This is my final blog post in Brazil, because tomorrow I'm leaving Viçosa to take the plane home from Rio de Janeiro the day after tomorrow.
But before I go, I'd like to mention some of the events of the past month and a half.
To start with, I went to the historical city of Ouro Preto with Layla. Ouro Preto's historical centre is part of the World Heritage List because of its well-preserved colonial appearance and old buildings and streets. It was an important city during the time of colonisation in Brazil. Ouro Preto is not just a very beautiful place to visit, but also a place where you can learn a lot about Brazil's history!
After this little trip, it was time for the last preparations of Troca de Saberes (Exchange of Knowledge) at the Semana do Fazendeiro (Farmer's week) at UFV. This was the tenth edition of Troca de Saberes and it was a big success. There were several tasks which had to be done, of which building up the huge bamboo constructions (see pictures) was the biggest job. It was a very nice experience to organise such an event in Brazil, because it's completely different than the Dutch way of organising and building up an event of this size. Honestly, I had to get used to the Brazilian way a little bit, because sometimes I had the feeling we didn't really have a planning. Soon I noticed no-one was getting worried, so why would I be? We did have fun building it up, and because you have to work together, this was the best way of practising Portuguese.
During the event itself, farmers from all over Minas Gerais (mainly Zona da Mata), and some people from other Brazilian states, came to Viçosa to visit Troca de Saberes. The main goal of this event was to exchange and spread knowledge about agroecology. Agroecology can be devided into three parts: Movement (in order to spread knowledge and the importance of integrating agriculture and ecology), Practice (the traditional knowledge of small family farms to manage biodiversity and agroecosystems) and Science (in short, agroecology is the science that studies agroecosystems). I can tell you a lot more about this! ;) The event itself was a great experience. During the days we had different organsing tasks to do, but there was always time for some cachaça! In the evening there were different cultural programmes, like for instance Samba. Thank you colleagues of Troca de Saberes for the pleasant cooperation!
Last weekend I visited Rio de Janeiro together with Micael. It was a last-minute decision, because Micael convinced me I can't leave Brazil without having brought a visit to Rio de Janeiro. Turns out he was right, because it really is a beautiful city! We stayed in Copacabana for two nights and when we arrrrrrived in Rrrrrrio in the first evening, we took a walk across the beach. The day after we visited Christ the Redeemer and the Sugarloaf mountain. On the last day I visited the Museum of Tomorrow, which I can really recommend to everyone who goes to Rio.
Tonight is my goodbye party in our republic. It's hard to describe this feeling of having to leave home for the second time in half a year, and go home to a place I haven't seen or experienced for the same amount of time. The past six months were unbelievably incredible! I'm very happy and grateful that I have been able to experience this and I'm going to miss Brazil, and especially Viçosa a lot! And this is mainly because of everyone who I met and who made me feel familiar here, and everyone who I made friendships with. Tonight we're going to drink a couple on the amazing time we spent here!
Viçosa meu país!
Thank you all 💚💛💙
Luc
