Pocos de Caldas

I was born and raised in Poços de Caldas. Poços is cosidered one of the best brazilian cities regarding quality of life. Poços lies on the edge of the state of Minas Gerais and on the boundary of the state of São Paulo. Its average evelation is 1200 meters and its physical area is composed mostly by a plateau of mountains, interbedded by fields and valleys. Its highest point is the state of the Christ the Redeemer at 1686 m.

Poços de Caldas occupies a highly strategic geographical location, due to its proximity to Campinas, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro. The climate is characterized by dry winters and mild summers, its altitude component plays a major hole in the climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwb). The winter is from April to September and has an average temperature of 15°C and rainfall of 315 mm. The summer is from October to March, with an average temperature of 21°C and rainfall of 1,430 mm. The annual rainfall is 1,745 mm on average it rains 190 days per year in Pocos. The average annual temperature is 17°C, historical minimum of -7.2°C and maximum of 35°C.

The subsurface is rich in minerals. The was one of the primary sources of uranium for the Brazilian nuclear program, city has Brazil's first uranium-ore concentration plant, for use in the Angra I nuclear-power facility in Angra dos Reis. Poços is also the home of one of the largest bauxite mines in the world belonging to Alcoa. The facility is also the largest aluminum powder production facility in Latin America and the second largest in the world. The major economical activity is centered in the industrial sector, major companies like Danone, Ferrero Rocher and Alcoa are the major employers. The city had a fast expansion in the last two decades due to its attractive quality of life.

Poços has a good educational structure, with some private and public institutions. An important point that deserves to be mentioned about Brazilian educational system is that it has two distinguish branches, a public educational system consisting of primary and secondary schools with universal support, inspired predominantly by French ideals and a private educational system similar to American institutions. These systems are mixed together and complement each other. As a general rule in Brazil primary and secondary education are better provided by private institutions, on the other hand the best tertiary education institutions are public ones.

At Poços I studied at the Colegio Integral, the best private school in the region. I was fully sponsored by a scholarship to study there. During my secondary studies I was awarded twice by the Brazilian Physics Society with a silver medal at the Brazilian Physics Olympiad. I left Poços De Caldas to study at the University of Campinas, one of the best Brazilian universities.

Pocos de Caldas

Image Gallery

Thermas square

Palace Hotel square

Museum

Palace Cassino

Fountain in front of the Cassino

Waterfall

Centenary house

Christ the Redeemer