Update from Recife, Brazil

-by Maurice

Thursday, February 4th

The students arrive today, some accompanied by a parent or two. They will be flying in, the airport being a 20 minute taxi ride to the Concordia’s location. Their flight arrival times are known and divide into some late morning and mid-afternoon ones. There are 48 students in all – a full ‘house’- with 16 of them being new to the program this term. Of this total, about 20 are ‘gap’ students, the group from which I draw my class members. A couple of the teachers are stationed at the airport, and two of us are acting as a welcoming committee at the ship. The access to the ship from the street involves passage through a narrow alley, over some broken concrete, through a rusty chain fence gate and along a short unkempt path. From past experience I have observed the great variation in ‘resident amenity’; this location is well down the list.

The cabins on the Concordia are airconditioned. This is a good thing as Recife is hot and muggy despite being located on the Atlantic. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning about 6:00 and now, at 8:30 AM, I’m guessing it is 30C with little breeze.

My roommate Mark arrived in at about 1:00 AM this morning from Berlin. He was considerate in his ‘re-entry’ to ‘his’ room – I am the newcomer after all. He has now left for the airport as part of the welcoming committee.

I hope to find a few minutes this afternoon to send this update along. The internet cafe is a couple of streets away.

-Maurice/Tug/Papa