1st July, 2009
From: Digital Chicago, Inc.
News Link: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1644923,4_1_JO30_BRAZIL_S1-090630.article
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JOLIET -- Brandy Sandoval, 10, figured out she doesn't want to go to Brazil, but she'll definitely go to Australia.
"There's big spiders and crocodiles there," she said of Brazil.
Brandy, a fifth-grader at Sator Sanchez Elementary School, was one of 40 students Monday who got a taste of the South American country as they made Brazilian treats.
Brandy helped measure ingredients, such as condensed milk, water and sugar before blending the limes and ice for a milky lemonade. Brandy held the strainer her teacher Yenny Munoz poured the beverage through so nothing but the lime juice would enter the drink.
Of all the treats, Edgar Sobron, 8, loved the lemonade the best.
"It's sweet," he said, puckering his lips.
This summer, students in the 21st Century Kids Club at Sanchez Elementary School are "visiting" five different countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt and India. The Joliet Grade School District club is an afterschool and summer program offers tutoring, character education and enrichment activities.
On Monday, students learned facts about Brazil via a PowerPoint presentation and got to play a favorite sport, futbol, which we know as soccer.
This was the first time the summer school program "traveled abroad," giving students homemade passports as they entered a new country each week.
"We wanted to do something different. ... A lot of times the kids know the United States and Mexico, but they are oblivious to the rest of the world," said Karla Farr, coordinator of the 21st Century Kids Club at Sanchez. "We try to do a game or an art activity from that country, to give them a little feel of the country to broaden their horizons."
A different worldDuring the presentation, students listened to Brazilian music, learned facts and saw pictures of children, monuments, animals and the rainforest.They learned students wear uniforms to school, attending for four hours each day. Their school year runs from February through December. At Sanchez, students attend school six hours a day from August through June.
"The bad part of Brazil is that not everyone goes to school," Munoz said, showing a picture of a child washing windshields for money. "They are not able to go to school. They don't have the opportunities you have, so what they have to do is either find a job in a restaurant that will hire them or other kind of employment. ... About one-quarter of the children in Brazil are not able to go to school, but they work."
Brazilian chefsAfter their lessons, they made Brazilian treats, such as tapioca pudding."Tapioca comes from the cassava plant that is grown in Brazil ... Tapioca over there is used to thicken soup, but we weren't cooking soup," she said with a laugh.
"They are very big on sweet, condensed milk," Farr said. "This must be a staple over there because it's in all the recipes."
The Brazilian lemonade, which was actually made out of limes, also piqued Farr's interest.
"You put the whole lime in. That just blows my mind. They say to strain it out. We'll have to try it," she said.
Students also made brigadeiro, a truffle-like food named after Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, a Brazilian politician and military figure.
"He stopped a communist coup," Farr said. "They said it was like a birthday-treat type thing."
Students rolled the chocolate concoction in chocolate sprinkles as they made more than 40 treats to share.
Sabrina Manzo, 10, a fifth-grader, decided she would like brigadeiro for her birthday instead of cake.
"It's very chocolatey," she said, adding that she wants to go to Brazil.
"We were watching a video of the rainforest and they have a hotel in the middle of the rainforest, and it looked nice," she said.