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Well, here we are back in Rio after our month in the UK which ended just as the heatwave began. 2 weeks conferencing and geologising for Patrick and then 2 weeks holiday. As ever, it was great to catch up with friends and family and Dorset was as clean and green and quiet as we remembered - just what we needed in fact.
By the time we left, most of the niggling jobs at Limestone had been dealt with (sorry, Graeme & Irene for the one that wasn't!); Hugo's worldly goods had been boxed up and sent to Holland (thank you, Mary!) and Will had finally completed on and moved into his first flat (in Kentish Town). We even managed, with Jess, to see it for ourselves the evening before we flew back.
While we were away, disturbances had broken out in Brazil which we'd been following on the British media so weren't sure what to expect when we got back. Our first impression was that our part of Rio seemed unusually calm but it is winter here and there are fewer tourists than usual and many expats are away at this time of year. Things do seem to have died down after the large demonstrations while we were away but there was a general strike last week and a couple of nights ago there was trouble in Leblon, down the road from us, where the state governor lives. There is definitely an increase in the number of helicopters flying overhead - and they're not the ones taking the tourists up to Corcovado! As Brazilian police are known for going in with tear gas and rubber bullets at the first opportunity, we're keeping away from flashpoints so far as possible.
After the unrest associated with the Confederations Cup, the next big event which may have security problems is the Pope's visit to Rio next week. Luckily we're going to be out of town - provided we can get to the airport of course! We're off to the Pantanal (Patrick's birthday treat!) and are sure that will merit a blog entry all of its own.
Since we've been back we've been catching up with friends out here again and picking up where we left off in terms of Patrick's work and my volunteering. Patrick's been away this week collecting samples in a quarry in NE Brazil which so far as I can gather has gone sort of OK which is pretty much the best you can hope for out here. I'll leave him to 'say a few words'...
P and colleagues went to Alagoas state and stayed in Praia de Frances, nr Maceio. It rained a lot and this made the job much more complex (code for saying that endless setbacks failed to deter us from the objective!). The quarry contains coquinas (limestones full of shells) and we were there to collect samples for UFRJ. Nearby was the town of Marechal Deodoro - the first capital of Alagoas with a church dating from 1793. The town was subject to a scheme whereby a paint company gives then paints - the full spectrum - to paint their fronts. This is very familiar from Salvador - 200+ miles south - and typical of the older NE Brazilian cities. Coming back to Rio bathed in beautiful evening sunlight was memorable.
Frome to win Tour de France and England the second test - what a summer for UK sport!
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