April 23, 2008
Of Flying Priests and Earthquakes...News from Brazil
Here are a couple items news items from here in Brazil that I felt compelled to share. This first one takes lack of foresight to new heights.
Rescuers reached a cluster of brightly colored party balloons floating in the ocean off Brazil's coast Tuesday but did not find the Roman Catholic priest who had been using them in a bid to set a flight record. Rev. Adelir Antonio di Carli remained missing after lifting off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday strapped to hundreds of helium-filled balloons. Di Carli, who has taken jungle survival and mountain climbing courses, was carrying enough drinking water and cereal bars to stay alive for at least five days, Coelho said, suggesting the priest may be adrift in the ocean or resting on a beach or forest-covered mountain along the coast. The priest embarked on a similar adventure on Jan. 13, when he used 600 balloons to carry him on a four-hour, 17,390 foot-high voyage from the town of Ampere to neighboring Argentina, where he landed safely.
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CNN has a video of the priest taking off in the balloon. As of yet no confirmation as to his status.
As I was quickly checking my e-mail last night, my Twitter account came alive with people from São Paulo talking about how they were feeling tremors. Nah, I thought. Earthquakes don't happen here. "Deus é brasileiro," remember? A few minutes later, however, the news reports were picking up the story:
Geologists say the temblor occurred at 9 p.m. local time (0000 GMT) and was felt by residents in several southeastern states, including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
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One Brazilian blogger I read frequently who is based in São Paulo had this to say:
We already have so many problems… and now an earthquake...decided to hit São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná and Santa Catarina. Somebody please send the coordinates for Brasilia to the responsible party.
To which one commenter--presumably from Brasilia--replied:
We don't need earthquakes, the politicians you send here do a good enough job.
I love Brazil!
Posted by Andrew on April 23, 2008 12:00 PM.
Comments
Posted by: Pregador27 at April 26, 2008 6:24 PM
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Wow- the "priest" is still missing? Too bad, for his sake I hope he is found safely. He still needs an opportunity to embrace the true Gospel and inherit salvation.