Tuesday: Military Police Helicopter Unit Visit

Hey guys, sorry for the non-posting these past couple of days. I didn't get around to posting on Tuesday night, and then last night I was staying over Rodrigo's. But more on that later. Tuesday was somewhat exciting, as we ate a huge lunch at this restaurant we occasionally order take-out from called Casa de Moqueca. Then we went and got ice cream afterward from the gelateria on the corner.

In the afternoon, Rosana and Rodrigo had to go to a convention/event of sorts in a hotel here in Campinas. Tiago was going to his former military police helicopter unit to train in preparation for his physical examination this Friday. A quick note about the police here in Brazil. There are three types of police - the federal police, the military police, and the civil police. The federal police are like the FBI, the civil police are like normal US cops, and the military police are a sort of in-between that doesn't exist in the states. Tiago used to be a member of the helicopter air support company before joining Edumed.

So I decided to tag along with Tiago to check out the unit and see what his company was like. We arrived and I met a few of the people in the unit, but most of our time was spent with a Sergeant, who was helping Tiago train. He was an unbelievably nice man, and throughout the course of the 2 or so hours we were there, we talked about plenty of things. I was given a tour of the facility, which was pretty cool, complete with a radio room and a hangar for the helicopter.

The helicopter wasn't around when we first arrived, but returned later, and we went outside to watch them land. That was pretty cool. After they had shut it down and essentially parked it, I even got to take a closer look and climb inside. Pretty sweet being that close to a machine that costs about 4-5 million Reais ($2-2.5 million).

Me and Tiago inside with the copter

We took some pictures with the helicopter, then stood around on the tarmac talking. The Sergeant was giving Tiago a pep talk to prepare him for his test on Friday. He also expressed some regret about missing an opportunity to go to the United States and serve in the military to gain residency/citizenship. He cited that he doesn't get to do much here in Campinas, yet he still has to conduct himself like a soldier. He admired the order and preparedness of American soldiers, and also wished he would see more action, since he did sign up to be a soldier after all.

Me with the Sergeant

I thought this was a very interesting perspective, since I never really considered many people wanting to actually go to war. But I certainly can understand his desire to perform the type of duty he originally signed up to do. We went on to talk about some of the differences between the two countries, until it began to rain. Something of a flash storm began, with large droplets of rain coming down and thunder rumbling and lightning crackling in the sky. We took shelter inside, and the Sergeant said he wanted to give me a t-shirt with the logo of their company. He went to get it and emerged a few minutes later with not only a t-shirt, but also a bunch of stickers, one kind with a helicopter and another with the company logo. I was shocked at his generosity, as I had just met this man an hour and a half ago.

Suddenly, a siren began to ring, and people started running around, putting on gear. Tiago grabbed me and pulled me outside, where it was still raining a little bit. The company had received an urgent call requiring their assistance, so they were about to head out for a mission. We watched the helicopter take off from the doorway, and I filmed it. Video is below. Pretty cool.