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