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!!