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

“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