the car alarm and the central locking system just doesn’t work at all now, it had been heading that way for a while and it finally gave in, a pain but not a problem.

the engine however seems to now only be firing on 3 cylinders and there is a smell of un-burnt fuel, performance has dropped significantly (not great to start) as putting my foot to the floor in second results in not a lot apart from intermittent engine noises. the car also idols like a tractor and generally sounds like it it might be crying for help.it is a good job that we are heading back to Recife tomorrow morning but I’m not convinced the old Polo will make it.

to conclude my off road driving test for our VW client, a polo can do pretty much most terrain off-road but keep it to a 2 week maximum, it is a bit much to ask, also keep it below 50mph or the suspension bottoms out. all in all the polo really is quite tough and I can see why the Brazilian guys have a serious love for them!

if our client would like to give me a free Polo for all my hard effort in this testing and review please let me know

I’m not well enough to drive today so I have handed the reins over to Samora… evidently it has been a while (2 years) since he’s used a manual and whilst the gear changes are slow and clunky I’m more worried about where the car goes when he looks at the gear stick!!! getting on to the track also show how adept I have become on this track, Samora has never driven down it in 2 years, not sure how he has managed that one, Samora!!??

todays attempt at work was to run the workshop delayed from start of project, i had hope to do this at the beginning as a way of introducing myself and having the guys work with me more, sadly that did not happen but at least we are trying to do it.

to powerpoint or not to powerpoint? I said trying to do it as my methods of workshop discussion group and practical work was abruptly stopped as I was not presenting slides to them in powerpoint. I tried to make them see that we didn’t need this but no one was getting it, I should have considered this before hand from the work I had seen the guys doing already. the way we work in brainstorms at work and the way the guys do things here are a ways apart, living and learning.

I now have to write a powerpoint show for them which to be honest will be very basic and I will attempt to move them slowly to my way of thinking tomorrow, I will try at the very least, a wasted day entirely but hey ho it has given me a target to change, viva the educational revolution

i don’t know what drug it was but many of the guys were out of their heads and were sniffing something from a rag, i didn’t stop to ask but general waft was one of solvent…

it is also pretty clear that idea of having a partner at carnival time is a source of trouble hence why many people break up for carnival, apparently some people also use it as an excuse to bump their partner off!

Samora really doesn’t like the whole carnival thing, the closest we can get him is to a restaurant nearby so it is Tuta and I again, we make a good team… I get him the gringo attention and he translates fast complicated portugues into slow simple portugues, the man has the patience of a saint!

like I had said earlier, my portuguese is starting to take some sort of shape and my confidence is growing, after carnival at around 2am we sat on a wall chatting for 2 hours about a lot of cultural things, they included.

A bit on politics and finances, the corruption in the government and the inability to be heard in brasil, Tuta got an eye opener when he realised how much tax we pay or the simple price comparisons. Life and marriage was a big one, the girls here very often get married at 13 the guys here think nothing of having a girlfriend 15 years their junior, tuta was shocked that many people in london are still not married at 30.

the age thing got us on to human trafficking and the underage sex trade in north brasil, i had seen the posters but not realised the extent. i brought up the sense of community and the lack of it in london, he’s lucky in some senses as without money and work in the uk society can shut you out. we also got on to black versus white, clearly still a major problem here and i think some of the stories on farm landlords back the problems.

a long night!

mirandiba is a small town of about 4,000 people, I keep hearing the words cididade negro and sure enough i really do stand out here a lot. the purpose of being here was to visit a much smaller quilombola community and to see the difference with conceicao.

sure enough the difference is quite noticeable, everything is more fragile, buildings are branches and mud and there are only ten families here. one thing that doesn’t change is the sense of community and willingness to welcome strangers into their homes with warmth of heart. of course a simple interview turns into a tour, coffee, a trip to the farm area, lunch, then the interview… a whole day gone for 5 minutes of film, that is the way here!

i did get to try some new fruits but umbo is still a favourite, Adalmir and the guy showing us around tricked me into believing a fruit was sweet when it was so sour my lips tried to recoil up and over my head, ha ha ha guys, thankfully I didn’t try the chilli that was so small I suspect it would have killed me!

MAIS CARNAVAL

after another night of carnival check the other post for some amusement in my naïvety.

we hadn’t planned to go to the community today as we really need a proper break but under the some pressure to film a farmers meeting we went… again against our better judgement I fear, yes I got some shots but I can’t help but think it was a good excuse to get Samora back in the office to do some work.

I got bored after a while and one of the kids was really interested in the camera, instead of letting him loose with a complicated video camera I taught him how to use my iphone apps. clever little guy didn’t take long to master things and we wandered around getting some shots, from my new friend

in fact it appears that salgeiro has quite a large and open gay community, which I have to say I was surprised to hear  considering some of the prejudice I have come across in this area during my last travels.

go the boys! (all to young for you Neil!)