7 degrees, no Bacon: Getting Emma to Brazil
(above) Em and Johnny in Costa Rica outside our hotel.
On Feb 5th I was talking with my cousin Emma (world traveler, cool girl, gets my sense of humor, and has called places like Ghana, and Brazil home from months on end living among “the people”), while I was driving back to Syracuse from an Albany business meeting.
We were chatting about how she feels spent at her job (first since she finished her Grad degree at American Uni in DC). After applying for a job at the World Bank and being passed on, she began giving serious thought about learning Portugese beyond her experience from living in Brazil during an internship. She’s looking into a 7 week intensive class at Middlebury in Vermont would help her reach her goals.
Em and I used to play on a co-ed soccer team when we were 7 years old, our jersey’s were light and dark blue stripes, they were rad. Since then we’ve traveled together and I find her to be one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. After the language course she wants to put her environmental sustainability education to use while speaking Portugese. Enter the idea of Rio de Janeiro hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016 and the wheels in our heads started turning in overdrive.
Together we are gonna find a way to network and get her involved with sustainable urban (re)development in Brazil Wanna help? Drop a line. All things pertaining to this goal will have a keyword “cousin”. Follow along as we strive to watch the World Cup in person in 2014 while doing some good along the way. I’m willing to bet we are only a few strategic introductions away….none of that Kevin Bacon 7 degrees stuff needed here. Em’s done enough Treehugger goodness, has motivation, and an awesome cousin (read: this guy) to get her where she wants to be.
