Brazil Update: Trip to Ji-Paraná

Hello friends and family, I hope you are all well and that you are enjoying this Advent and Christmas season. I last left you preparing to board my boat and begin my journey up the Amazon to Ji-Paraná, the Salesian site where I will be living and working for the rest of my time here in Brazil. The Vice-Provincial, Padre Chicão, and my immediate boss Adam Rudin, the director of the Lay Missioner Program, thought it would be beneficial for me to stop at the different Salesian sites as I journeyed to Ji-Paraná in order to get a feel for the work being done here and to also meet some of the Priests, Brothers and volunteers working in Brazil.
My first stop was Manicoré which is still in the Amazonas state. I left Manaus on the 18th of November at 4:10 p.m. aboard the “Amazonia” and arrived in Manicoré on the 20th at 10:20 p.m. What did I do for 2+ days you ask? Not much. This wasn’t your luxury cruise ship. I reserved a 1st class cabin (I use the word “cabin” loosely here) because I had all of my stuff; laptop, camera, passport, money, clothes etc. which would have been difficult to keep an eye on because 2nd class, the only other option, was to hang your own hammock on the middle deck and place your things under it. My cabin (I think there were a total of 10 all together) was a room 6 ft. wide by 7 ft. deep meant for two people, luckily I was the only occupant. My 3 meals were brought to me so I could dine in the comfort of my own room while 2nd class all ate together on picnic tables. I had a key along with the other 9 cabins to one bathroom across from the kitchen. The 2nd class passengers used the common toilet right next to ours (For this I was thankful I had a cabin). In the way of entertainment there was the top deck where blaring music played for hours on end only to be stopped at exactly 6:30 p.m. for the national news which was picked up by a satellite dish mounted on top of the snack shop. Needless to say I spent most of my time in my cabin reading, sleeping and watching movies on my Ipod. I did enjoy the beautiful sunsets over the Rio Madeira (Wood River) which was the principal Amazon river we used to get to Manicoré. At night I would enjoy the breeze coming off the water and stare into the starry night. The stars were amazing due to the fact there were no natural or man-made lights on for miles around which made it easy to pick out the different constellations. The largest port of call that we made was to a little town called Borba, where we stopped for a couple of hours. I took the opportunity to get off of the boat and to explore a little. The town didn’t offer much but I did enjoy walking around the main plaza where they had a nice little blue church and huge statue of São Antônio (St. Anthony) gazing out across the Rio Madeira. I also enjoyed seeing other boats of all sizes on the rivers and the way the people eek out a living along the Amazon. During the trip I would see on occasion pink river dolphins traveling in pods and a number of different water fowl. When we arrived at last to Manicoré I was glad to have the chance to get off of the water for a couple of days. The original journey would have been 5 days straight on the boat to Porto Velho then a bus ride to Ji-Paraná.
Manicoré is a town of about 35,000 people and the only way to get there is by boat or small planes. One of the first things you learn here is to look where you are going. Being so isolated there are only about 50 cars in the whole town, a slew of motorbikes and mopeds and a ton of bicycles. There are no stop signs, traffic lights, lanes dividing the roads or any rules of any kind regarding transportation. One of the volunteers told me you don’t even have to have a license to drive a car or motorcycle. The one good thing that I did see was if you had a motorbike you were required to wear a helmet; unfortunately the other 1, 2 and I even saw 3 other passengers riding with you do not. While in Manicoré I spent the majority of my time getting to know the kids and staff at the vocational school/youth center. The Salesian parish was also having festivities and processions during my time there. The second day that I was at the youth center the kids found a 5 ft. boa-constrictor outside of the graphic arts classroom. They caught it and put it into a trash can from the classroom and then two boys on a bicycle rode off with it to who knows where. I like to think they released it into the wild but it probably ended up on someone’s dinner plate. One of my favorite things to do there was to go out at dusk and watch the sunsets, they were so intense and looked amazing from across the river.
The next leg of my journey required another boat trip which left on Thursday at 7:45 a.m. from Manicoré and arrived in Humaitá at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. (Same story, smaller boat). This one was called the “Paulo Arnaud” and the captain only had one arm. I know this because there was some confusion with my reserving 1 of only 2 cabins on the boat. The captain grilled me on who gave me a key to the room and who was it that said I could even reserve one. He sent me off looking about the boat for the guy who told me everything was fine and in order. At this point I am getting a little anxious because we are already 3 hrs. into the trip and I see both the bottom and middle decks only have 2nd class hammock passengers. Finally the young guy is found and brought to the room where in rapid Portuguese he is basically receiving a tongue-lashing from the captain for giving away his personal cabin. I tried to explain that I didn’t have a hammock and that I was traveling with all of my possessions and didn’t know what else I could do. After some more rapid Portuguese between all that were present he finally relented and allowed me to stay in his cabin as long as I didn’t use the air-conditioning. Another problem solved and my worries alleviated. The trip was shorter and I spent most of my time on the top deck where my cabin was located next to the snack shop and blaring music.
I met up with the Salesian Priests in Humaitá and received a tour of the town that afternoon. Humaitá is a little bigger than Manicoré and has a population of about 45,000 people. The good thing is that they aren’t isolated because there is a road leading to the next state, Rondônia. I spent the few days that I was there getting to know the staff and kids at the vocation school and some of the parishioners at the Salesian parish. At night we would go to the main plaza by the Cathedral because there were also festivities and processions going on during the days that I was there. The next leg of the trip I had the option of taking a boat or a bus to Porto Velho, which is in the state of Rondônia. I opted to leave the Amazon rivers behind and try my luck with ground transportation. Padre Mario left me at the bus station to take the 2:00 p.m. bus to Porto Velho which would arrive at 5:30 p.m., wouldn’t you know it, the bus breaks down almost exactly between the two points. Everyone gets off the bus, the bus driver finds out that a belt broke and that we are stuck there until the next scheduled bus passes by 3 hrs. later. The next bus finally arrives and is more than half full so now we all try and cram together so that no one gets left behind. We manage and make it safe and sound to Porto Velho only 3 hrs. past due. Luckily, Padre Gennaro was told by the bus company at 5:30 p.m. to return 3 hrs. later to pick me up so I didn’t have to try to find the Salesian residence at night by myself.
I spent the next 5 days in Porto Velho, the capital of Rondônia state, getting to know the Salesians and their works there. Porto Velho is a city of about 370,000 people so the Salesians have the same types of vocational school, youth center and main parish they are just a lot bigger with more students and parishioners. Once again I spent most of my time at the vocational school meeting the kids and staff and learning about what types of classes are offered. Pretty much all of the Salesian vocational schools that I have visited in Brazil offer the same types of classes; wood working, arts and crafts, tailoring, auto and motorbike mechanics, electronics, music lessons, etc. The age of the students ranges from 12 to 18 yrs. old and the majority come from economically poor families. My time in Porto Velho came to an end and on Monday I got a ride from Padre Alberto to Ji-Paraná, my final destination. It took 5 weeks to get to Ji-Paraná from the time that I arrived in Manaus but it worth it getting to know all of the Salesians and their works along the way.
Ji-Paraná is the second largest city in the state of Rondônia with a population of about 120,000. I am now living with the Salesians in community in Ji-Paraná. Padre Alberto, Padre José, Padre Edmundo and I live in the rectory next to the Salesian church “São José” We have daily mass, morning and evening prayer and shared meals together. I will be working at the vocational school/youth center (Centro Educativo Dom Bosco). Right now I am just getting to know the kids and staff as they are finishing their academic year. Things will start up again after the holidays and I should know more about what I will be doing on a daily basis. The rainy season has arrived which has brought the temperatures down from the mid 90’s into the 80’s so I am thankful for that. My Portuguese is getting better every day due to the fact I haven’t run into anyone else who speaks English. I might be the only American for a 1000 miles in any direction.
I hope you all have a “Feliz Natal” (Merry Christmas) and a Happy New Year.

God bless!!

Brazil Update: Amazon River Man

Hello friends and family, I hope you are all doing well. I have enjoyed immensely my short time here in Brazil and am getting used to all of the new sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the Amazon. I will be working with the Salesians of St. John Bosco in the city of Ji-Paraná in the state of Rondônia. Right now I am in Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas state. I flew into Manaus on Halloween and was met by the Salesian Vice-Provincial Padre Chicão. Padre Chicão and the other Salesians have been showing me around for the last two weeks before I head off to my new site in Ji-Paraná. Manaus is a huge city of over two million people and there have been plenty of things for me to see and do while I am here. I have already visited most of the Salesian works and houses to get to know them and their communities. Apart from visiting Salesian houses I have also had some free time to explore and do some sight-seeing and touristy things. The first weekend Padre Chicão and I took a river boat cruise with Amazon Explorers to go to the “Encontro Das Aguas” and to do a jungle walk. We bought our tickets at the Manaus Port and used the Porto Flutuante or floating dock to board the boat. The floating dock was constructed by the British in 1902 and is able to rise and fall according to the seasonal water levels. The annual high-water points are marked on the wall beside the dock. The highest water level was recorded this year in July; the lowest levels are right now in November. The first stop on the boat cruise was the “Encontro Das Aguas” or “Meeting of the Waters”. It is so named because that is where the Rio Negro or “Black River” (it is actually the color of Coca-Cola) and the Rio Solimões meet. These two major Amazon rivers don’t mix immediately because of differences in speed, temperature and density. The two rivers run side by side for several miles which is where it gets its name. Along the way we passed many floating gas stations and various types of water-craft carrying out there daily labor of transporting goods and people up and down the Amazon. It was interesting to see a small boat approach ours, tie up and begin to off-load ice for the cold drinks that we had on board. The man would take a 5 gallon bucket of ice and toss it up about 8ft. to another man on our boat to put it in the ice chest. Due to the river being at its lowest we had to disembark from our boat and pile into smaller boats in order to get inland and do the jungle walk. On the jungle trek we saw all sorts of different birds, bugs, lizards and a couple of jacaré or “alligators”. We then ate a buffet lunch on a floating restaurant before heading back out to our original boat. The buffet had all kinds of different Amazon fish and fruits that I had never eaten or heard of but they were all delicious. I was thankful and glad to be able to have such a rich experience so early in my time here. The Amazon is truly a remarkable place. The following day Padre Chicão and some other Salesians took me to Praia Da Lua or Moon Beach, Manaus’ best and most popular. We took a 10 minute speed boat ride up the Rio Negro and joined hundreds of other Brazilians on the white sand. We ate fresh fish for lunch, played some volleyball and swam in the colored water for a few hours before returning, it was a great day. I have also ventured out on my own to tour some of Manaus’ museums, markets, plazas and churches including the Cathedral. I attended a concert at the beautiful Teatro Amazonas, Manaus’ famous opera house. It was designed by the Portuguese during the rubber boom and opened in 1896. The interior has imported marble and glass from Italy and the iron work is from Scotland. Outside the opera house is the Praça São Sebastião (St. Sebastian Plaza) named after the church across the street. Its unique depiction of the “Encontro Das Aguas” using black and white tiles really gives it flair and sets it apart from the other plazas. On Nov. 2nd, All Souls Day, I went with the Salesians to the main cemetery in Manaus to attend the mass they were celebrating there. Thousands of people we there paying their respects to loved ones by lighting candles and leaving flower arrangements. Unfortunately my time here in the Amazon is coming to a close. I talked with Padre Chicao a few days ago and after his meetings with the Provincial they have decided to send me to work at the parish and youth center in Ji-Paraná. Originally I was supposed to go to Porto Velho, the capital of Rondônia to live and work with the Salesians there but the director of the community Padre Bento is sick with cancer and is getting treatment here in Manaus for the next few months. Ji-Paraná is a smaller city about 6hrs by bus from Porto Velho. The difficulty of the Amazon is that there are no highways to get from city to city or state to state so I will have to take a boat up the Amazon. The trip to Porto Velho takes 5 days because you have to go against the current of the Rio Madeira. Padre Chicão thinks its best for me to break the trip up in stages by stopping at different Salesian sites along the river route. The first stop will be in Manicoré, 2 days from Manaus. I will stay there for about 5 or 6 days to get to know their work and to meet up with two volunteers from Europe. The next stop will be Humaita, which will take me another couple of days on the water to reach. After spending a few days in Humaita I will then proceed to Porto Velho for a visit to the Salesian house there and then onto Ji-Paraná where I will stay and work with the Salesians for my remaining time in Brazil. I have the same problem that I did last year in being able to only stay for 6 months due to Brazilian immigration rules, so I will have to renew my visa after 90 days in Porto Velho. After my 6 months here I will cross the border into Bolivia and serve there with the Salesians in Yapacani, a new site we opened this year in the Santa Cruz Department. I will be sending updates and some photos from time to time to keep everyone informed on my mission here. I ask for your continued prayers as I begin my boat trip tomorrow the 18th and also for the Salesians and the people we minister to. God bless!!

Steve
(Estêvão) my name in Portuguese