Published: March 30, 2007 11:55 pm         

Exchange team blown away by Oklahoma

The last thing the Rotary District 5750 Group Study Exchange Team from Brazil expected to be faced with when they came to Oklahoma was a rash of tornadoes.

However, the five-member team has gotten a quick course in severe Oklahoma weather. They only arrived in Oklahoma on Sunday and already have had to get acquainted with tornado watches and warnings.

GSE members are in Enid this weekend as part of their program. They already have visited Woodward, Alva and Gage, and following their Enid visit will travel to Ponca City, Newkirk, Cushing, Midwest City, Oklahoma City, Edmond and Stillwater before returning home to Rio de Janeiro in late April.

Before having lunch, the group was entertained Friday afternoon by members of the Taft Elementary School honors choir. They later toured Advance Foods Co. and attended a Gaslight Theatre performance of “Cover of Life.”

Today, they will visit local museums and maybe take in a baseball game if weather permits.

Although the weather has had them a little unnerved, they say they are enjoying getting acquainted with the state and meeting people who are their professional peers.

“We just enjoy seeing different things and having enriching experiences,” said Rafael Carvalho, an architect with experience in interior design, house planning and projects for resorts and shopping malls.

Another architect, Tatiana Felner, also is in the group. Both architects said they are impressed with the way homes and buildings are constructed in the United States. They noted the difference in building styles between the United States and Brazil. In Brazil, most buildings are constructed with concrete, they said.

Luciana Neumayer, a workplace safety technician, said she had done some Internet study of Oklahoma before visiting the state. She noted Oklahoma has several safety programs that are popular, while many safety programs are just getting started in Brazil.

“With oil production in this state, and in the U.S. nationally, there is more a concern about safety,” she said.

Alan Brum, who is a computer network administrator, said so far he has been interested in the use of computers and technology in the schools and university systems.

“It’s been interesting to see the different kinds of technology and how they teach it,” he said.

Paulo Macedo is leader of the team and the only member of Rotary. He is from The Rotary Club Rio de Janeiro Cidade Maravilhosa (Wonder-ful City).

All other members of the GSE team from Brazil are younger than 40. The GSE program specifically picks young professionals who are not members of Rotary to travel to other countries. It is a way to introduce the ideals of Rotary to non-Rotarians, he said.

When they return to Brazil, the team will spend time traveling to the Rotary clubs in their host district, which is District 4570. They will present programs about their time in Oklahoma, including photographs and analysis of the culture here in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma’s Rotary District 5750, which is Enid’s district, will in turn send a GSE team from this region to Brazil at a later date.