Today we had a visit from several high school students from the new high school in Bahia. Luis, Jesus, Angel, Ysica and Brian all came by with their teacher, Simona and the school director, Julio, at 10:30 this morning. Throughout the day the students showed us their art work, and then the sociology students presented their projects. Following the morning activities, we all enjoyed lunch together--including fresh vegetables and salad provided by the high school students, which was a big hit with all of us. Following lunch, Dan led a drawing workshop and all of us sociologists discussed life in Bahia with Simona.
One of the interesting things we noticed was how "branded" by American popular cultural products the students were. The products represented in their hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts included Billabong, Quicksilver, Volcom, Hurley, and Vans, among others. The prize for the most inter-cultural consumer product was the straw cowboy hat that Ysica was wearing that had a "shaka" sign sewn onto the front. Sort of Hawaii meets Baja.
