Let the countdown begin!

As long as I can remember, my life has been measured in school years. Be it elementary, high school, college, or as a teacher, my year is measured from August to June. This time of year is always filled with excitement and sadness. It is the start of summer yet it is the end of relationships forged throughout the year. Normally, I am sad to see my 8th graders leave me. However, working at a school that is PreK-12th grade means that I'm not really saying goodbye.

However, with the end of the year comes the good-byes to co-workers and friends. And, every weekend from now till the end of year holds some sort of "end of the year soiree", which personally I love. :) Not only will it help speed the last month along but its also exciting to know you have things that are coming up. Admit it, you know its true.

This past weekend, we began the 1 month countdown with the EAB farewell party. It is almost winter here in Brazil and that means different things to different people. For the gringoes, it means not being a hot mess all the time and enjoying cool air. For the Brazilians, it means winter, scarves, jackets, etc. What is the temperature you may be wondering, well, it is a balmy 65 degrees at night. Ana Maria, the party hostess, was having the party on the rooftop(so even I didn't know if it would be cold), and let me tell you it was fabulous. I will say Brazilians really know how to put on a party. We had a blast, drinks were flowing, food was eaten, and people were shaking their groove things. It was the perfect set up to next weeks event, Kathy and Andrea's going away BOAT PARTY!!!

Monica, Amy, and I showing off our winter clothing.

People were recreating the dirty dancing lift

Lots of talking and laughter and judging by the picture...booze.

And good food. :)


Everyone had a blast and it was fun to see people outside the school letting loose and having a good times. No names will be mentioned but some people may have had too good of a time.

It is t-minus 27 days till Sopherina and I head back to the Estados Unidos. But, the next few weeks should go by quickly and I am looking forward to all the festivities coming my way.

Better get a new slogan North Carolina!

One of the biggest hornets nests I have walked myself into this year, happened one day with my sweet little 6th grade lovies. It started so innocently, as all hornets nests do. We were studying Egypt and while discussing the size of the Nile river, I just happened to mention that it was the LONGEST river in the world. Well, the hornets attacked like gang busters, and yes when I say hornets, I am referring to the normally sweet 6th grade lovies. Shouting and objections were thrown all over the room. It was beginning to look like a WWF smackdown. And then that is when one of them said this,

"Why do you Americans change things, its just like the airplane thing, geez..."

Intrigued, I bit, and began to probe:

"What do you mean" I asked

"Everybody in America changes the history of things to fit what they believe, it is like how the Americans believe they were first to fly a plane, and you WEREN'T!" he said.

I'm not perfect when it comes to history, but I usually know my stuff, especially when it comes to "US" history. When it comes to US history, fighting me is like bein' a one legged man in a kickin' contest. But, I digress, I had truly never heard of such a thing, every book, teacher, professor, and person in general, that I had ever talked to had always said the same thing as me, that the Wright brothers, were the first to fly. For goodness sakes, its North Carolina's mantra.

But truly, I had never seen students so enraged and adamit that they had the information correct. So, rather than being run out of the room by a mob of students(which resembled a witch hunt) I ran down to one of my fellow Social Studies teachers, who happens to be Brazilian to find out what was going on.

What was his response, you may ask...he laughed at me.

No, really he did.

He then told me that it is all about how you look at it. The Wright Brothers flew a plane that was more like a sling shot or a glider, but a Brazilian, named Santos Dumont was the first to fly a plane with some sort of propeller.

The Wright Brothers(above)

Santos Dumont(above)

Flying is such a common occurrence for us in our modern world, that we forget how amazing it was 100 years ago. And the idea that your country/fellow country-man, was the first to succeed, at such a monumental event, is a major accomplishment. So much so, that I understand why people get upset that they may or may not receive proper recognition.


To be honest, I still don't get it. I don't understand what the difference between the two is, so if you are reading this and you can better explain, please feel free. Just don't shoot the messenger I am sure there is more to this story that I have included.

And, just in case you are wondering, I was right about the Nile, it is the longest, however, the Amazon holds more water and is essentially, the largest river in the world. :)

Why I'm not an American...

Different countries have different view points on issues both historical and cultural. In Brazil, I have had to learn the "hard way" why my view of thinking may not always be right or on the other hand why I just might be right. So, I thought I would share about these little controversies that I have unknowingly walked myself into.

I love a lot of things about America: the history, the go get em' attitude, Target, etc. but like with all things there are some things that I dislike: the arrogance that somehow we are better than other countries, the politics, Wal-Mart etc. However, I have always referred to myself as American and truly never thought twice about it.

One day as my "American" history class was having a discussion about the Declaration of Independence one of my students said,
"Miss, why is it that you guys call yourself Americans cause you know if you think about it all the people in North and South America are actually Americans." to which the rest of the class(Europeans, Brazilians, and Asians)all got up on their soap boxes and explained their opinions on this as well. I kind of wanted to stop them but in my classroom, I don't believe in sweeping things under the rug. I believe in honesty, utter honesty, even if it is brutal and it hurts. The kids still know I love them but in truth no one ever got anywhere by hiding their beliefs and perspectives. So, I was glad they felt they could share their feelings about this with me.

However, when I finally had top stop the discussion a few minutes later, I really didn't really know what to say, I had never thought about it like that. I was then surprised when the rest of the class kind of chimed in and I found out that this is an issue that many people in South America have. It is the idea that people in the United States just stole the title of Americans. Now, is this my fault or yours? Of course not, and I would not dream of changing the countries name. However, it has made me a little bit more culturally sensitive. So in lieu of upsetting my current neighbors, students, or friends, I have started replacing "I'm American" with "I'm from the United States" or "I'm from the states." I also have quit saying things like "In America" and have started replacing it with "In the US or In the states." Do I have to do this? No. Would people hate me if I said I was American? Of course not. But I do believe in cultural sensitivity and if I can just re-word something to appear less arrogant and break the cultural norms, I ask, why not?

I love the 80's!

Oh, the 80's(insert dramatic sigh here)...Oh, how I loved you. The big hair, Michael Jackson, the neon clothes, the music, everything about you was kind of radical! You are such an epic cultural adventure that they even recognize your awesome-ness here in Brasilia. So, when I heard that there was an 80's party in town, you better believe your aqua net that me and my fellow expat teachers were going to be there. The music was great, the people were friendly, and we had a great time. However, this 80's party also turned into a hard cultural lesson for the gringoes. In the United States, when someone is having an 80's party usually that means that you show up in your finest threads. You head to the Goodwill, pull from your own closet, anything to make yourself look like you travelled in Doc Browns DeLorean to make it to the party. Unfortunately, in Brazil, that is not quite it means.... In Brazil, an 80's party means you show up looking fine in your best 2012 clothing to dance to 80's music. Sure there are cut outs of Ferris Bueller and Michael J. Fox but really that and the music are it. As I said, many of us showed up in full 80's fashion(my outfit luckily fell apart) and as we arrived at the clube, we were greeted with interesting glances. For instance, my good friend Mark came in his 80's workout best...but did he let that stop him. NO!

Once we got over the shock of the less than 80's apparel, we were able to enjoy the night.

We think even an 80's, Brazilian, has been Rock star showed up. Not sure who he is but when he made a surprise appearance everyone but us went CRAZY! I think he looks like the Brazilian Billy Idol...

Feliz Páscoa

Amy and Leah had an egg-stra special brunch for all of us on Saturday Morning before Easter. We had mimosas, muffins, egg casserole, and all sorts of other goodies. It was an awesome brunch!!

Yummy!

Leah and her way cool layered jello.

This literally took her a day to make. It was like eating candy.

Wedding Bells.

Growing up, my sister and I used to share a room. My Mom has always said some of her favorite memories were hearing us giggle through the wall from our bedroom to hers. When we were young there were moments where it was great, moments where it was a holy terror(when she would wear my clothes:) ) and moments where I just wanted to go to sleep. After we moved back to Nashville, we even became roomies in our first apartment. So, when my sister told me last fall she was gettin' hitched to her main squeeze, Tommy, or as I call him, TJ, I knew I would miss out on some her wedding festivities and this made me kind of sad. I mean you think about important events in peoples lives and the last thing you want is to not be there for the people who mean the most. So, I decided to surprise Neeley-Belle for her bridal shower. My parents, my sisters friend, Leslie Ann, and I all planned how to surprise Neeley. I told her I couldn't come because I needed to save the money for a flight next January, Leslie Anne, planned a whole day of events to keep her busy, and my parents made plans to meet them at a restaurant, Merre Bulles, in Nashville.

I was so glad my surprise went off without a hitch and I was able to surprise her. We spent the whole day finishing up her wedding plans and just hanging out. The next day, was Neeley's bridal shower. It was such a nice shower and it was great to see so many family and friends there to show Neeley how excited they are for her and her new life.

All and all, it was a long trip, but totally worth it. I am so glad that I got to spend such important events with my family and friends.

At the Copa, Copacabana!!

So, call me a blonde but for the longest time I thought this song was about Rio. That was until I went to lyrics.com and found out it was about the hottest spot NORTH of Havana. Oops! Well, no offense to Barry Manilow, but it should have been about Rio cause I am pretty sure that nothing north of Havana is nearly as cool as Rio de Janeiro!!

I'm a little bit behind on my blogging so my apologies about not updating this one when I got back. :) We headed to Rio to celebrate Amy's birthday!! I'm a lady so, I won't reveal her age but she wanted to kick the last year of a decade off with a bang!! And, boy did we have a great time. Mark and I had never been to Rio (or as the Brazilians call it He-oh) so we were super excited. It most certainly did not disappoint!

We flew out on Thursday night and made our way to the apartment we rented for the weekend. (If you ever go there, renting an apartment is definitely the way to go.) We got there pretty late so we found a late night bar for dinner, then headed home and decided to call it a night. The next morning we decided to go search out the neighborhood supermercado and get the basics, R$200 and a cab ride later we were back. We stayed in Leblon, which is a pretty chicy chicy area of town but our apartment was right on the beach. It was amazing.

As you can see we were pretty tired...

But, only Mark was really asleep! :)

That afternoon, Mark and I headed out to Christ the Redeemer. He is almost as famous as the real Jesus. He has been in a bunch of movies and TV shows. We took a taxi to that area of town and at first Mark and I thought that the cab driver was playing a trick on us, ya know that he just wanted to get the gringoes out of the car. :) Cause just like the real Jesus, Christ the Redeemer did not live in um the chicy chicy area... Since the statue is so high up you actually have to take a van or trolley to the top. We took the trolley which drives straight through the woods and up the side of the mountain. It was very cool. We were so lucky because it was a beautiful and clear day. The statue is higher than the clouds sometimes so if it is overcast you can't see Rio from an aerial perspective. It was a beautiful view and a gorgeous statue. I felt so lucky to be there. :)

The cute red trolley to the top.

Mark and I, headed up to see the main man.

Good thing I am not afraid of heights.

Christ the Redeemer

We ran into an American man who took our picture. We returned the favor, of course. Ironically, we ran into him again on Sunday.

Me and Cristo.

The next day, we spent the morning and part of the afternoon laying on the beach. It was nice and warm...okay hot, and helped me get my Vitamin D, for the trip. Then in the afternoon, Mark, Leah, and I went on a favela tour. If you ever go to Rio, this is must. We called the Mango Tree Hostel who has the connection to where to call. I had a lot of apprehension going in to the Favela's. Favela's are basically a more middle income version of the projects. For years the community was run by drug lords but now is supervised by the cops. My fear with entering the favelas was not for my safety but that the people would not appreciate us being there. I mean you dont want to be like a walking voyeur, ya know. But surprisingly they do not mind the tourist coming at all. They are proud of their community and want others to see it. I look forward to doing it again with anyone who comes to visit me here. :)

This is the American School of Rio. It is located right next to the favela.

The favela we toured

The famous favelas

Leah and me

Obviously, wiring is up to code...

Electrical work at its finest.

Presidential races start campaigning early here too...

On Sunday, we had flights that were leaving in the late afternoon, so we made the most of our day by hitting up the hippie fair down near Copacabana and Impanema beaches. There was a lot of artwork and jewelry for sale. Shocker...I didn't spend a centavo! And after lunch and the hippie fair I hit up the beach again with the girls. We had a wonderful weekend and I always come back realizing not just how lucky I am to have a job that lets me see so many amazing things but to have friends as awesome as mine are!!!!

The famous sidewalks of Rio.

The beaches. I love the islands right off the coast.

Hippie fair artwork

Good friends!