Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
In depth update
Hi Everyone!
We are here, in Brasilia, slightly over two weeks now. Bill said he has written very little on our blog spot and has included a few pictures. I have not even looked at it yet!
It has been crazy as I knew it would be, but until you live it you can’t even imagine. I couldn’t even imagine how it is! Stating out our flight was late leaving Wichita, in the States, so we ran to our connecting flight in Dallas. Needless to say our luggage didn’t make it with us which may have been a blessing since we didn’t have to lug all 10 huge bags with us through customs-with two tired girls and tired parents! J But then there was the stress of waiting and wondering whether it would even come! It did finally come, with the last bag arriving five days later.
Anyway, my headmaster (superintendent), principal, the human relations person from the school, the head maintenance secretary, and the school driver (to haul all our bags) met us at the airport! We went by the school since it was mid-morning and we had nothing to unpack. Everyone was/is so helpful and made sure we were taken care of.
We went to our apartment in the afternoon and rested a little. When they say your apartment is minimally furnished, that is exactly what they mean! I was surprised we had to buy trashcans, cooking utensils, pans, a water filter system, clocks, laundry baskets, an ironing board, broom, mop, dishrags, pans, and many other things. It had two nice couches, a table and six chairs, a double bed, two twin beds, sheets for the beds, four towels, four glass plates, bowls, cups, and silverware for six. It is very nice though! It is three-bedroom, with two and a half baths. Bill and I have a suite bath and a nice walk in closet! The girls are sharing a room and we have the other fixed up like an office/playroom. It has marble tile floors and is quite modern in style. It has lots of windows and is soundproof, compared to others’ apartments. It is painted all white-so our walls are really stark. The girls brought some posters for their rooms and hopefully we can afford some things to hang on the walls before too long! We live on the top, sixth floor which is the tallest any building can be in Brasilia, other than official government buildings. Our apartment security guard is very friendly and recognizes us right away. Of course, I think we stand out as “foreigners!”
Things here are arranged in BIG blocks (superquadras) and even our address does not have a street address although streets are around it. Commercial districts alter with residential “superquadras.” The commercial districts may have bakeries, drugstores, hair salons, paper stores, restaurants, hardware stores, key making kiosks, photography stores, fruit and vegetable markets, grocery stores, magazine stores, book stores, linen stores, etc. Different commercial districts specialize in different types of stores. Our commercial district has lots of restaurants-even a McDonalds and a Subway-which I am proud to say we have not eaten at yet! We have a nice fruit and vegetable market near us too, but we can easily walk to another commercial district. I think the whole idea is so that you are self-sufficient in your own neighborhood and you do not have to feel like you are in a city of two and a half million people. At least we do not feel that way!
Back to day two in Brazil! I hit the ground running. I had a very quick, shortened orientation, and numerous school meetings. Fixing up my room was a challenge, and trying to sort out what I want and need from other teacher’s things is a fine art! (I’m still doing that!) There is plenty of excess which I hate to toss because the next teacher may want it, but at the same time finding what I want is challenging-especially if you are such an organizer, like me! Supplies are not as accessible as in the US. There is a copy room, where someone copies papers for me (which will be great,) but I cannot copy one thing for myself which is tricky starting out. Laminating is done once a week. Not all of our books have made it through the US Customs yet, so beginning teaching is quite different.
Not only was I trying to get school started, but trying to set up an apartment (buying furnishings and groceries) the first few days was challenging! We were taken to a large store (kind of like Wal-Mart) by the school driver, and a special store to buy school uniforms for the girls all within the first few days also-which takes more time here! So, that left less time to work in my classroom! Needless to say, after, the first day of school, August 6th, I was exhausted! I crashed after we got the girls down to bed. I am fairly well adjusted now!
The school itself is sort of like a college campus. It is very nice-lots of patio-like areas and trees! The offices are all in one building. The pre-school and Kindergarten are in their own little area. The Elementary “Lower school” (1st-5th) is on the lower level and the Middle School (6th-8th) has its area. The High School then has its area also and seems to offer a wide variety of courses. The school is only about a half mile away from our apartment, and is wonderful walk under shaded trees. The girls have been great troopers-even throughout the neighborhoods! Traffic here also stops for pedestrians which was not true of where I was in Brazil in high school.
I have 22 students in my second grade classroom, several Americans, quite a few Brazilians, an Iranian, an Iraqian, a Canadian, a Swede, and several with mixed parents-half British, half-Hondurian, and half Brazilian and American, etc. I have three brand new non-speaking English students. Luckily two are Brazilian. My Portuguese has come back very well. I do speak much better Portuguese than Spanish I have realized. My poor Spanish students in the US! I have a full time aide, plus my ESL kids get ESL pull-out support. We also have a reading resource room teacher. The other 2nd grade teacher (Annie’s teacher) is Vietnamese. Her family went to the US as refugees when she was 11. She is now a US citizen and her English is perfect. She has been very helpful to me as she has been here seven years. Annie really likes her! It is so neat how all the students here accept everyone here! Annie is not shy at all. The girls have Portuguese everyday at school and even the Portuguese teacher has said she is not shy in there. She has been singing a song for us at home that she has learned in that class, although she is hesitant to try and speak on the street unless she has it perfect.
Courtney on the other had has been very eager to try out her Portuguese on the street, but is supposedly a little reserved in class. This might be a good thing! J Courtney seems to like all the new school challenges-especially international social studies. She also loves her teacher who is a Pilipino American and thinks it’s great because she is slightly taller than her! Most of the regular teachers are American. It just so happens the girls got international ones with American citizenship which we think is great! Of course the Portuguese teachers are Brazilian. So are some of the special teachers-PE, music, computers, and librarians.
Courtney has already been to a friend’s house who is from Spain. Her dad works for the Spanish embassy. The girl has big yard with a forest here in the city. Courtney says to write, “No kidding. They actually have a forest with little monkeys in it!” The mom said that was true. I wish I could see it myself! She also has a Japanese boy in her class. Some of you may know she wanted to learn to use chopsticks properly and wanted a Japanese student in her room. J
One of the new teaching couples this year is from the state of Washington. They live in the apartment building next to ours. They have girl, Savanna, in my room, Annie’s age, and they have become best of buds! They also have an almost four year old! It has been truly wonderful having them so close! We also have a soccer field at the end of our apartment building so the past two week-ends, our families have gone out and played a little soccer together.
Bill has been a great help! He has pretty much taken charge of the girls in the mornings, gets them breakfast and walks them to school shortly after I go. He has taken care of the girls lunch money and their after school schedule. He has done almost all the laundry which takes longer here. We have a washer and dryer, but they say the dryer gets too hot and shrinks things, so he has been hanging it out in our little laundry room with the inside clothesline. He has even prepared several evening meals by himself. He has even shopped a little by himself although he says he feels lost with Portuguese. We do not yet have internet at our apartment-seems to be a major ordeal here. Hopefully soon! He has set up his computer to use at school so he can at least do a little for his work in the US via internet. He hopes to start helping at school a little soon too.
Things here are expensive for us. We accidently bought a box of Kellogs Corn Flakes for US $7.00. Our apartment key is a special security one, but to have a copy made cost US $30.00.Meat is expensive, but good-better than in the US. Fresh fruits and vegetables are comparable in price to the US. You can definitely tell the dollar is weak!
We are trying to squeeze in as much as we can for our time here. Last weekend, we spent Saturday shopping here and there-everywhere at all the specialty stores. Sunday, we went to an Asian festival at the Malaysian embassy and a special festival at the Botanical Gardens, both of which people at the school told us about! Yesterday, we found Brasilia’s new subway and explored some further neighborhoods. We also did a planned tour of the city and saw numerous of the governmental buildings and some cathedrals which have unusual, modern architecture. Look up Brasilia on the internet. Late this afternoon, we are going on a picnic with my Annie’s teacher to the big City Park. There is a Baptist English speaking church which we have heard good things about and hope to check out soon. I hope to run up to school a little yet today too.
Friday night, the school rented a boat (actually two roped together) for all the teachers and staff to go on. (There is a huge man-made lake here to make the Brazilians feel like they are near the beach.) Custodians/ workers and teacher assistants were all invited. Craig, my headmaster, makes everyone feel equal which is uncommon in a class-cultured society. Bill was able to go since he will be working at the school, although spouses did not go unless they are employed by the school. They fed us a wonderful Brazilian meal. Plus there was music and dancing, done by all-even Bill, to both American and Brazilian music on one level of one of the boats! The Brazilians are such carefree people. Anyway, it was a very fun evening! The girls stayed with the neighbors, with an American student sitter from the school. They had fun too!
I feel like I have jumped all around in my writing, but I hope you can make a little sense of this and that you can get a little feel of what life is like here for us starting out. I’m sure my future entries will on this blog spot will be shorter!
Just in case some of you are wanting to send a note via post mail. Our address is:
SQS 204, Bloco D, AP 604
Brasilia, DF
Brazil 70234-040
All for now!
Connie
We are here, in Brasilia, slightly over two weeks now. Bill said he has written very little on our blog spot and has included a few pictures. I have not even looked at it yet!
It has been crazy as I knew it would be, but until you live it you can’t even imagine. I couldn’t even imagine how it is! Stating out our flight was late leaving Wichita, in the States, so we ran to our connecting flight in Dallas. Needless to say our luggage didn’t make it with us which may have been a blessing since we didn’t have to lug all 10 huge bags with us through customs-with two tired girls and tired parents! J But then there was the stress of waiting and wondering whether it would even come! It did finally come, with the last bag arriving five days later.
Anyway, my headmaster (superintendent), principal, the human relations person from the school, the head maintenance secretary, and the school driver (to haul all our bags) met us at the airport! We went by the school since it was mid-morning and we had nothing to unpack. Everyone was/is so helpful and made sure we were taken care of.
We went to our apartment in the afternoon and rested a little. When they say your apartment is minimally furnished, that is exactly what they mean! I was surprised we had to buy trashcans, cooking utensils, pans, a water filter system, clocks, laundry baskets, an ironing board, broom, mop, dishrags, pans, and many other things. It had two nice couches, a table and six chairs, a double bed, two twin beds, sheets for the beds, four towels, four glass plates, bowls, cups, and silverware for six. It is very nice though! It is three-bedroom, with two and a half baths. Bill and I have a suite bath and a nice walk in closet! The girls are sharing a room and we have the other fixed up like an office/playroom. It has marble tile floors and is quite modern in style. It has lots of windows and is soundproof, compared to others’ apartments. It is painted all white-so our walls are really stark. The girls brought some posters for their rooms and hopefully we can afford some things to hang on the walls before too long! We live on the top, sixth floor which is the tallest any building can be in Brasilia, other than official government buildings. Our apartment security guard is very friendly and recognizes us right away. Of course, I think we stand out as “foreigners!”
Things here are arranged in BIG blocks (superquadras) and even our address does not have a street address although streets are around it. Commercial districts alter with residential “superquadras.” The commercial districts may have bakeries, drugstores, hair salons, paper stores, restaurants, hardware stores, key making kiosks, photography stores, fruit and vegetable markets, grocery stores, magazine stores, book stores, linen stores, etc. Different commercial districts specialize in different types of stores. Our commercial district has lots of restaurants-even a McDonalds and a Subway-which I am proud to say we have not eaten at yet! We have a nice fruit and vegetable market near us too, but we can easily walk to another commercial district. I think the whole idea is so that you are self-sufficient in your own neighborhood and you do not have to feel like you are in a city of two and a half million people. At least we do not feel that way!
Back to day two in Brazil! I hit the ground running. I had a very quick, shortened orientation, and numerous school meetings. Fixing up my room was a challenge, and trying to sort out what I want and need from other teacher’s things is a fine art! (I’m still doing that!) There is plenty of excess which I hate to toss because the next teacher may want it, but at the same time finding what I want is challenging-especially if you are such an organizer, like me! Supplies are not as accessible as in the US. There is a copy room, where someone copies papers for me (which will be great,) but I cannot copy one thing for myself which is tricky starting out. Laminating is done once a week. Not all of our books have made it through the US Customs yet, so beginning teaching is quite different.
Not only was I trying to get school started, but trying to set up an apartment (buying furnishings and groceries) the first few days was challenging! We were taken to a large store (kind of like Wal-Mart) by the school driver, and a special store to buy school uniforms for the girls all within the first few days also-which takes more time here! So, that left less time to work in my classroom! Needless to say, after, the first day of school, August 6th, I was exhausted! I crashed after we got the girls down to bed. I am fairly well adjusted now!
The school itself is sort of like a college campus. It is very nice-lots of patio-like areas and trees! The offices are all in one building. The pre-school and Kindergarten are in their own little area. The Elementary “Lower school” (1st-5th) is on the lower level and the Middle School (6th-8th) has its area. The High School then has its area also and seems to offer a wide variety of courses. The school is only about a half mile away from our apartment, and is wonderful walk under shaded trees. The girls have been great troopers-even throughout the neighborhoods! Traffic here also stops for pedestrians which was not true of where I was in Brazil in high school.
I have 22 students in my second grade classroom, several Americans, quite a few Brazilians, an Iranian, an Iraqian, a Canadian, a Swede, and several with mixed parents-half British, half-Hondurian, and half Brazilian and American, etc. I have three brand new non-speaking English students. Luckily two are Brazilian. My Portuguese has come back very well. I do speak much better Portuguese than Spanish I have realized. My poor Spanish students in the US! I have a full time aide, plus my ESL kids get ESL pull-out support. We also have a reading resource room teacher. The other 2nd grade teacher (Annie’s teacher) is Vietnamese. Her family went to the US as refugees when she was 11. She is now a US citizen and her English is perfect. She has been very helpful to me as she has been here seven years. Annie really likes her! It is so neat how all the students here accept everyone here! Annie is not shy at all. The girls have Portuguese everyday at school and even the Portuguese teacher has said she is not shy in there. She has been singing a song for us at home that she has learned in that class, although she is hesitant to try and speak on the street unless she has it perfect.
Courtney on the other had has been very eager to try out her Portuguese on the street, but is supposedly a little reserved in class. This might be a good thing! J Courtney seems to like all the new school challenges-especially international social studies. She also loves her teacher who is a Pilipino American and thinks it’s great because she is slightly taller than her! Most of the regular teachers are American. It just so happens the girls got international ones with American citizenship which we think is great! Of course the Portuguese teachers are Brazilian. So are some of the special teachers-PE, music, computers, and librarians.
Courtney has already been to a friend’s house who is from Spain. Her dad works for the Spanish embassy. The girl has big yard with a forest here in the city. Courtney says to write, “No kidding. They actually have a forest with little monkeys in it!” The mom said that was true. I wish I could see it myself! She also has a Japanese boy in her class. Some of you may know she wanted to learn to use chopsticks properly and wanted a Japanese student in her room. J
One of the new teaching couples this year is from the state of Washington. They live in the apartment building next to ours. They have girl, Savanna, in my room, Annie’s age, and they have become best of buds! They also have an almost four year old! It has been truly wonderful having them so close! We also have a soccer field at the end of our apartment building so the past two week-ends, our families have gone out and played a little soccer together.
Bill has been a great help! He has pretty much taken charge of the girls in the mornings, gets them breakfast and walks them to school shortly after I go. He has taken care of the girls lunch money and their after school schedule. He has done almost all the laundry which takes longer here. We have a washer and dryer, but they say the dryer gets too hot and shrinks things, so he has been hanging it out in our little laundry room with the inside clothesline. He has even prepared several evening meals by himself. He has even shopped a little by himself although he says he feels lost with Portuguese. We do not yet have internet at our apartment-seems to be a major ordeal here. Hopefully soon! He has set up his computer to use at school so he can at least do a little for his work in the US via internet. He hopes to start helping at school a little soon too.
Things here are expensive for us. We accidently bought a box of Kellogs Corn Flakes for US $7.00. Our apartment key is a special security one, but to have a copy made cost US $30.00.Meat is expensive, but good-better than in the US. Fresh fruits and vegetables are comparable in price to the US. You can definitely tell the dollar is weak!
We are trying to squeeze in as much as we can for our time here. Last weekend, we spent Saturday shopping here and there-everywhere at all the specialty stores. Sunday, we went to an Asian festival at the Malaysian embassy and a special festival at the Botanical Gardens, both of which people at the school told us about! Yesterday, we found Brasilia’s new subway and explored some further neighborhoods. We also did a planned tour of the city and saw numerous of the governmental buildings and some cathedrals which have unusual, modern architecture. Look up Brasilia on the internet. Late this afternoon, we are going on a picnic with my Annie’s teacher to the big City Park. There is a Baptist English speaking church which we have heard good things about and hope to check out soon. I hope to run up to school a little yet today too.
Friday night, the school rented a boat (actually two roped together) for all the teachers and staff to go on. (There is a huge man-made lake here to make the Brazilians feel like they are near the beach.) Custodians/ workers and teacher assistants were all invited. Craig, my headmaster, makes everyone feel equal which is uncommon in a class-cultured society. Bill was able to go since he will be working at the school, although spouses did not go unless they are employed by the school. They fed us a wonderful Brazilian meal. Plus there was music and dancing, done by all-even Bill, to both American and Brazilian music on one level of one of the boats! The Brazilians are such carefree people. Anyway, it was a very fun evening! The girls stayed with the neighbors, with an American student sitter from the school. They had fun too!
I feel like I have jumped all around in my writing, but I hope you can make a little sense of this and that you can get a little feel of what life is like here for us starting out. I’m sure my future entries will on this blog spot will be shorter!
Just in case some of you are wanting to send a note via post mail. Our address is:
SQS 204, Bloco D, AP 604
Brasilia, DF
Brazil 70234-040
All for now!
Connie
Friday, August 8, 2008
Finally here
We are here !! We are getting settled in, somewhat...
School started Wednesday for Courtney and Annie. Connie has been busy preparing for school since we arrived on the 31st of July
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
