Adventures of Living Abroad

Not your typical Tuesday....After working all day, I left work trying to rush to get to the pharmacy and home before the Brasil game started. I was out the night before to watch the US team beat Ghana at a pub surrounded my other Americans. (It's so weird to hear so much English spoken here lately! I'm not used to this!) I walked down the street and realize all the shops are closed. Luckily the pharmacy was still open, but everyone was huddled in the back by the TV watching the game. I bought what I needed and headed home only to find the streets were practically deserted. No one out walking. Not many cars. Buses without many passengers. Shops closed. Apparently, when Brasil plays, everyone stops and watches. I made it home in time to watch the second half. Typically a very busy intersection during this time of day.... This is the small corner store near my house...gate closed and all eyes on the TV. 

Ok, so this is out of order, but oh well. Two weekends ago our school celebrated a Brazilian holiday that lasts the entire month of June. It is to honor three saints. I read a little bit about it online and I learned that it originated in Europe and the Portuguese brought it over from Portugal. Since that time, the various cultures in Brazil have added their own celebrations and culture to this celebration called Festa Junina during the month of June.  I also went to a Festa Junina party at my dance school. It is always hard for me because I want to go and socialize, but my Portuguese is still terrible and it is hard to communicate. I know I should be practicing more and I have to be out with Portuguese speaking people to do that, but I just get so overwhelmed sometimes when I can't figure out how to say something. Anyway, I'm so glad I went to the party. Everyone was so welcoming like always and we tried our best to communicate with each other.  I drank some  Quentã...

The World Cup began in Thursday and you couldn't have asked for better weather! It was sunny and in the 80s!  It's such a surreal experience to be in not only the host country of the World Cup, but also living in one of the host city where 5 games will be played! School was dismissed at noon on Thursday because Brasil was playing in the opening game and it was important to ensure all students and teachers had time to arrive at their destination to watch the game in time! Love it!  After a relaxing lunch with some coworkers, I headed to my friend's house to raid her closet in hopes of finding some green, yellow, and blue to wear for the game! Yes, I didn't really plan ahead and still have yet to own a Brasil shirt. Many outfit changes later, we cabbed it to the Fan Fest area set up by FIFA. It wasn't until I saw the lines of swat police in the streets in their full riot gear - helmets, protective vests, shields - that I remembered where I was. I was taken back by...

I started this post a few weeks ago, but never got around to finishing it...here goes... As I look back at my last post of Ilha Grande, it seems so long ago that I was on the island relaxing on beautiful white sand. So much has been happening at school which has kept me both busy and stressed. My students took their end of year MAP assessment. Although I know I have taught them well, there is that little part of me that thinks "Did I do enough?" "Maybe I should have done it this way instead." Although I know my students have showed growth using other assessments, the MAP test results are the BIG scores. I was nervous and was hoping they would show the growth I was expecting on this test. AND THEY DID :)  I have also been volunteering my time to help out with the school musical by doing some choreography. A few weekends ago was the show! (Well 3 shows to be exact!) We had practice every day after school for hours in the theater to get ready. It was truly an amazi...