A year ago this month...

Last year in May, my husband and I went to Brazil for a conference. I flew to Arkansas to drop off the kids with my parents and then went to Brazil a few days before Pete did. I first flew to Rio de Janeiro and stayed with then grad student Franci. I stayed in her parents' home. She is probably considered middle class and they lived in a fairly large house. They have two guard dogs-one for the back and one for the front. They keep every door locked and they have a gate that they lock, too. I think Rio is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. That was the first time I had ever been to a developing country (Cancun doesn't count). Yes, it was strange. Clearly, there is wealth in Brazil, but also poverty. From Rio, I flew inland to Uberlandia, Minas Gerais. I was there a whole week while my husband went to his meeting. I had my Brazilian Portuguese phrase book and actually got where I could speak a little bit. Then we flew to Sao Paulo--the largest city in South America. I will never forget a little girl around 3 or 4 begging for food as people walked by. She was on the corner and her mother was just sitting there. It was so sad to see and hard to reconcile. There is a huge disparity among the people.

Still, it was a life-changing trip that showed me truly how rich we are in the U. S. It made me realize that I need to teach my children how blessed they are, how not to be wasteful, and that there are kids all over the world that have to beg for something to eat. I look at the amount of toys my children have and feel embarrassed.