Overview

This was basically a "research trip". With the move coming up, I needed to go over and actually see the new office in person, so that I could begin to plan a strategy for setting up networking. It was also an opportunity to see Anápolis for the first time, and to meet some of the people I would end up working with who were not part of SIL. I spent a week there, followed by a short trip over to Brasília to consult with the folk at ALEM about problems due to lightning.

Unlike every other trip I have ever made in Brazil, this time I drove. No, I still do not have a car here and don't plan to get one. However, the administration was wanting to move one of the group vehicles over to Anápolis, and so I was asked to drive it. Fortunately, it was a car, not a Volkswagen van, and had air conditioning and power steering, so the major discomforts of such a drive were avoided. And, as you probably can guess from looking at the Travels page, I enjoy driving!

The trip took two days. If I had really been in a hurry, I could have done it in one… and arrived in Anápolis well after dark. Instead, I went about halfway the first day, to the small city of Aragarças, on the Goiás side of the Mato Grosso - Goiás border. The road was in excellent shape. As I arrived, I drove down the main street, looking for a place to stay. From what people had said I was expecting to pay upward of R$50 - R$100 for a hotel room. As I drove, I saw a hotel on the left side of the street, so I went in to check it out. Lo and behold, they only charged R$30 per night! And the room was clean and comfortable, the air conditioner worked, the shower was hot… and there was a refrigerator full of goodies to boot (though I left the two cans of beer untouched!). And across the street was a pizzeria with excellent pizza.

Anápolis is definitely cooler that Cuiabá! At a notably higher altitude, the temperatures don't rise so much during the day, and drop into much more comfortable sleeping levels at night. Yes, there is plenty of rain. And there is plenty of lightning. One of the things I will definitely have to do when I set up our network is provide for lightning protection.

The national capital, Brasília, is only a couple of hours away by car, or three by bus (which stops at every Tom, Dick and Harry bus station along the way).

I'm sure that there is much more, but after only one visit, I don't know enough to write about it. Later on, after I move there, I will try to include much more detail when i replace the "Life in Cuiabá" section with "Life in Anápolis".

Of course, converting the building from a dormitory to an office will be a considerable task! There is a lot of difference in the way rooms are utilized, and it will be necessary to construct a computer network, set up a system of office telephones, and much more. I anticipate another work trip in March and April to actually accomplish a lot of that.

Here are some more views of the new office.

As you can see, we have a building, but a lot of work to do.

When I finished in Anápolis, instead of heading straight back to Cuiabá, I instead took a quick trip over to Brasília, to visit our colleagues at ALEM. Their chief computer personnel had contacted me not long before about some serious lightning damage that happened in December. So I decided to go over and have a look for myself.

Since the big hit, which managed to fry thousands of dollars worth of equipment, the local techo, Davi, has been manually disconnecting the entire network every time the weather threatens. Given the nature of storms in the area, this is quite understandable! However, it would be nice to come up with a better solution. During our talks, we came up with several ideas, which we will discuss with others in the future.

Of course, life at the ALEM center is not all work. People find time to relax and enjoy themselves!