talked out appropriately. The mis-communications and intentions of words drew out a lot negative feelings and issues. Sounds complicated huh? It was! Monday kinda started and ended with a dramatic mess:

...but the middle of the day was quite pleasant! So I will focus more on that!

Well, first off we got our midterms back and I got a 95/100, pretty happy about that!

And my class presentation went rather well, got some good feedback from my peers after class and hopefully taught some constructive tips in writing about "Technology". Here are brief bullet points from my presentation:
1.  Try to oversimplify (make things as simple as possible)
2. Look for everyday units (find a familiar way to compare sizes or convert metric units)
3. Fish for analogies (explain through concrete visual words)
4. A little expertise is a good thing (get a good sense of what engineers mean)
5. Draw on experience (illustrate a point by making it familiar and comparing
6. Provide Context (go into detail step by step)

Then Marisol discussed the "Environment" and some of the challenges journalists face.
She used the Exxon oil spill as an example for when there was so much being written about the incident that people didn't know what was accurate anymore.
It is important to know who you are quoting and the only solution in writing about the environment is through communicating with scientists.

After our presentation, class went on break and we walked from school to YYAMADA to buy more water bottles and I ended up getting some Brazil-esque (half naked women in thongs) towels for gifts! My mom's gonna love it! Just kidding, well I really did get them, but they're for the guys back home and maybe I will pick up another one for grandma! (I will be traveling to Wisconsin next week and will see her!)

After check out we walked back to the hotel and had plans to meet back with Raul in the lobby for lunch around noon. Isabella and Lucas met up with us as well and they took half of the group to Das Docas, but Lucas and Isabella didn't end up joining us.

We ate at our signature buffet there and walked around the market at Das Docas after to get more gifts for family and friends. Going for a second time it was not as overwhelming and it made it easier to determine what would be a good gift and for who. I finally was able to find something that I think my dad will like! Let you know when I get back to the states.

Then we piled in Raul's car and drove to a church, but the huge green painted doors were closed!

So, we drove to the park to walk around and get ice cream, but a police man, in his bullet proof vest and gun, informed us that the park was also closed! Everything is closed on Mondays!!!!

We kinda laughed it off and "rolled with the punches" and were happy to go back to the hotel in the air conditioning! We showered, we blogged, and we went to dinner ordering pizza with ground beef which looked and tasted like a very yummy lasagna, also containing eggplant, onions, and a green olive on top of each slice. We also brought our own bottle of wine which the waiter very kindly chilled and served to us. It was a very classy outing: pizza and wine!