coincidence or fate? for several years i’ve wanted to visit curitiba because of its world-renowned progressive urban planning initiatives. adrian also heard about curitiba, although was more interested in their environmental programs (they have tons of parks, good recycling, etc). last night, after arriving here, i got an email from carlos (a family friend) who said that brasil’s main plant for nissan was here! so, this morning, i drove out to nissan (which, thanks to the urban design, is actually surprisingly close and easy to access from the center of curitiba).

after a little bit of resistance, the staff at nissan/renault was incredibly friendly (and i’m not just saying that because they might be reading this). Raylson (from renault), came out to see ushi and told me that there are 4 potential options for getting rid of the sentra:

1) destroy the vehicle (what a waste!);

2) sell the vehicle (i’d probably lose money in the transaction, since importing the vehicle will cost ~$4k);

3) donate the vehicle; or

4) use the vehicle for nissan marketing.

Raylson said he’d look into those options and get back to me tomorrow — i’m hoping for #3 or #4.