Burritoville + Friends = World Cup?

I've been home for a couple of weeks now.  Time is flying by as is the World Cup.

It's been wonderful to catch up with family and friends the past few weeks.  As my dad said at dinner tonight, definitely nothing to complain about at all.   Since we've moved into the quarter final round of the World Cup, my cup watching has decreased.  I know this is because I'm working on my graduate school homework.  I've been spending time with fam and friends.  With the US out, I was a little deflated.  Also, watching soccer alone is fine but it's just not quite the same as with a group.  I've been dying to watch the cup somewhere with other soccer fans and soak it in.  Today I got to do this in a completely random place.  Burritoville in DeKalb.

Andrea, her cousin Tom and myself traveled over to the Northside to soak in some soccer culture, cold beer and yummy guac and tacos.  We watched Spain take on Portugal with another of Andrea's local acquaintances, the restaurant owner, his two sons and another local or two.  The announcers spoke in Spanish, having a background language other than English made me feel comfortable but what really made this time was watching with other people.  No one had strong ties to either team but really just love the game.  9 random people in DeKalb, Illinois all watching a soccer match in Cape Town, South Africa. Villa's goal by the way...amazing!

Completely random afternoon but definitely what I'd been craving.

And the camaraderie doesn't end there.  How can I forget my other team?  Brasil!   Friday morning, bright and early, I'll be at Andrea's with some of the same friends and more fam watching Brasil take on the Dutch. Goo, you're invited too.  And I've got my gear all ready for it.  Wig included!  We're going for 6!

Wrappin' Up the Year

I've been postponing this post because there's well, lots going on, emotions running high and it just seems to make more sense to write this about an hour till I'm picked up for a final crepe dinner with my friends before I'm dropped off at the airport. 

Thought I'd keep this brief and I hope by now you know that's relative with me.

A few things I can't wait to have and/or experience when I'm in Chicago:

• Family - Obvious right?  What they don't know is I have a special airport surprise for all of them!
• Friends - Another obvious one but I truly can't wait to just hang out on decks, catch up at Starbucks and just enjoy being together. 
• Yards - I miss being able to have some green space.
• Starbucks - Haven't had a real mocha or frap since March in Rio and I can't wait to get my fix.
• Food - From Mexican food to burgers on the grill to Thai food to brats to a real beer that's doesn't just taste good because it's cold.  Yum!
• Target - Just the idea of pushing a cart through the aisles sounds wonderful. 
• Bookstores - Bookstores filled with books in English and I can sit as long as I want and just peruse what's new.  Sigh.
• Vacation - Um, yeah I may be starting this new masters program but that's all I have to do for six weeks.  No papers to grade, parents to email, kids to implement new behavior plans with.  Ahh.

A few things I'll miss and/or not miss at all this winter while I'm in Chicago:

• World Cup Decorations and Sound Effects - random choruses of horns.  They are blown throughout the bloco and at random times of day.  And Brazil hasn't even played yet.

• World Cup Parties and Excitement - There's an amazing feeling in the air.  Everyone's got fever no matter their age, their gender or their nationality. 

• Morning Parakeet Shreaking - Don't love it on the weekends but 6:30 everyday they're up. I wondered this morning as I worked on my grad school work if the other students in my class could even imagine hearing wild parakeets as they worked.
• The Skies - I've never lived anywhere that everyday the skies are a beautiful brillant blue.
• Cold Showers - haven't had a hot one in days since my hot water's not working.  And it's winter here so brrrrrr.
• My Class - I haven't been this sentimental about a group of kids in a long time.  One of those groups who because you work sooooo hard that you can't even look at the in-coming students without an internal groan because it won't be the same.  Plus they chose a cool name for themselves, the Super Stars so even thinking about a new name, just doesn't cut it.

• Dirty Feet - It's dry season so the dust is everywhere and my feet show it.  So in need of a pedi this week.

Just a few random thoughts before I go.  I still can't believe that I moved here just over a year ago.  Time truly flies.  There's been good and bad and ugly but with all of that, there's lots of learning and personal growth.  Wouldn't trade the experience, would trade the distance between many of you and me but coming here for me, now, was the right thing.  Feels good almost a year later to know that the decision I made was the right one but glad I'll be home with everyone soon.

It Begins

In approximately 15 minutes, the World Cup will begin.  As I write this post from my classroom, I can hear the faint sound of a WC horn being blowed.  Rumor round the blogs are it is my headmaster. 

In approximately 15, the entire EAB staff, families and friends will descend upon the school auditorium to watch the first match.  South Africa vs Mexico.  Horn blowing more frequently and getting closer...

In 15 minutes, this match will be shown on the lcd projector and while watching we are able to sip on 900 liters of beer.  There are approximately 200 people in attendance who are able to comsume said beverage. If you do a little World Cup math, there are several possible answers, all of which result in a school full of sloshy teachers and staff members.

In 15 minutes, everyone not in the lower school will see that I'm sporting my new Brasil WC t-shirt today.  On the front there are 5 stars filled in with white.  One star is open.  It's waiting to be filled after Brasil wins this Cup.  Talk about confidence!   The back of the t-shirt has a picture of Africa along with several countries' flags. 

Are or were any of your final school days set this way?  Procedural check-out in the morning, followed by a World Cup game and bbq in the afternoon?  Only in Brasil, where if Brasil happened to be playing today, we wouldn't have worked because all banks and businesses close when Brasil plays. 

In 15 minutes, I'm ready to root for the host country.  Let the Cup begin!

Catch-up...Field Trip to NEX

A week ago Erica and I took our 43 third graders to NEX Conservation Cat Refuge.  Click on the link to learn more.  They've just added dual-language to their website which is great!  We had a  phenomenal time albeit the day that my plauge began.

This field trip was like no one I'd ever been on with my class before.  Here are the top 10 reasons this trip could only happen when you teach at the American School of Brasilia:

1.  Vans

We took 5 little vans to the refuge because the final 30 minutes of our ride we off-roaded, well, more like country roads but in Brasil this means that the road was too rough to take a bus.  Needless to say I wasn't feeling so hot (gotta love my carsickness) but fun to ride with just a few kids and a dad in a van rather than all 43 together.

2.  Waterfalls

We would never do this in the states and it's definitely one reason why I do like teaching here.  We hiked to a waterfall and the kids went swimming in it.  It was safe.  They had a great time and it really helped to meet the needs of all of the kids because from the cats to the waterfall, there was something for everyone.

3.  Swimwear

 We all wore swimsuits on the trip since we went to the waterfall.  Sungas and bikinis were worn by all.  I do love Brasil for that too.  It's helped me to be more comfortable in my own skin a lot since everybody else is here.  Yes people, I even wore my swimsuit in front of my students and their families.

4.  Synthesis

 

Taking a group of 3rd graders to a cat refuge, cats that they've been learning about in their International Social Studies and Brazilian Social Studies classes and hearing them synthesizing the information the caretakers share is pretty amazing.  They were putting it all together.  Learning about the cats' awful stories, hearing how a jaguar had been declawed and kept on a chain for photos by a "vet" and hearing one child say, "But I thought vets were supposed to help animals,"  is pretty powerful.  It provided learning that could only happen on a field trip like this.

5.  Food

So we ate delicious food of course, but when have you gotten the opportunity to see a jaguar being fed?  This particular male was quite loud (so much he scared a couple of the kids) about his lunch.

6.  Joy

Hearing the kids sing songs on the van ride back.  Watching them splash around in the water.  Seeing them cuddle with their parents.  This trip gave us the education piece we needed but also the right amount of fun as well.  It's just not as uptight as other trips.  Something that's hard for a person like me to get used to but something I'm learning to appreciate more.

7.  Cause

Our trip was a fairly expensive one.  R$85 per child.  That's roughly $45 each.  R$25 went for each child's lunch and visit (aprox. $12.50) and the remainder for transportation.  It cost R$50 for each adult's visit.  The lunch was just a few reals of this amount and majority went toward supporting the cats' at the refuge.  Going to a non-for-profit organization, especially with a group of students who have so much in life, taught lessons for them about what's important, especially when it comes to their pocketbooks.  A trip like this, especially with the US economy would not be possible.

8.  Nature

When can you go on a field trip and see wild macaws?  There were four of them just sitting in a tree by one of the jaguars' cages.  The bird life here is pretty amazing.  As I write this the wonderful (but yet so annoying at 6 am) parakeets are back.  Being dry season the food they like must be back in my neighborhood.  Sigh.











9.  Opportunity

 

At EAB, we have a scholarship program.  This program provides a free education for our employee's children.  With that there's good, like for the two students in my class this year who otherwise  would not have the opportunity to English education, field trips and access to materials that they do.  There's frustrating...this small number of students have difficulty being accepted by their peers since they don't have the same socioeconomic class status of their classmates.  Some of them arrive with their parents at school at 7 am and don't go home until 6 pm.  Can you imagine?  Also, it's one child per family.  How do they choose?  I wrestle with it on a daily basis but what I do know is that field trips like this gave those children something they otherwise would not have had.  They wore this experience on their faces that day.  The joy, the learning and appreciation of it all. 

10.  Interaction

When we heard the awful stories about these cats and saw how the cats interacted with their caretakers, it was pretty amazing.  Some of the cats seem to know that without this place they would still be in those horrific conditions and situations.  It's remarkable.  It was mutual caring and respect. 

We're headed back next year.  A great way to celebrate our learning, swim a little and just enjoy being together. 

6 Days...

Figurinhas.  An obsession.

If you are a child of any age from 5 - 18, you are currently obsessed with completing your official Panini FIFA 2010 World Cup sticker album.    The video link shows someone completing the album.  Don't love the music but it gives you an idea.

Now, that's the big hoopla about a sticker album?  Well, when you live in Brasil and soccer is life then having these baseball card-like stickers for the Cup is a need, not a want.   The album has a 2 page spread for each team in the Cup.  There are also pages for South Africa's stadiums, special 2010 WC stickers and so on.  

You could purchase your sticker book and figurinhas at one of the little local bancos (think miniature convenience store) in your neighborhood.  A pack of figurinhas costs about R.$75 which is about 35 cents. 

A few randon pieces of information about figurinhas...

1.  I know of one child who has actually completed their entire book.  A 3rd grader.  A student in Erica's class whose family cheered when they completed it.

2.  Jamey said his hs math students had estimated the total cost to fill the book at R$300.  That's approximately $150USA.  Would make for a good math problem.

3.  I missed out.  I thought about buying a book and hesitated.  I should know better.  Now, all of the stores are out of stickers so your only way to complete your book is to trade.  No stickers, no trading.  Poor me.

4.  On the web I found out it takes an average of 6 hours to complete a book.  6 hours to peel and stick stickers into a book.  Wow!

5.  There's major trading going on at EAB.  During lunches, during birthday parties (like my photos) and recesses.  If you want to complete your album, I may be able to arrange for some good trades.  You let me know what you need and I can facilitiate the transaction.

A final unrelated but yet very related note.  I realized with this World Cup countdown that actually also is a countdown for how many days till school's officially out for the summer/winter.  I can do it, I can do it.  I may have to repeat that a few more times but it's within reach!

Countdown...7 days

Today's countdown celebration is by the Petrobras Gas Station on my way to/from school.

This evening, I was walking home with Hayes and we made a pit stop for some drinks at the gas station.  As we walked in, we were impressed by all of their special decorations for the WC.

A few of our favorites...

a Brazilian flag created from beer and pop cans,

a family's home, including matching TNT curtains, small tv, stereo and scary doll dressed in Brazilian colors eating a bucket of Coke.  At first I didn't understand the above display. I only saw the tiny tv and stereo.  Then I turned and saw the scary doll.  Then I noticed she was sitting atop a soda pop couch complete with Brasilian flag pillows.  Ah ha!  And there was another chair made out of cans and even curtains.  It's like a tiny Brazilian family room made out of pop cans.  They even have a coffee table.

The same gas station had a soccer stadium created out of liter bottles and other bottles and packages of pop dressed in Brazil's soccer jerseys.  Definitely give the a 10 for creativity and a 10 for, don't you have anything better to do besides entertain your gringa customers?

Countdown Till the Cup - 9 days

In Brasil, even McDonald's has special sandwiches for several of the countries in the World Cup.  Every day of the week you can experience a special country's flavor. 

They have a chicken parmesan sandwich for Italy.  A really bright red sausauge sandwich for Germany.

And on Fridays representing the good ole U.S. you can dine on (done without any help from a translator or dictionary): 

• a ball bun (look closely at the bun and you'll see it really does have a soccer ball pattern)
•  a cow hamburger,
• cheddar cheese (yeah right, not real anyway),
• round bacon,
• lettuce mix,
• pickle slices (yep, I know the word for slices),
• fresh onion and
• bbq sauce. 

Do you think they captured the a taste of America well?  Can't say I've had this sandwich, probably won't have it either but it does get me excited for a real bacon cheeseburger.  Maybe I can grill out and catch a game.  Ohhhh.  That sounds perfect!

Countdown to the Cup!

11 Days till the 2010 World Cup

Living in Brasil, I've found that Cup fever has struck.  I live in a country that truly everywhere is gearing up for the World Cup.  It's a big deal here because, well, it's Brasil and soccer is a part of life the way, well, I guess my closest comparison is to American football.  But it's not even a fair comparision. 

Here families and friends all go to the same restaurant on Sunday afternoons to watch the Brasilian teams play.  They all wear jerseys and shout and yell.  When a team scores, I know in my apartment because everyone's yelling and setting off fireworks.  I can't even imagine what it will be like when the entire country's rooting for one team.  The fireworks will definitely be heard then. 

I'll be making a post each day dedicated to this exciting world event.  Cuz I've been struck with Cup Fever too!

Many of the neighborhoods have decorated the commercial streets with handmade streamers.  The streamers, you can tell, were cut by hand and then tied to these strings.  More about Brasil's team this year soon.  Their first game is June 15th. 

Vai Brasil!