Rio de Janeiro

So, I spent my last weekend in Brazil in the infamous Rio de Janeiro. Since it’s been a few months now, the details are pretty fuzzy. But that’s okay, because the highlights of the trip are all that really matter. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t wonderful while we were there, which is great because it gives me a good reason to go back. Here are my top 4 memories:

1) People-watching on the beach in Copacabana  (Rio is by far the best place to do this)

2) Going out in Lapa with people from our hostel.

3) An all-day tour the following day where I was sick. Very sick. I was nauseous and could barely stand up, all the while vehemently fighting the urge to run to the bathroom every 5 minutes, which I failed at more often than not. Again, it was another one of those moments I had when I was in Greece when I said to myself “How can I be in such a beautiful, picturesque place and feel like death?” Some things never make sense…or change.

4) On the 4^th of July, walking miles in the pouring rain trying to find an HSBC. I only had about $15 left in my bank account, and needed $10 to get a ride to the airport (they only accepted cash). HSBC was the only bank that 1) accepted my card and 2) I could withdrawal a $10 bill, because that was all that I had.

Eventually, we found an HSBC and my trip to Rio was complete after we made it to the airport and flew back to São Paulo. It did not turn out in the least bit as I had planned (perfect weather, perfect beaches, perfect health…) but it gave me countless memories that I’ll never be able to forget. Or remember. 

So, we got back to Sao Paulo around 9pm on Monday night. I packed up my Brazilian life in my suitcase, since Fernando was coming to pick me up around 3:30am the following morning to take me to the airport and bid farewell. I was exhausted and still not fully recovered from the weekend, so when I finished packing around 12am I thought it would be wise to take a short nap before my 24 hour journey home via El Salvador and Peru. Well, when I went to set my alarm to wake me up, I found that I already packed it. Not only had I already packed it, but I did such a good job packing I couldn’t find it. So, what did I do? I stayed awake. I clearly had no choice. I wish I could say I found rest and repose on my three 5 hour plane rides home, but I did not. Everytime I wanted to sleep, here came the food. I could not skip over the food. So I stayed awake. All 48 hours.

I got home at 6am on July 5^th and have been stateside since. 


I've definitely been missing Brazil-- the food, the warmness of the culture and its people, the nuns, Fernando, the whole nine yards. I miss it all. However, I'm lucky enough that one of my adult students this semester is from Brazil. As I'm leaving every night after class, her and her sister teach me a new phrase in Portuguese. So, I'm still connected to my Brazilian people in some way. 

I embark on my next journey on January 2^nd. I’ll be leaving DC around 6pm, flying to LA, Hong Kong, and then finally Kuala Lumpur for an orientation that will last a few weeks. 

I’ll be living in Kuantan, which is on the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula. I’ll be teaching at a high school which is about half a mile away from the beach. I'm not sure of my living arrangements yet, but should be finding out soon. 

Gay Pride Parade Misadventure in São Paulo

São Paulo Gay Parade 2011

This may be one of the most memorable moments I had in São Paulo, though my writing about it months later can only do it so much justice. It was my last weekend there and I needed to quickly bargain for some souvenirs for my people back at home. I always do this last minute, you think I would have learned my lesson by now, since last time in Rome I was forced to go souvenir shopping with a black eye the night before I came home, but that’s another story…

Sr. Marinez, the principle of the school and kind of the “nun in charge” at the convent, took Michelle and I to an outside market. We didn't find much. Instead, I was thinking about the first market I went to in São Paulo where there were a million stands set up and you felt compelled to buy everything because you thought you'd never come across anything like it again. I always had wanted to go back but never did, so I asked Sr. Marinez if we could go there. She was hesitant to take us since this market was on the main avenue in downtown São Paulo and the gay parade was going on. (Naturally, I find out after the whole ordeal that it's the biggest in the world with over 4 million people) Many streets would be blocked off and we knew it would be really crowded. Anyways, after doing some research on the best way to get there, we ended up taking the bus downtown and then the metro which was an adventure in and of itself.  It was a dreadful, cold rainy day. Not a day where you want to be on a bus, and then a metro, and then walk outside for hours.


Now, go to this link. Parade Video You only need to watch the first few seconds of the video to see what we walked into...


Finally, we got out onto the street where the market was and it was hysteria, as you can see from the video.  Earsplitting techno music was booming all around us. There were intoxicated, half-naked people surrounding us, too much PDA, people peeing in the streets and on buildings...I had never been to anything like that in my life, and poor, poor Sr. Marinez…

We were so close to the market but it took us almost an hour just to walk a block there since we had to walk IN the parade to get past the blocked off streets. Yes, I made a nun walk in the biggest gay parade in the world. We were pushing through people and poor Sr. Marinez was beyond distraught and just plain mortified. It was blatantly obvious that she was absolutely and utterly shocked…all thanks to me needing to get souvenirs. The real kicker is that once we finally got to the market, it was closed! I knew an apology was in order, even though a million and one apologies could never erase the images that were charred in her head that day. I told her I was sorry, and she just nodded her head. Ouch. These were the absolute worst things a nun could ever see, and I exposed her to them. I have no idea how many Hail Mary’s it will take her to overcome that, if she is ever able to.


Oops.

Last day of classes

Here are some pictures from my last week in Brazil. 

The only picture I took at the gay pride parade 

Walking up the steep hill to get to our school

Birds in a car shop, I never understood why

My home for the past month and a half

Mormon church across the street

4th and 5th grade

7th grade

4th and 5th grade

High school class

One of my 4th grade students brought me the flowers on the left, so during the break 2 other girls had to give me flowers as well (they picked them from the garden)

One of my high school students gave Michelle and I pizza and little chocolate pizzas :) 

Just a few students from our adult class

Praia Grande

This weekend was a 4 day weekend, since Corpus Christi is an important religious holiday in Brazil. To take advantage of the long weekend I went to the seaside of São Paulo. Fernando has an apartment at one of the beaches called "Praia Grande" or "Long Beach". I went with Fernando, his mom, Michelle, and one of Fernando's former students named Pedro.

We got there around 7am on Thursday morning to avoid traffic. On the drive to the beach we drove through many mountains but unfortunately it was too foggy to see them. Once we got to the beach though the fog started to dissipate and we could see mountains all around.

Corpus Christi is a big holiday here and to celebrate different schools and churches decorate the streets with colored wood chips. We walked around to look at all the "rugs" and then we went to a military base    where we took a bus going approximately 2mph to the top of a mountain where there was an old fort and a beautiful view of the beaches. We didn't go to the beach that day since it got pretty cloudy again.

The next day we spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the beach. All of the women wore bikinis, no matter what shape they were in. For lunch in the later part of the afternoon we went to the food court at the mall where we ate at a buffet sort of restaurant where you take the food you want and then weigh it and only pay for the food you take. What a genius idea.

We came home Saturday morning and today Michelle and I are going with one of the nuns to a market and then to a famous park here in São Paulo called Ibiraquera Park.

This week will be my last week teaching, and then Michelle and I leave for Rio de Janeiro on Friday. We'll get back Monday night around 9, and then my flight to go home leaves Tuesday morning at 6am. I'll get back home at 2am Wednesday morning, those will be a long 3 days of traveling!

Prices & Food in Brazil

I'm continually shocked at the prices of things in this city. I expected everything to be more expensive than in the states because it's a huge city, but I definitely wasn't expecting the prices that I've seen. Taxes here are extremely high which causes the high prices of everything. For example, Michelle had to buy a pair of leggings. Nothing special, just a pair of black leggings. I get my leggings in the US at Target for around $10. The first store we went to the leggings were 120 reais ($75). We went to a few more stores, the average price of leggings being around 60 reais ($37).  Finally we found a pair for 35 reais, which is $22. Also when I was at the airport a few weeks ago I wanted to buy a simple salami and cheese sandwich.

I was talking with an English teacher at my school and he was giving me some examples of the ridiculous prices...

- The best of the best Nikon cameras is about $5,000 in the US. Here in Brazil the same camera is at least 20,000 reais, or $13,000.
- The teacher bought a simple watch off of Ebay for $50, but here in Brazil the same watch is over $300.
- A book about the English Language could be found for about $25 in the US, whereas here in Brazil it's between 4,000 and 5,000 reais ($2,500 to $3,100).
- A volkswagon Jetta in the US is around $30,000 (I think) and in Brazil it's about $60,000...double the price!!!

There were numerous other examples that I can't remember, but I see this prices all the time when I go out to stores. I told the teacher I was talking to that I don't understand how people can afford to live here and he said that the black market is popular because that's where things are so cheap...you just need to know where to find them and who to know. Sounds pretty sketchy but it's apparently a way of life here. Brazil encourages people to not buy imported good but it seems almost impossible to do that when things on the black market are so cheap...One thing is for sure, I will never complain about high prices in the US again!!!  Prices are extremely cheap compared to prices here.

Foz do Iguacu

This weekend Michelle and I spent the weekend in the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu (Falls of Iguazu). There is a national park on both the Brazilian side of the waterfalls, and also the Argentinian side. Though we wanted to see both sides of the falls, we only went to the Argentinian side called Puerto Igauzu. The park is much bigger and has more trails, and you can get closer to the falls than on the Brazilian side.

The owner of the hostel where we stayed used to be a tour guide in the national park, but isn't anymore. Instead he owns a few hostels and has a tourism agency as well. As he was giving us advice on what to do and where to go on Saturday, we asked if he could take us to the falls instead of us going by ourselves. He was reluctant to go since he could get in trouble if he was seen acting as a tour guide (since his license already expired) but after much convincing, he ended up going with us. He knew  everyone that worked at the park so we didn't have to wait in any lines or have to do much of anything, he just pointed us in the right direction and told us what we needed to know...it was great!

We got to the falls around 9:30 in the morning and left around 4:30, so it was a full day. The weather was perfect, in the mid 70s with sunny skies; it couldn't have been better. There were many trails that took us to different parts of the falls, all the views of which were stunning!! The biggest of all the waterfalls is called "the devil's throat" and we were able to be right at the top of it.

One of the highlights of our day spent at the falls was the boat ride that Michelle and I went on. There are no pictures, unfortunately, mainly because we literally went under a waterfall and got soaked!! After seeing the falls up close and personal, we sped down the river between the canyons and then took a jeep ride through the jungle. There was a tour guide on the jeep who told us all about the wildlife we passed, it was a great way to dry off after getting wet from the falls.

After we got back from the falls, Louis barbequed delicious meat and fruit and we enjoyed the rest of the night eating outside the hostel in the beautiful weather that continued on through the night. It was a great way to end the day!!

We got back to Sao Paulo this evening, and our next adventure will hopefully be this weekend when Fernando takes us to the beaches of Sao Paulo. Enjoy the pictures!

Festa Junina

This past weekend there was a festival held at the school called "Festa Junina". I don't have a direct translation for "Junina" but it has something to do with a June party. It celebrates Saint John, Saint Peter, and Saint Anthony and involves a lot of traditional food, drink, and dancing called the "quadrilha" which is like a square dance. I had a great time seeing the students, watching the class dances, and eating all the wonderful food!!!

On Saturday evening to celebrate my birthday, Fernando took us out to a bar called "Squat". Strange name, I know. Here are a few pictures from the night...

My classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays have been going pretty well. Most classes are well-behaved, but there is one class in the afternoon that is horrible. They talk, talk, talk, and then talk some more. It's like they have no idea how to behave in a classroom. Other teachers have the same problem, it's not just me, but it probably doesn't help that I speak only English so they aren't understanding much of what I say. Oh well, that's part of the experience for them! And me too, since I don't understand much of what they tell me in Portuguese.

 In the adult class we decided we're going out to eat on our last night of class, about 15 of us. The original plan was to just meet at school and then go out to the restaurant, but I thought it was funny that they all wanted to have an hour of class and then go out. A few of the adults came up to Michelle and I after class saying they are really enjoying it and are sad we're leaving in July because the classes won't continue. It was good to hear that!

This weekend Michelle and I are heading to Foz do Iguacu. We're flying out on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday afternoon. In the city of Foz do Iguacu are huge waterfalls on the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. We'll go to the Brazilian side of the falls of course, but apparently the Argentinian side of the falls is worth seeing as well so hopefully we'll make a trip there. It looks like it might rain but I'm hoping it'll hold off while we're there!

Brazilian snapping and Brigadeiros

Last Thursday I started teaching the conversation classes I wrote about previously. Since Michelle had just arrived last Thursday morning, I had all of the classes by myself instead of splitting them in half. Most classes were fine, but there was one class of 30 students between 2nd and 5th grade. I can't explain how terrible it went...the older students wouldn't stop talking and everyone was yelling at each other to be quiet, which just made the situation worse. The poor little 2nd graders just sat there, scared to death I'm sure of the older kids who were being so loud. That seemed like the longest hour and a half of my life!!!!!!!

On Saturday Fernando invited Michelle and I to his friend's apartment in a quaint little neighborhood called Villa Madalena. We all had a great time eating pizza and talking for hours. 

Fernando and I

Rachel, Michelle, and I 

On Monday three 8th grade girls were very eager to take Michelle and I to eat something called "pastel". It's a fried dough with any kind of filling you choose. I had cheese and bacon, and 2 of the girls had chocolate which was super delicious. They were so proud to have taken us there and for the rest of the week students would come up to us in swarms to ask if we liked pastel. I guess it even word got out in the high school classes because one of the high school students invited Michelle and I to go eat cookies with them. We're not sure where but if cookies are involved then I'm there.

This past Wednesday I taught some Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. We were learning about the different people in a family (mom, dad, brother, sister, baby) and I would ask them to repeat after me after I said each name. I would say a word and they would stare at me with blank faces. Eventually their English teacher stepped in and would tell them what to do in Portuguese. They finally got it, but then when we would get to the end I would say "great!" and they would repeat "great!"...they didn't know when to stop repeating after me. Also, when I got to the word "baby" all the kids, even the little 3 year olds, would start saying Justin Bieber "baby, baby, baby ohhhhh". I couldn't believe even the younger ones knew his song! 

Yesterday I turned the big 2-3, and even though I taught all day long there were so many people that made it an extra special day. In all of my classes throughout the day, Michelle brought her class to mine to sing Happy Birthday to me in Portuguese and also in English. In the teacher's lounge during the break all the teachers got up to sing Happy Birthday to me in Portuguese.  One of my high school students brought me some brigadeiro (chocolate) and invited Michelle and I out next week to eat cookies...yes yes yes!!!! 

From one of my 4th grade students

On my birthday the table was beautifully set! Everyone lit a candle that was floating in water and each person said something about me and what they hope for me in the future. 

Michelle and Sr. Marinez 

Cake and brigadeiros made by Sr. Maruzania...yum!!!! Brigadeiros are basically balls of chocolate

4 of the Sisters and then Michelle and I

One of my first memories of Brazilians is that I noticed them doing a strange hand gesture. As I spent time around Brazilians I noticed that they all do this strange hand thing. It sounded like a snap, but it was very fast paced and it definitely wasn't snapping. Eventually I asked what this gesture meant, and I found out that it means something that needs to happy quickly or in a hurry. I've been very intrigued by this hand gesture and the past few days Michelle and I have been trying to master it. It's really hard, but we're making progress...slow progress. Here's a video from last night where Sr. Maruzania is trying to teach us how to snap

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Classes

Starting tomorrow things are going to get super busy for me so I wanted to update everyone before things get too crazy. 

This past weekend I went out with Fernando on Saturday night to a British English Culture Festival. We watched a dance performed and then Fernando drove me all around Sao Paulo to show me the different neighborhoods and all that the city has to offer. We stopped at a bar in a neighborhood called Moema and spent some time there enjoying the atmosphere.

On Sunday, Fernando introduced me to his American friend named Rachel who was born in Brazil but grew up in New Jersey, and is now back in Brazil studying dentistry. We tried going to 2 different movie theaters to see a movie, but it was absolutely packed at the malls (on a Sunday night, so strange to me). At the 2nd movie theater, there were no movies playing in English so we gave up and went for pizza which is always a good option!  

As for school this week, I taught 2 of Fernando's 7th grade English classes and 2 of the 8th grade English classes. They are much larger classes than I'm used to. The number of students in each class ranges from 25 to 40. There are many disadvantages to having such large classes, but a few benefits. One of the benefits would be that all the students are at very different English proficiency levels, so if some of them are completely lost in a lesson, other more advanced students can help them out. 

Also, the English conversation classes that I originally came down here to teach, begin tomorrow. Over 100 students and adults signed up...so many more than what was originally planned. There are 5 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and each are 1.5 hours long. The classes range from 2nd grade to adults. The adults will consist of parents and some teachers here that want to learn English. The biggest problem we will face is having different proficiency levels in each class. Some students will come with barely any English whereas others attend English Language Schools and have more advanced English skills. I've been teaching and observing classes today from 7am to 6:30pm so I have a long night ahead of me preparing for all the classes tomorrow!

Pictures of the School

Here are some pictures of the school and where I live.

Fulbright

It’s incredible how much can happen in 24 hours. Yesterday evening I got an email from the director of the Fulbright program in the Asia-Pacific countries (where I applied). He said to contact him as soon as possible in regards to the status of my Fulbright application. I practically had a panic attack, but had a faculty meeting so I had to contain my nervousness about what this could possibly mean. I initially thought they might want to send me to another country that didn’t receive enough applicants. During the meeting I couldn’t focus one bit, and Fernando (the English teacher) asked what I wanted to do for the rest of the meeting…I told him honestly I just wanted to call the program director for the Fulbright and I ended up explaining the situation to him. I told him I wouldn’t know what to do if they offered me the grant to either Indonesia or another country, since I already signed my contract with Korea. He very calmly explained to me that it’s not a hard decision. Since I’ve wanted the Fulbright for a long time, I should accept that and see what steps I need to take to end my Korean contract. He really saved me from losing my mind and by the end of the conversation I felt much better. He then told me about the many places he’d like to show me in Sao Paulo and also offered to take Michelle and I to the beach in Sao Paulo where he has an apartment. There’s a holiday towards the end of June where we have a 4 day weekend and he said he’d be happy to have us there. His kindness and enthusiasm to show me around has already helped me more than he will ever know.

Anyways, back to the Fulbright. The last I heard from them was that I was rejected, and that was the last I expected to hear from them. I moved on with my life, found a job for the fall, and that was that. I talked to the director this afternoon and he informed me that the English Teaching Assistantship program in Malaysia had unexpectedly tripled this year and they are looking for applicants to fill those spots. He said the Fulbright commission in Malaysia has looked over my application and offered me the grant. I would go from January 2012 to November 2012. I told him that I already made plans for the fall, but would love to accept the offer. So, I have until the end of the business day tomorrow (Friday) to call him back and let him know my decision.

I honestly thought it was going to be a hard decision to make, but after he explained the situation to me, I already knew my answer was going to be yes. I’ve known about the Fulbright for a few years, and always knew I wanted to apply to go abroad after I finished my Masters degree. Even though I was initially rejected, I’ve been given a second chance and there’s no way I will pass this up.

Of course, the problem arises with my contract I signed to teach in Korea. I feel horrible about having to end it, but hopefully it won’t cause too much of an inconvenience because they haven’t paid for my plane ticket or made arrangements for my visa yet. The recruitment team I worked with was extremely helpful, and I hope I don’t burn any bridges with them. Teaching in Korea is still an option, but just not in the immediate future like I had planned.

In terms of Brazil, I couldn’t be living any better. I booked both plane tickets to Rio de Janeiro and Foz do Iguacu. Michelle and I will be going to Foz do Iguacu from June 17-19 and then Rio from July 1 – 4. I can’t wait!!

Today I didn’t attend any English classes. The director knew my situation with the Fulbright, and there weren’t any English classes to attend anyway. The past few days I’ve been with Fernando in the middle school English classes, and also with Christina who teaches the elementary school English classes. I will start to teach the middle school classes next week. Also, after Michelle comes, we will be holding conversation classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We’re not sure how many students will attend, but should find out soon when all the permission slips come in.

Pictures

Sunday afternoon I went out with one of the nuns to downtown Sao Paulo. We saw the cathedral in Praca da Se which is the city center. It’s a gorgeous square lined with unique trees, but it’s also a place where countless homeless people live. Even as we walked through the streets, there were so many of them lining the sidewalks.

We also went to the equivalent of Chinatown, except here in Sao Paulo it’s “Japantown”. There were tons and tons of markets going on all over the city, so we walked and walked and walked all around. We also went to Trianon Park which is one of the smaller parks in Sao Paulo, but still it was really nice to see so much green in such a ginormous city.

This morning I was supposed to meet the director of the school (who is one of the nun’s I live with) in the teacher’s lounge at 10:20 when all the teachers had a break. I sat in the loungue awkwardly as they all stared at me and tried to talk to me, but all I did was smile and say “Eu nao falo Portuguese” (I don’t speak Portuguese). Eventually I went to the director’s office and she walked with me back to the teacher’s lounge and introduced me to the teachers. Among them were the 2 English teachers for middle and high school, both named Fernando. They were very welcoming and all the teachers wanted to know if I could teach English to them. I said yes, only if they could teach me Portuguese ☺ I hope to set something up.

One of the Fernando’s also invited me out with him to see the city sometime. Actually, he is a dentist as well. He teaches 3 mornings a week, and in the afternoons he works as a dentist. He said it’s common for people here to have more than 1 job.

I went with him to watch 2 English classes. His first class was 8th grade. There were 35 students- a lot more than what I’m used to. The other class was 6th grade. The students in both classes were extremely rambunctious; they were really excited I was there. The first question a girl asked me was “Do you know Justin Bieber?” Some of their questions were pretty funny:

Do you like Ricky Martin? AC/DC? Bob Marley? French fries? The Black Eyed Peas?
Do you know the song “Just Can’t Get Enough”?
Have you ever met anyone famous?
Have you seen the show “Everybody Hates Chris”?
Do you talk to Obama?
Do you know how to dance?
Do you like Paramore?
Do you like funk?

In the 6th grade class, a girl started playing the cha cha slide on her cell phone and a few girls came to the front of the room and danced—too funny. At the end of that class the bell rang and students flocked to me so they could take pictures with me. I felt like a celebrity.

Each classroom is very simple- only desks and a chalkboard. I was really spoiled at Dumbarton where I had a document camera, which made life so much easier. The classroom management was the biggest problem I observed today. It was such a big class, the students were talking to each other and they didn’t really seem to take much of an interest in learning English. Fernando later told me that it is common for them to take English less seriously than their other classes.

The director has a schedule for Michelle and I, but since Michelle won’t be here until June 1st, I don’t really know yet what I’ll be doing until then. From what I understand, we will be split up between different grade levels. Wednesday evening there’s a faculty meeting with all the teachers, so we are planning to set up something more concrete then in terms of what I’ll be teaching.

I made it to Sao Paulo! I had no problems with any of my flights and I arrived in Sao Paulo around 4am Saturday morning. I was scheduled to arrive an hour later, but it took a while to go through customs and baggage check so I didn’t have to wait too long at the airport to be picked up.

Two nuns picked me up at the airport; there are 5 total I’m living with—3 are in their 40s and the other 2 are older. Only 2 of the younger nuns speak English and the other 3 only speak Portuguese.

My first impression of the city when driving from the airport to the house was that it looked pretty sketchy. It’s a gigantic city, so naturally it’s really dirty with tons of graffiti everywhere. Even at 5am there were so many people wandering the streets—nowhere I’d ever like to be at night, alone or not. In general, it reminds me a lot of Rome—the driving is the same (absolutely chaotic). I’m not sure which city is worse. However, São Paulo seems to be much more run down.

When we got to the house (which is also connected to the school) I ate breakfast and broke all of the rules that my travel doctor advised me to follow. He told me no dairy, no salad, no water unless it’s bottled, etc. For breakfast I ate cereal with milk, and then later for lunch I ate salad. I haven’t gotten sick yet…

After breakfast I went straight to bed and slept all morning. I woke up for lunch and that’s when I met the rest of the Sisters. They were extremely welcoming and said they had been waiting for me to come for a long time. They kept telling me to make myself at home and they're so happy I'm here. Thankfully the two sisters who speak English could translate for me, but they mostly speak Portuguese and with the little Italian I know I’m able to pick up a few words here and there.

After lunch we went to the provincial house (aka the “mother-house”), which is basically the headquarters for all SSNDs in Brazil. This is also where the retired nuns live. It was really a welcomed change of scenery. The ride there was through the streets and then when we got to the house it was another world—full of trees, flowers, and fruit trees (which I somehow managed to climb to get the fruit) all surrounded by a wall so you couldn’t see the craziness of the outside world.

Also when I was at the mother-house I met a 92 year old nun, Sr. Fatima, who was so darn cute. She didn’t speak English but she was very curious about me. She asked how old I am, why am I there, what am I doing, and how I traveled all the way from the US to São Paulo all by myself without knowing the language. She said I should have come with my mom because it’s dangerous—how sweet!

For dinner we went back to the house where nuns from all over the world came to visit. They had a meeting in São Paulo so it was convenient for them to visit and also have a welcoming dinner for me. There were about 15 nuns total from Chile, other states in Brazil, Rome, the US, and Argentina. I had fun listening to them all speak in Portuguese and thankfully there were some that spoke English who could translate for me.

Also, on an unrelated note, there is a rooster nearby. This is the busiest, most crowded city I’ve ever seen and somehow, somewhere, there is a rooster that crows outside my room at all times of the day.

Right now as I’m typing this it’s 10:30pm and São Paulo seems to be just waking up. A Brazilian type of music, samba, is blasting outside my window. I feel like I’m next to an outdoor concert. Maybe I am, who knows. That’s just the way it is and I’m going to try to sleep. Tchau!

PS - Will post pictures either tonight or tomorrow.

Job in Korea

A lot can happen in a month! This morning I received a job offer in Korea, and I took it. I had an interview  with the school a few nights ago on the phone, and that went well. I will be working in a city called Yongin in the Gyeonggi province outside of Seoul. The school is Aran Language School, and it’s a well-established kindergarten hogwan (private school). Originally, I was planning to teach English in a public school in Korea through GEPIK, but I’m excited about my decision to teach at this school. It’s a Kindergarten school during the day, and then there is an afterschool program with elementary school students. There are 8 other English teachers there from Australia, Canada, and the US. My starting date will be July 18^th; and the contract is for a year. I will have 2, one week vacations which means I probably won’t come back to the US until my contract ends in July 2012. I get back from Brazil on July 6^th so I will only have about a week and a half to tie up all my loose ends here. 

Today I went to Annapolis to get some papers apostilled, and I gathered all the other documents to send to Korea before I leave for Brazil on Friday, so I haven’t even thought about packing (for Brazil) yet. Actually, I have yet to unpack from my move from Baltimore to Frederick. After I do that, then I can pack for Brazil. Tomorrow is my last day to get my act together, and then my flight leaves on Friday at 11am. I'll be flying from DC to El Salvador,  El Salvador to Peru, and then finally Peru to Sao Paulo. Each flight is about 5 hours long. Good thing I love flying! I should get to Sao Paulo around 5am on Saturday morning. 

One month

I'm starting this blog to keep everyone updated while I'm off traveling the world! 

Just to get everyone on the same page, I will be leaving on May 20th for Sao Paulo, Brazil. I'll be there 6 weeks and will return to the states on July 6th. While I'm there I'll be volunteering as an English teacher in a Catholic school and living with SSNDs (nuns). I don't know any Portuguese, but I'm looking forward to learning it.

Also, as most people know, I did not receive the Fulbright to Indonesia. I'm now in the process of applying to teaching jobs in South Korea. All of my application paperwork is in, so all I can do is wait. I probably won't hear about a job until end of June or July. I'm hoping to leave sometime in August and would sign a contract for a year.