The Pantanal Promenade

Well, it is spring time here in Brasilia(yes, you read that right...) and for me that means a change of weather, end of the first quarter of school, and classroom without walls trips.

Classroom without walls is a unique experience that is quite common in international schools. It is the idea that there is more to learn about than what you read in a textbook. So, every year the 7th and 8th grade head out to either the Amazon or the Pantanal regions of Brazil and learn about biomes, wildlife, and being a team. Last year, I took the 7th graders to the Amazon, now as 8th graders we headed out to the Pantanal. It gave me a lot of joy as a teacher to see how much they had grown throughout the course of the year.

Before we left, Rodrigo, who teaches the 8th grade advisory course with me, talked to the kids about what we would see, why it is important to Brazil, and most importantly how to behave. haha!

You can understand our concerns about behavior...

Rodrigo, Sabrina, and I. Or as Rodrigo calls us: "The SUPER chaperones!"

Once we arrived in the state of Matto Grasso do Sul, we headed to a local fazenda.
We were able to see wildlife, take a night safari, fish for pirañas and just learn about Brazil's wildlife. The kids even dissected the pirana's they caught...

Night safari

Me: Rodrigo, what have we done...
Rodrigo: Katie, I don't know...

The Pantanal is a wetlands region with over 1,000 species of birds

Day safari

Fishing

Ouch!

We fed some of the piranas that we caught to the local birds, like this hawk.

Gators were everywhere

So pretty

A mama and her babies

This is obviously a make-up free week for me. :)

Rodrigo and I with our kids.

And of course, I had to leave my mark...

:)

On Wednesday, we packed the kids up, and headed out to Bonito. Obviously, some people ggot a little camera happy while I was out cold...

In Bonito, we headed out to do some river rafting. Now, to be clear this was not white water river, like the Ocoee. But, the kids had a blast, we saw anaconda, and had a water war. We then headed to dinner and did some shopping.

We had a lot of fun in our water war.

The kids were pretty impressed with the phones

and they were impressed with junk. haha

The next day was my absolute favorite. We got up early and explored 1 of 2 blue grottos is the world. The hike down was pretty steep but the color of the water was just unbelievable. It was amazing.

It was pretty cold.

Hiking to the cave

It was steeeeeeep!

From the bottom up

The blue grotto! It was beautiful!

Me and the grotto

After we headed to the blue grotto. We then went snorkeling to see river life, under the water. It was so pretty to see life under the water and yet so relaxing...

Pig tails and snorkeling masks dont mix!

All in all the trip was amazing! And, it was amazing to see how much they have grown as individuals. Last year when we went to the Amazon, they were a pretty segregated group. The Brazilians stuck with the Brazilians and the internationals stuck with the internationals. But, this year, they all clicked. They become friends and got along so well. In fact, the last night we discovered a grade level party, and they were all in there. :) On the first day back to school, I was asked at an assembly what my favorite thing about the trip and I told them that their bonding really was my favorite thing.

My kids are so lucky to be given such amazing opportunities and I am fortunate that I get to experience it with them. Its events like this and bonding with these kids which makes me really appreciate what I do every day.