Paul sent me this link. The city of Governador Valadares is famous for
the flux of illegal immigrants. Looks like it's catching on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/30/international/americas/30brazil.html?ei=5090&en=e31a4c782e490298&ex=1277784000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

The article also mentioned the U.S. dollar has weakened and says it's
30% cheaper for Brazilians going to the U.S. That means life here for us
is about 30% more expensive. Vicki winces every time she trades money
these days.

I'm sending this to my Randal and Brazil list as well as my personal
"supporters" list for those too lazy to subscribe the latter ;-), so
some of you may get this more than once.

One thing about the article: it says these emigrating Brazilians have
bought in to the American dream. As a whole, the article shows a good
knowledge of Brazilian culture, but I'm not sure how accurate that
statement is. "American dream" is a vague phrase, with airs of
patriotism, so I might have been a bit more cautious about applying it
to this varied group of people.

And, yes, today is my day off, but I was online to post some poetry, my
favorite hobby. And I'm home, not at the office, having forbidden myself
to set foot there on Thursdays now.

Blessings,

Randal
http://randalmatheny.com