Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Holy cow, we just heard from the bossman from the top that we need to get out to the farms to start discing 24 hours a day with another intern. That doesn't sound so bad, but thats not the bad part, no one on these farms speaks a bit of english. AHHHHH!! We will be out there for about a week until next weekend trying to get caught up before planting begins.

Tyler hopes to start planting by the 15th of October and finish on or before the 5th of December. Tyler told us if we finish planting before then, he will take all of us the the beaches of Salvador for a 4-5 day vacation. Wooohooo!!!

Well, were heading out to a sports bar for a few drinks and supper. The funny thing is that the Brazilians do not start eating supper until about 8. It sure takes a lot getting use to since I always ate around 5-6 back home like the rest of you. Well, Im off for a night full of fun before I practice some more portuguese before Im baptized by fire tomorrow and the next few days!!

ps: say a prayer for me please


Signing off.......

-Hrubes

Brazil through my eyes

Photobucket Album

Luis Eduardo Magalhaes

Wow, what a pain in the butt traveling is. We were 2 hours delayed leaving Chicago, which put us in a bind when we got to Sao Paulo. We were late getting checked in, so late that we were called "no-shows" so we had to wait 5 hours for our next flight to Brasilia. After that was all said and done, we had a short tour around Brasilia which is the capital of Brazil. Similar to the United States, all the government offices (congress, department of defense, president, etc.) were located on the same campus. After our grueling travel, we were treated to our first Brazilian meal. I had steak and it sure was a treat after what I had gone through.

The next day (Wednesday) we were up early for a 6 hour van ride to Luis Eduardo Magalhaes (LEM). This trip started out just like our last, a mess. Within 30 minutes our van stalled, and the dirty diesel was to blame. After that we had a quick stop at a random diesel station for a snack and drink. After a few hours the van once again stalled, bad enough the driver actually had to check under the hood this time. After 10 minutes we were back on the road. The closer we got to LEM the more agriculture we were seeing. Syngenta, John Deere, Pioneer, Bunge, Case-New Holland were EVERYWHERE!! I really started to feel at home, except for the volcanic red soil color all over.

Once we arrived in LEM we continued to see things similar to the United States. Agriculture stores were everywhere. LEM 3 years ago was only 20,000 people, but because of the local agriculture boom it now inhabits 50,000 people!! A couple things; the Bunge crushing plant was once the 3rd largest in South America, and the John Deere dealership in town, once sold 40% of JD's cotton pickers in the world and has already sold 180 JD 8430s for the year!!! Holy COW!! The rest of the day was spent looking around town and visiting Global Ag Investment's office in town. We ended the night at the CEO's place having adult beverages and pizza. Surprisingly the the pizza was some of the best I have ever had.

Today (Thursday) we went out to a couple of the farms that are farmed by GAI. First off, their road system is not very good compared to the United States. Their secondary roads (like our gravel roads) are crap. Potholes everywhere and they are made out of that red dirt that I talked about earlier. Since it rained last night, we were in for a day full of "muddin" just to get to the farms. The farms were neat, out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by flat red dirt that can be seen for miles. GAI's biggest FIELD is 1500 acres, and nothing is smaller than 250 acres. Quite a bit of a difference to Iowa. Finishing the country visit, we took a look at a place called "The Edge". The Edge is a natural border between the states of Bahia and Tocantins. It reminded me of the Grand Canyon but smaller and greener.

Well that is all I have so far folks. I think this trip is going to become even more interesting as I learn more portugese and am able to converse with the locals. Thanks for reading and add posts if you would like. Take a peek at the photos as well....

Signing off..........

-Hrubes

Greetings

Family, friends, past co-workers, students, & faculty, this fall I have decided again to take a break from school, this time to journey far beyond Illinois and Iowa, but to BRAZIL!!! Since the first time this opportunity came to me, I knew I wanted to partake. Yes, it would prolong my graduation date once again, but also it will provide me with a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I will be working for Global Ag Investments ( www.globalaginvestments.com )down in Brazil in the state of Bahia. 5 interns as well as I have been asked to come down and help with the planting of almost 50,000 acres of soybeans, corn, cotton, and popcorn. While there, I plan to soak in the culture, learn about Brazilian agriculture, and see as much as possible!!
Feel free to comment on pictures and posts, it will be fun and exciting!!!

I will try to update the blog as frequent as possible with pictures and posts. Here we go and happy reading!!