So I have been here 2 months so far and it's amazing to see how much I have changed. I no longer have dollars in my wallet (only reais), I am driving by myself in Sao Paulo (manual car!) and I am learning new words in Portuguese everyday. I am also learning new traditions, holidays, etc. This past week was CARNAVAL!! Everywhere in Brazil was festive and colorful with masks and different costumes - It's unbelievable because people prepare an entire year for this holiday that lasts only 5 days. Its much different from any holiday in the States because the festivals go on until 8 in the morning and every state has a different theme for Carnaval. Rio and Sao Paulo is escola do samba.... So there is a lot of dancing and good music.
Leo had a party at his school where he made masks and went to school in a costume (too bad he didn't have his buzz lightyear costume that my mom bought for him for xmas... I didn't bring it bc I didn't think he would use it, but I was definitely mistaken). Sorry mom! But he loved his mask that he made at school and played with it the entire way to Boituva.
My family - Sheila (mother-in-law), Ziggy (father-in-law), Claudio (husband), Leo (son), Golda (dog) and I went to the country in Boituva and had a nice relaxing week, but it rained pretty much the entire time.
We returned back to Sao Paulo on Tuesday because Claudio had to work on Wednesday.
Wednesday was an interesting day to say the least. I woke up and walked around 7:30 for about 45 minutes and then bought bread for breakfast at the bakery up the street. Claudio and Zig went to work after breakfast and it was just me, Leo and Sheila for the day. I was feeling pretty good and wanted to be productive during the day so I put some dirty laundry in the washing machine. I always see the cleaning lady put this little hose of water from the sink in the machine to give some extra water so I wanted to try it. Well, I put in the hose of water in the washing machine and went downstairs to check my email. I then got on facebook and was totally tuned out until Moris (Claudio's brother) yelled "MANNNNNDDDIIII"... I responded "Yes, Moris?" - Thinking nothing of it, of course. He then said calmly "Come here..." I went upstairs and instantly remembered that I forgot to take out the hose and had flooded the entire 3rd floor!!! I couldn't even believe it... Water was EVERYWHERE!!! It was in the laundry room, my room, Leo's room and was falling all the way to the first floor. It took me about 2 hours to clean for something that I forgot for 20 minutes... GEESH! Well as least I got an extra workout for my arms because I was cleaning it with this broomstick with a long rubber blade attached to it to trap the water.
After I had finished cleaning the never-ending trail of water, I went outside to go get Leo's bike to bring to the park and was pooped on by a bird! It was just one of those days!
sexta-feira, 11 de março de 2011
terça-feira, 1 de março de 2011
Teachers I Salute You!
Ok so I have been teaching English for Centro Britanico at a little school called "Casa do Mickey" and I have two classes on Monday and Fridays. My first class is at 10:30 in the morning and I have 9 kids between the ages of 3 and 5... WOW!! It is wayyy more difficult than I ever imagined. I mean I have kids running around all over the place and Im trying to keep control of them with my broken Portuguese and speaking about 5 words every class in English - I think they helped me with my Portuguese more than I helped them with their English, but anyway my first class was CRAZY to say the least. One of the kids had to go poop so I had to leave the class for a minute to take the kid to the bathroom... when I came back, all the kids were running around with scissors in their hands and had emptied out all of the containers with crayons in them. It was like Arnold Swartzeneggar in Kindergarden Cop HAHA!!! It was crazy... My second class at 2 pm luckily only has 4 kids and is much much more calm, but still takes a lot of energy out of me. So after having taught these kids for 3 weeks now... I can tell you that teaching takes a lot of skill and talent and Leo is fortunate enough to have had great teachers in the past and has great teachers now... Teachers I salute you!!
terça-feira, 15 de fevereiro de 2011
Professora Amanda
So today was my first day teaching at Centro Britanico. I taught a group of 8 kids from the ages of 10-12 years old who barely spoke English. It was hilarious. I had 6 boys and 2 girls - there were even a set of identicle twin brothers in my class! The whole class, I was everywhere. One kid was fake farting the whole time in the corning of the classroom and I swear they all had laughing gas up their sleeves or something because they just couldn't keep a straight face. By the end of the class all of the kids were speaking perfect English. No only kidding haha!!. But one of the twins did start to cry because one of the other boys broke his pen, but no one saw it happen - so we really don't know what happened with the that one. Anyway, first day of English class was a SUCCESS!!
Are these the Cars of the Future?
Ohhhh man... Here we go everyone. So me and Claudio have decided that it would be a good idea to buy a car for me to get around when I start working here in Sao Paulo because Claudio has a MOTO and I'm stuck getting to places by foot. It's ok for the time being because everything is super close by, but I need to get used to the crazy driving in order to get around.
So Claudio and I have been searching throughout the Internet and whatnot to find a car for us in our price range. So we went to this dealer to go see this car that was around our price range and it seemed to be a little more spacious than most of the cars here that we have seen (considering that most of the cars are two-doors and small as hell in our price range!). So we finally arrived to the dealer and we were about to test drive a car called an 'Effa'. Its a Chinese car that they sell here in Brazil. It was a 2008 and blue.
The first thing I did was pluck the little plastic hubcap off with my finger nails and this was just the beginning. We got inside the car and turned the car on... it started but barely. As soon as we turned the AC on, the car was dead. We restarted the car and began to drive. The car died at every stop sign (at least 5 times) and the salesman tried to reassure us that it was 'bad gasoline' (my ass!). We then returned to the dealer (thank God) and parked the car on the ramp, but we couldn't park it there because the parking brake didn't work. The poor sales guy couldn't even sell this car after that. lol
He then tried to tell us to just buy a new version, but we just laughed and said "and after two years it going to turn out like this?" He then just shrugged his shoulders and tried to sell us different cars on the lot. Geeesh! So much for cars here... Better luck next time
So Claudio and I have been searching throughout the Internet and whatnot to find a car for us in our price range. So we went to this dealer to go see this car that was around our price range and it seemed to be a little more spacious than most of the cars here that we have seen (considering that most of the cars are two-doors and small as hell in our price range!). So we finally arrived to the dealer and we were about to test drive a car called an 'Effa'. Its a Chinese car that they sell here in Brazil. It was a 2008 and blue.
The first thing I did was pluck the little plastic hubcap off with my finger nails and this was just the beginning. We got inside the car and turned the car on... it started but barely. As soon as we turned the AC on, the car was dead. We restarted the car and began to drive. The car died at every stop sign (at least 5 times) and the salesman tried to reassure us that it was 'bad gasoline' (my ass!). We then returned to the dealer (thank God) and parked the car on the ramp, but we couldn't park it there because the parking brake didn't work. The poor sales guy couldn't even sell this car after that. lol
He then tried to tell us to just buy a new version, but we just laughed and said "and after two years it going to turn out like this?" He then just shrugged his shoulders and tried to sell us different cars on the lot. Geeesh! So much for cars here... Better luck next time
Jewish Wedding
Ok sorry everyone I haven't written in a while... Things have been crazy busy, but anyway here is an update. Satuday was the big wedding of the year that everyone in Claudio's family was waiting for, it was his cousin Andre's wedding. Weddings here are quite different than in the States. For example, the weddings start much later (this wedding started at 9:00 pm). So that day me, Bia (sister-in-law), Sheila and Clara went to the hairdressor to get our hair and makeup done to look all beautiful before the wedding! Just like in the movie 'My big Fat Greek Wedding' haha!! Clara (Bia's daughter) was the flower and she was super cute! There were about 450 people at this wedding and it was fantastic... They had a live band that played a bunch of Jewish music while the crowd lifted the bride and the groom, mothers and fathers of the bride and groom, up the air on chairs. It was festive and fun. The drinks were great... I was drunk by the end of the night and we didn't get back to the house until almost 5 am lol. If anyone was wondering... its super easy to crash these weddings.
quinta-feira, 10 de fevereiro de 2011
Lost in Translation
Hello everyone,
Started my day out pretty normal by having breakfast with the family and getting Leo ready for school. I was rushing to get out of the house because I had a training to go to for teaching English at a different school called Wizard (not Wise Up). When I got to the training, there were about 5 people present and two instructors. For some reason the entire training was in Portuguese and not in English - this really confused me because how do the directors even know if these people can speak English? Let along teach it!
I was the only American or native English speaker and the first hour I was absolutely lost. We started off the training by playing a game similar to musical chairs, but when we sat down we had to say something about ourselves in Portuguese. It was pretty entertaining when I was speaking. The training was pretty unusual because most of the time I would just smile and act like I knew what was going on, when in reality I was completely lost.
The training started at 9 am and ended at 5pm. So after the training I walked back to the house, dropped off my work bag and went to go pick up Leo at school. After I picked him up, we went to the bakery right by his school to eat a sorvete (icecream) and drink a juice. Leo ate his sorvete, half of mine and drank all of the juice. By the time we left the bakery, his face was covered with chocolate and his hands were all sticky from the juice - he's such a typical BOY!! When we got back to the house, he was practically ready for bed (sugar high had ended). Until tomorrow everyone!!
Started my day out pretty normal by having breakfast with the family and getting Leo ready for school. I was rushing to get out of the house because I had a training to go to for teaching English at a different school called Wizard (not Wise Up). When I got to the training, there were about 5 people present and two instructors. For some reason the entire training was in Portuguese and not in English - this really confused me because how do the directors even know if these people can speak English? Let along teach it!
I was the only American or native English speaker and the first hour I was absolutely lost. We started off the training by playing a game similar to musical chairs, but when we sat down we had to say something about ourselves in Portuguese. It was pretty entertaining when I was speaking. The training was pretty unusual because most of the time I would just smile and act like I knew what was going on, when in reality I was completely lost.
The training started at 9 am and ended at 5pm. So after the training I walked back to the house, dropped off my work bag and went to go pick up Leo at school. After I picked him up, we went to the bakery right by his school to eat a sorvete (icecream) and drink a juice. Leo ate his sorvete, half of mine and drank all of the juice. By the time we left the bakery, his face was covered with chocolate and his hands were all sticky from the juice - he's such a typical BOY!! When we got back to the house, he was practically ready for bed (sugar high had ended). Until tomorrow everyone!!
quarta-feira, 9 de fevereiro de 2011
Leo, the bearer of Bad News
So everyday here is a new experience. This is the story of my life. Let me illistrate what I mean. This morning I woke up and went to go eat breakfast with the family TOGETHER (of course lol) and we all had a great breakfast. Anyway, I went back upstairs to get Leo ready for his swimclass and there was a large BOOM that only Sheila (my mother-in-law) and Leo could hear. They didn't think anything of it and continued doing the usual things. Leo went outside in the backyard to go play ball down by the pool, while my mother-in-law was watching him from the deck on the second floor. Anyway, Leo kept saying "quebrou!" "quebrou!" (which means it broke in Portuguese). Sheila thought it was cute and was like awww, he's speaking Portuguese. She then went downstairs to go get a ball for him and saw that the entire ceiling collapsed in the basement and thats why Leo was saying "it broke, it broke!" hahaha.
Now there is a 10 foot radius whole in the ceiling to start the day (luckily no one was hurt or around it). I am going to post a picture of it because you will be amazed at what we found this morning. Leo, the bearer of bad news.
My New Life in Brazil
So I have been wanting to start a blog for a while to keep everyone updated on my life here in Brazil. I have actually never done a blog or anything like this, so bear with me everyone!! There are many things that are so different here and I want to share these experiences with you. Maybe you can get a laugh out of it or have gone through the same thing as well. Well anyway, this is my life as I know it.
So I have been in Brazil now for 60 days and have experienced the ups and downs that living abroad offers. Everyday here is a completely new experience and I never know what to expect. I love it, but it definitely took some getting used to in the beginning. Before I go over the in's and out's of Brazil, let me first give you some quick updates on everyone:
Leo --> He is so cute and is getting so big. He is going to school right now from Monday through Friday from 10 - 5:30 and only in Portuguese. I love this school because its the same one that he went to when we were here in the summer, so when he came back he recognized everything and all of his teachers. Its really unbelievable how fast little kids pick up languages because Leo comes home everyday saying a new word in Portuguese - I love it. Also, he's doing swim classes every Monday and Wednesday before class. Its through his school, so we drop him off on those days at 8:45 in the morning and they transport his class to the swimming class down the street, which starts at 9 and ends at 10 and then they return to school. He absolutely loves! Also, they have the kids wear goggles and swim caps - he's still not used to that haha!! But he IS certainly used to his cute SPEEDO!!
Claudio --> He is working everyday for the media department at a university called FGV in Sao Paulo. He is loving it. He now promotes the University to international companies in Brazil using videos - its so great for him!!
Me --> I am currently training to teach English for a company called Wise Up. I probably will not start until March so in the mean time, I am also giving out my resume to other schools and looking for other jobs. At the same time, I am learning:
How to drive: not only are there only manual cars here, but the roads are unbelievably different and it takes some time getting familiar with the driving ettiquette here. For example, there are sooooooooo many MOTO's (motocycles), but not like a Harly Davidson motocycle - more like a dirt bike style motocycles or small city-style moto's. Actually Claudio is driving a MOTO and he loves it (CRAZY guy!!) haha. I will have to post a picture of it soon. Anway, where was I? Oh yeah, so the moto's just come out of nowhere and I bet at least 1/3 of the transportation is MOTO's. I won't even get started on how unorganized the roads are (I always tell Claudio... Its like some drunk guy threw down the roads and said GOODLUCK!)
Family lifestyle: WOW!! this has probably been the toughest so far to get used to, but its getting MUCH, MUCH better. I am living with my in-laws and they are all traditional Jewish people. This quite a learning experience in itself. They love to be together and when I say together, I mean everyone has breakfast together, everyone has lunch TOgether and everyone has dinner TOGETHER! Do you get my point? Oh I forgot that after dinner everyone watches TV TOGETHER!! lol At first, I was like I don't even spend this much time with my own family let alone someone else's haha! But they are great people and I really love all of them - even the Aunt that surprised me and Claudio one day by cutting Leo's hair! haha I will never forget that (Sorry Jason, but I totally side with mom now when you buzzed Tim and Tom's hair in the middle of winter)... Its just family though.
How to Speak Portuguese: I am a complete foreigner. As soon as I open my mouth to speak, the person wants to know where I am from. haha. I have never experienced this before in my life. Since I was here in the summer, my Portuguese is much better, but there is still room for improvement. When I was here in the summer, I had a professor come to the house and teach me Portuguese and that helped SOO much especially on the phone. But now since Im going to be here longer, I have decided to take Portuguese classes for foreigners at a university called PUC (Pontifícia Universidade Católica). Its down the street and I will be taking classes there Tuesday and Thursday nights. I will also have a tutor, but I think its important to go out and meet other people that are in the same situation. Portuguese is hard, but it can only get better from here!
Taking it day by day.
So I have been in Brazil now for 60 days and have experienced the ups and downs that living abroad offers. Everyday here is a completely new experience and I never know what to expect. I love it, but it definitely took some getting used to in the beginning. Before I go over the in's and out's of Brazil, let me first give you some quick updates on everyone:
Leo --> He is so cute and is getting so big. He is going to school right now from Monday through Friday from 10 - 5:30 and only in Portuguese. I love this school because its the same one that he went to when we were here in the summer, so when he came back he recognized everything and all of his teachers. Its really unbelievable how fast little kids pick up languages because Leo comes home everyday saying a new word in Portuguese - I love it. Also, he's doing swim classes every Monday and Wednesday before class. Its through his school, so we drop him off on those days at 8:45 in the morning and they transport his class to the swimming class down the street, which starts at 9 and ends at 10 and then they return to school. He absolutely loves! Also, they have the kids wear goggles and swim caps - he's still not used to that haha!! But he IS certainly used to his cute SPEEDO!!
Claudio --> He is working everyday for the media department at a university called FGV in Sao Paulo. He is loving it. He now promotes the University to international companies in Brazil using videos - its so great for him!!
Me --> I am currently training to teach English for a company called Wise Up. I probably will not start until March so in the mean time, I am also giving out my resume to other schools and looking for other jobs. At the same time, I am learning:
How to drive: not only are there only manual cars here, but the roads are unbelievably different and it takes some time getting familiar with the driving ettiquette here. For example, there are sooooooooo many MOTO's (motocycles), but not like a Harly Davidson motocycle - more like a dirt bike style motocycles or small city-style moto's. Actually Claudio is driving a MOTO and he loves it (CRAZY guy!!) haha. I will have to post a picture of it soon. Anway, where was I? Oh yeah, so the moto's just come out of nowhere and I bet at least 1/3 of the transportation is MOTO's. I won't even get started on how unorganized the roads are (I always tell Claudio... Its like some drunk guy threw down the roads and said GOODLUCK!)
Family lifestyle: WOW!! this has probably been the toughest so far to get used to, but its getting MUCH, MUCH better. I am living with my in-laws and they are all traditional Jewish people. This quite a learning experience in itself. They love to be together and when I say together, I mean everyone has breakfast together, everyone has lunch TOgether and everyone has dinner TOGETHER! Do you get my point? Oh I forgot that after dinner everyone watches TV TOGETHER!! lol At first, I was like I don't even spend this much time with my own family let alone someone else's haha! But they are great people and I really love all of them - even the Aunt that surprised me and Claudio one day by cutting Leo's hair! haha I will never forget that (Sorry Jason, but I totally side with mom now when you buzzed Tim and Tom's hair in the middle of winter)... Its just family though.
How to Speak Portuguese: I am a complete foreigner. As soon as I open my mouth to speak, the person wants to know where I am from. haha. I have never experienced this before in my life. Since I was here in the summer, my Portuguese is much better, but there is still room for improvement. When I was here in the summer, I had a professor come to the house and teach me Portuguese and that helped SOO much especially on the phone. But now since Im going to be here longer, I have decided to take Portuguese classes for foreigners at a university called PUC (Pontifícia Universidade Católica). Its down the street and I will be taking classes there Tuesday and Thursday nights. I will also have a tutor, but I think its important to go out and meet other people that are in the same situation. Portuguese is hard, but it can only get better from here!
Taking it day by day.
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