My New Place

So without further ado, I wanted to share my new apartment with you. I LOVE it! I feel very spoiled and lucky to have it. There are 6 stories but really I live on 7 because the first floor is a wide open area. I need to remember to ask about why there aren't apartments on that level. It's kinda like a lobby but it's completely open as you can see. My front door.
I also have a second door to which is for service people. So different than at home. Right now that's what everyone's using since my main door lock is broken. What's that saying about back door guests are best? Everyone's a back door guest at my place.Check out the interesting shaped keys.
They're round.

My living room.
The view. To the right you can see one of Brasilia's sights...the TV Tower. In the center you can see the Banco Brasil and check out the treetops. There's a field on the other side of those so I have all this green space, clean air and beauty. Lucky! Alright, some of the sights are hard to make out for now, but they're there. I promise! My dining room and another living room view. The kitchen. I've got 2 sinks. One is for dishes, while the other is for??? My washer and dryer are at the end of the kitchen. Hallway
Guest room. This could be yours! Taking reservations now. By the time any of you come, it'll be much fancier. Dates are booking fast!
My room. One of my favorite things to do is lie in bed and watch the sunrise or set. It happens here so quickly (about 30 minutes). It's a 6:30 sunrise and 6:30 sunset.

My closet.

Built-in storage is great!

The bathroom. Love the 60s charm.

It's feeling homier each day. I'm glad I brought a few things from home to make my new place feel like home. Pictures of family and friends, a few runners and table cloths make a HUGE difference. I love it because... it's charming and quaint. It's the perfect size. It came with a gecko who likes to visit at night for his dinner of uninvited guests. And has the best view. Everyday I see the sun rise over the treetops while the parakeets begin chatting. Can't ask for much more. Life is good.

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.

I'm Alive! I Arrived!

Things are great in Brazil! I've been here now a week and can definitely say that truthfully. I never knew how wonderful a group of staff members and community could be. Leaving Illinois and KME was really hard for as you know, but with the way things are going, I'm/we're off to a great start. They have taken care of us in every aspect of our lives and I just can't say how much I appreciate that. Very lucky girl.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to the local produce market and to buy some plants. We're going in a group so we can learn the ins and outs and get a bit of help with our Portugese. It is coming along... Early day though...meeting @ 7:30 a.m. @ school. That's 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday during the summertime for those of you Illinoisians. Then onto school to work more on my classroom and off to a party tomorrow night. Fun and busy!

Final word. Sorry for the delay in my postings. Just got the internet today at home and with our schedule the past week will update over the weekend with pics and all. So happy to have it after being envious of 9 of the 11 other newbies who'd been facebooking, gmailing, skyping with their friends and family. It's time for me now. Yea! Hope you all are wonderful. Miss you much!

McDole Rocks! aka My Surprise Going Away Party

So yesterday I headed over to Shanna's house for a "get together" with some of my great McDole friends: Kindra, Gwen, Tracy and Shanna. When I pulled up to her house, I saw Tiffany getting out of her car and then noticed several other familiar cars next to hers.

Hmmm. I suddenly realized something fishy was going on. Shanna greeted me at the door with a big smile and led me into the kitchen were lots of my McDole friends were waiting. Surprise! I'd been tricked! Instead of it being a small get together, it was a surprise going away party. I was surprised (duh), thrilled and really touched.

Lots of friends came to visit, hang out and eat some yummy food. It was such a fun night!

Gwen, Anne, Lori, Tiffany and I in the garage. Much cooler outside!

Kris, Anna,Tracy, Courtney, Melissa and Tyler - Kitchen crew shot 1

Molly, Sean, Jez and Renee - Kitchen Crew Shot 2

Shanna and I - Don't worry...it's a fake belly rub. I just think that's weird that she's had strangers touch her.

I can't say thanks enough to Shanna, Kindra and Gwen for putting this together for me. You three are so sneaky! I'm definitely going to miss seeing you all on a daily basis. And Shanna I hope the contest is still going on to name the baby. Can I work on it from a remote location?

Final notes:

1. Sorry I interrupted your planning a few times. I just wanted to hang out.

2. And a BIG thanks again Pete opening up your home and for tolerating all of the elementary female teachers in your home for over 8 hours!

3. And we have to take another group shot sometime. I totally blocked Shanna's head and Giaseppe Piccony as well!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

Lately I've had quite a few questions about my move, all the logistics and details so here's a little Q & A that should hopefully help to satisfy inquiring minds.

Big Pictures
Where'd you get the idea to move to Brazil? How'd you get a job there?
In November I found out my literacy coach position in Kaneland was being eliminated. For many of you who were around me, you know I was devastated. I felt being a lit coach was truly my calling. It was a wonderful balance of working with children and working with adults. But alas, things change, times change and I needed to use this change, although not my choice, to figure out what was best for me.

Fast forward to winter break '09 and one of my best friends, Andrea, was home visiting from Brazil. We had a heart-to-heart chat over ice cream (our usual) and that's when the seed was planted. She mentioned that her school would have a 3rd grade vacancy. She asked if she could put my name in as a possibility.

About a month later, I received an email from the Headmaster and Principal from Andrea's school (American School of Brasilia aka EAB) asking if I would like to interview with them. I had decided by that time, being back in a classroom was best for me, so, I had a phone interview with the two of them. I've been on lots of interview teams over the years and this interview was unlike any other I've ever had. They asked me not the usual knowledge level questions, but really tried to see if my teaching philosphies matched those of EAB. It went great!

A few days later, they asked if I'd be willing to meet in Waterloo, IA just before the University of Northern Iowa International Teaching fair began. So, I took a personal day, drove all the way on a frigid January day 5 hours there. I went out to dinner with the Headmaster and High School Principal. Cajun. We had alligator and jambalaya, wine and great conversations. I felt both were wonderfully honest about their own experiences and where EAB is right now. I so appreciated the honesty but also felt that the direction they're going, what they want to do for children is what I want to do. So, it was a match. A week later, I emailed and it became official!

Why Brasilia?
When Andrea planted the seed I did consider other places as well but Brasilia and EAB have things that other schools couldn't offer.
Here are a few:
Andrea - best friend, old roommate, built-in support
EAB's student population - truly international; mostly Brazilian but many nationalities represented
EAB's support of all staff's children - any staff member's child may attend EAB at no-cost, most international schools only allow teachers' children to attend for free
EAB's philosophies - where they're going is what I believe in
3rd grade - been there, done that so at least something will be familiar
Portugese - I really want to learn the language so having weekly lessons and living there will help push me to reach that goal
Why not?

How long will you be there?
At least 2 years and then we'll see. Year 2 will be wonderful! It always takes at least 1 year after you move to feel settled and at least one year in a new job to feel like you know what you're doing. How can I pass that up that feeling?

Parabéns a Goo

Parabéns a Erin!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my sister, Erin's, 29th birthday. In her honor, today's post will all be in shades of her favorite colors; purple and green. And those have been her favorite colors for as long as I can remember.

To celebrate her b-day we went out to breakfast at Panera, got pedicures (guess what color she got!) and lounged on the couch watching ANTM before going out to Houlihan's for dinner. That's all she wanted to do so it was just a great day. Since it's her b-day just wanted to say a few things about her.

Here are a few things I LOVE about my sister:
She has the BEST laugh. If you play the video from our trip below, you'll hear it.

She finds some humor in almost anything like America's Funniest Home Videos, Hillshire Farm's Go Meat commericals ( I kinda like these too) and taking silly pictures (see below).

She toe dances. She's not the only Looney who does this. Toe dancing is defined as wiggling your toes without even realizing it while you're lounging.

She spreads her love of life with everyone around her.
And one of my favorites is that she loves the little things in life like sheep, a good glass of wine, a nap, a chocolate milkshake, flipflops, etc.

I'm just a really lucky girl who has an amazing sister. We fought like cats and dogs when we were young and now she's one of my best friends. She's taught me so much. Living with her has been one of the best things I've gotten to do in my life and it'll be one of the hardest things to say goodbye to for a while.

So, Sister, El Goo, Erin, I love you lots. Thanks for being you!

Guess I'm on a bit of a list kick right now. Enjoy them and also I'm putting out a disclaimer too. Please anticipate the sapiness levels of my posts will only increase as the number of days before I leave for Brasilia decreases.

I'm a lucky girl

Today, especially with my move date creeping closer, I was reminded about how lucky I am.

I'm suspecting I'm feeling this tonight because I'm becoming sentimental and realizing that my time with friends and family is getting shorter and I'm going to have to say goodbye for a bit.

To give you an idea of why I feel so lucky here are some of things I did today.

• Rode and chatted in a golf cart in the rain with Amy and her daughter Mackenzie watching Jay, Andrea and Brian during the golf scramble...And I don't golf.
• Held baby Mackenzie who is just a sweetheart while she slept soundly in my arms
• Bantered and listened to the chatter among and with Andrea's family who are just wonderfully welcome and warm...Love them!
• Ate Andrea's delicious ice cream cake and lots of other delicious food
• Added to my Brit vocab with a lesson from Jay ( I can too understand you!)
• Sat and just watched Mackenzie sleep, wiggle her toes, coo and smile
• Hung out on the Pearson porch with Andrea, Ron, Barb and cousin Tom

The Pearson bbq is MY annual 4th of July event. It's not the 4th of July without it. I love being able to spend Andrea's b-day with her each year, just hang out and I really feel like I've become a part of their family on that day. Her relatives all welcome us because, well yeah, we've been attending for the past 6 or 7 years but mainly because they're just a great bunch of people.

There's are lots of other reasons I'm thankful today too but right now, these simple things, that I'm lucky to have are what's on my mind. Thanks for a wonderful day Pearsons!