Final day in Arapongas
Tomorrow we meet at Luis Octavio and Nalini's home at 6:00 am (ugh!) to catch our morning flight from Londrina to Sao Paulo Congonhas and into Rio's domestic airport. That means tonight is packing and getting to bed early.
Today's activities in Arapongas mirrored a day from four years ago for Justin and me; new for Floyd. Our first stop was at the showroom and factory for a local furniture manufacturer,Calibri. They are quite large and the furniture they manufacture is somewhere between IKEA and Sauder in quality. They ship worldwide with their largest markets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, some to Asia but not yet to the US.
After that we went to CONEX, a furniture exporting company run by Luis Octavio's son, Raja. They represent nine furniture companies who market together for the worldwide market.
After lunch at Luis Octavio's house we visited the Creche, a day care center founded 38 years ago by the wives of local Rotarians. You could probably find more information if you looked back at the 2006 posts. Since public transportation was not running today, there were only 15 children instead of the usual 60-70. They accept children as young as six months and they can stay until they start school at 5 years of age. It's neat project and kids are all happy and healthy. The kids all sang us a song before going to play. I think this is the project that Floyd, Justin, and I will contribute to in gratitude for all that Nalini, Luis Octavio and his wife, and local Rotarians have done for us.
The final stops of the day were for "caldo de canha", fresh juice from sugar cane, drunk either straight or with lemon or pineapple juice. What I had to drink will hold me for a while.
Today's activities in Arapongas mirrored a day from four years ago for Justin and me; new for Floyd. Our first stop was at the showroom and factory for a local furniture manufacturer,Calibri. They are quite large and the furniture they manufacture is somewhere between IKEA and Sauder in quality. They ship worldwide with their largest markets in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, some to Asia but not yet to the US.
After that we went to CONEX, a furniture exporting company run by Luis Octavio's son, Raja. They represent nine furniture companies who market together for the worldwide market.
After lunch at Luis Octavio's house we visited the Creche, a day care center founded 38 years ago by the wives of local Rotarians. You could probably find more information if you looked back at the 2006 posts. Since public transportation was not running today, there were only 15 children instead of the usual 60-70. They accept children as young as six months and they can stay until they start school at 5 years of age. It's neat project and kids are all happy and healthy. The kids all sang us a song before going to play. I think this is the project that Floyd, Justin, and I will contribute to in gratitude for all that Nalini, Luis Octavio and his wife, and local Rotarians have done for us.
The final stops of the day were for "caldo de canha", fresh juice from sugar cane, drunk either straight or with lemon or pineapple juice. What I had to drink will hold me for a while.
posted by Doug Risser at 2:35 PM
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