Korean Barbecue Lunch

Today I joined some of the friends I made at the Karaoke outing for a Korean Barbecue. One of the men was Korean and as a farewell party he cooked for everyone.  

The dishes were so delicious, and not too spicy for me. It included beef, pork, dumplings, rice, carrots, potatoes, and some spices. 

It strikes me as wonderful that I can learn about new cultures, other than Brasilian, while living in Brasil. 

Pontao de Lago Sul First Visit

Rogerio, Ian, and I traveled to Pontao de Lago Sul the other night. It was my first time being at the lake, but it was night so I didn't see too much. 

We split a dessert at Stonia, and even with three of us eating we didn't finish. It was a delicious mix of leite ninho ice cream, caramel, brigadeiro, Oreo crumble, and strawberries. Yes, it was almost as big as my head. 

It was my first time hanging out with Ian, and we struck a fancy pose. 

Rogerio and I went for the classic photo pose. 

We walked along the lit walkway of the water and admired the sparkling skyline across the water. 

Exploring A Taguatinga Park

One of my personal goals this year is to explore the parks in the city. This past week I ventured out to Parque Saburo Onoyama, in Taguatinga, with one of my new friends Rogerio. We took the metro to Praca de Relogio and then it was a 20 minute walk through the city from there. 

I saw online that there were walking paths and a public pool, but the walking paths ended up being so short that you walked for 5 minutes and already completed the trail. The pool was much more impressive, and it's free and open access to the public. 

I felt bad that I dragged Rogerio out to the park and it was disappointing, but we had some really great chats. 

On the way home, we stopped at Bolos do Flavio. I had passed by it several times, and this was my first time going in. Rogerio and I split a piece of cake made with mandioca, gioaba, and catupiry. 

Lunch With the IFB First Year Students

After my first workshop, and before assisting my classes for the day, I went to lunch with some of the first year students that attended my workshop. We went to Delicias do Vovo, which is right across from the campus. I bought a torta de frango and fresh fruit juice for a total of four reais. 

We sat crowded around the table and spoke a mix of English and Portuguese. I've assisted the English 1 class with these students on a few occasions; we've done a mix of them learning through English activities and me attempting the activities in Portuguese. I think we've all shown vulnerability together, and it shows that we're all learners together. 

Last year I connected with the first year students, and this year I have again. Maybe it's a sign (Haha). I'm grateful for once again having students that laugh at my bad jokes and dance moves. 

Bad picture quality, but great quality people. 

First Workshop Success

This year I am working at a Federal Institute in Brasilia, and every Wednesday I am altering or collaborating for workshops. These workshops range from cultural to grammar or fun topics. 

My coworker and I co-organized our first workshop, which was themed- belated Saint Patrick's Day. 

We had no idea how many people would come, and we were hopeful for about 15 people, but we had 36 students come! It was wonderful to have so many people participate and be excited to speak English, but we had to adjust and re-plan on the spot. Life of a teacher. We gave information about the holiday and its celebration, played games, and gave away prizes.  

One of the professors came to visit and snapped this photo of Amanda and me beginning our information session. 

We rounded off our workshop with a- guess how many candies are in the bottle game. The reaction to the winner was much better than I expected. All of the excitement in the room sharing in the winner's joy was a touching moment. 

I'm excited to see how many students stick with the workshops and keep attending. I'm hoping to keep at least a 10 person attendance weekly, and to share topics such as- dating culture in the USA and Brasil, Easter, 4th of July, prepositions, landmarks in the USA, and classroom climate. 

Reuniting With Friends In Londrina

As I only had a few days in Londrina, and most of them were booked immediately by the graduation events, I only had parts of each day to spend with friends. 

Mario made a panqueca lunch for me, and then we were joined by Rafael. We enjoyed some time talking and chilling. These two guys were some of my first friends when I arrived to Londrina, and I spent my first weekend hanging out with them- so it feels like full cycle that I got to see them on possibly my last weekend ever in Londrina. 

Bia, Denise, Ellis, and I ventured down to the lake for the weekend craft fair. We enjoyed some caldo de cana and I had a geladao of nutella and pacoca. 

The old roomie family reunited and taking our classic elevator pictures. Oh how I do miss this bunch. <3 I got very lucky with finding an amazing group of apartment-mates last year, and I'm very lucky that they let me visit with open arms. 

I stole Gabriel's hat for this photo, but we were rocking some red outfits at an astrology party. Yes, astrology. Brasilians really do love astrology that much. 

I wish that I could have seen more people, and packed in more events within the weekend, but it already was a long weekend with what I had done. It was hard visiting Londrina, and remembering how much I miss it, but I'm so glad I got to see my old hangout places with lots of amazing friends. 

Visiting Old UEL Students

My first year Oral Production students at UEL were some of the most special students that I have ever worked with. They gave me their all in class and bravely completed the activities with enthusiasm. When I returned to Londrina for the graduation I knew I couldn't leave without visiting them. I was very lucky to have one of the professors let me visit their class, and I was reunited with some of them. Of course we took some photos with our normal level of spunk and craziness. Thank you to this amazing group for always laughing at my bad jokes, teaching me Brasilian slang, being amazing students- and also wonderful friends. Pictured below are just some of the students that I got to see again. 

 

Returning to Londrina for Graduation

In 2018, I worked with the 4th year academic writing students in my first year Fulbright experience. I had the pleasure of assisting the afternoon students for the whole year, and I became very close with the class. At the end of my Fulbright year, they invited me to attend their graduation in March. Once I had accepted the Fulbright position to return for the 2019 I knew I had to make it work and somehow return to Londrina for their graduation. 

It was a hefty priced airplane ticket, but well worth it. I hopped straight off of the plane, made myself presentable, and went to the graduation stadium. It was pouring rain sideways, and I had decided to walk to the stadium building, but I was lucky to have left an umbrella in Lodnrina. 

Getting to the building and reuniting with my students was an amazing feeling. It was entertaining watching them assemble their outfits, which includes the robe, a bib, a sash to tie around themselves, a cape, and a hat. It took about 30 minutes to get everyone made up. Every course has their own color, so the Letras afternoon course was green, and the night course was purple. 

Comments about things I noticed at the graduation- they loved mixing in pop-USA music during interludes and a Brasilian live choir. They also had each course beginning at the top of the stadium, and walked in together as a course. Each course was allowed to select about 2-3 professors to have the honor of walking in with them and representing their course. They did not announce each graduate individually, and instead they all stood to repeat an oath and then turned their capes from black to the colored side. They also announce the student with the highest GPA for each course and award them a certificate. Lastly, after the ceremony, the families flood the bottom stage to take photos rather than the students leaving to find their families. 

I was so proud to watch my little ducklings graduate, and it feels like all of the hardwork that we all put in paid off. I think this is one of the moments that really makes being a teacher one of the best professions. 

The students also invited me to their graduation celebration lunch that weekend. It was at a beautiful restaurant in Londrina called Campo al Fruto, and it was buffet style. We took so many photos throughout the weekend, I was so lucky to watch them receive their diplomas. 

Public Transportation In Brasilia

To get a feel for the Brasilia shape and pattern of the city- the Asa Sul and Asa Norte stops comprise the Plano Piloto sector of the city. The Central stop is the division between the two parts of two, and the structure is support to mimic a plane shape. It also wraps around the edges of a large lake, but it does not extend to the other side of the lake. 

The metro is five reais to get on, and once you're on you can go as many or little stops as you want. Plot twist, if you take the metro and then get onto a bus within a certain amount of time then the bus is included in the 5 reais metro charge!  

Feira Dos Importados

About a twenty minute ride from Aguas Claras is a portion of the town Guará called Sia Trecho 3, and it is known to be non-residential and more for sales of commercial items. I was in search of a fan, as I'm already hot and everyone says that August onwards will be brutally hot, and my roommate brought me to see if the venue had any fans available. Londrina had a Camelódromo, but this one in Brasilia was HUGE. It was a lot of similar shops lined up, for example three glasses shops back to back, and I would have gotten lost if I had delved too deep into the shops. The store must have taken at least six blocks long and three across. Unfortunately, there were no fans. Fortunately, there was a cheap fly zapper racket! I can assure you that my bug bites have decreased significantly, and the zapper is getting a lot of use as I wave it around ridiculously.  

Praça de Relógio Adventures

One of my goals is to begin visiting more of the metro stops and explore more. I want to take advantage of the opportunity of living in the Capital, which prompted a trip to Praça de Relógio yesterday. 

The Taguatinga area supposedly has some of the cheaper shopping areas, and I wanted to test out the theory. Amanda, my coworker, and I needed to buy some housing supplies, and there were plenty to be found here. I found 15 hangers for 3 reais! 

About a 20 minute walk away is Parque Ecológico Saburo Onoyama, and I hope to get there eventually. It looks like a mix of trails and a public pool. 

Finding My Brasília Home

Finding housing was a much more exhuasting process than I had anticipated. Although it only took me a week to find my housing, it felt like a much longer week filled with daily searching through neighborhoods for any vacancies. We traveled through Riacho Fundo, Samambia, Tanguatinga Sul, and Aguas Claras. 

Brasilia has several facebook groups for sharing, renting, and buying things/places. I checked perpetually, and by luck I stumbled upon a chacara by Aguas Claras. A chacara is midway between a house and a farm. We have chickens and several fruit trees in our beautiful back yard. I asked the owner several questions to make sure that the house had my prime requirements- an individual bedroom, furnished room, a washer machine, it's close to markets, a safe area, and the tenants are kind. 

I didn't realize just how lucky I was with this find. They asked me to move in, and I agreed! I have a huge room with two beds, so I can have guests. I also have a bathroom to myself! That's a treat. My roommates have been amazing and so kind. We've already been on food shopping adventures, morning walks, and dinners together. 

It's the best of both worlds where I get some peace and nature at the chacara, but I'm only a four minute walk from the city. 

Please enjoy this video of a downpour yesterday, and the chickens hiding under the building cover. 

Adventuring Into Plano Piloto

I bet you didnt know that if you try to take a tour of the Brasilian congress building in shorts then they won't let you into two of the three rooms. I didnt know that until today. 

My co-worker and I took advantage of our close proximity to the downtown capital and spent a few hours adventuring in Plano Piloto. We took the Brasília metro for the first time, which is far easier than São Paulo since Brasília only had two line colors that are on the same track for most of the line. It was about a 30 minute metro ride from Aguas Claras to the central terminal. Along the way we passed a cool looking fair grounds in guará and huge shopping mall in Asa Sul. 

Once we got to the central station, it also dropped us out at the Plano Piloto Rodoviaria (bus station). It was massive, and a step up from the Londrina Rodoviaria I was accustomed to. We found our way out of the crowd and incidentally made our way to the view of the park leading to the government section. 

We walked for the afternoon to see the Congress, national museum, palace, cathedral, national library, and miscellaneous government buildings. Along the way we saw the changing of the guards at the palace some really interesting sculptures. A lot of the architecture in Brasília was designed by Oscar Neymeyer, and the structures of the buildings were all differing and breathtaking. 

Im really hoping some of my Fulbright and Londrina friends come to visit so that I can bring them to explore, and have the excuse to go back to the congress building... Not in shorts this time.

First Week At IFB Complete

This week included two days on campus meeting professors, students, and directors. It's a very small campus, only including three course majors (Letras Ingles, Geography, and Gastronomy). In only this week I have met a majority of the staff, and also had lunch with several of them. The professors have all been very kind and helpful in suggesting stores and housing options. We popped into a few of the classes to introduce ourselves to the students, and it was wonderful to see many of them smiling and excited to see us.
We started hashing out some of the scheduling quirks and our responsibilities, and it sounds like we will be working a mix of conversation clubs, cultural activities, and assisting in classes. The university that I'm assisting at is also a high school in the morning, and I excited by the hopeful prospect to also work with and inspire high school students.
Last year, I arrived in Brasil with no Portuguese. I depended on everyone speaking Portuguese to accommodate that, but this year I have been able to keep up with a majority of conversations in Portuguese. Most people have been very patient with my language learning. I still hope that my classes I assist are in English.
Our first day we were surprised with a packet of materials, an IFB shirt and mug, and space in a locker. I couldn't stop smiling. It was a wonderful surprise, and there kindness was more than I ever expected (especially from my host program managers).