Blades of Sugarcane

Day 36: Monday, February 10^th

This morning we packed up all the things that had spread out across our hotel room during our extended three-night stay. We stopped at two government-run research stations, IAPAR and Embrapa.

IAPAR (Instituto Agronomico de Parana) is a state-based (rather than federal) agricultural research agency. Instead of focusing on one commodity or type of farming, IAPAR works to develop sustainable farming techniques across the board. They were working on genetically modified strains of soybeans, biological pest control, shade-grown coffee techniques, and no-till farming, to name a few. We took a tractor ride around the research farm. The coolest part was watching latex drip from tapped rubber trees. Whoever discovered that?

Experimental coffee seedlings.

A new trial of shade-grown coffee under rubber trees.

A researcher shows us how latex sap is tappped from the trunk of a rubber tree.

The latex sap is poured into plastic flower pots, where it congeals into tough discs like this. These discs are sent to the factory for processing.

A red dirt road through experimental sugarcane fields.

In the afternoon we headed to Embrapa Soja, the soybean version of the federal agricultural research agency we visited a few days ago. (Earlier we visited the swine and poultry Embrapa.) We were joined by a group of older Canadian farmers who are also on an agricultural tour of Brazil. The Canadians’ attitudes and questions made me realize that I would have a very different perspective on this trip if I was of a different age.

We didn’t get to tour any of the Embrapa facilities, but the presentation raised some interesting points. One thing I find interesting if the Brazilian land conservation law which requires farmers in the cerrado biome to maintain at least 20% of their farmland in natural forest vegetation. (This requirement varies by biome, with Amazon land requiring a full 80% to be naturally forested.) Embrapa explained that since their research farm was already deforested, they were allowed to reforest the correct area of land 50 kilometers away from the property, as long as it was within the same biome.

This loophole made me think: wouldn’t it be better if every farmer were required to purchase and preserve an area of forest that equaled 20% of his farmland offsite, in a centralized location with other forest preserves? When we drive past farmland, I can look out the window of the bus and see the small, fragmented patches of forest dispersed among hectares of soybean and corn. These patches are a nice visual touch to the landscape, and I’m sure they house some wildlife, like frogs and birds. But they aren’t helping large mammals or raptors which require large ranges, and all the species they hold except birds are genetically isolated. So, I asked, why is the current law the way it is? Do these parcels help local water, soil, and air quality? Or was it simply too difficult to legislate and enforce offsite conservation zones?

I’ve found that I focus better when I’m doodling, so I drew a portrait of our presenter while taking notes.

Tonight we checked into a hotel with a tropical paradise pool. After a cheap, filling truckstop dinner of rice, beans, chicken, and a fried egg, we all headed to the pool for frisbee and drinks. I found two massive cane toads as a bonus!

Day 37: Tuesday, February 11^th

Today we rode the bus home! Well, at least to Piracicaba, our home in Brazil.

We spent the morning at Zilor: Energy and Food, a sugar growing and processing company. We sat through some interesting (if slightly too-detailed) presentations, and then we got our wish. We frolicked through a sugar cane field! We chewed the sweet, fibrous cane fresh from the field, and waged sugar-cane battles. We galloped over the rows of straw and hid in the razor-sharp leaves. I had a sneezing attack (sugar cane is definitely in the grass family!) and took a photo with a working sugar-cane harvester. What fun!

  

Now that burning sugarcane is illegal in Brazil, the extra greenery is left in the field where it dries into hay. This hay is then baled and burned to generate electricity.

The farm implement of torture and death.

We saw all sort of machines in action! This truck was dumping chopped sugarcane stalks into another truck.

We got to watch a harvester in action. Usually, the cane would be taller than the harvester, but this year has been one of serious drought and low production.

This year's straw is raked into mounds for the baler to pick up.

The harvester!

Peek-a-boo! (This is where I realized my grass allergy applies to sugarcane.)

Look at me! Now I'm COUNTRY in all caps!

We could not resist a battle with blades of sugarcane.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t tour the inside of the processing plant since it’s currently the off-season, but we did take a bus tour. I was stunned by the massive equipment.

Since it is not harvesting season, the ethanol and sugar production were shut down. Only the boiler was running to produce electricity, which is sold to the utility companies.

 All of this mechanical infrastructure just to put those sweet crystals in our kitchens!

Here is a load of sugarcane straw bales being delivered to the boiler.

Here are the tanks which hold anhydrous ethanol.

The bus ride back to Piracicaba was long, as expected, but it was so much more pleasant than our overnight slog ten days ago. I dozed, listened to music, and managed to read a few chapters of Stephen King’s Different Seasons without getting too carsick. Everyone was running out of books to read, so we all swapped. I loved watching people get into their books. As a book lover myself, I always feel happy watching others read. It’s amazing what can happen when laptop batteries die!

Day 38: Wednesday, February 12^th

Today can be described in one word: project. Although my group worked hard on our proposals and discussed our outline on the long trip, there just wasn’t time before today to get serious work done. So today, we got down to business!

We were glad that the morning class was just a study session, so we could get solidify our outline. For lunch, Erin and I walked to the cafeteria where I discovered my new favorite meal: buttery brown rice, cooked vegetables, and grilled chicken followed by a cup of frozen acai, banana slices, and strawberries.

In the afternoon, we worked at school until 6pm, when we stopped at Subway. They didn’t have flat bread, so I got a tangy combination of bacon, cheddar cheese, red wine vinegar, raw onions, and arugula on honey wheat bread. Then we sat in the hotel lobby and worked on our project until 1 in the morning, with just one break for frozen yogurt.

As we ran through the project and timed ourselves in the wee hours of the morning, I wished we had started this project earlier! But looking back, I knew we hadn’t had time. When I tried to work on the bus, I felt nauseated within minutes; we arrived late at night at several of our hotels; and the few hotels where we did have free time did not have reliable internet. So I just took the situation as an uncontrollable, to quote my ultimate frisbee coach, and made the best of the situation. We will meet tomorrow morning at 6am for a couple final run-throughs.

Day 39: Thursday, February 13^th

Presentations day! I got up after four hours of sleep for a very early breakfast (apparently a little too early – although all the food was already laid out, a hotel worker let me know the breakfast was not open yet – my bad.) We ran through the PowerPoint a couple times, and like every last-minute group project, the presentation seemed to magically improve at the last minute to something better than respectable.

We watched three presentations and gave ours fourth. I most enjoyed the first presentation, which was about ethanol and the food vs. fuel debate. The presenters were great public speakers, and I’m very interested in biofuels. One thing I noticed during the presentation was the two members used the word “believe” and all three used the word “faith.” For example, one girl explained that whether you side with food (against ethanol) or fuel (for ethanol) depends on what you believe, since there is research supporting both sides. Later, another group member said he thinks ethanol will someday replace gasoline completely because he has faith in technology. I was a little disturbed by these statements, because I have been taught the “belief” and “faith” often denote a wish somebody has which is not entirely logically sound.

In the food vs. fuel debate, a person should still come to a conclusion based on the data. Just because there are scientists on both sides of the debate does not mean that a person can simply choose the side she likes more. In time, as more research is conducted and real-world consequences are observed, people will change their minds. One’s opinion should not be based on faith.

I was surprised when Shirota’s first question to the presenters focused on this exact detail, the use of the words “believe” and “faith” when discussing a scientific debate. Shirota, never one to hide his opinions, mentioned that this American habit of choosing what to believe when there is a sound scientific answer is a disgrace to the United States and to humanity. His examples included teaching intelligent design in schools and choosing not to get vaccinated. I know Shirota pissed off a lot of people in that class, but I was heartened by his logic and his candidness.

For lunch, I went to the cafeteria with Erin and repeated my New Favorite Meal. We watched the last few presentations. I just took a hot shower to untie the knots in my shoulders. In an hour I’ll go to the Farewell Dinner with my host sisters. It will be great to see them but sad to say goodbye! I can’t believe how soon we are leaving Brazil. It’s even harder to comprehend because even though I’m done with the presentation, my mind is not free. I have three internship applications due tomorrow, the day after, and three days after that! By then, I will be in Ecuador.

All I can say is that this adventure is far from over.

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Dam We're Fine

Day 33: Friday, February 7th

This morning we visited the Cascavel Rural Show. It was like a giant fair on a hot summer day focusing completely on agriculture! We met with the president of Copavel, the coop which puts on the show, and I was so impressed by his people-skills even when he was speaking a different language from us. That’s how you become president of a large farming coop!

When we were released to explore on our own for a couple hours, I felt like a little kid turned loose at a candy shop or campground. We have been so scheduled and enclosed lately in hotels and buses – the freedom was delightful.

#nofilter

I was sold on the toy anhydrous ammonia tank.

We played a game called "make up a use for that crazy farm equipment." I joked that this octopus is used to plant seeds in little rows between the wheels. Someone heard me and said, "Exactly!" Who knew?

The giant katydid tractor.

No one told me my WV was backwards!

Hydroponic lettuce starts.

Tomatoes on tomatoes on tomatoes.

Our friend the milk fountain.

I got you a Christmas cactus, mom!

Our friend the cow table.

This strange-growing corn caused a commotion until we realized it had been pruned for display.

Two capital Cs!

We got free hats!

We missed lunch because so many vendors wanted a photo of the Americans.

Itaipu Dam! This was WAY cooler than I expected. This dam is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. It produces electricity for Brazil and Paraguay. It used to be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world until China built the Three Gorges Dam, but the Itaipu Dam still has higher electricity production due to more favorable conditions. I loved our tours, but I have one regret: I wish I had asked my dad for a list of questions to ask about the dam since that helped me learn so much about the wind turbines in the Galapagos.

The dry spillways at Itaipu Dam.

I go to Ohio State! Really I do!

Dam we're fine!

Entrance to the concrete giant.

One of the turbines seen from the outside.

That's a looooooong way down.

This is what the spillways look like when there isn't a drought.

Some engineering stuff for Dad.

The Central Control Room, where a team of Paraguayan and Brazilian workers run the dam. The old analog control machines are around the outside of the room for back-up, but nowadays the dam in controlled digitally from the computers in the center.

One foot in Brazil, one foot in Paraguay.

Descent to the dungeons.

A turbine from the inside.

The long hallway of giant red dots (above the turbines).

The reservoir behind the dam.

Power lines running away from this enormous hydroelectric generator.

Looking down at that same entrance from on top of the dam.

We lunched at the mall (more salmon sushi and a frozen acai bowl with bananas and strawberries, plus half of an ovaltine chocolate malt which I shared with Logan.)

After dark, we drove all the way back to the dam to watch the famous light show. We waited for twenty minutes for the show to start, then watched the same informational video as this morning. A dramatic symphony struck up through the speakers, and we watched for five minutes as the white lights slowly dimmed on. When the music creshendoed and died, the dam was lit up. Most anticlimactic light show ever.

They turned on the lights.

I’m being partly facetious – even without bright colors or explosives, gazing at that magnificent concrete structure under the stars was inspiring. I imagined myself as another person looking for a direction in life, and I could imagine myself deciding to make energy my life passion. What a noble goal, to produce electricity for the world. It helps humans, and producing more efficient energy helps the environment. To capture energy from the world requires such simple, elegant physics. When the light show ended, I realized I probably won’t be switching to a major in physics or engineering, but I am inspired to gain a better understanding of electricity.

Day 34: Saturday, February 8^th

Today we went to Iguazu Falls, or Foz do Iguaçu. I was really excited for today because the falls are one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. Plus, my sister went here when she lived in Argentina and said they were awesome

We started out with a talk from a National Park ranger. I found some neat bugs on the front porch.

Little bug.

Big bug.

Oh hey there.

Then, we scrambled down a muddy embankment in our flip flops and skirts. (Once again, wardrobe fail!) When we got to the bottom, we could see Argentina across the river. We only stayed a second before biting ants scared us back up the hill, which we climbed up faster than we had climbed down.

That's Argentina over there!

The falls were just as magnificent as I had heard they would be. The “first view” outlook was stunning.

A rainbow too!

Friends and falls.

But the views just kept getting better and better. By the end of the boardwalk, I was standing in the middle of a 360 degree, panoramic view. To my left, I could feel the vibration of raw power as a massive wall of water roared over a cliff. The fall itself was obscured by a boiling veil of mist. In front of me, I saw calmer waterfalls streaming over slick granite. Between the tounges of water, cushiony green plants carpteted the rock. Below me, a rainbow formed a nearly complete circle. Right below my feet, I saw the smooth curve of water as it moved from the calm lake to the tearing rapids of another waterfall. It gave me the willies to see that water going over the edge, switching so suddenly from a calm shallows to a flailing nosedive.

The wildlife at the park was incredible. I let a gentle, brown praying mantis crawl onto my hand and work its way up to the top of my head. (So cute!) Raccoon-like mammals called coatis used their long, inquisitive noses to search through our backpacks. We saw a couple meter-long, black and white lizards basking in the sun.

Just baskin'.

Pet the wild animals!

And the monkeys! This baby swung by its tail and stripped moss off twigs right above our heads.