Monkeys and Mosquitos and Tarantula's, oh my!

Every year, the middle school does a program called, "Classroom Without Walls." Basically, we hop on a plane on Monday morning and the three grades head to different regions of Brazil to learn about the countries biodiversity. I mean it is such an awesome opportunity, the 6th grade heads to Florinopolis, while the 7th goes to the Amazon, and 8th goes to the Pantanal. So, next Monday, the 3rd, Im going to be heading out to the Amazon. That is right people, Katie is going to the jungle. I know, you're jealous! :) Until about a week ago, I was so pumped, and then I realized certain aspects of this trip which have me kind of scared to be honest. haha!

Let's start, with the most obvious one, I am taking 40 7th graders into the Amazon rain forest! I mean nothing could go wrong, right? I think about that kid from Heritage Middle a couple of years ago who jumped off the boat in the middle of the Tennessee River. If a kid does that here, they will be facing Piranha's! I mean hey, no biggie!

Luckily for most of the trip we are staying at an awesome hotel and they have planned events for the kids like meeting the indigenous people of the region who show them how their ancestors worked the land. We will also be seeing amazing wildlife and plants. The hotel looks beautiful and if you want to see it here is the website.

However, I did say for most of the trip, right? Yes, one night, I, Katie Osteen, will be sleeping amongst wild monkeys in a monkey

preserve. I can hear your laughter through the net. It gets better, I'll be sleeping in a hammock with a covered shelter (for rain only) and covered with a mosquito net, ya know, so I don't get malaria or dungae fever(luckily I already got the yellow fever vaccine).

And if you think this is a very "un-Katie-like" trip it gets even better, because even though it will also be 95 degrees Farenheit and 95% humidity, I have to wear pants and long sleeves to protect myself from bugs and spiders(some of which are poisonous)! AWESOME!

I'm not sure if I am going to make it through this trip, my Mom keeps laughing at me every time we discuss it and let's get real my idea of "roughing it" is staying at the Holiday Inn. YIkes! I know that the kids will have a blast and learn amazing new things, Im just not sure Im going to survive!

Just a simple Saturday in Brazil.

Long time, no blog...right? I'm sorry for my somewhat long absence blog followers. According to what people tell me and what Ive read online people who live abroad have a tendency to hit a wall about 2 months into the relocation and about 2 weeks ago, I ran straight into mine. I wasn't homesick but definitely was frustrated, tired, and couldn't get over it. However, Im back to my usual self and felt a blog update was necessary.

This weekend, most of my newbie friends headed out of town. I couldn't go because of the Sopherina, but I decided to make the most of it while I was here. I woke up early and headed to school(yes, on a Saturday) to help at the school book fair.

I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about seeing as I teach Social Studies, so I was kind of out of the loop. I've been to plenty of bookfairs y'all, but this wasn't any ole book fair. The theme was Dr. Suess(yes, it had a theme) and you entered via a Purple carpet with quotes from his books. I mean it was really over the top(in a good way!).

You could get new books or used books, it is whatever you wanted. I was quite impressed. Then I moseyed on into the schools auditorium and had to do a double take. The stage was set for performances from the lower school. The kids were adorable. It was like a talent show and book fair in one. My favorite though had to be the K4 class. These 4 year olds came out dressed like the Cat in the Hat, and sang, "It's a small world after all." It was about as cute as you can get.

Yes friends, those are trees made out of balloons!

The adorable little ones.

After all the cuteness, I headed out to Park Shopping, aka the mall. I had planned to run in and look for a pair of shoes but instead, I found the shoes, ate lunch, and tried to get a cell phone plan.

Im pretty sure I've mentioned that the ladies I work with here in Brasilia are some of the best dressed people I know. For someone who considered herself a decent dresser back home, this has forced encouraged me to step up my game. Most of the women at my school wear heels all day. So, today I stepped it up a little and bought a pair of heeled shoes. Now, don't get too excited, they are kitten heels. But, I'm hoping I can get used to it and make my way to the big girl shoes everyone else wears. :)

I also caved in and ate at McDonalds! I know, I know, gross! I can't tell you how often I would drive by Mickey D's back home and not think anything of it. I very rarely ate there. But, here I enjoyed every bite! It's the same food, I mean the same frozen beef patty heated up here was probably made at the same factory as the ones in Nashville, but it is a little bit like home. So, I swallowed my pride, and a heated frozen patty and gave in to the Americana of it all.

Then I took a taxi to Feira de Paraguay, I'm having girls night here this week, so I went out to get a DVD for us to watch, and while I was there I also got a new bag and flash light as well as a pair of sunglasses for my trip to the Amazon next week. I'll blog about that next...

But after a successful trip out to no man's land I hopped back on the metro and arrived safely in Asa Sul, where I have been laying around like a lump on the log ever since. And, now to let the laziness reach its climax, I'm gonna go watch a movie. See, even though Im far away, it doesnt mean my life is always full of adventure! :)

Tchau!

This blog contains material of a questionable nature, read at your own risk.

You can't say you haven't been warned!

A day or so after arriving here in Brazil, the exhaustion began wearing off a smidge, and I started to become more observant about my apartment. I noticed quickly that there was a hose in my bathroom. “Now, don’t get me wrong friends, it ain’t no normal hose, ya hear. It is like the hose/spray nozzle you find in your kitchen sink. “That is strange,” I thought, but after learning that in lieu of mops they use giant squeegees, I thought my question had been solved. I assumed that they sprayed the floor down and the squeegee the water into the drain on the floor.

So, as weeks went by I thought nothing of it until one day I walked into the bathroom at a local restaurant and noticed they had them as well. Huh, I thought, that is so weird, why would they have that when the floors here are real wood, it would make them warp. Then hit me like a bolt of lightening. Holy Moly, that ain’t for the floor, it’s for your booty! That is right, South America has their own version of a bidet! I couldn’t believe it! What I couldn’t believe more was that people would actually use a public hose bidet! Yikes!

Now, I understand that Brasilia has sewer issues and you can’t flush your TP,

but in my book this is taking it a wee bit to far. I mean a powerful spray nozzle is a little much and in my opinion if you are in that precarious of a situation, you should probably just hop in the shower, right? But, finding out these little gems is what makes living abroad so much fun. I mean what American would have come up with this solution, oh that’s right, I’m sure it would have been someone in the south! Haha!

Minha casa e sua casa!

Here is my place. Feel free to be nosy and look around. :)

The peril of Pau vs. Pão

I like bread. I mean really who doesn't? So, when I arrived here I was quick to notice that my new neighbors, aka the Brazilians, like bread too. There are bakeries in every commercial, and in every store. I also have notorious tendency to be the first person in a group to really botch stuff up and humiliate myself. So, given my love of all things carbo-licious I went to google translate and learned the word for bread to be Pão. So, trying to be independent, I went to the bakery a few times and ordered bread. pão de francês, pão de queijo, etc. I did notice that I had some quizzical and sometimes down right mean looks however I just thought it was because I was a gringa or something.

Fast forward a few days when I was at the hippie fair. My good buddy, aka HR director, Dival, was telling us a couple of words to be careful with.

"Be careful when you pronounce the word for bread" he said, and with that an alarm went off in my brain.
"Why is that" I asked.

Then he proceeded to tell me that the word for bread and the word for um, how should I say it...slang for PENIS look like they would sound exactly the same. Yep, of course that means every time I went to the bakery I was ordering: French penis, Cheese penis etc. I mean you see where this is going right?

So, just to differentiate:
Pau - Pronounced Pow (like the words that pop up over Batman as he beats up the bad guy) is actually the word for: wood, sticks, etc. you see where the slang comes in. ;)
Pão - Pronounced Pouw (with a nasal inflection) is Bread

I now have lost the strange looks at the Jesus bakery when I order bread however, this little wealth of knowledge is certainly going in the Newbie guide for next year. And, if you ever come to Brazil, and Im not with you call me so I can walk you through this. You can't say you haven't been warned.

Keep it classy Brasilia!!!