Brrrr!

You know you've lived in a warm country too long when you are freezing even while wearing a fleece sweatshirt, socks, sipping Starbucks instant coffee and are covered in a blanket when the temperature outside is 63 degrees.  Brrrr!

Stay warm Chicago!

Pillow Fighters Unite!

Yesterday at 5:05 p.m. in Brasilia, we stumbled across a pillow fight.  We had spent the day touring BSB...a new mall with very chiq stores,  attempted to ascend the newest Niemeyer structure which is still under construction and won't open till June and then a pitstop for agua de coco and to play in the fountain at the Hippie Fair at Brasilia's TV Tower.  We made a final stop at the National Museum as some had never been there before. 
As we descended from the National Museum ramp (which looks like you've just landed on Earth from a large white spaceship) we noticed that there was a large group of late teen and early twenty-somethings hanging out by the National Library.  We additionally noticed that many in this group were yielding pillows.

So being the tourists we are, we stopped to ask what was going on.  Andrea asked a nice couple in Portuguese what was happening.  They replied in Portuguese, "a pillow fight." We all then said in unison in English, " a pillow fight?" And they replied, "Yes, a pillow fight," in English.  Andrea then asked what time it was going to start. It's supposed to start at 5:00. 

That's now we all thought.  So we sat down on some bench-like structures.  As we watched people wait for the fight to begin we watched some amazing roller bladers weaving in and out of  tiny cones testing their skills while simutaneously our bench was being jumped by skateboarders.  A young man approached our group and in English asked if we wanted to borrow a pillow.  He had an extra.  And that's where our fun began...



You show 'em Ellie



Our friends who told us about the fight

Preparing for battle

Andrea getting in some hits

Mickey and friend making their getaway

Girls only!

E running out of the fight

One of the organizers

Families joined the fun

Baby's first pillow fight!

We got to join in the fun and let me tell you, it was a great time even when the fluff had landed..

The Goo

My sister rocks and here's one reason why.  Can you find her???

Stay tuned for more Looney mobs...

I Loathe Brazilian Buracrazy

Anyone else want a button?  Because I'm going to begin printing them this week.  Since so many of you live so far from here and the post office is taking eons for mail they are going to say, "I Loathe Brazilian Buracrazy!"  I'm not sure how that quite translates into Portuguese but  that's fine with me.  It'll just add to the burcracy I've been dealing with here.

Valmir will not be returning to EAB anytime soon.  He got the official okay from his doctor last Sunday (February 13). His hand was completely healed.  He called to share the good news and learned he would be able to return after a few extra visits, aka buracracy, (I just accidentially typed buracrazy and hence my blog post cuz it's kinda funny) on Monday (February 14).

After school on Monday, Valentine's Day, my phone rang and when I saw it was Valmir, I knew it couldn't be good.  He wasn't able to see all three doctors needed to return to work.  You might be thinking, 3 doctors.  My goodness, that's a lot.  Well, it is but you need to be cleared by:

Dr 1 - the doctor who treated you
Dr 2 - the school's doctor
Dr 3 - the social security adminstration's dr

He was cleared by #1 and then proceeded to see #2.  #2 then said he wouldn't clear him unless he saw dr # 3.  When he went to try and see dr #3, the receptionist told him there aren't any appointments until March 17th.  He said, "But I'm healed and ready to return."  The receptionist laughed and replied, "You're the first person to ever say that."  This should give you a little hint into this system. 

That was Monday after school.  He hoped he'd be able to squeeze in on Tuesday afternoon but unfortunately dr #2 shut him down again.  I was just a little frustrated to get this call.  I know it's not Valmir's fault but didn't understand why the school wasn't helping him.

I then learned that they won't help him because they are worried about being sued.  If they help him, the government will view it as a push back to work.  The funny thing is that he's healed.  Completely better. 

Another funny thing is that since Valmir had to visit the SSA (Social Security Admin) since he missed over 15 days of work, that they are paying both Valmir and EAB for his time off.  Yup.  They're double paying.  So Dilma, I've heard you want to cut the govt's budget, well, silly things like this would help ALOT! 

And it wouldn't just help the budget, it would also help, um, let me think, children.  22 of them to be exact. It would help 1 teacher.  It would help countless other people as well.  Grrr!!!

In the meantime, I'm sharing an assistant with Erica.  It's fine and all but it's when you are used to things being one way and then for a really dumb reason the change,  it's annoying.  For a girl who's trying really hard to focus on just her class and grade level, there sure are a lot of things interfering with my plan.  Silly, silly buracrazy.  Silly, silly adults. 

My solution?  If we just listened to my 8-year-old students who said simutaneously in two different languages, English and Portuguese, "That's just dumb," then maybe we'd be a whole lot smarter. 

*  This post has been rewritten about seven times since starting it last week so I apologize if it doesn't flow so well.
** This post has additionally been rewritten about seven times since last week as it's taken me that long to calm down and accept the buracrazy.

Monday Night

Tonight I...

• got a Valentine's Day package from my mom and dad filled with cute heart covered p.j.s, peanut butter hearts, an InStyle magazine, several baking mixes, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, peanut butter hearts (small ones this time) and a cute t-shirt which were all wrapped in fun Valentine tissue paper,
• got soaked walking home in a rainstorm (I was just over halfway when the skies literally opened) while carrying above package and my netbook,
• chatted with my dad who's extra healthy today,
• walked for an hour with Hayes for my physical and mental health,
• took a hot shower (it's a miracle to have hot water!),
• ate yummy taco soup and Parmesan baguette slices from Boulangerie for dinner,
• watched a rerun of Law and Order SVU,
• covered up with a blanket while sipping tea because it's a chilly 70 degrees here tonight,
• read two emails from teachers in India who welcomed me,
• signed up for a summer laptop conference in Memphis (Graceland anyone?),
• listened to crickets chirping and
• will read more of Maximum City (a book about Mumbai) on my Kindle snuggled up under blankets before I go to bed early.

Not too bad for a Monday night.

Casting Update

In case you were wondering.  Valmir's still out.  At least one more week.  Sigh. 

Each day my students and I are crossing more body parts for good luck than I knew possible.  In case you were wondering, third graders also think crossing lips and elbows will help.  At this point, they can cross whatever they want as long as it gets Valmir back quickly!

Who's On First?

Yesterday I went to play softball for the first time in about god only knows how many years with a group of female teachers and expats against the EAB girls' softball team.  I'm definitely sore (my back, arm) today but it's a good sore and playing was a lot of fun.

Dad - You'd be bummed by my stats.  1 walk.  1 pop out and 1 hit.  I just wanted to hit the ball! 

Our teacher team was a hodge-podge of players:  5 EAB teachers, 1 American Embassy consulate officer, 1EAB fifth grader (coach's son) and 2 EAB teacher assistants (one is the assistant coach).   One of the teacher assistants had never played softball and actually wanted to just come and watch.  She was convinced to play by Nickie's (Kindergarten teacher) son, Teague, a 4-year-old.  He told her that you just gotta try your best.

She asked lots of great questions about the game.  Things that you forget about...strike zone, how to hold a bat, what's a hit, where to run, etc.  Her first time to bat she got a hit.  Not bad for the first time. 

This assistant has been immersing herself in American culture.  She came to watch the Bears v Packers a couple of weeks ago and tried to learn about American football.  She's going tonight to the Super Bowl bash.  Now she's learning softball and I'm not sure what else.  It's great!  There's one part of American culture baseball/softball culture that we need to teach her about.  It's about bases.  Yesterday, she was excited about her play and posted the following on facebook, "I made it to first base!"  And yes, that's true but being an American and since there's no other context applied, that has a second meaning.  Tomorrow, I'm gonna provide a follow up lesson that "making it to first" can imply something completely different.