The Weesner's in Brazil

2009-06-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Wow! It has been a month since I have written and a lot has happened! Looking at our calendar, the past month, we have only had three evenings that we have not had something going on! And usually I try not to schedule things on school nights! I hope I can remember it as this our journal for ourselves too. This will be my last entry from here as our internet will be shut off on this Wednesday and we fly out on Saturday. We will be back in Hutchinson on Sunday afternoon of the 28th.

Annie is now 8 and had a fun birthday party! One of her friends could not make it as she had to make an emergency trip to the US, but the rest had fun and let us sleep a little!

Since I last wrote, we have been to several museums that we wanted to see here and waited until the end of our time to do so! The girls have also attended other friends’ and a teacher’s birthday parties. The girls have been to numerous slumber parties and had them here. The “big one” we had here (with friends of both girls) after school was out; we took all six of the girls to a state fair-like amusement park here to wear them out well before coming home to our apartment! We have been to several markets, and numerous farewell dinners with teachers and of friends made here! One of my parents even had a farewell party for me at her home on a Saturday and invited my whole class and their families. Another dinner was at a Malaysian friend’s home and the husband and Bill cooked a Malaysian meal! I hope Bill remembers how to cook it! We even managed to take in a Harlem Globetrotters game.

School ended on June the 10th, but before it did we had the typical “Festa Junia,” June Festival Party. It is a harvest party that all schools celebrate some time during the month of June and schools even get out for a couple days for it! The Brazilian/Portuguese Department is in charge of that party, but teachers sign up to help with different food or game booths! Typical outfits are square dance-like. I got the girls and I dresses at a market for the occasion; and the girls even volunteered to dance what they had learned in their Portuguese classes with several others!

The girls both had special end-of-the-year field trips that Bill and I were both able to go on also. Courtney’s class went to Cristalina, a town known for its crystals. An alumnus of the school owns a farm that had a crystal quarry on it. Although they stopped mining several years ago, you could still find numerous small crystals amongst the piles of mining debris. In fact, the whole area was covered in pieces of crystal. It appeared as if you were driving on a road of glass! It reminded me of my family’s rock hunting ventures in Africa as a kid. We also spent a couple of hours walking down the middle of a creek to loop around to the farm house which the kids thoroughly enjoyed!

Annie’s and my class, 2nd grade, went to a Brazilian student’s farm for their final field trip! It was also the girl’s birthday! The family hired people to entertain the kids like a teacher would do in the US! They played dodge ball. They had a DJ playing music. They hired a professional photographer. They had games set up like at a fair with prizes. They rented a trampoline, a bungee-type slingshot ride like I’ve seen at the Kansas State Fair, and a rock climbing wall that you slid down a on a rope once you reached the top. There was a pool and a hot tub on the farm, as well as a pool table. They had a horse to ride and another one pulling a cart. People were walking around the whole time serving soup, hotdogs, popcorn and drinks! They then served all of us hot sit down meal!

We just returned last night from our final trip here! We spent five days in the part of Brazil called the Pantanal. It is a world’s largest tropical wetland and has just recently been promoted for tourism. It is scarcely populated and not easily accessible as of yet. We took two airplanes to get to the capital city of Mato Grosso do Sul, which is only about 700 miles southwest of us here in Brasilia. We then rode a bus for four hours before getting to the Pantanal area, some on dirt roads. Most of the land is private farms which some have opened up parts for ecotourism. The government pays the farmers a stipend to use it for tourism, but there are strict guidelines for visiting and protecting it! They even limit the number of visitors per day! Much of the land is flat with trees scattered around. There also many termite hills across the pastures. There are many cattle ranches with 99% of Brazilian beef being raised there. Corn, beans and rice are also grown there. We saw agricultural names such as Cargill, Bunge, and Pioneer near the capital city of Campo Grande where we landed via airplane. There are various rivers that eventually drain into the Paraguay River. We spent parts of a couple days dressed in wet suits with masks and snorkels and floated down two of the crystal clear rivers and saw many types of flora and fishes. We also saw a couple of caves that were recently opened for tourism. They say there are 50 registered caves, but only three open for visitors. We spent another day touring a farm that was drained marsh land with canals. It was a bird watchers paradise! We also did a boat tour and fished for piranhas on the farm’s river. We also saw an old, enormous sink hole that had become a home to nesting macaws and parrots. We saw lots of animals on the trip--many birds, such as macaws, parrots, toucans, owls, kingfishers, spoonbills, ibises, hawks, storks, emus, herons, vultures, and many others I didn’t know. We saw lots of Brazilian alligators (They look different than the Everglade alligators.) and capybaras side by side. I was shocked the alligators didn’t eat the capybaras, but they said they preyed upon fish and birds! We also saw a huge snake which I was thankful we were on the truck when we saw it! In addition, we saw marsh deer, grey wolves, monkeys, and my favorite, giant anteaters! We saw three different ones. They usually keep to themselves and do not mingle with other anteaters. One was carrying its baby on its back. They were so beautiful and majestic! We saw the tracks of a jaguar and smelled it’s sent that it left behind, but saw no jaguar! Anyway, I told the girls it was another memory to file away of Brazil!

A family that is related to the family we had connections with in Salvador (that we went to the wedding at Thanksgiving time) is here in Brasilia to get visas to go to the US. They have a daughter that will visit us next year in the US. She will also spend some time here in Brasilia with us. We met up with them yesterday evening and LuAna came with us to our apartment to spend several nights. The girls are thrilled!

We will then try to pack. In fact, I hope to get to some done here in the next couple of days! I am not sure how to begin! Saying our good-byes has been very hard! And they seem to be going on forever-so we are constantly shedding tears! Some of the girls friends left before school was quite out and we had some farewell dinners before school was out too! Then there was the last day of school, our final “big” slumber party, and more farewell dinners! Leaving the States was hard, but we knew we would return! We do not know when we will see some of these people again! Saying goodbye is never easy, but I remind the girls that we if we did not have to say goodbye, we would have never had this wonderful experience! Also, now our world is so much smaller!

As we return home, we will hit the ground running there too! Bill’s dad’s dementia has worsened since we have been here as we knew it might, and we are anxious to see him! My siblings will all come to Kansas as we will all get together in McPherson, 30 miles away, where my parents have moved since we have been here, over the 4th of July. Bill’s aunt and uncle that have had our dog will come up from Houston on the 8th of July and possibly bring an aunt. We all are also anxious to see friends from home, especially the girls! Thank goodness we both have jobs to go back to and a home. Bill is not yet sure when he will return to work, but my school officially starts on the 14th of August. As we said all along about this venture: this will be an experience of a lifetime; and that it has been!

Saudades Brazil!
Ciao!
Connie

2009-05-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

“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!

2009-04-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

WOW!

We just returned from a four day weekend at Iguacu Falls. Wow! What splendor! It is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and it is beautiful-more than I remembered! Iguacu Falls has the widest curtain of falls in the world with 275 different waterfalls. Victoria Falls, in Africa, is known for having the largest area of a continuous fall and Angel Falls in Venezuela is known for being the highest. Iguacu Falls is also known for having the greatest flow of water. It is on the border between Brazil and Argentina. We did tours of both sides. From the Brazilian side you see the panoramic view that is spectacular. Then on the Argentinean side you see the magnificence of where the mouth of the Iguacu River plunges over the edge of the falls. The whole area around the falls is a forested National Park and is beautiful also. There are many coati mammals (similar to raccoons) pestering people for food.

On the Brazilian side of the falls, we rode in a wagon pulled by a jeep to get close to the river. Then we walked through the forest on a trail until we were closer to the river. We then took a small motorized boat ride up closest to the falls. As part of the experience, they soak you in a smaller fall upon the way! Annie was terrified of the rapids initially and then once she got used to the “fun of it” she wanted to know why we could not go again! It was an awesome experience!

From the Argentinean side we took a train through the forested National Park area and then walked upon many man-made walkways over the river to get to the view of the falls. An Italian family that stayed at the same resort as we did was on the same tours with us. They had a five year old daughter that befriended Courtney and Annie which made everything even more fun for the girls. (Courtney doesn’t know a stranger!) The dad is stationed in Brazil working with Fiat. The girl and her brother go to a Brazilian/Italian school, so the girl spoke pretty good Portuguese. The girls communicated in “Portitaliano.” Upon leaving that side of the falls, it was exceptionally neat to see a “flock” of about five toucans in a tree in the wild! We also saw a guinea pig in the wild!

We also went to a Bird Park in the area. It is the largest bird sanctuary in South America. They had birds from all over the world, but many from the area. Within the big fenced park, you were sometimes in smaller fenced areas to see the birds from specific parts of the world or the birds themselves were in smaller fenced areas. I think we all really enjoyed the toucans, including Annie until one bit her.

Our last day in the area, we went to Itaipu Dam which borders Brazil and Paraguay, along the Parana River. It is the second largest dam in the world, following the Three Gorges Dam in China, but it produces the most energy in the world. It is one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World. The dam provides enough hydro-power to give electricity to 95% of Paraguay and 20% of Brazil. It was just fully completed in 2007. The day we were there they actually had water running over in one of the spillways which they said was rare.

The Thursday and Friday prior to this trip, I had parent-teacher conferences. Most of the parents seem be very appreciative of all I have done for their children. Having conferences those two days followed by Monday and Tuesday as a holiday gave the students a long break. Tuesday was Tiradentes, a Brazilian holiday honoring the man who was a martyr in gaining Brazil’s independence from Portugal. “Tiradentes” literally translates as tooth puller as the man was a dentist part of his life. It was used during the trial as a term of ridicule.

I’m now back to school with less than one quarter to go! And as any end of an elementary school year, it is already looking quite busy and full with all the end of the year activities!

Ciao!
Connie

2009-04-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

“Feliz Pascoa!” Happy Easter!

It’s been almost four weeks since I last wrote. Last Thursday at school we celebrated Easter. Brazilians don’t color eggs, so I set up five rotations in my room. One was an egg dying station, a math game station, an Easter basket-making station, an Easter word search and special “fun Easter sheets, and an Easter art project. I had my assistant and parents there to help! And the kids were GREAT! Then came the afternoon of the egg hunt and party! The kids were wild by that time! Needless to say I am happy to have a day off!

Parent teacher conferences are this upcoming Thursday and Friday. The kids are dismissed at noon on Thursday and we have that afternoon and Friday to have our conferences. The following Tuesday is a Brazilian holiday (Tiradentes) and we get off Monday. We are going to Iguacu Falls. It is on the border of Argentina and Paraguay. I went there when I was here before. It is beautiful, and Bill would like to see it! All tourists here talk about it! It is much larger than Niagara Falls!

The last time I wrote another teacher, Ann, and I were taking off for another town. We went on a three hour bus to trip Goias. Goias is the capital city of the state which surrounds the Federal District here. The city is known for its markets and we went to three of them. They have numerous clothing factories, so you can buy clothes cheaper there. We went to one market that had mainly clothes, an artesian market, and one that had everything! We stayed overnight at hotel within walking distance of one of the markets. It was a fun, relaxing weekend for me! Bill and the girls hung out at the apartment, watched movies and went to the club and swam! They said they had a fun relaxing weekend too!

The past two Saturdays have been tied up with school. The first one was the school Global Awareness Fair. Classes study different countries and set up booths representing all the different countries. Art projects are on display that students have made. Brasilia is known as a capitol with a large amount of embassies represented, so many of the embassies were invited to set up booths. There were food and crafts of many nationalities for sale. The American embassy had a mini chili cook-off and sold cupcakes with footballs on top of them. There were also many presentations going on during the day. I especially liked the South African drum music. The second graders studied India and the embassy set up their booth for us. We invited a parent in to talk and we ate Indian samosas-a potato pastry. The kids made tigers pictures out of paper and drew hands with henna designs on them. Kristie and I were dressed saris and wore those around. There are several Indian high school girls and they performed an Indian dance in their saris. Courtney’s class studied Malaysia. Bill commented that he would like to see a day like that replicated in the US! Maybe in Washington D.C.

Following the Global Awareness Fair, both girls were invited to spend the night with friends, so Bill and I went to one of the markets again Saturday morning. That Sunday, the girls were invited to a British friend’s birthday party. It was more like the traditional Brazilian parties that go all out! The girls have such busy social calendars here! Actually, I guess we all do! Life in Hutchinson, Kansas will never be the same!

After school on Friday, April 3rd, we celebrated Courtney’s 10th birthday with an American style party, but no Americans except us! We can’t compete with the Brazilian parties, nor do I think I would want to! Anyway, she had four girls come home with her after school. They decorated canvas bags and then we had a scavenger hunt for candy which they had a ball with. We played some games and then went out to eat at a restaurant where they bring around all kinds of pizza and they have a pasta bar where you pick out your pasta, they cook it and you pick out your own ingredients plus the type of sauce you want and they cook it. The last friend left at 10:00. They all seemed to have fun! One girl even mentioned it was small, but more fun than hers which was your typical “all out” one! I think she enjoyed how they all could interact together!

The Saturday following Courtney’s party was my second school Saturday in a row! It was not as much fun! We spent it on staff development, “Differentiated Instruction.” Many teachers do differentiated instruction in the US, but I have more student levels here, largely due to the level of English language acquisition the students have. At least we have an English as a Second Language teacher here who pulls students out of the classroom to work with them! Bill, Annie and Courtney went to an easter party that morning at a house of one of the American Embassy's staff. After my five hours of staff development, Courtney’s Spanish friend’s family invited us over for a Spanish lunch of paella. They are such a neat family! They now have a newborn in their family, Pedro.

That Sunday, we were invited to one of my student’s homes. The father is also the one in charge of the audio visual equipment in our school auditorium. He is such a neat guy! He started out as a cleaner in our school, learned English and moved up to a better-paying job! Sometimes he has to stay at school late for different programs and his daughter has come to our place after school so she doesn’t have to stay there. They live in one of the suburb cities. They call them satellite cities here. His commute to home is about an hour. His daughter gets to go to school for free. This is only her second year there, but she is very bright and has learned English very well! The mother speaks no English, but is a very nice lady. We took the metro to get there and a bus to get back. They have recently been able to buy their own home and are very proud of it. They cooked a Brazilian BBQ for us. They were honored to have us there and we were honored to be there!

This past Friday, Good Friday, one of Courtney’s classmates had an Easter party for the whole 4th grade! Families were invited too-for lunch at that! This is one of the wealthy Brazilian families! This family has already had at least 5 big parties that I know of, and Annie has been invited to all those too! The food is incredible as well as the goodie bags the kids bring home. Oh, I forgot to mention, you should see the invites!

Saturday, we went to one of my student’s birthday parties-another big party. It was in a party room that parents rent with all kinds of different activities, a big indoor slide, a foosball table, an indoor race track and other things! They also hired a magician who did some tricks and a caricature artist. Of course several of my students were there!

This morning we had an easter egg hunt with the girls, in front of our apartment ! Last night, the girls dyed eggs with their Brazilian neighbor friend, Giovanna. After our egg hunt, we went to a Catholic mass at one of the big famous churches here! It was interesting, but of course all in Portuguese. I don’t know if the fact it was in Portuguese or the fact that is was a Catholic service made it different for us, but it was something I had wanted to do.

Our time here is quickly coming to an end! The girls have a pretty good grasp of the language now. They are watching movies in Portuguese now instead of English; and as they play, they speak some Portuguese to each other! Bill is understanding more all the time too!
Ciao!
Connie

2009-03-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Oi mais uma vez! “Hello again!

Time is flying! Only three months left! Annie and I (second graders) celebrated St. Partick’s Day with a St. Patrick’s Day party. The students got to wear green instead of their uniforms and their challenge was to bring green snacks! We had quite a few “ungreen” things, but also green sugar cookies--made by the American moms, green grapes, green peppers, green M&Ms, green wasabi peanuts, Guarana (a Brazilian soft drink that comes in a green bottle) and green apple juice!

Speaking of parties, my last blog was posted just before my birthday which was March 2nd. Debora, my classroom assistant, Kristie, the other 2nd grade teacher, and her assistant planned a surprise party for me at the end of the day with both the classes. I’m not yet sure how they pulled it off, but they did and it was definitely a surprise! Bill was even in on it! The kids were so wild that day, but I thought it was because we were celebrating National Pig Day which had been on Sunday, the day before! They had my new favorite, brigadeiro cake (a very rich chocolate cake) and lots of other snacks! That night, we as a family went out to eat. We went to a Chinese restaurant which is not common here. Then on Saturday night, the girls stayed with the Wolverton’s (the family that was hired when we were and has Savanna, Annie’s best friend) and Bill and I went out to eat with several of the teachers! We went to a restaurant owned by Kristie’s assistant’s parents. It was quite fancy! They gave us a bottle of champagne to share in the celebration. I’m sure it was because of the connection, but it was still very nice!

Last weekend, Ann, the 1st grade teacher who was hired late like me, went “exploring” with us with a rented car. As I mentioned before driving in this country is a challenge! The roads are not the best and they are not well marked at all like we are used to in the States. It helped having another adult along. Ann helped Bill try to find the correct road and I “entertained” the girls! Even so, we made a few detours! We did make it to Anapolois, another fairly large city, a couple hours away. Brasilia is such a modern capitol city; it is fun to see another city.

On Sunday, we went a nearby privately ecotourism farm. They have a preserve in which they help injured birds go back to their natural habitat once they are well. Guides also take you around on a hike. We chose the “moderate” hike which was about 2 miles. We hiked through canyons and by three waterfalls, but didn’t make it to the largest waterfall that the place (Chapada Imperial) was named after. We also got to swim in a couple spots as we hiked. They served us a typical Brazilian meal of “country” chicken with rice, beans, manioc, squash, “farofa” (ground manioc) and salad with guava paste and cheese for dessert. It was a fun way to spend a day and we are hoping we can make it back!

Last night we went to a restaurant that served a typical Southern Brazil meal also. It is interesting how starchy their meals are. We were served rice, “farofa” again, pasta, fried polenta, and potatoes along with grilled chicken and a salad. It was very good. I just surprises me how you are often served rice with potatoes. Annie loves the combination!

Here soon, I am taking off with Ann to another town to a market. I’ll write the details in my next blog!

“Ate proxima!”
Until next time!
Connie

2009-03-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

“Oi de novo!” Hi again!

We are back from yet another one of our adventures. As I said we went to Natal, which means Christmas in Portuguese. I now know how the city got its name. A little over four hundred years ago, the Portuguese settled the area, and built a fort called the Fort of the Three Magi-Kings. The fort was dedicated on Epiphany, January 6th, 1598. The city, about 1 km away from the fort, was established on December 25th 1599, that is how they came up with Natal as the name.

The hotel we stayed at was beautiful! It was out from the city, had three pools, one with a water slide, and the beach just the other side of the boardwalk. Because it was out of the city, it seemed like we had our own private beach although beaches in Brazil cannot be private. The temperature was in the 80s, but there was a nice coastal breeze. It is on about the 6th latitudinal line of the earth, just south of the equator so the ocean water was not cold at all!

Our first day there we went on a tour of the city and the area. Natal is in a small state called Rio Grade de Norte, but it has about 250 miles of coastline. We saw the fort, several sites in town and beaches in the town.

We also went to a neighboring town on the beach called Pirangi. We opted to go on a boat ride there and went out to a coral reef. We rented special sandals to walk on it and got masks and snorkels, but did not see much in the water. I think too many people had visited the reef!

Pirangi also has the largest cashew tree in the world. For those of you who do not know, a cashew is a tropical fruit shaped sort of like a bell. The “ringer” of the bell is the cashew nut that we eat. Actually the fruit is very edible, just very acidic. Locals drink lots of juice made from it. The tree has a genetic abnormality. As it grows, the braches grow out sideways instead of up. As they touch the ground they grow up and then out again. It covered an area about as big as a US city block. It is estimated to be about 115 years old. Last year 80,000 cashews were picked form it. When you see where the nut comes from, it helps you understand why they are so expensive although they were reasonably priced there and tasted much better and fresher.

We went back to Pirangi the next day to experience Carnival on the street! Many of the people were dressed up; the men many of them as women! I think that was a cheap costume as they borrowed clothes from their wives or girlfriends! It was all in fun and jest! Courtney and Annie thought it was a bit strange! We went that night to a very safe family setting for Carnival at a mall. That was about the extent of our Carnival!

One of the big tourist things of the area is “Buggy Riding.” You hire a dune buggy driver for a day and he takes you out on the many sand dunes! Of course, there are other tourist things to do on the way! We rode camels and felt like we were in the Sahara! The camels had been imported from Africa.

We rode along the ocean and swam at the beach. We rode through little lakes and the girls swam in a fresh water lake. We crossed a river on a little hand-pushed raft that the dune buggy drove on! We rode down a sand dune on a little wooden sled that splashed into the water. It was called “skibunda,” butt skiing! I also went down, a bungee type sling that you sat in until you splashed into the water! We had our lunch of grilled lobster, shrimp, and fish at another little coastal town. It was definitely a fun, unique day!

Another day, we hired a taxi to take us to another well known beach, Pipa, a couple of hours away. It had huge cliffs close by and was beautiful! We took another boat ride out from this beach to another one to see dolphins and swim in the ocean! On this venture, we also saw many fields of sugar cane and a sugar cane alcohol factory. That sugar cane was used to make alcohol to be used for fuel, but it is also used to make sugar as well as an alcoholic liquor called Cachaca. We stopped to fill up with gas, and at the gas station, the taxi driver had natural gas put into his car. He said that this state in Brazil has a large amount of natural gas that they are promoting as an energy source. We also saw many fresh water shrimp beds where shrimp is raised.

The Northeast is known for hand work crafts and we spent an afternoon in a mall looking at it all. We spent the rest of our time on the beaches or the hotel pools. The girls are loving the beaches and lamenting about returning to no beaches in Kansas! We enjoyed lots of seafood and had another great time!

Ate poxima!
Connie

2009-02-20T15:16:00.001-08:00

Oi!

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! We had a party with food at school, but the kids didn’t exchange cards as you can’t buy them here. Valentine’s Day here is in June and it is more for male/female relationships.

Carnival, Brazil’s biggest holiday, is approaching us, or should I say--it is here! We experienced a bit of it today at school. The last period of the day was a Carnival party (pandemonium) for all the elementary school! Kids were dressed in costume, kind of like Halloween, but there was Samba music being played and confetti flying everywhere! Bill has even posted a short video of some of it.

Anyway, we are out of school all next week for the holiday. We are going to Natal, a city in the Northeast part of the country. We will fly there tomorrow and fly back next Saturday. We will stay in a hotel along the beach. We are all excited!

We went to a US Embassy Carnival Themed happy hour a couple weeks ago. They had a School of Samba there.

The different schools compete in cities to see who is the best. I’m not sure what they win, but I think it must be a sum of money. I know they spend lots of money on their costumes. Some of the cities also host Carnival parades where the schools dance down the streets and I’m sure they spend lots of money on floats.

Last Friday night was a school talent show and Courtney had a slumber party with four other girls here! I thought living in an apartment, a talent show would give us something more to do besides play games, go out to eat, and watch a movie. It did, but it did not get over until after 9:00 so we went out to eat then. That is not late at all for Brazilians as restaurants do not open until 7:00, but for a group of excited girls-it was plenty late. We didn’t start the movie until after 11:00 and they were up until the wee hours of the morning! It was quite entertaining to watch and listen to them! They all come from different countries, but all speak English very well! They had a ball! Saturday night we moved our clocks back already so it was nice to gain an hour of sleep especially after Friday night! We are only three hours ahead of Central US time now!

Saturday afternoon we went to a restaurant that had feijoada and live music. Feijoada is a special black bean stew with all kinds of meat coked in it! It is served with rice, manioc flour, collard greens, cooked bananas (not platians) and orange slices. It is a special meal eaten by many Brazilians on a Saturday at noon. During the music, a School of Samba showed up which was a fun surprise!

This week has been a very full week. One of my friends, Ann, who is the new first grade teacher this year, had her birthday Monday and several of us took her out to eat. Wednesday night my Kuwaiti student’s family invited Bill and I to their Independence Day dinner. The father is the Kuwaiti ambassador. It was a formal occasion. They gave me a Kuwaiti gown for “Christmas” (They don’t celebrate Christmas.) and were pleased that I wore it.

Then last night, a group of us went out to celebrate Courtney’s teacher’s birthday. Tonight yet, we have to pack, but we don’t leave until tomorrow afternoon.

Ate proxima!
Connie

Here is the video of the school carnival celebration, enjoy!

2009-02-04T16:39:00.000-08:00

Oi!

It’s been over two weeks since I last wrote, but not too much has gone on. I won’t have Bill post any pictures on this blog as we haven’t taken many since our last trip! We are all getting back into the routine of school. I think most of my class still thinks it is vacation! We celebrated the 100th day of school the other day so I’m aware time is flying! I am teaching an after school class this semester with Kristie, the other 2nd grade teacher, who is also Annie’s teacher. We are teaching “Brain Teasers”-games that stretch the mind! Teachers are required to teach a class after school or help students with homework. I was not required to teach a class my first semester as they gave new teachers an adjustment period. The girls are doing “Brain Teasers” with me and twice a week Courtney has “Hip-Hop” and Annie has “Cheerleading.”

Bill is still plugging away with his Portuguese lessons twice a week. I am so fortunate that I lived in the country with a Brazilian family and went to a Brazilian school; and that the language has come back to me so well-even after 29 years! Kristie, who has been here seven years, says I speak better than her, but she hasn’t had to be dependent on the language like I was. She teaches in English all day, and there are enough people who speak English; and she knows the basics. I just started Yoga this week also. Lisa, the Headmaster’s wife teaches it. I have wanted to do it since October, but between Bill’s Portuguese classes and the girls’ after school activities, the schedule just didn’t work! I’m going to try really hard to make it work this semester!

As we, as a family, approach this second semester it is with mixed emotions! We are past the adjustment stage and all feels quite comfortable here. We turned down the school’s offer to stay another year, but we are also realizing how different Hutchinson, Kansas will be after this experience! We are just grateful we have had the opportunity to be here! It has definitely made Courtney and Annie much more aware of the world!

The girls have made good friends here. In fact the past two Friday nights, they have had sleepovers at friends’ houses. They have both commented how they miss their friends from the US, but will miss their friends from here when we leave! I too know the feeling!

With the girls gone on Saturday mornings, Bill and I made our way, via bus, to another market. We went to the largest fruit and vegetable market in the area. It is where all the produce comes into the city. We saw fruits we hadn’t seen yet! Of course I had to buy them for us to try, but I had to ask people how to eat them. Some you don’t eat the skin! Some you only suck on the skin to suck on the seed and then spit the seed out! Some you eat the seeds! Others you watch out for lots of seeds! I also bought a bouquet of tropical flowers, birds of paradise and a couple other flowers that I don’t know what they are-just pretty!

Bill and I also went to Kristie’s home for a Wonton Party to celebrate the Lunar New Year which I previously knew only as the Chinese New Year! If you remember, Kristie is a Vietnamese-American. In her seven years here, Kristie has made many Brazilian and international friends. There were about 50 people who showed up during the evening; Bill and I and one other teacher from the school, plus about six other nationalities. English was the main language spoken, but you could hear others besides Portuguese also! Anyway, it was fun and interesting! She had everything all prepared for us to make wontons-fried, steamed and wonton soup!

It is still the rainy season, but the rain comes and goes more sporadically! I thought it would be humid during the rainy season, but I guess the ground is so dry; it just soaks up the water so quickly. It is not really humid at all! The temperature had been in the 70’s, but has been in the 80’s the past couple of weeks. The mango trees all around no longer have mangos, but the avocados are in season now, and there are avocados everywhere! Annie just loves picking the fruits everywhere and has even learned the trees by their leaves on her own. And there are fruit trees everywhere! Just the other day she showed me a lime tree in our apartment “garden” and we had to make limeade! Within walking distance of our apartment, there are the lime, mango, avocado, jack fruit, coconut, “jabuticaba” (I don’t know in English!), guava, pomegranate, papaya, and tamarind trees. There is also another tree with berries like raspberries. It is not mulberries as the berries are good! I don’t know the name of it in Portuguese or English! We have even found a couple pineapple plants, but the pineapples weren’t on the plants long at all before they disappeared! For that matter, many of the fruits disappear quickly. The mangos tasted great, but were quite stringy. A Brazilian told me they were best for making juice which I’m sure was true!

The country is now preparing for Carnival, the biggest holiday in Brazil. Mardi Gras is a variation of Carnival and different countries have their Carnivals, but I think they all originate from here! It is the last week of February this year. It lasts four days and always ends on the day before Ash Wednesday, Lent. Different areas of the country celebrate with slightly different types of music, but most of it is Samba or a variation of it! I’m not sure of the significance of the holiday, but I know the country is in one big party mode! One thing I read is that it is letting go of your everyday self and embracing the carefree nature of the festival! That seems to fit what I saw when I was here before! People say Brasilia does not celebrate big, but there is a banner advertising for people to join the “Samba School” in our commercial district! I’m sure there will be parades and dancing in the streets! We are going to Natal, a city in the Northeast to celebrate. I didn’t want to be somewhere that celebrated too big, but yet I wanted Bill and the girls to get a good feel for it! We will be on the beach for a week. We have all enjoyed the beautiful beaches here, and the Northeast is know is for its beaches!

“Ate proxima!” Until next time!
Connie

2009-01-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

“Oi de novo!” Hi again!

Here it is only about a week since I wrote my last blog entry, but what an eventful week! It seems like more time has passed! We recently spent five days in the Amazon. And what a trip! It was fun and very educational!

We flew about 2,100 miles to Manaus, the largest city in Brazil, in the Amazon. It is about 1,050 miles from the mouth of the Amazon River. We spent our first night in the Hotel Tropical in the city of Manaus. The hotel had a wave pool which was lots of fun! They also had a mini zoo of animals from the Amazon. For supper, the hotel restaurant served barbeque, Brazilian style with the big skewers of many kinds of meat, plus a wonderful salad and dessert bar! After the dinner there was music and dancing. Courtney and Annie befriended one of the workers that afternoon in the pool and danced with her that night!

The next morning, in the typical tropical rain forest rain, we boarded a boat and rode 35 miles up the Rio Negro, one of the large tributaries of the Amazon River to our hotel, Ariau Towers. That hotel was amazing! It was wooden, built along the edge of the river, up high in the treetop canopy, on stilts which kept it out of the river when the water rose. It had four miles of catwalks around the various towers that were either restaurant, bar, gift store, exercise, or sleeping accommodations. There were even swimming pools held up by the wood in the decks. And there was air-conditioning in our rooms!

We were greeted by dressed up Indian women adorning us with necklaces made from bamboo and seeds. We were also greeted by monkeys. Although the monkeys were wild, they were used to being fed by the guests which was a highlight for Annie and especially Courtney. Courtney had more than a few of them jump on her head, shoulders and back! Upon our arrival, we also met up with the dad of one of Courtney’s best friends from school in Brasilia, Alexia-the French, Greek, American. What fun for both her and Annie! After lunch we joined them on the Piranha Fishing Tour. Bill and I both caught piranhas, but the girls had their bait stolen many times! The cook made piranha soup for us to accompany our supper meal. The fish guts were cleaned out, but into the soup went heads, tails, and all! Once the girls got past the sight and actually tasted and liked the soup, they began collecting the Piranha teeth!

Courtney’s friend had to leave the next morning, but we went on to the Jungle Trek. We were all excited until Francisco, our guide, gave us all the warnings of what we had to be on the serious look-out for! Yes, the fatal snakes, fatal spiders and fatal ants! Our excitement turned a little more to apprehension! Francisco carried a machete, partly for protection and partly to cut and show us all the many wonders of the plants found in the Amazon! Francisco himself was a native Amazonian. He was the oldest of 15 children and grew up on an island with about 60 other people. His grandfather took him in at the age of 12 where he went to live with him in the city of Manaus. There he was first exposed to school and was encouraged by missionaries, I believe, to learn Italian and English. At age 18, he became a guide for visitors of the Amazon. Anyway, we relaxed a little and did not see many dangers on our trek, but many wonders!

After the trek, we visited an island with about 60 native Amazonians. There is a project to get electricity to all of Brazil, and what a challenge to all the islands in the Amazon! Anyway, this island had electricity, and they also stressed the importance of trying to educate everyone. The island had a small school where about 14 children went-ages 5-?. Several of the students came via boat from other close islands. They took local people from the islands and educated them more to become the teachers, as teachers from the mainland would not stay on the islands. They could not adapt to the primitive life-style. The people on the island cultivated things from the forest or fished and sold them in Manaus to survive. On this particular island, there was a man who showed us how to gather latex from the rubber tree. He said he did it the same way it was done 300 years ago! Also a young boy had caught a sloth in the wild and kept it as a pet at his house. Sloth or “beicha pregisa” in Portuguese, translates literally as lazy beast and this one was very slow and lazy! The boy said he fed it fruits and leaves and as lazy as the sloth appeared, I’m sure he was quite content not to have to search for his own food!

Every time we went on a tour we went by a large canoe as they called it. It was a wooden boat that held about 20 people and had a motor on it. Our group was the English speaking group and usually had eight to ten people plus us. We grew very close to the group we toured with which consisted of a couple from Maryland, a couple from Hawaii, an Australian family and later an Australian and Brazilian couple. Anyway, after lunch, we visited a family that was pretty much self sufficient on an island, but they also had electricity. They had many plants on which they survived, as well as chickens. They also had a small manioc plantation which they cultivated and sold to the people in Manaus. Manioc is a root is that tapioca is made out of, but Brazilians eat it like a potato also, boiled and fried. The flour is also a staple part of their diet, especially in the Amazon. They sprinkle the coarse flour over their rice and beans and it helps fill them up. The manioc in the Amazon has a poisonous liquid in it that must be squeezed and boiled out. It is quite a process with their home-made resources.

It got dark around 6:00 there, and as we left the island it was dusk. We went caiman (alligator) hunting before returning to the hotel for supper. Francisco had a big light run by a generator that he shined around in the water. The caiman’s eyes would glow a red in the dark. All of a sudden, he laid down on the bow of the boat, reached in the water, stood back on the bow holding a little caiman! He said some got four meters long!

Meals were buffet style. Breakfasts had all types of bread, cereal, eggs, cheeses, and various tropical fruits and juices-some only typical of the Amazon. Banana porridge and a fish soup was served one morning. Lunches and suppers consisted of salads, breads, rice, beans, cooked bananas, pasta and sauces, manioc flour, soup, a beef dish, a chicken dish, local fish, and a choice of several desserts. All the fish was fabulous as well as everything else!

The next day, we went to an island that had a beach area. It was clean as you could see down quite a ways, but the water was the color of Coca~Cola which made it difficult for me to swim in. Rio Negro translates as Black River. I’m not sure why we didn’t have to worry about the piranhas there! I guess it wasn’t the right area! We also went to another area in the river that was not a piranha area and fed and swam with pink dolphins. Pink dolphins are one of the few species of fresh water dolphins and live in the Amazon. They were huge, about seven to eight feet long. We got right in the river, on a plank, beside a boat dock and fed them. They would bump into you fighting over the fish so the girls had to wear life jackets in case they got bumped! Their mouths were a little frightening, but to me was the weirdest sensation when they brushed against you! After we fed them, we swam in the river a bit with them.

We went piranha fishing again that day as the girls really wanted to say they had caught a piranha! Annie was successful! It was a little one, but she was ecstatic! She could hardly wait to call and tell Grandpa Neher (who taught her to fish) that she caught a piranha!

We returned to Manaus early the next morning to be able to see a little of the city before we flew out the next day. In the city we took a taxi tour around and saw the Manaus Opera House that was built entirely from materials imported from Europe in 1894. We saw the Judicial Palace as Manaus is the capital of the state of Amozonas. We also visited the port and the “Feira de Banana” (banana market.) The market had lots of the different types of bananas harvested in the Amazon that came in via boats and were to be exported. It also had many other fruits and the largest fish market I have ever seen. Lastly we saw the Zoo at the Brazilian Army's Education Center for Jungle Warfare where militaries from all over the world, including the US, study jungle warfare and survival skills. They had a large jungle area in addition to many of the animals found in the Amazon including several of the large cats and numerous snakes.

We returned to the Hotel Tropical in time to swim a little more in the wave pool before supper. The same taxi tour guide took us to a “churasscaria,” a Brazilian type barbeque again! The restaurant was all under the awning of a huge roof as it is warm there all the time. It was an incredible meal!

We flew home the next day after shopping for some Amazonian handicrafts and another quick swim. On our three hour flight from Manaus to Brasilia, you could see river and forest for one hour. That gave me a small perspective of the immenseness of the Amazon Rainforest! What an educational trip as I stated at the beginning of this! The girls ended on yet another high as the stewards of the plane let the kids go to the cockpit and visit with the pilot.

Now it is back to reality and the reason we came here! School starts on Monday for me and Wednesday for the girls and Bill. It will be interesting to hear the stories and ventures of all my students. I know one Brazilian girl was going to Europe for a month. Her nanny/maid was going with the family. I told that mom I would watch her kids on such a trip! Another student I know was going on a cruise around the southern most point of South America, Cape Horn.

“Ate proxima!” Until next time!
Connie

2009-01-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Oi!

It was nice to be in a fully furnished and decorated home on Christmas Eve. We lit a Hanukkah candle and played the dreidel game next to a Christmas tree. We also ate pork and latkes as well as many other great foods. Bill tried raw oysters for the first time. I had tried them once before!! At 7:00 on Christmas morning, Ms. Bauer, a 4th grade teacher came over, in her pajamas, to share the excitement of Christmas with us! The girls were glad that Santa Clause even came to Brazil! We then had turkey again that afternoon along with more good foods! We played games and visited too! It was a nice Christmas!

Our trip to the state of Rio de Janeiro was fun! The week in Paraty was the most fun! Paraty is a well-preserved historic town in Brazil. It is where the country’s gold was exported from. We got to my family’s “sitio” (farm) a couple of days before my “Brazilian brother” and his family. We walked around the cobble-stoned streets and looked in the many tourist shops. We took a day trip to Trindade, a beach that was incredible, or should I say the trip to the beach was incredible! Both were incredible! Courtney thought the trip could qualify for the “Survivor” show! We started out playing at one beach that could be driven to. Then we went on a hike literally through the forest/jungle to get to the next beach as the coast was rocky and mountainous. Trekking on to the third beach was even more treacherous as the trail was quite a bit steeper and very slippery from all the rain. Bill and I were fortunate as our guide helped Courtney and Annie and we were not too proud to grab hold of the boulders or trees roots sticking out of the ground! I told Bill that I felt like Tarzan and Jane going through the jungle although we looked like some pigs that had wallowed in the mud! Good thing we could wash off in the water! As opposed to pressing our luck returning the same way, we opted to pay a small fee and have a local person return us to the first beach via his little fishing boat. We then ate fresh fish that was caught right there. What an experience! We all agreed that it was one we would never forget! The beaches were breathtakingly beautiful and the trek was loads of adventure!

At the “sitio,” we had fun with the workers who took kept up the place. Sandra was the one who cooked us our meals and was around the most. She walked with us up the mountain past the banana orchard to where the manioc and “milho verde” (green corn) was grown. Annie could not understand why that garden was at the top of the mountain when you had to carry it all down again. It was a good question. Anyway, Sandra also showed us the lone cocoa plant on the “sitio.” As Annie loves chocolate, she wanted to try to make chocolate! We removed the bean from the fruit, ground it, toasted it in a skillet and made a not so tasty hot chocolate! We resolved to use store bought chocolate to make a chocolate flan for dessert!

We went out one day on the family’s boat before the others arrived. Of course the driver drove for us. We went out another three days with Octavio, Lygia, and Ursula. The large bay around Paraty is full of 365 islands of all sizes, many with private vacation homes on them. Some of the islands have beaches on them, others have just rocky shores and you have to swim or kayak around them. Hooked on to the boat were two kayaks. A couple of the islands even have restaurants on them that food has to be brought in via boat. We ate at both. One ran out of fresh fish so we had to order another plate of fried calamari instead. We even saw them run into the restaurant, from the boat, carrying the fresh, uncleaned squid! And the girls still ate it!

We spent “Reveillon” (New Year’s Eve) in the town of Paraty with Octavio, Lygia, Ursula, and about 80,000 other people watching a very nice fireworks display over the ocean. We somehow managed to be on an un-crowded dock pretty much to ourselves! Since I was here last, New Year’s has become “the thing to do” on the beach. I did not know that when I planned our trip to Paraty. Octavio said the town’s population about doubled for the holiday. Of course, it is Brazil’s summer also, and many people travel at this time.

As we flew in and out of Rio de Janeiro, we spent five days in Rio. The weather was rainy and cloudy most of the time we were in Rio so it was not the best time, although we did manage to escape their “Reveillon” crowd! I heard that Rio had over two million people on the beach for “Reveillon.” We also managed to go up to the “Corcovado,” (Christ figure) on a beautiful day. The day we rode the gondola up to “Pao de Acucar” (Sugar Loaf Mountain) it was cloudy. We also toured the Maracana-the big soccer stadium where the World’s Cup will be held in 2014, walked around their beautiful Botanical Gardens, saw the Sambadrome where the famous Samba schools present their dances during Carnival, saw the Cathedral of San Sebastian, saw several “favelas” (slums), and several other sites of interest. Our hotel was in between Ipanema and Copacobana Beaches so we went to both. Topless is prohibited on Brazilian beaches, but if you’ve heard of the thong swimsuit, some people may have as well been topless and bottomless for that matter. There were also a couple of different markets that were within walking distance which were fun! I love the markets!

We are now at our home away from home here in Brasilia just barely long enough to do laundry and pay the bills that arrived while we were gone. We fly to the Amazon tomorrow! It will be a short five day trip.

“Ate a proxima!” Until next time!
Connie

2008-12-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

Feliz Natal!

‘Tis the season! This is my Christmas letter to all of you! Although it is about 75 degrees Fahrenheit and school is out for our five week summer break, things are still busy this time of year, even in Brazil! The warm weather makes it hard for me to think Christmas, but as we went to a Christmas church program last Sunday, I began to think that it was probably also warm in Bethlehem!

The Elementary School’s holiday program was called “Family Reunion.” It was about a mixed family gathering for the holidays. We have to watch the Christmas theme as all religions and nationalities are represented at the school. Anyway, Courtney and Annie had fun singing and dancing in it! Courtney was a Spanish person and Annie, an Egyptian!

Aside from the school holiday program, I have had three holiday parties the past two weeks! All three were school related, but in the evenings! To add to my chaotic schedule, Courtney and Annie also had birthday parties to attend these past couple of weeks, plus a friend’s holiday party! (Remember we don’t have a car to drive all these places! That’s partially what makes it so chaotic!) Courtney’s birthday party was the Swedish ambassador’s daughter. The party was held at her home which is the Swedish Embassy. One of the party favors was a personalized CD with the girl’s picture on it and some of her favorite songs. Annie’s party was at a location that was similar to a mini-carnival with all kinds of rides. One of the school librarian’s daughters was at party and I was talking to her. She said a party like that would cost about $2,500.00 US dollars. It’s amazing the amount of money some people spend on kids’ parties here!

Bill also turned 50 on December 10th. I wasn’t sure what to do for the “big” occasion, but I knew it wasn’t going to be a big party! So a group of us just went to the brewery here in Brasilia on the weekend. A friend took a cake which is perfectly acceptable in this country. It was fun and simplified everything for me at this time of year! We, as a family, and my co-teacher (Annie’s teacher), went out to eat on his actual birth date at a “Churrascaria,” a Brazilian BBQ. They have a big salad bar, and the waiters bring around huge skewers of all types and cuts of meats. You can also have them bring you bowls of shrimp on the side! Therefore he kind of celebrated turning 50 twice! J

I am now beginning to think Christmas at home! We put a tree up a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t have any presents under it. Annie was a little worried if she was getting anything. She was relieved, and excited, when she saw presents finally, just the other morning!

We will spend Christmas here. We will actually spend Christmas Eve with one of my embassy student’s family along with some other people. The dad celebrates Christmas and the mom Hanukkah. The dad is Cuban and is going to roast a pig leg. They will have Cuban rice and beans and several others of us will bring side dishes. On the 25th, we will get together with some of the other American teachers that have not taken off for the break and eat and play some games. The other family that arrived when we did, and have a daughter Annie’s age, will be part of the group as well as another teacher couple that are expecting a baby in January. Many travel or have family visit as we have a month off.

On the 26th, our travels will begin! We will meet up with the family that I was an exchange student with 29 years ago at their farm near the beach and spend a week with them. Then we will spend five days in Rio de Janeiro, one of the “must see” places I told Bill about before getting here. After returning from that trip, we will take advantage of our time off and fly to the Amazon and do the five day tourist thing there. It was also on my list of “must see” places! I think I could get used to this long break in the middle of the year.

I will try to write a blog between our two trips. Once again, Feliz Natal e Prospero Ano Novo!

Connie, Bill, Courtney, & Annie

2008-12-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

Oi de novo! Hi again!

Time flies when you’re having fun! And we are having fun! I am having a harder time keeping this updated than I thought I would! (Too many things to do! J)

The main news since I wrote last is our Thanksgiving trip. Thanksgiving is not celebrated here, but being at an American School we got the Thursday and Friday off. I took off the previous three days and we flew to Salvador, a city on the coast. We visited and stayed with a family that my parents had their three children as exchange students, the first one 22 years ago. I met the children when I went to my parents’ home at Christmases. The parents, whom we stayed with, were even there one Christmas! Later my parents had the cousin and a friend of this family. My parents have been to Brazil twice to visit this family and were even witnesses at the wedding of the oldest daughter. Anyway, the cousin and one of the children and his wife were revisiting my parents in Illinois during the time I interviewed and was hired here. The cousin got married this past weekend in Salvador and they wanted us to attend!

What an experience! The wedding itself was in a beautiful, old Catholic church. Instead of bridesmaids and groomsmen, there were numerous couples that went up, yet different single and married people went up to sign the marriage certificate during the ceremony. Her grandmother carried up the rings, but they did have flower girls and one little boy. It was not a really long ceremony. The reception was incredible! It was at a hotel along the beach and had many more guests than the wedding. I heard 500 invitations were sent out. The food was spectacular-shrimp, salmon, other fish, chicken, beef, many other fancy little pastry-like things, and sweets, plus the wedding cake. The drinks were unlimited. There was a juice bar with numerous fresh fruits that I didn’t even know, that were made into alcoholic drinks or just juice. The dancing and music was lots of fun! They had some Carnival music and a miniature float to push people around on. The girls, as well as Bill and I loved it! I’m sure they could have made a huge down payment on a new home for the amount spent on the wedding, but his parents gave them a 2-bedroom apartment as a wedding gift. It never ceases to amaze me the difference between the two social-economic classes in this country.

Salvador itself was also a neat city to visit! It is over 500 years old-settled first by the Portuguese. It is also where most of the slaves settled in Brazil after slavery was illegal. So the city has lots of culture! The family picked us up and first took us to their beach home. You literally walked out their backyard, across the sidewalk and were at the beach. And what a beautiful beach! After a couple days at the beach home, we went to the apartment in Salvador. Various family members, took us all around to see the sites-a huge artesian market, the old part of town, the area most settled by the blacks with a lot of African influence, and a couple of huge, very old Catholic churches. We went up an elevator that connected the lower part of the city with the upper part on the side of a hill. A family member took us to a beach that was in conjunction with the Tamar Project to help protect the sea turtles.

Family members were in and out lots. One of the girls that had been an exchange student with mom and dad had two young girls, a little younger than Courtney and Annie. They lived just down the street and were back and forth playing constantly. A sister to the family we stayed with had a daughter a little older that was anxious to practice her English. She bonded with our girls instantly and we saw them often too. The apartment we stayed at was just up the hill from one of the beaches in the city too. It fact the internet has it listed as third best beach in Brazil. We went there four times! The girls raved at the fact that they got to go to the beach more times in a week than they had been in their entire life! I’m afraid they will expect all the future beaches they got to, to be that nice! Needless to say we had a wonderful Thanksgiving although it didn’t seem like Thanksgiving! It makes me anxious for our five week Christmas break!

At school my class had a Thanksgiving dinner. Parents brought in food. I had my class present a song, poem, and short skit. I missed the actual presentation, but my assistant was my sub. We are now practicing for our winter music program. We have two more weeks until our five week break. Some Brazilian schools are already out for their summer break, so my kids are really wild! The American School tries to semi-compensate with the Brazilian calendar. That is why we have five weeks off now and seven weeks in June and July. It is summer now, but the temperature has not varied too much since we arrived last winter. It is the rainy season now. The rain actually cools things down a little bit, but is not bad. You never know when the rain is going to hit. You just carry an umbrella all the time and after it rains, the sun comes back out.

Courtney and Annie are excited for Christmas! Annie finally talked us into getting a tree. We bought some lights and we made some red and green chains so our apartment now looks like Christmas! It’s hard for me to think Christmas when it is so warm, although stores are all decorated like in the US. Advertising hits everywhere, I guess! You even see some lights around and some street light poles are decorated.

The girls have met a couple of girls in our apartment building. They are Brazilian and speak Portuguese so that’s fun! Courtney has a pretty good Portuguese vocabulary, but Annie is more hesitant to speak unless she can do it perfectly!

We are having fun learning the public transportation. Just today, we got on a couple buses and rode them around-making a complete circuit. One even went to a neighboring town! We are also having fun trying all the new tropical fruits and new foods. The food in Salvador reminded me of flavors I ate as a kid in Africa. We can get mangos year around, but there are many trees around that are full of ripe mangos now. They are quite stringy, but have a wonderful flavor.

Ate proxima! Until next time!

Connie

2008-11-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hola!

Time flies! What have we done since I last wrote? We went to see the 3rd High School Musical movie which the girls love! Good thing it is a musical, because we saw the Portuguese version. American movies are often in English and dubbed in Portuguese. It was an experience anyway! The crowd was very much into it! You’d thought we’d seen it live, by the interaction of the audience!

We also hooked up with some people from the French Embassy and went to visit a rehabilitation preserve for rescued cats in the area. A Brazilian family we had met on a previous weekend trip told us that this was a “must” to see! It was really fun and it is a one-of-a-kind thing in Brazil! We got to go right up to the cages that held the panthers and jaguars. We even got to go in the cage with the ocelots. It’s hard to believe such animals are right around here in the wild! The lady who started it felt sorry for the treatment of a panther she had seen at a zoo. The preserve is on her farm and she went through a lot of Brazilian bureaucracy to get it all set up, but it was really nice! She had some really neat parrots around too!

I survived Halloween at school! The students were very excited to say the least! Bill got to be a part of a school Halloween party for the first time since a child too! We were invited to the American Embassy to go trick-or-treating, so the girls ended up quite a bit of candy! Annie was so excited to get a Three Musketeers, and I was so excited to get a Snickers! The strangest simple little things you seem to miss!

We went to another huge market on the outskirts of Brasilia. I love going to the markets! This one had a lot of food, clothes, toys, and housing goods. Food there was definitely cheaper than here in the city, but you can only bring back so much! We went via Metro. We are getting a feel for the public transportation. The girls think it is so fun!

Some of us from the school have been a little disappointed that we are in a tropical climate and it is so difficult to find a place to swim. People do not swim in the lake here and apartment complexes do not have pools, nor are there hardly any public pools. There are private clubs around the lake, but memberships are very expensive. Most of the students I teach have pools, but I can’t invite my family over! Anyway, our headmaster talked to a club and was able to get a few cheaper memberships for those interested. I don’t know how many pursed the opportunity, but I jumped on it! We spent a day there last weekend. It was wonderful to be able to spend a hot afternoon, approximately 95 degrees, in the water. The club has about six pools, one with a huge slide. The other family that arrived when we did, and lives in the apartment next to us with a girl Annie’s age, also pursued it. So we spent the time there together! That was extra fun for the girls.

Yesterday was another Saturday school day for me. It was a professional development day, the first one. It was moved to a Saturday so that we can have a four day weekend the weekend before Thanksgiving. That Thursday is a Brazilian holiday and we get off Friday because we had this professional development day on a Saturday! Literally since the day we arrived, I have only had one school day off without kids! I am so ready for a break!

Today, my co-teacher, Annie’s teacher, invited us to go to a large national park/reserve on the border of the city. She had a Brazilian friend that drove us there. It has lots of walking trails and two huge mineral water pools. It was nice!

I think our rainy season is beginning! It is supposedly very late in arriving, but the past three or four days, we have had a daily shower, or should I say down-pour! The rains haven’t lasted long, but cool things down temporarily! It has been quite hot lately-in the mid to upper nineties with little to no Kansas breeze! The humidity is increasing also.

The girls are continuing to enjoy Brazil! Courtney thoroughly enjoys her ISS (International Social Studies) class. She tends to interact with the international kids more than the American kids. She just last night told us she wanted to spend her high school summers in Spain and France, be an exchange student, and then return to Brasilia as a teacher some day. That was the first I have ever heard her say she wanted to be a teacher, but I guess that is how she thinks she can make it back here! Annie continues to come out of her shell! Mom always said I was shy until I went to Brazil! Annie is the same way, I don’t know what it is about this country, but she is a new child! She is still best friends with the American girl that came at the same time we did and lives right across the parking lot. That has been a God send!

Both are doing well in school. Courtney has learned lots about computers and has had to do numerous projects on it as well as type quite a bit. Both seem to be learning a little more Portuguese. They had a presentation a couple weeks ago and had to sing several songs they learned in Portuguese. Their teacher teaches a lot with songs. They love it, and are constantly singing the songs! Courtney can hear the language quite well and is constantly asking me, “What’s that mean? What’s that mean?” I wish they could be immersed in a Brazilian school for about a month. Bill on the other hand is trying to learn. As they say, it is more difficult the older you are and he is experiencing the difficulty! I am thankful my Portuguese has come back to me as well as it has, and with the friendliness of the Brazilians, I get to practice it lots!

Ate proxima! Until next time! Connie

Another Brasilia update

2008-10-23T16:58:00.001-07:00

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

Another update

2008-09-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Hola!
Two weeks have passed since I last wrote and we’ve been here almost two months! Yesterday was another one of school work Saturdays! Those make for such long weeks! I’m SO ready for a three day week-end! I keep telling myself that I will enjoy the time off at Christmas! Yesterday was the school book fair and it was a BIG deal! Scholastic sends books down here for such a thing. More than people from our school attended as it is fairly difficult to get books in English down here-let alone for kids. Anyway, I worked as a cashier.
After the book fair, Bill, Courtney, Annie, and I went out for lunch (a brunch buffet) at a pastry shop! We had seen it at one of our neighboring “commercials.” It was a great way to try many of the sweet and salty pastries (little chicken, cheese, ham and cheese pies,etc.) It was also a great way to get way too many calories, but it was SO good!
We then walked quite a ways to a “commercial” that was known for electrical stores. Our night light bulbs had burn out and we needed new ones. You can’t just buy those kind of light bulbs anywhere! It was quite a long walk. We were all tired after that! We rented a movie and relaxed at home. Most US movies are in English and then dubbed in Portuguese, or VCR machines allow you to choose the language you want to hear the movies in.
Today, we were invited to a Canadian family’s home for a BBQ and to swim. They are a family that was hired by the school last year. They have three children and were not happy in an apartment provided by the school. It was very nice and fun! I actually have their daughter in my room!
School continues to keep me exceptionally busy during the week. I am often making worksheets at home after I get the girls to bed. Our workbooks are still caught up in customs some where. Last week, we celebrated Peace Day. This week we had another Character Counts assembly-teaching values. We also went the musical theatre here and had a really neat play/musical presentation of Edvard Gerig-from Norway. It was all in Portuguese which I could understand and I think the English-speaking kids got most of it! It was done in a comical way and was fun!
Last week-end, we rented our first car and drove to a quaint, small town close to here called Pirenopolis. It is a common place for people from the city to get away to for the week-end. Needless to say, as we left after school, the first of the rains started and it got dark earlier. The roads here are not marked. I thought Portugal was bad! They were just poorly marked! These literally are not marked! We had Google mapped it on the computer, but when you see no road signs and you are on the outskirts of a huge city, a map is worthless! Anyway, I was afraid we would get out in the middle of nowhere-literally, and not have a clue where we were. So…I asked someone (who probably doesn’t drive-takes busses everywhere-because many of the poor cannot afford a car) if we were on the correct road. They sent us a different direction! I think we were on the correct road to start with, but our two hour trip took us over four hours in the dark! Thank goodness at the Pousada ( bed & breakfast) where stayed, we met a really nice couple from Brasilia at breakfast, with a son 11 years old who is studying English. And as I have said in previous blogs, many Brazilians are incredibly friendly! So we spent a good part of Saturday with them sight-seeing. We went to another waterfall with a sandy beach with them too. We spent Sunday with them hiking in a nature preserve and ate lunch with them. We then followed them back to Brasilia! Thank goodness for that! Even with them having been to this town before, they still took a wrong turn on the way back and had to turn around! The town itself was nice. It reminded me of the quaint villages in Portugal, but the rain put a little damper on things too. I’m glad we got to see it, but our next trip out of town might be made by bus. Driving here is stressful-even being a passenger, trying to help guide the driver here, is stressful! I will say we saw two big red parrots flying in the wild on our return home! It was amazing to see! They seemed so out of place! The couple said they saw a toucan on the way there. We are definitely in another part of the world where you see US zoo birds in the wild!
Rainy season is arriving! It has not rained every day, but several. I had heard and thought the rains would make it hot and humid, and it probably will yet. But so far, the rains have just cooled things down. I have even felt chilly a couple of times! The rains have been refreshing though! The air was so dry!
Aside from us here in Brazil, my parents are moving to McPherson, Kansas this upcoming weekend. For those of you who don’t know--that is 30 miles from where we are/were in Hutchinson. They were going to move a couple of weeks ago, but my mom had a dizzy spell and even went in the hospital. Tests reveal nothing and this is supposedly quite common, although new to her and us! She is still dizzy, but anxious to move. My sister was in Illinois helping them pack at the time, which I am thankful! My brothers, one of my sister-in –laws, and friends, will be able to help them actually move. I feel bad that I’m missing out on it all, although Mom thinks she might still have some stuff for me to help with next summer. When we have talked to Bill’s dad on the phone, he is quite forgetful, yet he seems to have some understanding that we are a ways away! He has seemed to know who I am the phone too!

I guess this is it for this blog entry! Ciao!
Connie

Update September 16th

2008-09-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Brasilia!

What a busy/fun weekend! Yesterday morning, we went to a market (Feria dos Importadores )with Meire, the lady I started tutoring English to, and her husband, Marçio. Her husband works for the Brazilian government and speaks good English. She is trying to learn it in case they get stationed somewhere overseas. She is also studying Spanish. Anyway, the market had all kinds of things-food, plants, electronics, clothes, linens, fishing gear, and probably anything else you could think of. We then went by their apartment! It was fun to be around a Brazilian couple. They had fun with the girls and the girls enjoyed them likewise!

Saturday we carpooled to a waterfall with several people from the school. It was about 30 minutes out of town. It was nice to get out of the city. We had to hike down to the waterfall. One of the guys that has been at the school for four years invited people to celebrate his birthday with him and wife by going to this waterfall. But… part of the adventure of the trip was repelling down the waterfall! And, oh what fun!! He knew someone that did this professionally and the guy set it all up for us for a small fee! We practiced on a tiny cliff before doing it down the actual waterfall. It really wasn’t scary, but loads of fun! The girls and some others did not repel, but I did it twice! They played in the water.

Last Sunday was Brazil’s Independence Day. We went to the parade and air show held to help celebrate the day along with thousands of other people! They literally block off the streets with a fence or I’m sure the parade would not be able to pass by! The parade consisted of many military people from various states, the Brazilian Navy, Marines, bands, soccer teams, and various other organizations. Even the Brazilian Olympic winning volleyball team was in it!

The week before last was a long one! I had a nasty cold. Annie had a bad bout with her asthma and we had to give her several nights of treatments. Courtney had some kind of allergic reaction to something and her face swelled up. They said Courtney’s reaction could have been to the sun. We were in the sun watching the Independence Day parade. We are that much closer to the equator and the sun is intense! We took the both of the girls to an allergist down here. They say all this can be attributed to the dryness too. All I know it was a long week and we are glad that we are all better now!

It has not really rained since March and I have had lots of kids out of school with various ailments. The rainy season is supposed to start here this month, but last year waited until November. It will be hard to believe it can go from so dry to 100% humidity! The temperature doesn’t vary too much, but they say the summer (rainy season here) seems hotter because of the humidity. It has been a little warmer though. The temperature has been in the 90’s and it doesn’t cool down quite as much at night as it did! We don’t have air conditioning and had to break down and buy a couple of fans!

School has been busy too! We are constantly celebrating something! (Brazilians are always ready to have a reason to celebrate!) We have our Character Counts (teaching values and citizenship) assemblies once a month! Plus we had a Brazilian author and musician visit on different days. We also did an Independence Day program which every class had to have a part in! I had to do mid-term progress reports last week. There’s never a dull moment!

The girls continue to thank God in their prayers for the opportunity to be down here for a year. It is fun to see them try everything! Annie picked up some fruit-like pod thing in our apartment garden last week and had me ask our apartment security guard what it was. When he said it was edible, she was so excited! She carried it up to our apartment and threw it on our apartment marble floors until it finally cracked. (I wonder what the neighbors below us thought! It wasn’t quiet!) Bill having not been out with us when we found it, wanted to throw it away. (It didn’t look too appetizing!) But she told him, “Daddy, in Brazil you have to try everything!” She has also been carrying in little, green, hard mangos that have fallen off of trees! We also have a collection of rocks in our apartment already too. Quartz is common here amidst the red dirt.

All for now!
Connie

Another Update

2008-09-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Again!

This is my second blog entry. We have been here slightly over a month now. It seems like we’ve been here numerous months with all that we have done and all that has gone on!

School continues to keep us all busy! Since I last wrote, Bill has started helping out some with technology at school. He is working on an hourly basis-about 15 hours a week! His work for Luminous Neon (in the US) has picked up some too. This past weekend, we had the school Open House on Saturday from 9:00-1:00. For Brazilian law, the school calendar has to have 200 days, so we have several working Saturdays. It made a long week for me, but Bill got to go as a parent; and Courtney’s class taught the parents lessons.

I mentioned in the last blog the nationalities of my students. I mentioned how several of them were Brazilian. I also mentioned how Craig, my headmaster, made all the workers of the school feel equal despite the social class stigma here. He has made it a policy that anyone who works at the school for a year may have a child go to the school tuition free. That is an incredible benefit, let alone for those who work as custodians in this culture! Oh, by the way tuition is about US $30,000.00 a year. But on the other hand I want to share with you the wealth of some of my students. I have the Iraqian ambassador’s son. Also, one of my student’s parents just returned from spending a week in China at the Olympics although they knew no one participating in them-just a little trip! The kids stayed with a nanny of course! And then I have a student who flew to Sao Paulo (a city about 1000 km away) last weekend just to see Disney on Ice!

To help us cope with the demands of Brazilian housekeeping, we have hired a maid one day a week. It is definitely a help as we are line drying our clothes for the most part, and stuff needs ironed. (They say the dryers get really hot and shrink stuff.) Also our marble tile floors need lots of maintenance with cleaning. A really big perk of having a maid is that she cooks for us-Brazilian food at that! We always have her cook enough so that we can have leftovers. We are enjoying all the fruits-mangos, guavas, papayas, pineapple, passion fruits, and custard apples. Even bananas, strawberries and watermelon taste better than in the US.

Courtney and Annie continue to be troopers at walking places and trying new things! They are having fun doing it too! Although Annie loves to eat, she has been more hesitant than Courtney to try new foods, but that is changing. They are fitting in beautifully at school, and Annie’s shyness is disappearing also! There is an upcoming school talent show and both want to participate. They have each had a friend spend the night already, one each of the past two weekends. They are having fun learning Portuguese in school and are constantly asking me, “Can you understand this, Mommy?”

Last weekend, we went to one of the two English speaking churches in Brasilia. It was an International Baptist church with a wide variety of international people for sure. The minister is the husband to one of the Brazilian teachers at my school. He is American. The service was contemporary with praise music-guitars and the whole bit! It was very nice. In fact, we were invited to the minister and his wife’s home for supper this evening. That was very nice also.

We have been exploring more of the commercial districts close by which is lots of fun! We ate at a wonderful restaurant near us yesterday. It had a pasta bar and pizza buffet. You choose the type of pasta you want, they cook it, and you pick the ingredients you want in a red or white sauce. Then they prepare it right in front of you. They also brought around many different oven-baked pizzas. We liked the dessert ones-strawberry with chocolate and banana with cinnamon. Both had a little cheese with them. Different, but good! A soccer game happened to be on TV as we were there eating so the crowd was quite loud! (Brazilians eat and breathe soccer!) As the weather is nice, most restaurants have outdoor eating areas! We love that too!

We also went to an outdoor artesian market yesterday. It is open every weekend in the center of downtown. We got a few things to help add color to our bare, stark, white walls. We took our first Metro (subway) ride to get us partway there. The Metro is new in Brasilia and is still constructing stops.

The other night at the grocery store, I was having a difficult time trying to find something. I asked a lady close by and she helped me. She had overheard us talking English and asked if I knew someone that could teach conversational English. She gave me her name and phone number. I decided I would do that and we have our first lesson tomorrow night. I am looking forward to it. I think that should be a lot of fun! Plus it will be fun to get to know a “native.” She could teach me a lot about the city too.

I guess this is all for this entry.

Ciao,
Connie

Our walk to school

2008-08-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

In depth update

2008-08-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

Photos

2008-08-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Arrival in our new home.

First day of school.

Annie's teacher.

Courtney's teacher.

Finally here

2008-08-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

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