Palmas and other travels

Gorgeous palm trees of Guarujá

Well, I guess I am long overdue on a blog entry. But the month of August somehow flew by without too much to tell. I did some more sight-seeing in Sao Paulo, visiting the Museu de Ipiranga, which was the location of the signing of the Brazilian independence (Sept. 7, 1822). The Museum and its grounds are gorgeous, it looks like Renaissance European architecture. I also went to Guarujá, the beach town closest to São Paulo, which was surprisingly lovely, even with the high rises being built there. The day was perfect, sunny and in the low 80s, but too cold for the beach for most Brazilians, so we had the area mostly to ourselves:)

At the end of August, I also gave a two-day intensive seminar in Palmas, Tocantins for English coordinators of the state of Tocantins. The workshops were two full days of methodology and practical lesson ideas for the public school classrooms. We were able to do almost the whole session in English, which was good practice for the teachers and I think overall it went really well.

The state of Tocantins is near Brasilia, more or less in the middle of the country, and has only been a state since 1989. Palmas is a planned city, much like Brasilia except a lot smaller. There are only about 200,000 people in the city and it’s basically in the desert. It is hot and dusty with roads that seem to go on forever, only separated by roundabouts instead of stoplights:) I felt like I was on location for a Hollywood movie set in Arizona or something – perhaps Thelma and Louise or Raising Arizona:)

Palmas also happens to have the second largest Square (Plaza) in the world after Red Square in Moscow. Again, why Niemeyer and the other architects thought that large slabs of concrete with no trees were a good idea for cities with temperatures in the 90s and above, I will never know! Palmas is on a lake, though, so at least there were some lake beaches, which was nice. Also, the state of Tocantins has a mix of vegetation so that there are some beautiful parks with waterfalls and trails, but they are several hours from the city I was in so, unfortunately, I didn’t make it that far. Maybe next time!

Here are few photos from my adventures in August:)

Museu de Ipiranga, Sao Paulo






Beaches of Guarujá








Palmas, Tocantins

With the teacher coordinators




Monument to the fight for a separate state of Tocantins


Praça Girossóis, second largest plaza after Red Square


At the lake beach



Natividade (head of the English coordinators) and her son, Gustavo



Best part of my stay - the hotel swimming pool!



Leaving Palmas - love the outdoor airport!:)



Flying into Congonhas airport, Sao Paulo - amazing!!



Até a proxima!