Getting back into the swing of things after vacation can always be a challenge, but this week was not as tough as I thought it was going to be.  It was kind of nice to be back in Portuguese class, I feel that I need a lot more practice, of course, but it is nice to actually be receiving formal instruction.  I believe learning a second language is a life-long journey when you begin the process as an adult. This is why I think it is so very important to learn a minimum of two languages as a child, as is customary in many other countries around the world, including here in Brazil.  I have firmly decided that my children will be immersed in at least two languages growing up, luckily my husband is fluent in Spanish!

One afternoon this week we designed and made key chains, earrings and bracelets.  I have to admit I was at first skeptical as to what exactly making jewelry had to do with teaching.  However, at the end I thought it was tied together nicely as we discussed briefly and then each wrote out how we could incorporate activities such as these into our own classrooms in our specific subject areas.  It really is amazing how many different ways there are to teach any one topic.  How much fun a student will have learning material entirely depends on the creativity of the teacher.   When we talk about creativity we often immediately go to drawing a picture, or putting it into a song, but what these afternoon sessions have highlighted for me more than anything is that this impression of "being creative" is in and of itself is a confined form of creativity.  Stepping out of the creativity box and into the vastness of creative thinking we can use any number of mediums to creatively teach a topic, from graphics and beading to dance and theater. 

As teachers I think it is important to hold onto our inner child.  We must remember the creativity with which we looked at the world when we were younger, the questions we asked and the things that held our interest.  If we can keep the inner child alive in ourselves than we will be that much better prepared to interact and connect with our students and to truly teach them subject matter in a comprehendible and enjoyable manner.

Another activity this week involved several of my colleagues presenting lesson plans.  It was interesting and enjoyable to see the different teaching styles and I was able to take a lot away from the presentations. 

I feel that I got to see my fellow travel companions in a new light and am increasingly impressed with the individuals I have had the opportunity to meet on this journey.  Each member of this student teaching cohort is creative, passionate and motivated to make a difference, which I find admirable.  I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know each of these individuals more fully and to learn from them not only the innumerable approaches available to becoming a better teacher, but also to becoming a better person.  

A Week to Explore Beleza Brasil!

This past week has been one great adventure after another!  Because of Easter, all of our classes were cancelled and we had the entire week free to do as we pleased.  On Saturday I visited Vila Velha with several of the other girls.  The rock formations were awe inspiring and I found it an incredible feeling to be so small and stand next to something naturally so large and impressive.  Rock completely shaped by the wind and rain.  It was fun to attempt to see the shapes the rocks had come to form over the ages, a coke bottle, a dolphin, a camel, and Indian head among others. 

On Sunday we left for Ilha do Mel, or Honey Island.  It was about a three hour bus ride to Pontal do Sul followed by a 30 minute ferry ride to the Encantadas side of the Island.  The ride was a bit choppy, but after the long bus ride feeling the fresh sea air on my face was a welcome change.  Upon arriving on the island we stopped to get lunch.  The prices were rather steep but I was not about to complain because the view was priceless.  After eating we proceeded on to our hostel, Pousada Tia Tina, run by a young couple I found absolutely charming.  In fact, as I told my companions the entire trip “I want to grow up to be like them” – of course they were probably only 3-5 years older than me, but they seemed to have life all figured out.

The beaches on Isla do Mel were absolutely gorgeous and because we were traveling during the off season, we had them mostly to ourselves.  It truly was an indescribable place with each direction you turned offering a different feast for the eyes.  To one side would be the gorgeous ocean with clear blue skies, to the other side would be the caves with wide gaping entrances beckoning you to come explore, and behind would be deep green rolling hills reminiscent of the picturesque Scottish hillside.  The entire island was covered with twisting greenery and a flower the deepest shade of red one can imagine.  The only road was a dirt packed trail meandering its way through the island and meant only for walking, not a single car could be seen on the island.  Ilha do Mel truly was beautiful and offered an incredibly tranquil atmosphere to spend a few days recharging from the hustle and bustle of city life.

We took the ferry and then another bus back to Curitiba, arriving back to our hotel at about 5pm.  Our next bus was to leave for Foz do Iguazu at 10pm that night.  This bus ride would be a 10 hour overnight trip and I was not looking forward to it one bit.  However, it went smoothly and we arrived in the late morning.  The owner of our hostel was wonderful and drove to the bus station to pick us up.  After a quick tour of the most amazing hostel I have ever stayed in she sent us on our way to the falls.  The park itself was immaculate and the falls indescribable.  It is impossible to find adequate words to truly portray the inherent beauty and majestic nature of these waterfalls.  The cataratas, or waterfalls, go on for as far as the eye can see and the immense power of each fall is truly breathtaking.   My words and the pictures I have taken simply cannot do this amazing creation of nature any justice.  We only stayed at Iguazu for one night so we made the most of our day there.  We spent the next morning at a bird park which was fun and quite interesting to be able to get so close to see the birds, I even had a parrot on my shoulder!

All in all it was a wonderful week and I was grateful for the time to actually get to see some other areas of Brazil.  Each time we were in a different location we would pass a school and it would remind me of the overriding purpose of this study abroad trip – still a little time for rest and relaxation was certainly much needed and deserved.

Education. Here or there. It's the same everywhere???

This afternoon we put on skits of various chapters from the text Flat Land.  It was interesting to note the interpretations my colleagues put on the message of each chapter and it was fascinating for me to watch Anna Maria’s face as each group performed.  She is such an animated woman and I often found myself wondering what her thoughts were about the messages we were conveying through our mostly mediocre acting!

Anna Maria also pulled out a Tupperware container full of blue sand, explaining that this could be used by young children to learn their letters without the stigma attached with getting something wrong and having it permanently etched on paper.  I genuinely liked this idea and would like to find ways to incorporate it into my own high school classroom, perhaps as a review game for a test or even as a way for students to demonstrate a difficult concept in a manner that would not single any one student out for being uncertain of the correct answer.

Another point made this afternoon with Anna Maria really resonated with me.  She stated quite simply that students learning about education in Brazil talk about the same things as we do in the United States.  While on some level I was aware of this, it was very enlightening for me to actually here these words spoken and to discuss some of the theories we have spent the past year and a half discussing at NC State.  In the end it does not matter what end of the earth we are coming from when it comes to educating our youth we all ultimately have the same objectives.  Perhaps the methods and ideas behind our best practices may vary, but overall we all understand that through education we can help our children obtain a better way of life and gain a greater appreciation for the world in which they live.  Certainly things about our education systems are different and it is important to focus on these things to see what is working and why and perhaps also to question why certain effective practices for one country may not be as effective in another country.  However, we can also find value in noting the similarities between our education systems.  These commonalities are a connection we share amongst ourselves that can bridge the huge gaps of differences common in a globally competitive society.

Second Day of School Visits in Brazil

Last Friday was spent visiting three different schools, having lunch at the home of one of the teachers and visiting the impressive Science Park.  What a day it was!  Words cannot aptly describe the amazing day I had nor the gratitude I felt to the many people that worked to make it happen.


  We started our day by visiting Tonya’s school.  Tonya was wonderful and truly went above and beyond to make sure I had the appropriate parent permission forms signed as well as helping to set up my interviews with the students for my wiki page.  The interviews with the students were wonderful, and I was pleased that for the most part they were able to understand the questions I was asking in stilted Portuguese.  The school was great and once again we were made to feel like rock stars as newspaper reporters followed us around snapping our pictures at two of the three schools. 

One of my favorite parts of the Tonya’s school was the bell, which sounded through the school like a stereo speaker and created an atmosphere of a giant dance party… who said school couldn’t be fun!  Once again massive amounts of food were prepared for us in the school kitchen and we enjoyed meeting other teachers at the school.  

After leaving the school Tonya took us to her home for lunch and her family was absolutely amazing!  Her mom prepared a FEAST for us and was possibly the warmest and most welcoming woman I have ever met.  It truly brought tears to my eyes to think about how she not only welcomed 8 strangers into her home but likely spent her entire morning preparing a gourmet lunch for us.  The house was lacking in many things we would consider necessities back home, such as a giant flat screen TV and granite countertops, but it was absolutely the most beautiful house I have ever been invited into.   You could feel the love and attention paid to each and every area of the home and the warmth with which we were welcomed can simply not be described with words.  This part of the trip meant so very much to me.

After lunch we visited two more schools, the first was a school for the disabled and special needs students and the second was a primary school.  This was an amazing experience as well; particularly the school for special needs students.  Each child was very well cared for and given an immense amount of love and affection, it truly was a wonderful thing to see.  The primary school was interesting, but I have to say that I truly am more comfortable around older children and this trip again reinforced for me my decision to teach high school aged students.

The last part of our day was spent visiting the Science Park which was incredibly amazing.  They actually stayed open late just for us and gave us a private tour of the facility!  They invited us into the planetarium to see the constellations that would have been seen by the indigenous tribes looking up at the stars hundreds of years ago, it was an out of this world experience.  The park itself was amazing and gave me so many ideas I would like to incorporate into my own classroom in some way in the future.  They had an area where students could go on an “archeological dig” for dinosaur bones, watch electricity in action, see the consumption of electricity throughout the world, participate in a G7 summit, and actually walk through a topographical map of the state of Parana. While the obvious application for most of these exhibits would be in the field of science, there were certainly ways they could be incorporated into a social studies classroom as well.

After arriving at home we went out for dinner and on the way home saw a group of capoeira students.  It was amazing to watch them and I immediately fell in love with this traditional Brazilian dance/martial art.  I have decided that my next adventure must be to explore this art of capoeira! It was a very long and tiring day, but rewarding in so many ways. 

Sebui Rainforest Trip

Our trip to the Sebui Rainforest this weekend was amazing, though I believe some of my companions may have had a rather rough time of it!

The trip there was long but not too bad, everyone is aware of my motion sickness in cars and buses so I was able to sit in the front seat for the hour long van ride to the port.  The ride through the mountains was gorgeous and we were able to travel through a part of Brazil that had been severely affected by the recent mudslides.  It was amazing to see where mud and water had completely taken out an entire concrete bridge and how the red stains of mud covered the streets.  It was quite impressive how quickly the cleanup effort was taking place.

After the van ride we took a 2 and a half hour ferry ride to another smaller boat which took us about a half hour into the private ecological reserve.  With us through this all was a man named Enzo, who I would come to find out, is the owner of this 500 acre private nature reserve (which he purchased 10 years ago for $50,000… amazing).  Enzo is Italian and quite the impressive man, and he obviously holds a bountiful appreciation of nature.  In addition, he is a huge advocate of supporting the locals and purchases all his supplies from his neighbors. 

As we arrived at the reserve we unloaded the boat and began our short 20-30 minute hike to the camp area.  The hike was incredibly muddy, almost swampy and marshy, but incredibly beautiful.  On the way to the camp we passed a small wooden hut which we were informed was the home of Jaoa, an older gentleman that lives on the reserve to help maintain it.  He would prove to be our entertainment in the evenings and guide during the day.  Our camp was small and basic, but incredibly charming. 

We hiked to a different waterfall each day and each was absolutely beautiful and all the more rewarding to see because of the often challenging hikes, which, due to the climate, were not like your typical hike.  Muddy and slippery each day of hiking proved to be a great adventure!  We were able to swim at each each of the waterfalls and the water was incredibly cold, but also refreshing especially on the second day when we had a slightly longer hike.  Most of our hikes were recorded by  a camera crew filming a documentary for the national news station about the reserve.  We were all a little unsure of how they would be portraying us and I decided to attempt to stay out of the camera’s lens as much as possible. 

The women in the kitchen, a mother and daughter, were amazing cooks and prepared delicious meals for us morning, noon and night.  One evening we had a traditional oyster bake which was quite an experience, even though I do not actually eat oysters myself.   Just getting the oysters was an adventure.  After canoeing through the mangroves, in the pouring rain I should add, we took a short boat ride to a locals house.  We pulled the boat right up to his house, he came out and waded out into the water, hoisted up a tin of oysters and brought them right to our boat.  This is a perfect example of how Enzo supports the locals!

On our final hike out of the rainforest on the last day we had to hike over killer ants, we were told to run over the ants.  There were so many ants it appeared as if the entire ground was moving.  It was a bit unnerving as we were told that under no circumstances should we stop, or the ants would simply overtake our body.  It was a pretty intense experience!

All in all it was a wonderful trip.  I felt that I bonded with many of the girls on the trip and had an opportunity to see the Atlantic rainforest which is said to have the greatest ecological biodiversity in the world.  It was truly an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life.

Our First School in Brazil

What an eventful day this has turned out to be.  Our group traveled about 45 minutes by bus to visit our first public school in Brazil.  The school was located in Colombo, just outside of Curitiba and was staffed by the friendliest and most enthusiastic professoras any one school could possibly wish for.  I was impressed by their passion for teaching and the genuine excitement they expressed at meeting us American teachers.  We received the warmest welcome one could imagine with cappuccinos, coffee, cakes, crackers, dips and jams.  We of course had a bit of a language barrier, but it was overcome as Anna Maria translated for us and we began to learn about what made this specific school so unique.

I found it fascinating to learn that the school had a groundskeeper that
stayed on the school property 24 hours a day 7 days a week and continually remained available for the students.  I think this shows an amazing dedication to not just education, but also to the welfare of the children themselves.  I truly got the impression that students were not merely a test score to these passionate teachers, as unfortunately can often become the case in the US.  Rather these students were genuinely known and cared about.  We also discussed the large class sizes.  At 40-45 students in each class I can imagine the added difficulty this may bring about for teachers, in addition to having varying morning, afternoon and evening teaching shifts. 

I believe the best and most fulfilling part of the day, and quite possibly this trip, was meeting and working with the students.  At first timid, the students gradually came out of their shells as curiosity overcame their shyness and they began to ask the questions they had prepared for us in English.  The three students in the group I joined were quite a joy to work with and their inquisitiveness was impressive.  They were patient with my mistakes and working together we found ways to communicate in a mixture of my limited Portuguese, their limited English, and lots of hand gestures and movements. 

Throughout the day we were continually informed of how important our presence was to both the school and the students.  I of course a first took this to merely be a nicety said to makes us foreigners feel more comfortable and as if we mattered.  However, as we were saying goodbye and the students came up individually to hug us goodbye I realized that our presence in fact was incredibly important.  Not that I believe we made a difference to the lives of those children in the 50 minutes we spent with them, but perhaps we have opened their eyes to the differences that exist between two cultures and perhaps more importantly to the similarities between us.  If nothing else I hope that our visiting their school will ignite an even greater curiosity for learning, particularly about other cultures.

As for me, the easily moved individual that I am, I was incredibly touched as we walked out of that classroom.  Once again my desire to be a teacher was reaffirmed, but on a whole different level.  I was once again shown that education is not merely a classroom and a textbook nor is it simply a teacher and her students.  Education is the desire to learn and the desire to be understood.  It is a curiosity which can never be quenched and a desire to discover new ways of thinking.  This type of education is never more apparent than when two very different people, cultures, and/or countries communicate with one another.  I left that middle school today feeling as if I had perhaps learned more than the students and was grateful to them for being my teachers. 

Arrival in Brazil

3/27/2011

We arrived in Brazil yesterday.  Traveling is always such an experience, no matter where the final destination may be.  It stretches you and tests you in ways that no other experience can.  It is impossible to hide your flaws or be someone you are not when traveling, and it is often during traveling when you will see someone at their worst. 

This traveling experience was no exception.  Due to a fire at the Miami International Airport our flight schedule underwent significant changes… and only after much haggling on the part of Katy a fellow student studying abroad with us.  So my flight ended up being much earlier than expected, took me to a different airport than I had planned, and called for me transferring from that airport to another in order to catch my next flight.  On the long 10 hour flight I endured a hearty nose bleed and a mild case of food poisoning as well as a young boy whose mother apparently did not teach him to appropriate way to cover his nose and mouth when sneezing.  Dios Mio!  Once we finally arrived in Sao Paulo we waited two hours in customs only to have to run to catch our final flight.  At long last we arrived in Curitiba, and sat down to wait for our pre-arranged transportation.  After waiting a nice solid two hours for the van, we came to the conclusion that we should probably start trying to figure out another way to get to our hotel. 

An intense conversation of stilted Portuguese, Spanish and English and R$8 (Reias)  later, we are on a bus to our hotel. 

This was all yesterday, and though I wouldn’t be saying this if you had asked me yesterday… all in all, the trip went pretty well.  I was certainly glad that there was a group of us traveling; it can make all the difference when you don’t know the language, are faced with difficult situations and sometimes just need a little comic relief. 

Today we were able to explore Curitiba, and what a beautiful city it is.  Our hotel is located on Rua XV de Novembro, a beautiful stone pebbled pedestrian street filled with stores, restaurants and vendors.  We started our morning at the market that takes place every Sunday morning very close to our hotel.  The first thing I noticed about the market was how the vendors did not attack you as you walked by as they do in most other countries I have visited.  Everyone merely says “oi” or “bom dia” and continues on with their business.  I was also impressed with the vastness of the market.  Row after row of boomerangs, clothing, cooking utensils, spices, honey, trinkets and jewelry sit on long tables glistening under the hot sun.  I note the many presents I will have to come back to purchase in the upcoming weeks for family and friends. 

Brazilians have greatly impressed me with their friendliness and eagerness to communicate with us both to learn about our country and to practice their English.  While by no means a prevalent second language, I have been impressed by the number of people who do speak some English and their eagerness to help us learn their own language. 

Tonight after our very touristy bus tour, we stopped at a local corner bar to grab a beer and a bite to eat.  A local, who has been learning English for work, shyly leaned over to our table and recommended the papas fritas and Antartica beer.  We thanked him and ordered up.  Upon receiving a very good beer for each of us and the best French fries I have had in a long time we asked him to join us at our table.  He then spent the next hour and a half patiently teaching us about futbol and how to say different terms in Portuguese.  We all laughed at each other’s mistakes with the language and he spent twenty minutes helping us figure out how we were supposed to pay.  He was a wonderful man and provided us a terrific introduction to his home city Curitiba.

While I miss my husband and family immensely Brazil is looking to be an amazing country and I am looking forward to my adventures here over the next several weeks!

Boa noite!