Elmer Mark Kropp, MD | |||||
My Brazilian family began in 2005 when I met my wife Nilda. Brazil has 27 states like we have 50. She is from the state of Minas Gerias. Her daughter was born in the Amazon in the state of Para. Her name is FranciRose. I am blessed to have become part of such an extended family. And of course it is quite an adventure as well. I deal with every aspect of a typical teenager’s life including the first time for something. For example, we needed to travel to Sao Paulo for visas from the American consulate. My wife coached the girls in how to handle the approach of a young man selling drugs and with the intent of taking one of their back-packs. Nilda dressed the part:    
The girls needed to prepare for the trip: 
Our room was in a skyscraper downtown Sao Paulo and Franci had never been in a tall building:  
She continues to love strawberries which they don’t have in the Amazon:  
FranciRose continues to do her homework and her chores as we await her visa to come to California and go to school to study to become as she says, an advocate for orphans.  
My wife is a chef and grew up working and she still picks coffee during season: 
  Brazil is an incredible country. I have learned much about farming and agriculture. Sao Paulo, too, has suffered a drought. Managing limited water resources is a must. Here are a couple of pictures from the TV series on growing food in Brazil:   |