Week 3 - Friday: Our day started by visiting Braslo. Braslo is part of three independent companies at the same location that service the McDonald’s in Brazil as well as some Applebees and Lonestars etc. We watched the four beef patty lines from start to finish. I believe the figure I remember was they produce 600 tons of patties everyday for McDonald’s, 27 days out of the month. They do chicken nuggets and fish patties also but they don’t produce them as often. The other two business are the bakery for the rolls and buns and then the paper products. We were able to try some nuggets at the end of the tour. Hmmm good and just like home!! In the afternoon we visited the Art museum.

The evening was the best of the day. The evening was set up to include a samba lesson and then participating with one of the dance clubs actually preparing for “Carnival”. Carnival is a Brazilian national holiday similar to what we call Mardi Gras except that the celebration takes place in many communities and cities across Brazil during the same five day period. Most people take off work during the time and they celebrate at night and sleep during the day. This year Carnival begins just after we head back to the United States. There are parades, music, floats, singing and lots of color. You will have to ask your student about the evening but I believe fun was had by all. We learned how to Samba, but the big question is “could we all DO the Samba?” Then we walked several blocks away from the dance club and practiced the clubs ritual for the celebration of Carnival dancing the Samba in the road, with the music and singing all the way back to the dance club. We were supposed to Samba the whole way back and sing. We laughed a lot and just a few were able to dance all the way back. It was pretty exhausting and the students continued to talk about the experience today.