“Oi!” Hi!
Times flies; and time is flying! We are greatly aware that our time here is coming to an end! In fact there are only 16 more school days left! There is a big banner in front of the school counting down the number of days until the Senior class’s graduation! They have fewer days than the rest of us!
If I don’t write, I will forget all we have done! This weekend was a very full one! They just keep getting fuller which seems impossible! Saturday, the teachers of the school had a potluck/BBQ for the teachers that are leaving! We left that early to go to a farewell party for me at one of my Brazilian student’s homes. The parent invited all my students and their families! I was honored! It was wonderful! I didn’t want all the attention so I had it be a surprise bridal shower for my assistant, Debora, too. She is getting married the middle of July. It was fun and we were able to pull it off as a surprise! Her fiancé, Marcelo, made it too! I had told her to ask him to come!
Then on Sunday the Wolverton’s, the family that arrived when we did, and have a daughter Annie’s age, went with us to a nearby private farm with numerous waterfalls and hiking trails. They have guides and serve you lunch for a fee. We had been there before, but they had not! It was our last family outing with them! Annie and Savanna have been best friends here and will miss each other greatly! Ironically enough they live in the apartment building next to us in apartment 604 which is the same as ours. The girls’ birthdays are only a day apart, actually only about one and a half hours apart as Annie was born about 11:30 at night and Savanna about 1:00 am. On the next day!
In fact yesterday was Annie’s birthday. We went out to eat at a Brazilian BBQ last night for her birthday, her choice. She is having her birthday party this Friday night. She is having her first slumber party here with four friends, and is very excited!
The girls have been invited to friends’ homes every weekend or had friends here! We have been invited to different Brazilian teachers’ homes! The girls and I were invited to Cristina’s home, their Portuguese teacher! She is such a neat, fun lady! The girls love her and she loves them! She is actually a sister to my classroom assistant, Debora. Diane, the other teacher’s home we were invited to is American, but she is married to a Brazilian. They met at Bethany College. For those of you not from Kansas, Bethany College is about 45 miles from us in Hutchinson. Lander was there on a soccer scholarship. Diane is originally from Nebraska. They have been here three years now. She was hired here and is considered a local hire. They have two cute boys, Lucas and Daniel. It is always fun to see people’s homes, especially the local people’s homes!
Monday, May 1st was Brazil’s Labor Day and it was a holiday. Having the three day weekend, we flew to Sao Paulo to visit my host family from 29 years ago. I was 16 years old when I spent the year with them! Sylvinho, my youngest brother, actually visited my family in the US, my Senior year of high school, the year after I was there. I revisited them four years later, during my college Christmas and January term break. My two brothers, Octavio and Sylvinho, are two and four years older than me; and Dulce, my sister is five years older. They were all living at home when I was there, which is the custom here until they marry, and all in college. We saw Octavio and his family on our Christmas break here when we went to Paraty. Other than that I had not seen them in 25 years! Sylvio, my Brazilian dad passed away a couple years ago. Dulce is divorced and has moved back in with Nina, my Brazilian mom, along with her older son, Pedro. He is a very nice Senior studying at a British school. We stayed at the house that I lived in. The girls loved seeing where I spent that year and were shocked at all I remembered from that long ago! Dulce took us by my old school, which she had also attended, and the USP, University of Sao Paulo. Octavio and his wife, Legia, are co-owners of three very nice restaurants which we ate at! Courtney and Annie were thrilled to see them again and meet their daughter, Laura. They have so much fun teasing Octavio that they are the “VIGs” (Very Important Girls) and let him know that he is not! We went to a park with Sylvinho, his wife, Chang, and their new puppy, Milo. Chang is a Chinese-Brazilian. Partially because of her, Sylvinho decided to study Chinese; and is now a professor at the University of Sao Paulo, USP. His Chinese is better than Chang’s as she was born and raised here. We also went to Chinatown with all my siblings and their families and ate at a Chinese restaurant! It was a fun day! Nina still manages her catering business and keeps busy with that. I’m glad I got to see my Brazilian family again and it was neat for my girls and Bill to meet them! I know they were pleased too!
“Ciao! Ate proxima!” Bye! Until next time!
Times flies; and time is flying! We are greatly aware that our time here is coming to an end! In fact there are only 16 more school days left! There is a big banner in front of the school counting down the number of days until the Senior class’s graduation! They have fewer days than the rest of us!
If I don’t write, I will forget all we have done! This weekend was a very full one! They just keep getting fuller which seems impossible! Saturday, the teachers of the school had a potluck/BBQ for the teachers that are leaving! We left that early to go to a farewell party for me at one of my Brazilian student’s homes. The parent invited all my students and their families! I was honored! It was wonderful! I didn’t want all the attention so I had it be a surprise bridal shower for my assistant, Debora, too. She is getting married the middle of July. It was fun and we were able to pull it off as a surprise! Her fiancé, Marcelo, made it too! I had told her to ask him to come!
Then on Sunday the Wolverton’s, the family that arrived when we did, and have a daughter Annie’s age, went with us to a nearby private farm with numerous waterfalls and hiking trails. They have guides and serve you lunch for a fee. We had been there before, but they had not! It was our last family outing with them! Annie and Savanna have been best friends here and will miss each other greatly! Ironically enough they live in the apartment building next to us in apartment 604 which is the same as ours. The girls’ birthdays are only a day apart, actually only about one and a half hours apart as Annie was born about 11:30 at night and Savanna about 1:00 am. On the next day!
In fact yesterday was Annie’s birthday. We went out to eat at a Brazilian BBQ last night for her birthday, her choice. She is having her birthday party this Friday night. She is having her first slumber party here with four friends, and is very excited!
The girls have been invited to friends’ homes every weekend or had friends here! We have been invited to different Brazilian teachers’ homes! The girls and I were invited to Cristina’s home, their Portuguese teacher! She is such a neat, fun lady! The girls love her and she loves them! She is actually a sister to my classroom assistant, Debora. Diane, the other teacher’s home we were invited to is American, but she is married to a Brazilian. They met at Bethany College. For those of you not from Kansas, Bethany College is about 45 miles from us in Hutchinson. Lander was there on a soccer scholarship. Diane is originally from Nebraska. They have been here three years now. She was hired here and is considered a local hire. They have two cute boys, Lucas and Daniel. It is always fun to see people’s homes, especially the local people’s homes!
Monday, May 1st was Brazil’s Labor Day and it was a holiday. Having the three day weekend, we flew to Sao Paulo to visit my host family from 29 years ago. I was 16 years old when I spent the year with them! Sylvinho, my youngest brother, actually visited my family in the US, my Senior year of high school, the year after I was there. I revisited them four years later, during my college Christmas and January term break. My two brothers, Octavio and Sylvinho, are two and four years older than me; and Dulce, my sister is five years older. They were all living at home when I was there, which is the custom here until they marry, and all in college. We saw Octavio and his family on our Christmas break here when we went to Paraty. Other than that I had not seen them in 25 years! Sylvio, my Brazilian dad passed away a couple years ago. Dulce is divorced and has moved back in with Nina, my Brazilian mom, along with her older son, Pedro. He is a very nice Senior studying at a British school. We stayed at the house that I lived in. The girls loved seeing where I spent that year and were shocked at all I remembered from that long ago! Dulce took us by my old school, which she had also attended, and the USP, University of Sao Paulo. Octavio and his wife, Legia, are co-owners of three very nice restaurants which we ate at! Courtney and Annie were thrilled to see them again and meet their daughter, Laura. They have so much fun teasing Octavio that they are the “VIGs” (Very Important Girls) and let him know that he is not! We went to a park with Sylvinho, his wife, Chang, and their new puppy, Milo. Chang is a Chinese-Brazilian. Partially because of her, Sylvinho decided to study Chinese; and is now a professor at the University of Sao Paulo, USP. His Chinese is better than Chang’s as she was born and raised here. We also went to Chinatown with all my siblings and their families and ate at a Chinese restaurant! It was a fun day! Nina still manages her catering business and keeps busy with that. I’m glad I got to see my Brazilian family again and it was neat for my girls and Bill to meet them! I know they were pleased too!
“Ciao! Ate proxima!” Bye! Until next time!
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