Brazil’s national motto translates to ‘order and progress’. After spending nearly four weeks in Brazil we can say it lacks one and excels in the other.
When it comes to order Brazil is a little disorganized (compared to the Netherlands), yet progress is one of the foundation blocks the country was built on. Diversity and equality are part of the Brazilian culture and would make our little left winged country look like it is stuck in the 1980s.
As we learned in elementary school all countries can be classified as either a first, second (communistic) or third world country. When we set sail for Brazil we expected a country moving up from the third world status, with a lot of the problems that come along with this move. But now we definitely know better. Brazil can easily be classified as a first world country. Just because things are done differently here, doesn’t mean they are done the wrong way. When it comes to diversity and acceptance they are ahead of some western European countries. Maybe we should forget about the old system of country classification as it certainly doesn’t do justice to some of the previous third world countries.
The last week was primarily marked with some hard work and stress concerning our first deadline. On Friday we turned in our first concept report, hopefully the professors at the university in Delft are just as happy with our progress as we are. The report included a sediment budget model, which is in fact a drawing a five year old toddler could have made in five minutes, and few conceptual coastal adaptations that we will put through some tests the coming weeks. As of next week we will be leaving the analysis phase and work towards modelling and testing our adaptations with Delft3D. This is one of the most advanced coastal modelling tools available on the planet and was built by engineers from Delft and Deltares.
And then finally the weekend started! The work we do during the week is very intense and interesting but sometimes also a bit exhausting. The weekend was there for a much welcomed guest. On Friday we went for some drinks, dancing, and maybe a little romance for one of the gringos. The weather on Saturday turned out to be perfect for surfing on the nice waves Barra da Lagoa has to offer. When lying in the water, waiting for the perfect wave, suddenly a penguin showed up! Of all the things you could expect while surfing, a penguin was our last guess. The day after this pleasant encounter we tried to go to a surfing contest in the afternoon. Unfortunately for us it was rescheduled to the morning without our knowledge, again a good example of the Brazilian order.
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