Emily Antoszyk - Contributing Photographer’
Participants practice Capoeira, a Brazilian style of martial arts. Top right, young boys
play drums on found objects in the Rocinha favela, Rio de Janeiro. Bottom right, horse
back riding through the Pantanal. To see more pictures or read Antoszyk's blog from
her trip to Brazil, visit eantoszyk.blogspot.com or picasaweb.google.com/Emitlia9.
Lessons learned in Brazil put student’s life into perspective
By Emily Antoszyk
Contributing Writer
EAANTOSZ@UNCA.EDU
After studying abroad as a sophomore,
I developed a serious travel bug. The idea
that more adventures could be mine if I
made them was a consuming thought, and
by 2008 I was ready to go abroad again.
Coincidentally, just as I formulated
these ideas in my head, I saw a flyer on
campus for a program called Living
Routes. The idea to travel to Brazil and
study Permaculture was a passing thought
that quickly became a reality.
I departed for Brazil in June 2008 with
a few key Portuguese phrases and a vague
idea of what it meant to practice permacul
ture. Before heading to IPEC (Instituto de
Permacultura e Ecovilas do Cerrado), where
I would be taking the course, I met up with
a fnend from New Zealand and several oth
ers who would join me at the school.
We began in Rio de Janeiro, where we.
spent several days seeing art, visiting or
nate churches, eating wonderful food and
exploring. Then we headed to the Pantanal,
a massive tropical wetland and biodiversity
hotspot. In the Pantanal, we saw all sorts of
indigenous animals, including the blue ma
caw, caimans, toucans and the capiberra.
We even fished for and ate piranha!
After Rio and the Pantanal, it was time
to head to the eco-village. In total, about
20 of my peers and I (mostly Americans
with a few Brazilians, Londoners, a Puer
to Rican and a Venezuelan) spent three
weeks at IPEC learning the principles
of permaculture and specific techniques
of green building. At IPEC, we also had
certain integrations into Brazilian culture
such as Portuguese and capoiera classes.
Living at the school was the first and
only time in my life where I have not felt
completely conflicted about my lifestyle.
It was wonderful to feel a holism in ex
isting, conserving water, composting toi
lets, feeding food waste to the pigs, eating
local, not driving anywhere and utilizing
solar energy. It was such a good, healthy
feeling, and the working bees (in which
we built a cob oven and a keyhole garden)
increased the ties we all felt to the earth.
While there, I spent much of my time out
doors. Even the classrooms were outdoors;
sometimes we held class at a giant mango
tree. There were fresh bananas, monkeys in
the trees and beautiful fauna. It empowered
me to be around so many people focused on
greater global sustainability.
Leaving IPEC was a shock, and I felt
immediately wasteful. Luckily, my trav
el mates and I transitioned back into the
mainstream by first trekking through na
tional parks (Chapada dos Veadeiros and
Chapada Diamantina), easily some of the
most amazing places I have seen. Then we
headed down the coast to Salvador, Itac-
are and Arrial d’Ajuda, all coastal towns.
In Arrial, we stayed with a professor, from
IPEC, continuing our permaculture educa
tion by helping him build a composting
toilet on his farm.
Back in Rio, the second time around
was very different from the first. About
two-and-a-half months after arriving, our
Portuguese was passable, and we had a
friend to stay with in the city. We felt re
laxed, like we vvere getting into the swing
of the culture.
I can now be a certified permaculture ap
prentice through the skills I obtained study
ing in paradise. The diversity of life in Bra
zil continually amazed me, and not only the
wildlife, but also the diverse human popu
lations in places like Rio and Salvador.
Overall, my many great adventures
completely removed me from my comfort
zone. I traveled in a country where I spoke
little of the language. The experience so
empowered me that now I feel like I could
do it anywhere!