Road Trip!

Sue and Heather have been 2 of the people in Brasilia I always know I can count on. They are like my Brazilian sisters, they aren't just friends. As soon as we got back from our summer vacation we decided we needed to start planning our Independence day holiday! So, we asked Kev-O, Heather's hubby, if we could steal her away for a girls get-a-way, and when we got the go ahead, we got to planning. With only three days we knew we needed to go somewhere close, so we decided on Pirenopolis, a city about 2.5 hours away from Brasilia. We didn't care what we did, we just knew what we wanted...a pool.

Saturday morning, we loaded up Sue's car and hit the road. Although we had a hard time escaping Brasilia, we finally got out. The ride was smooth(except for the 500 speed bumps along the way) and then we saw it, a girls vacation dream...the new outlet mall. You read that correctly people; Brasilia has an outlet mall, and yes it has designers from north of the border. We instantly stopped to check it out and get a McDonald's ice cream cone!

Brasilia's outlet mall, only 45 minutes away from Brasilia.

Once we arrived in Pirenopolis we headed to our pousada! We had scoped out Pousada's on tripadvisor, in order to find a nice one and man did we luck out. When we arrived we settled into our rooms and then settled next to the pool. :) Not only was the pousada really pretty, it had a great restaurant. In fact, we ate every meal there but one! After a little resting by the pool we decided to venture out and see what was going on. Very quickly we ran into many of our EAB pals who had also decided to get out of Dodge Brasilia too. We shopped and shopped and shopped a little more. I found a beautiful wire basket but when I saw the price I knew I needed to wait it out and make sure I didn't want anything else more

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The next day I woke up with a Migraine headache and decided to skip out on the waterfalls. After some high doses of Tylenol, Sudafed, and a nap, I woke up like a new woman. So, I parked myself by the pool for the day till Sue and Heather got home. We were going to meet up with some of our EAB folks later but first we needed to go shopping to get all the things we decided to buy. One problem, almost everything was closed, including our stores! But, we were able to have a great dinner with our friends!

Almost the whole gang!

The next day we got up to head home but first we thought we should give the stores one more try. And surprisingly the two stores we needed were open! I knew it was meant to be so I ran in and bought it!

The basket was my big purchase but I couldn't resist these porcelin balls too.

A close up. They are tiny clovers all hooked together and some are gold leafed. I love it and know I will have it forever!

I try to count my blessings often while I live abroad. Yes, there are things that I miss. Yes, there are people I wish I saw more. But, all in all the people here are in my life for a reason and this weekend was a reminder of that. They love me unconditionally and care about me for who I am. Thank you Sue and Heather for being such wonderful friends! You mean the world to me.

It's football time in...BSB?!

I see your Facebook status updates. You know the ones I am talking about, the ones with your pumpkin spice lattes, your pictures from Neyland stadium, everyone in Orange, basically all the ones that remind me that you all are entering fall. And, I hate you for it! Okay, I don't really hate you...I hate that I am not with you. Because I am missing the fall something awful this year and it's just not fair! :(

Just so I am not outdone by all my "friends" I am here to let you know that not only is it "football time in Tennessee"...It's also football time in BSB! That's right people, there is a football team here in Brasilia and I am not talking about soccer. Pure, American football (that is played by Brazilians)!

It all started when a 40 foot tall yellow goal, "popped up" in the soccer field by my place. Then we noticed that on every Saturday and Sunday at 4pm, they would appear. Pads, helmets, footballs, the whole shebang! It was so interesting...and then they started playing. That is where it all went a little downhill.

Bless their hearts, if football was based on spirit, these guys would be SEC champs. You can litterally hear them scream their team name from inside the apartment.

AL-E-GAY-TOHRS!!
AL-E-GAY-TOHRS!!
(yes, it is supposed to be Alligators but that is how they pronounce it.)

And, when someone CATCHES the ball, they go freakin' nuts! However, I don't think that the Brazilians really know what to think about all this "American Football". When I was taking these pictures, some guy walked by me and in Portuguese said, "This s#@* is crazy, huh?" I almost died.

A close up of fall in BSB.

So, there you go. You folks ain't nothin' special. So keep enjoying your lattes and start wearing your scarves. But, if you wanted to bring me one of those lattes, I would happily drink it for ya! Happy fall from the 205, y'all!

My new "school" year's resolution...be a better blogger!

The other day, I was having a conversation with a co-worker,about school years. How teachers view their "New Year" in August instead of the rest of the world, who celebrates on December 31st. We don't have parties or parades but it is time where we promise ourselves that things will change. Since it has been a whopping 4 months since my last blogpost and since the Colonel informed me that, "I need to do a better job with my blog" I've decided to step up my game!

So, I've been back in the BSB for a couple of weeks now and have been busy with new teacher orientation and the start of school. :) I did have a great summer though. It was a busy month but fear not, I ate my way through the United States.

I was only home for a month but it was quite the whirlwind. The day after I arrived, I headed off to DC for an education conference. Alessandro and Cecilia from work came with me. During the day it was all business but every evening they had DC events for us to participate in. It was so nice to be able to take some of my Brazilian friends around and repay some of the kindness I get shown daily when we are in Brasilia.

After getting back from DC, I spent a couple of weeks at home seeing family, friends, and Target. They were all doing well. I then headed to Texas for another education conference.

Frannie turned 60 29 again this year and since all the kiddos were in Nashvegas we celebrated her birthday by helping her scratch an item off her bucket list...white water river rafting. Mom had never been and has always said she wanted to. We travelled down to Chattanooga and took the Ocoee by storm! It was an absolute blast and the sight of a certain someone flipping out of the boat won't be leaving my memory anytime soon.

The whole fam on the Walking Bridge in Chattanooga

Ready to go! Please don't judge our whole family on that ugly hat...only she roots for "that" team. :)

Who is that idiot with her helmet on backwards? :/

Happy birthday Frannie girl. We love ya!

I found out midway through my vacation that Delta wouldn't let me on the plane as my work visa was waiting for me in Brazil. So, I had to make a trip to the consulate in order to get a temporary visa. However, this also meant I got to see a dear friend. We met up at the mall near the consulate for lunch and shopping. I loved getting to spend time with her and her family.

All in all I had a good trip home. I've got a couple of exciting things coming up for this year that I am REALLY excited about. And, I promise to blog about them!

B*U*L*L*S Go-Bulls-Go!

I have several blogs that I wish I had written last school year but just never got around to. Luckily, I have discovered that Blogger now has a feature where you can schedule your blog post, they also let you post a blog with a date that has passed. I am not sure how this will correlate with my goal of being a better blogger. This ability to go back in time and post could cause even more slacking on my end. Uh-Oh!

Many many years ago, in a land called Page Middle, I used to coach cheerleading. It has been a long time since I put up my pom poms but this year they came out of retirement for one more show.

For almost two years I had heard all about the elusive "NR."

"Oh miss, NR is the best!"

"NR is the best week of my life!"

"I have to have good grades so I can go to NR!"

Needless to say, at EAB it's kind of a big deal. So, as the cheerleading coach, I knew I would have to spend almost a week at the Mecca of sports in Brazil. Traveling with students can be either great or um, how should I say...not great. Traveling with teenage girls can be great or um, how should I say...a nightmare. There just isn't a lot of in between. So, for weeks beforehand, I laid down the ground rules:
1. Be on time
2. Be respectful
3. Probably the most important...NO DRAMA! I did tell you I was taking cheerleaders, right?

The girls on their way to a game.

I was kind of nervous before we left but it turned out to be a great experience. The girls were amazing, they tried their hardest, and most importantly all got along and worked as a team. Now, that doesn't mean the week wasn't long or that it wasn't hard...it was! Everyday we would get up at 6am then would cheer most of the day. And despite what they say, I know that they really loved being woken up to the song "Rise and Shine" every morning. They also learned that if you don't wake up on the first chorus, I will rip your sheets off ya! :) Cheerleading is full of tough love man, tough love!

NR exceeded my expectations as well. It is a summer camp that serves as a sports tournament during the off season. It is out in the middle of nowhere and the land is gorgeous. They have pools, gyms, kayaking, and hiking. The land is really beautiful and reminded me of home.

The boys playing futsol, an indoor version of soccer.

The cabin we stayed in.

NR

NR

How we felt at the end of the week.

All in all it was a great experience and I was happy to shake off the pom poms again and see the exclusive elusive NR! Although I am not coaching cheerleading this year, I loved spending time with the girls and helping them improve their skills.

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its way!

As a kid, I used to love getting an Easter basket on Easter morning! I loved the excitement, the goodies, the peeps! And as I got older, the Easter bunny kind of quit coming. It was a serious blow! However, I was always able to go to Target and get my peeps fix. Fast forward to living in Brazil, the Easter bunny doesn't visit and now I can't get peeps! Oh the travesties of living abroad. Last year, we had a little Easter brunch but without my bunny visit, my holiday was relatively candy free, which was great for my waist line and bad for my sweet tooth.

This year, the Easter bunny came in the form of my students, isn't that sweet. I had so many bring me candy I had to either freeze or give it away(Maria is getting a nice little Easter basket from me:) ). However, baskets aren't really the Brazilian thing to do. Instead, they get BIG chocolate eggs and when you break them open they have candy inside. It's kind of like a Hershey's bar and a piñata had an Easter baby.

The stores fill up with these big eggs in January, and when I say fill up, I am not being dramatic. They actually hang them from the ceilings.

I took this on Saturday so it was pretty picked over.


It's like the Golden Egg from Willy Wanka.



Don't let these eggs fool you. They can be pretty pricey. They run from R$20 - R$80 depending on the candy. Although I am still a lover of Easter "baskets" I love chocolate even more and I will take it any ole way I can get it. Even if it is in the form of a giant egg.

Elton and the gringoes!

Being from Nashville, I am used to a fair amount of live music. It is Music City, USA after-all. Living in Brazil, you don't see a lot of North American musicians coming to town. If they do come, they usually stick to Rio or Sao Paulo.

Back in December I got an email from Sue saying, "Elton John is coming to town. Want to go?" Being that I love Sir Elton, my answer was swift and decisive, "YES"! The Collins' were in as well!

Growing up, 70's music was one of the few genre's my family could agree on, that and the Amy Grant Christmas CD during the holidays, but I digress...my parents wanted country, the kids wanted pop/rock, so 70's was the compromise. Our favorite was Cat Stevens.

I was so excited that when I told my Mom, I even mentioned my grandfather aka the Colonel's Elton run in, which she had never heard. Essentially, back in 1972, he and Elton John spent a week together having cocktails on the QE2 traveling from New York to England. A couple of months later he saw his friend, "Reginald", on the news. He had no idea how famous "Reginald" was till that moment or that he was known to the rest of the world as Elton John.

When March finally rolled around we began getting excited about our big concert and made plans to have supper with Barry and Lee(the Head of school from Graded) before hand. Barry had assured us that the concert would begin closer to midnight, even though the ticket said 9:30. So, we moseyed on over to the convention center to see "Reginald." Once we arrived at 10, we realized that "Reginald" most certainly ran on gringo time, which would was 9:30. haha!

Even with our late arrival, the concert was great! He played all his old stuff, which is really what you want to hear at a concert, right? Nothing is worse than when they play their "new stuff." We sang, we danced, we had fun! It was a great night and even though we were having a professional development conference at school, it was worth it to stay out late and get up early!


Sir Elton


You can barely see him, but I swear he's there.


At one point, Sue looks at me and says, I guess they haven't set up the electric spot lights! Yep, those are men sitting in chairs above the crowd(basically touching the ceiling) adjusting the spotlights1 YIKES!


Heather, Sue, and me.


Kevin and Heather, the sweetest, cutest couple!


Me and Sue.

March is an exciting month for us, this week we are heading to Buenos Aires for the ASSAA conference. March is gonna be a great month!

Ricky and Frannie take South America!

Back in November, my parental unit, aka Ricky and Frannie came for a visit. They had never been to South America before and wanted to experience a little bit of my life before I leave. In the months leading up to their trip, we planned flights, accommodations, and things they wanted to see while they were here.

When they arrived, I was able to pick them up from the airport and get them settled in my apartment before I headed into work. I was so happy to see them and for my parents, the flight provided them with insight they hadn't realized. I live REALLY FAR AWAY! Don't get me wrong, they knew I lived here, they knew I flew overnight, and they knew the flight was long, but knowing it and experiencing it were two totally different things. haha!

The first day was a lot about relaxing. So, that night we headed out to Coco Bambu and mom fell in love...with Caprioska's!


Ricky, Frannie, and Caprioska's!


Dad and his Petite Gateau


Shrimp, it's whats for dinner.


Me and Mom.

The next day we headed off to Rio. Originally, there was a debate about where they should go in Brazil. I am always of the opinion that if you go to Brazil, and you don't go to Rio, you didn't REALLY go to Brazil. Mainly cause of the culture and the fact that although it is not Brazil's largest city, it is its most famous.

When you think of Rio, you think of sunny days, beaches, and barely there swim apparel. Unfortunately for us, we went in November, when the weather isn't as good. We had some overcast skies and rainy days but we still did one thing everyday. And more than that, we got to see all the things you WANT to see in Rio: Sugar Loaf, the Favelas, Cristo, the Hippie Fair, Escadaria Selaron, the Beaches, and people in their barely there swim apparel. :)


The favela's



Mom and Dad



Me and Daddy-O



Wiring in the Favela. Fire hazard, anyone?



Escadaria Selaron


There are 250 of these steps and they have all been tiled, even the sides too. They estimate that there are 2,000 tiles from all over the world.



The man who created these stairs, Jorge Selarón, who died in January. His steps have been on everything from the Amazing Race to a Snoop Dogg video.









Cristo



Mom and Dad with Rio below them.



It was so packed that some idiots careless folks hopped up on the ledge to get their picture made. It is only a 2,300foot drop. No biggie!

After our big Rio adventure we headed off to Buenos Aires. I was especially excited about BA because unlike Rio, I had never been there. BA is often called the Paris of South America and I have agree. The architecture, the culture, it is so different than Brazil. Like Rio, we tried to do all the "touristy" things.

We headed to the Recoletta Cemetery.







Eva Perone aka Evita's Mausoleum


We sampled their famous Argentinian beef.


Visited the Pink Palace


And found a little bit of Nashville in South America. :)

One of the most eventful activities we had wasn't even on our list of things to do. About a day or so into the trip Mom looked at me and said, "I don't get why you get dressed up. Your a tourist, don't you want to be more comfortable?" to which I basically said, when you travel it should be your goal to NOT LOOK LIKE A TOURIST. You should try to blend in some. And there it is folks. The words that haunted us the rest of the trip. Because on Saturday, Dad had his wallet stolen. Luckily, we were able to withdraw money and have the cards cancelled. And, although it was frustrating, we have a great story to tell. Cause the thief made a total production out of it. I mean, he pick-pocketed with swagger. :)

When we came back to Brasilia, we spent a few days just hanging out and experiencing Brazilian culture.

They got to go grocery shopping.


And learned to cross the streets using "the Signal of Life"


And took a tour of downtown.

Having them in town left us all with some great memories. And, for them it provided greater insight into my day to day life. They have faces for names, get what I am talking about, and finally understand my address. :)

I loved having them in town and am grateful to have parents who love me enough that they want me to not just have these experiences but want to share them with me.