New Teacher Orientation - Brazilian Style

Catching you all up on this past week is something I will do but for now, well, I'd like to do, but I need to start somewhere and I thought I'd give you some pics to boot.

Here's a glimpse into the fifth day of my new teacher orientation at school...Friday, July 31st.

6:00 - Woke up to 60 degree temps

Heard parakeets chirping (that's a polite way to say it) outside my window, showered and got dressed. Had to wear nice clothes since it was new parent/student orientation.

8:00 - Work in classroom

I'll write another post focusing on it but this gives you an idea of how my day started.

Soooo much progress since I started!

9:15 - 9:45 - Attended New Student/Parent Orientation
Didn't stay whole time, just to hear Craig (our headmaster) introduce himself and learn about how he introduces families to American School of Brasilia (EAB). So glad I went. He's a powerful speaker and his presentation truly echoed what we heard during ours. Another reason why I know this is a good fit for me.


12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch

Delicious Lebanese food brought by one of the student's families who owns a restaurant in town

1:00 - 2:15 - Portugese Lesson
Meu nome e Megan. Eu sou dos Estados Unidos. And I also learned my abcs. I know more than that I just chose a couple I know my gringos back home could understand.


2:15 - 5:00 - Bus Tour

Picked up at the front gate by the double decker tourism bus. Had to do our city tour in style. We had a great time seeing the city from the top of the bus as we enjoyed a cold cerveja. Not a cloud in the sky here. Very dry, in the 80s but should you be in the sun, be ready to sweat.

The cathedral. It's beautiful and now you probably will recognize where I got my blog banner (which by the way is my picture from when I visited Andrea 5 years ago).

Me in front of Congress (House meets on the right, Senate on the left). Amazing how close you can get to all of the gov't sites here. Just a little different than the states...

Some of the newbies on the TV Tower. Way, way in the background if you have amazing eyesight you might make out the same building I was standing in front of earlier. Great views of the entire city.

6:30 - 8:00 - Happy Hour/s at Libanos Some of the newbies have been to this very popular Lebanese restaurant a few times now.

Erin, Same, Laura and Stephanie...just 4 of our group of 11. Our newbie group is an eccletic mix of people who are all just wonderful. We've spent a lot of time together this past week and it's been a blast.

Libby wearing a cute Libanos hat. She wears funky hats and this one suits her well.

8:00 - 9:00 - New Teacher Apartment Tour/walk home We've all been scoping out each other's places. Fun to see how different they are.

9:00 - Home

Greeted by my new pet lizard, Luis (affectionately named after my apartment's guard). I like him greatly because he eats the unwanted visitors that were (past tense) living here uninvited. He's a little shy so he's running away!

Close up of Luis.

9:15 - Bed

I'm lame, it was early, but as you can see, a long but wonderful day.