Oi Amigos! Hello Friends!
It’s been three weeks now since I’ve updated our blog! We are on the go lots! Our typical weekday starts with me leaving the house about 7:15 to walk to school. Bill walks the girls about 7:45 as school starts at 8:00. Bill then returns home to work for Luminous Neon via internet. He usually returns to school about noonish, eats lunch there, and then begins his work as an assistant in the computer department. The kids are dismissed from school at 3:00 and then attend an after-school program until 4:15. Both are doing soccer two days a week. Annie has gymnastics two other days, and Courtney is doing Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art/dance class. On Fridays, they have nothing. Bill is studying Portuguese at the school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30. I try to leave school around 5:00, but it doesn’t always happen as I am committed to keep open Mondays and Wednesdays after school for meetings. When we do get home, preparing supper takes much more time here than in the US as everything is totally prepared from scratch, plus all fresh fruits and vegetables, which are great, but also take more time. We have no microwave (way too expensive to buy here for a year only) or dishwasher! By the time the girls get their homework done, and we eat supper; it is then bath and bedtime for the girls practically.
On weekends, we are running, trying to do all that we can! The girls seem to enjoy it, but I’m afraid when we return to the US they may ask what are we going to today? Not having a car, makes many things take longer, but forces you to slow down in its own way also. Bill and I were just recently commenting that it was different not having a car, but we thought it was a good experience for a year anyhow! As well as apartment life!
Since I have last written, if you keep up with the World Cup Indoor Soccer (Futsal), games have been going on here in Brazil. We attended a couple of Saturday games, Brazil against Russia and Japan against the Solomon Islands. That was fun-especially the game with Brazil playing! Not only was the game good, but it was fun to be a part of the sold-out crowd! The Brazilians support their team quite enthusiastically! Afterwards we walked to the TV tower market (or the Hippie Fair as some locals call it) since the arena where the Futsal game was quite close by. We browsed at lots of stuff for sale and took a free ride up to the observation deck to see the city from the highest point in Brasilia, it also happens to be very close to the center of the city. We spent most of the day there, and even ate supper from the food vendors. Courtney likes the juice squeezed from the fresh sugarcane. It brings back memories of Africa to me.
We finally had our first three day weekend! October 13th was Teacher Appreciation Day and they actually give teachers the day off! We don’t have the in-service days here like in the US or Kansas. Anyway, we filled our weekend! Friday night Courtney went to a Children’s Day party! (You’ll read bout Children’s Day below.) Brazilians are always ready for a party! J
Saturday, Annie and I went to one of my new Brazilian students’ homes. It was the family that the parents went to China to watch the Olympics, so you can imagine the home! It was beautiful, and huge! The two year old son’s walk in closet was almost as big as one of bedrooms here at our apartment. They had a heated pool, sauna, tennis court, play area with the same playground equipment that is at the school, and a wine cellar. Annie had a ball exploring all the places to hide when playing hide-and-seek!
Some of you may have known that one of Courtney’s wishes was to have a Japanese student in her room and learn to eat with chopsticks properly! She does have a Japanese student in her room, but it is a boy! Anyway, her homeroom teacher is Pilipino and heard her wish. She volunteered to come over and help us cook an oriental meal and gave Courtney some chopsticks. As Courtney has both the 4th teachers for various subjects, we invited the other teacher over too. And we all ate with chopsticks! That was Saturday night.
Then, Sunday, October 12th was Children’s Day, a day set aside for kids like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. We did our first family city bus ride to a mall. (I had ridden one before with Meire, the lady I tutor.) The girls loved it and compared the ride to an amusement park ride! They weren’t far off as it was rather wild! The drivers go faster than the traffic and zoom around the hills and corners! On our venture, we discovered there was a huge Children’s Day festival downtown which we had to check out! There were lots of activities such as games, a tent of computers, huge inflatable slides, and trampoline-like things to jump on, along with many things to be purchased by parents for their children! Thank goodness we had celebrated Children’s Day at school on Friday with all the inflatable jumpy things and the girls didn’t ask to wait in the incredibly long lines to do all these things!
After attending this festival, Courtney and I went to party at another friend’s elaborate home! These parents intentionally invited 4th graders and their parents, so everyone could kind of get to know each other! It was exceptionally nice!
Monday then was Teacher Appreciation Day. We spent half of the day trying to get our internet reset-up properly—a long story! What an ordeal in a big city compounded with Brazilian bureaucracy! Anyway, that afternoon we walked a couple miles to the City Park. We then met up with Meire, the lady I tutor. Meire loves the girls! (She has no Children!) And, they love her too. She has kind of adopted them as an aunt here. We took the Metro/subway to the biggest mall in Brasilia. It had a game room for kids with arcade-type games, bumper cars, a simulated water ride, and a small roller coaster. The girls had a ball! Anyway, our three day weekend passed way too quickly!
Last week, I was busy with Parent-Teacher conferences. And one of the Portuguese teachers invited all the teachers to her home to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day mid-week. She had paella cooked with huge prawns. I bet three of them weighed a pound! It was wonderful, but made the week a little more hectic!
This past Saturday, we tried to visit a waterfall , going part-way by bus, but found out we would not be able to take a taxi from the final bus stop as the local economy there does not support taxis. So we shifted gears and went to the local zoo. It was nice! I noticed that the African animals seemed much healthier than in the Wichita Zoo; and I think of that as a very nice zoo. I guess the climate is just more similar to their natural habitat.
Sunday was a fun day! Courtney’s Spanish friend’s mom invited the whole family over for dinner. The dad works with the Spanish Embassy. There is Carmen, Courtney’s friend, a six year old brother, and another on the way! They are such a nice family! It was so nice to be in a home, to be able to relax and visit with adults while the kids ran and played outside. Our apartment is not conducive to that! Their back yard is the one that opens up to the forest and has monkeys all around. I got to see them! It was so neat! They said parrots are a normal sight too!
As you can tell our schedule is very full! I work exceptionally hard during the week, so I don’t have to do school work on the weekends much! We have lots of special activities going on constantly at school! The 2nd grade classes are busy preparing an assembly to present next week. Annie will be in it. I am also on the Halloween committee. Halloween is not a Brazilian holiday, but the school makes a big deal of it, and the kids have learned what it is and look forward to it! The elementary students are dismissed at 11:30, after an all morning parade and party! Teachers set up Halloween “fun” booths for the classes and everyone comes back that night for a Halloween party/carnival! The high school sets up a haunted house! It will be crazy!! I’m so glad it falls on a Friday this year!
Anyway…that the latest from the Weesner’s in Brazil!
Ciao!
Connie
It’s been three weeks now since I’ve updated our blog! We are on the go lots! Our typical weekday starts with me leaving the house about 7:15 to walk to school. Bill walks the girls about 7:45 as school starts at 8:00. Bill then returns home to work for Luminous Neon via internet. He usually returns to school about noonish, eats lunch there, and then begins his work as an assistant in the computer department. The kids are dismissed from school at 3:00 and then attend an after-school program until 4:15. Both are doing soccer two days a week. Annie has gymnastics two other days, and Courtney is doing Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art/dance class. On Fridays, they have nothing. Bill is studying Portuguese at the school on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30-5:30. I try to leave school around 5:00, but it doesn’t always happen as I am committed to keep open Mondays and Wednesdays after school for meetings. When we do get home, preparing supper takes much more time here than in the US as everything is totally prepared from scratch, plus all fresh fruits and vegetables, which are great, but also take more time. We have no microwave (way too expensive to buy here for a year only) or dishwasher! By the time the girls get their homework done, and we eat supper; it is then bath and bedtime for the girls practically.
On weekends, we are running, trying to do all that we can! The girls seem to enjoy it, but I’m afraid when we return to the US they may ask what are we going to today? Not having a car, makes many things take longer, but forces you to slow down in its own way also. Bill and I were just recently commenting that it was different not having a car, but we thought it was a good experience for a year anyhow! As well as apartment life!
Since I have last written, if you keep up with the World Cup Indoor Soccer (Futsal), games have been going on here in Brazil. We attended a couple of Saturday games, Brazil against Russia and Japan against the Solomon Islands. That was fun-especially the game with Brazil playing! Not only was the game good, but it was fun to be a part of the sold-out crowd! The Brazilians support their team quite enthusiastically! Afterwards we walked to the TV tower market (or the Hippie Fair as some locals call it) since the arena where the Futsal game was quite close by. We browsed at lots of stuff for sale and took a free ride up to the observation deck to see the city from the highest point in Brasilia, it also happens to be very close to the center of the city. We spent most of the day there, and even ate supper from the food vendors. Courtney likes the juice squeezed from the fresh sugarcane. It brings back memories of Africa to me.
We finally had our first three day weekend! October 13th was Teacher Appreciation Day and they actually give teachers the day off! We don’t have the in-service days here like in the US or Kansas. Anyway, we filled our weekend! Friday night Courtney went to a Children’s Day party! (You’ll read bout Children’s Day below.) Brazilians are always ready for a party! J
Saturday, Annie and I went to one of my new Brazilian students’ homes. It was the family that the parents went to China to watch the Olympics, so you can imagine the home! It was beautiful, and huge! The two year old son’s walk in closet was almost as big as one of bedrooms here at our apartment. They had a heated pool, sauna, tennis court, play area with the same playground equipment that is at the school, and a wine cellar. Annie had a ball exploring all the places to hide when playing hide-and-seek!
Some of you may have known that one of Courtney’s wishes was to have a Japanese student in her room and learn to eat with chopsticks properly! She does have a Japanese student in her room, but it is a boy! Anyway, her homeroom teacher is Pilipino and heard her wish. She volunteered to come over and help us cook an oriental meal and gave Courtney some chopsticks. As Courtney has both the 4th teachers for various subjects, we invited the other teacher over too. And we all ate with chopsticks! That was Saturday night.
Then, Sunday, October 12th was Children’s Day, a day set aside for kids like Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. We did our first family city bus ride to a mall. (I had ridden one before with Meire, the lady I tutor.) The girls loved it and compared the ride to an amusement park ride! They weren’t far off as it was rather wild! The drivers go faster than the traffic and zoom around the hills and corners! On our venture, we discovered there was a huge Children’s Day festival downtown which we had to check out! There were lots of activities such as games, a tent of computers, huge inflatable slides, and trampoline-like things to jump on, along with many things to be purchased by parents for their children! Thank goodness we had celebrated Children’s Day at school on Friday with all the inflatable jumpy things and the girls didn’t ask to wait in the incredibly long lines to do all these things!
After attending this festival, Courtney and I went to party at another friend’s elaborate home! These parents intentionally invited 4th graders and their parents, so everyone could kind of get to know each other! It was exceptionally nice!
Monday then was Teacher Appreciation Day. We spent half of the day trying to get our internet reset-up properly—a long story! What an ordeal in a big city compounded with Brazilian bureaucracy! Anyway, that afternoon we walked a couple miles to the City Park. We then met up with Meire, the lady I tutor. Meire loves the girls! (She has no Children!) And, they love her too. She has kind of adopted them as an aunt here. We took the Metro/subway to the biggest mall in Brasilia. It had a game room for kids with arcade-type games, bumper cars, a simulated water ride, and a small roller coaster. The girls had a ball! Anyway, our three day weekend passed way too quickly!
Last week, I was busy with Parent-Teacher conferences. And one of the Portuguese teachers invited all the teachers to her home to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Day mid-week. She had paella cooked with huge prawns. I bet three of them weighed a pound! It was wonderful, but made the week a little more hectic!
This past Saturday, we tried to visit a waterfall , going part-way by bus, but found out we would not be able to take a taxi from the final bus stop as the local economy there does not support taxis. So we shifted gears and went to the local zoo. It was nice! I noticed that the African animals seemed much healthier than in the Wichita Zoo; and I think of that as a very nice zoo. I guess the climate is just more similar to their natural habitat.
Sunday was a fun day! Courtney’s Spanish friend’s mom invited the whole family over for dinner. The dad works with the Spanish Embassy. There is Carmen, Courtney’s friend, a six year old brother, and another on the way! They are such a nice family! It was so nice to be in a home, to be able to relax and visit with adults while the kids ran and played outside. Our apartment is not conducive to that! Their back yard is the one that opens up to the forest and has monkeys all around. I got to see them! It was so neat! They said parrots are a normal sight too!
As you can tell our schedule is very full! I work exceptionally hard during the week, so I don’t have to do school work on the weekends much! We have lots of special activities going on constantly at school! The 2nd grade classes are busy preparing an assembly to present next week. Annie will be in it. I am also on the Halloween committee. Halloween is not a Brazilian holiday, but the school makes a big deal of it, and the kids have learned what it is and look forward to it! The elementary students are dismissed at 11:30, after an all morning parade and party! Teachers set up Halloween “fun” booths for the classes and everyone comes back that night for a Halloween party/carnival! The high school sets up a haunted house! It will be crazy!! I’m so glad it falls on a Friday this year!
Anyway…that the latest from the Weesner’s in Brazil!
Ciao!
Connie
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