Brazil the beggining of the end

I apologize for the lack of blogging in the recent past, with the whole country transition and a quick trip to Rio time has gotten away from me. We have been in Sao Paulo for a week now and it is, well it is huge. 12 million people and high rises everywhere you look. We arrived in Brazil during recorded rain falls that haven't been seen in 50 years. The situation in Rio was pretty bad as I am sure that many saw on the news. Naturally that was where I headed within the first couple days if being in Brazil. By the time I arrived most of the rain had ceased and people were in the process of repairing te damages. I went to Rio to see Nida in Rio which was great after being apart for 3 months, and once the rain stopped we were able to enjoy the beaches and explore the city.

we are now underway with classes and are studying at teh Santa Canza medical school in the center of the city. We are currently learning about the general health system in Brazil which is universal meaning that any procedure or treatment needed by a Brazilian citizen is guaranteed by the government. As a professor said to us *Hopefully one day you in America will have health care like this*... maybe someday. This week we are also looking at women's reproductive health. Visiting NGOs that deal with these issues and hearing first hand accounts of different birthing strategies in BR. I got to visit an NGO called Catholics for the Right to Choose, which as it sounds is a NGO that pushes for the acceptance of abortion as something that in some situations should be accepted by the Catholic church. Very interesting view that is meet with much resistance here . Tomorrow we are heading to hospitals within Sao Paulo to get a first hand account off access to health care.

All in all I am loving the city. it is easy to navigate with a subway system and bus system that are efficient. I am living on a street that apparently has the most expensive shops in the Americas trumped only by Sacs 5th Ave. My host family is very nice and the city is beautiful. It is a problem taking the subway home at night since it is rush hour, and trying to get off the train feels similar to the birthing experiences which we have been hearing about all week (yeah it is that crowded). Look for more in the following days as we now have
Internet at our home so I will put up pictures and more stories and info very soon. I hope everyone is doing well and look forward to talking in person to everyone in a month!