they're laughing at me. . .

 oi :)

I keep having wonderful day dreams of blissful coffee but then reality hits and I can choose guarana or coke. Brizilians drink coke as habitually as we drink coffee. It's insane. But yummy and an acceptable substitute.

So Monday nights we teach English classes in Guadalajara and this requires printing. Well I decided to go to the Xerox shop and get what I needed by myself. I managed to communicate but they laughed at me a lot. One boy yelled, "American! Say English!" hahaha. Anyway, I felt so silly walking out of there after trying to communicate but hey I did it. Then I went to get tapioca and when I finished ordering the old man giggled at me. It's becoming a re-occurring theme to laugh at my Portuguese. 

I had a pretty great week of classes. I have been working really hard to love some kids and it is so incredibly amazing when they respond. One in particular is pretty hard to deal with. She will look you in the eye as she blatantly disobeys. She can be incredibly challenging and is very resistant. This week she sat on my lap and let me play with her hair and even ran and hugged me and was excited for workshop. I was beyond stoked! I continue to get tons of stickers from my kids so I started a sticker book at the back of my journal. I rock I know ;)

Apparently, there is this game where you can squeeze someone just right and make them pass out for a minute. Well the older kids started it and the younger kids took it to another level. They were making each other pass out and then letting them drop on their faces. Luckily, the injuries were relatively minor. One kid got dropped on his face and has half a face of bruises, scratches, and puffiness and another's lip is bruised and he lost feeling and movement in that half of his mouth for awhile but he is okay now. Unfortunately, the second kid's mom is a lawyer and wasn't happy so we had to have a juvy worker come in and they are having a parents meeting about it Monday. Silly kids.

Last week for workshop we focused on friendship. We read Chester's way and then made friendship wreaths. It was really fun and the kids had a ton of fun tracing each others hands. They got pretty creative and it was a ton of fun! 

Johnny

Johnny is the principal's (Tele) son.  His mom is British and he speaks fluent English. It might even be more comfortable than Portuguese to him. So, it is great having him in class to help if I need it. Johnny is such a great kid. I really love him. He has a flair for the dramatic, though. He loves Selena Gomez and Hannah Montana. He loves reading, singing, and acting. He is really funny and really sweet. He really loves talking too so sometimes I have to challenge him to be quiet. He is amazing!

Rafael

Oh, Rafael. When I first got to class I felt like I couldn't get this kids attention. He always had something in his hands that he was playing with or was drawing instead of writing. Then one day it all changed. He came up and hugged me super tight (which honestly shocked me) and started doing all his work perfectly. Well, the hugs got more frequent and he started drawing me pictures all the time (he really is a great artist). I was beginning to suspect something and it was confirmed when he came up and kissed me on the cheek. Apparently, Rafael has a teacher crush. On one hand it's sweet and on another he's in 6th grade and it's not appropriate. We had a little talk and it's calmed down a little bit. He is still doing really great in his work and constantly drawing. I will not be surprised if he becomes an artist!

Well I have a final paper to write for The Blessing. . .

Aqui e sentindo sua falta.

Love your tongue tied, exhausted, loving girl

Brittney

'

OH TEACHER. . .

hey hey hey,

  Brizilians in general say "oh" a lot. They say it kind of like we say "so" and the kids are no exception. The students have  a particular habit of saying "oh teacher" in a particularly cute and whiny way. So, I have decided to say it back just as whiny and I've discovered that it actually works! Next time you're feeling the need to manipulate to get what you want just say oh before the name and sound cute and whiny.

    Friday morning I went to Guadalajara to do some advertising for the English classes (it's a big deal to be an American I felt like a celebrity with kids following me around, taking pictures, and drawing me things) anyway I got lost in my  own thoughts (typical me) and missed my bus stop. So as soon as I realized it I jumped up and yelled "aqui!" (here). The driver looked at me like I was crazy given that it was not anywhere recognizable. I jumped off and started walking east. I walked east for 10 minutes and realized that couldn't have been right. So, I walked west. I walked west for quite awhile, tried to call someone but ran out of credits for my phone, and then finally I found my city! It has been particularly hot lately so I was pretty sure I was dying. I had told Carlos to meet me at the bus stop but he was late so I waited 20 minutes without shade and finally saw his face! We proceeded on to go into public schools which don't have air conditioning and are seriously hot. After walking all that time in the sun and then standing for hours in schools without being able to cool down, and having forgotten my water bottle I was considering the reality passing out. It sounds dramatic but it honestly wasn't. That evening I got on the bus and had to fight falling asleep. Once I made it home I went into my room and crashed. I spent Saturday fighting the same passing out feelings and puking and by Sunday I was so sick I didn't get out of bed all day. Well being the genius that I am I decided to google heat exhaustion. Sure enough I fit that profile quite perfectly. Cold skin, headache, vomiting, headache, dizziness, etc.  Given that the remedy is to stay in an air conditioned room I am still not doing better.  I've been chugging water and fighting the dizzy nauseous feelings all week.

    Saturday was Lindsay's baby shower and it was really cute. Brazilians tell you what to bring to the baby shower. Each person gets assigned a size of diapers to bring. It's pretty genius if you ask me.

     There is one child in the school who causes much distress (really this picture is nothing like him). Simon does what he wants when he wants and he's only in preschool. He runs around the school like a wild man and won't do anything unless it's his idea. They have to have people sit with him when he wants to play during classes so that he doesn't escape. The other parents are concerned and I've seen this kid in action and its scary. However, they decided to add him to our lego time. So I have taken him on. I did not expect to fall in love with this kid! He asked me to sit with him at lunch, gives me kisses, hugs, and is adorable. I love having him! I have been given the most infamous children in the school in all of my classes (hugo, netu, simielly, and now simon) and have been overwhelmed with love for each of them. It continues to reaffirm that I'm good at loving. I'm good with difficult kids. I'm ready for God to use my loving heart for any kid or person He wishes! 

     Last week in workshop we learned about compassion so we read the book "Hooway For Wodney Wat". It is about a rat who cannot say his r's so the other kids tease him. It's a great book and I loved reading it! I put on my best Carter accent and went for it! Then we played games that required compassion like the human knot and an obstacle course leading each other eyes closed. I'm still loving doing an glamorized story time for my workshops!

   

Due to some problems in art class, I have been given two more workshops on Mondays. I now teach 1st and 2nd grade as well! I love it! It made me cry when one of the kids was begging to be assigned to my class and then danced and sang "I love Teacher Brittney" all the way to the room! Have I mentioned I love teaching?

     So continuing on with profiles on students we are now done with 3rd-4th grade and are moving on to 5th-6th! I wasn't originally going to have this class because I was supposed to be with level one but the class was too big to handle so they split it and gave these amazing kiddos to me! I have a very theatrical class! I love them but it takes a lot to make each class go smoothly. I have to be incredibly creative with my lesson planning but I love it! We were recently learning about New York City and Broadway so we decided to write our own Broadway play and act it out. Oh boy! It was about Coca-Cola and it was really funny! We are now moving onto more geographic information! I love love love my class!

Anna Carla

Cute isn't she? She's the size of a mini twig! She is incredibly fluent in English and is incredibly intelligent! She is really helpful to one of my students that can't spell very well. She sits right next to her and slowly goes over every word with her because she gets done before almost everyone else. She is so sweet and patient. She went to the U.S. last year to Chicago. She showed me her pictures and it sounds like she loved it a lot. Her birthday is Saturday so we will be having a party Friday! She loves to give stickers. Almost everyday I get one from this sweet thing! I love my adorable Anna Carla.

Netu

The first day in my class Netu refused to do any work. After a seriously long struggle of wills and then a pact he has become one of my best students! He still has days but we work through them and I am always sure to hug him and remind him how much I love him and how smart he is. He is one of the main reasons I work so hard to keep class interesting. He loves soccer and plans on going pro. Everything he does is related to soccer. Every story we write his name is a soccer players, every picture we draw is in someway related to soccer. He also really wants to go visit Japan. I am really loving this kid! Sometimes, after having LiLi (Olivia) in class just before him I can't believe they are brother and sister but I love them both in their individual ways. I know he will go far and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to love him!

Apologetics is sweetly whispering my name. . .

Eu te amo! (I love you) 

Your loving, strict, air headed girl,

 







Brittney

Burtney, Brightney, Britnay, and Barbie. . .

 hey hey,

*if you are wondering what the title is about I will now indulge your curiosity! My name is a lot of consonants smushed together and this is pretty hard for most Brizilians so those are the names which they have resorted to calling me. However, one particular Brazilian finds it wonderful to call me Barbie. I do not understand this other than that I am white (but he doesn't call the other 3 white girls barbie). He then insists on a high-five but normally I just pretend I don't see it. 

   ANDI IS MARRIED! It's craziness! As I thought about the wedding (and cried a ton because I'm not there) I thought about how close we were when we were younger. It's weird growing up. To be able to remember all these years of friendship (11 years) and being able to see the growth and to say "I remember dreaming of this day with you"! It was beautiful!  She was beautiful! I am incredibly happy for her!!! But, I do think she was the first to ever have someone skype into her wedding! It was pretty awesome! I spent time getting ready (even straightened my hair and I assure you that will be the only time while I am here) and got all dressy (well kinda) and then cried my sappy eyes out! 

   After a week off and seeing everyone at the wedding (but in reality missing it) I have been rather homesick. But, we are back at school and I am starting to feel much better! God is working over-time on me and some deep rooted issues and homesickness just was not helpful on top of my drama. He'll get me through and has already comforted my with a million precious hugs!

  As you can see from the pic about Andi's wedding, I am becoming more girlie (mildly afraid of these implications) but alas after 7 years of only using black and closely related colors on my toes I have purchased and used pastel-ish colors! Change is in the air!

   I have recently been on quite the chocolate kick. I didn't notice until I looked at my cart at the grocery store and saw chocolate cookies, chocolate pudding, chocolate milk, etc and last night I really topped it off by eating chocolate cake for dinner!  I think I may need to get a handle on this but I'm not really willing to...yet!

  Yesterday was my domestic day. Normally, I don't mind this day but yesterday I stood at the bottom of the 3 flights of stairs and dreaded even the thought. But I did it! It's really a different world up there. It's like a completely different building up there. When you reach the third flight of stairs it is no longer nice linoleum but deteriorating cement blocks. The whole roof is covered in junk and sand. But, it does have a beautiful view of the city!
  

    My lightbulb went out yesterday, or so I thought. Turns out sometimes the whole thing just doesn't work. You have to wiggle and tweak with it until it works or just wait it out. So, after wiggling and tweaking, I am using a lamp. Silly electricity, there are no windows therefore you are necessary.

   Everyday, we play legoes with either 2nd or 3rd grade. They either don't sell legos here or they are incredibly expensive so this is a big deal.  I've never been one for legos. When Daniel had them when we were kids I just made cakes and patterns. Well, not much has changed. I choose colors and make patterns. But today I broke out of the norm! I made something! I'm not sure what  but it was something!
   
   I am so glad to be back at school! I'm glad it fills my mind. I'm glad it consumes me with love so that I can't be consumed with homesickness. 


Pedro
This cutie pie is wonderful! He is so incredibly smart. It is his first semester as a level two ESL but he keeps up with the other kids no problem. He is so smart that sometimes it is really hard to engage him but once you've got him you've got all of his attention and he is all for it! He is not quite as strong willed as the other students but he definitely can be. He loves to talk and is ready to tell me about anything. If we are talking about ocean animals he has information for me. I love it! He's incredibly sweet and is always the first out of his seat to help me if I drop something. He's my smart, caring, high-fiving buddy!


Carol

Oh Carol. Sometimes I watch her and giggle. It's like watching myself. She is very strong willed and does not like not getting her way but she's also incredibly sweet and incredibly intelligent. She comes off like a know-it-all but I can see that she is just desperate for approval from her teachers. I have to take her erasers from her because if a word isn't perfect she erases it and writes it again (sometimes 3 or 4 times). Everything is always in perfect place. She loves reading and is always volunteering. She loves her brother a ton and is incredibly sweet to him. She is such a smart, strong, organized, sweet, adorable littler girl. No wonder I love her!


I love you and miss you all a little more than normal this week!


Love your not married, not in a band, not a model girl,










Brittney

freckles have attacked my face. . .

   Last week I was especially out of it. I slept through fireworks and loud music and then right through my alarm. I woke up to find my retainer in my shoe. I forgot my computer with the movie for the kids and the popcorn. Is there a remedy for forgetfulness? 

  I have decided to literature (more like story time) for my workshops! I love children's books so why not teach what you love! The point of the workshop is to expose the kids to more English so I think books are perfect! This week we did "The Poky Little Puppy" and we talked about obedience. Afterwards, we went outside and drew our own Poky Little Puppies on the sidewalk with chalk. I don't think the kids have ever seen chalk. They took a piece and stared at me as I told them to draw on the ground. Then, they asked where the paper was. It was pretty funny but once they got it they  loved it and I am now out 2 boxes of chalk!

  

 

Being that we were outside for half of class, a few boys decided to pick me flowers. Super sweet even though they were covered in little bugs and made me sneeze non-stop. I really appreciated it! Another way these kids make my days so much more than worth it!

   

We have been off of school this week for Carnival! It's craziness. The country literally stops for this holiday. There are all sorts of costumes and dances that are pretty interesting. They party the week before through the next week. Emily and I went and grabbed dinner and got to see some of the costumes and dancing and it definitely intrigued me. The whole celebrations is some mixture of the Amazonian Indian and African religions. Honestly, it's a little confusing but it's definitely like a different town around here during Carnival.

   Saturday, Emily, Lindsay, and I went to Recife to hang out at the mall. It was really fun! We had Burger King which was super wonderful but kind of expensive (15 reals for a whopper meal). Then we saw a movie and walked around for awhile. Everything in the mall is ridiculously expensive. A simple shirt was 60 reals and jeans were outrageous. I now understand why most people don't have much variety in their wardrobe! We did find some legit 80's Sport sunglasses for super cheap so I was compelled to buy them! They rock and I rocked them at the beach yesterday.  We also found this package with some hysterical English on it. They are these weird acupuncture things from Asia but they are supposed to help with all these things. What they really do is cut off your circulation if you just leave them on your hand. But, we had to buy them because of what the package said. (I don't know if you can see it in the picture but you must read this out-loud) It says on the front: "beautiful hand begin with finger" and on the back: "Lack of practice of hands and legs is the origin of all illness, in life and work. Because of various pressure, people are easy to be fat, blood needle equipment can prevent lack of practice and adults' common illness. No matter what illness it is difficult to cure completely, to prevent is the most important thing." Wouldn't you buy it? Hours of endless entertainment and giggling have come from beautiful hand!

   Tuesday, we went to the school to hang out with a few of the churches that got together for a sort of Carnival Camp. We played sports, card games, and swam! It was really fun! The sun wasn't really out that much so I didn't bother with sunscreen (mistake). We played volleyball and I learned so much. Here, you can kick the ball in volleyball and it doesn't matter how many times you hit it as long as it goes over. I was seriously confused. Swimming was fun, too. We raced so of course I loved that! But, no ladder injuries this time and I still won! I came home with a little sunburn but it was well worth it!

   Yesterday was beach day! It was definitely an adventure. Jeff, Lindsay, Emily, Ricardo, his wife, Catia, their 4 year old, Rabecca, and 7 month old, Eric all came. It had rained before we got there and you have to drive down a steep dirt road to get down to the beach but the car would have gotten stuck so we walked it! It was definitely interesting going down and then back up with a very pregnant woman, a woman with a baby, and a 4 year old (not to mention all the stuff) but was worth it! It was beautiful! It was overcast all day and right after we were in the water for the first time, it poured rain so we had seek shelter under a vendor's table but the intense rain passed. It was kind of nice that the sun wasn't out so it wasn't unbearably hot. The water in the ocean is warm and nice. Jeff found these awesome reef formations off the beach with caves and all sorts of things! I went exploring and then grabbed my camera and took pictures! There are spots where you are standing on the reef and you are equal with the ocean. I don't know how to explain it but it was awesome! Overall, it was a great day! (and an anatomy lesson thanks to Brazilian swim styles)

    This week has been great and I am ready to get back to teaching Monday!

Rodrigo 

Just the thought of this kiddo makes me giggle! He thinks he is such a stud. He  is so incredibly smart and so incredibly creative so sometimes he requires much to get his attention. He is very passionate about soccer and very competitive. He really loves to draw! He kind of reminds me of Jordan Loder in 4th grade. When we draw he takes forever because he needs every little detail perfect. But, his soccer fields, castles, tigers, and everything else all turn out amazing. After every journal entry there is a picture of what he wrote about! I love when he is the one to come up with sentences or alternate endings to stories because you never know exactly what he is going to say! He would way rather tell stories than work and I love hearing them! He is one of the reasons I have allowed 2 minutes of talking as much as you like (in English) after journals before we start book work. I love it! I love him!

Leticia

This little girl is awesome! She is some mixture of a girly-girl and a tomboy. She will go at it with the boys and wear these adorable hair pieces and loves pink. Her English is amazing! She loves to tell me about things and her eye brows go up really high when she gets excited! It's pretty much adorable. She, too, is a very creative drawer. Everything has to be perfect and then she wants to tell everyone about it all. It's great! She dots her i s with flowers is always the first to smile. When we sing the Brizilian National Anthem she sings at the top of her lungs with a huge smile on her face! We just had a party for her birthday in class and she was so excited! Have I mentioned she's adorable? 

   I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already! I love you all tons!

Love, your sunburned, adventure-loving girl,

 

Brittney

miss independent

Hey All!

     This week has been quite an empowering week.  I went out shopping alone and took the bus several times alone. I even took the bus to Guadalajara alone which really concerned the men there.  They were seriously worried and it was seriously funny. We are talking 15 minute conversations about my bus trip. They wanted to make sure I had a cell phone, then they wanted someone to put me on the bus, then they wanted someone to tell the driver exactly where I was going. But you know me, I settled on leaving an hour early and calling when I left. I put myself on the bus and made it just fine. Of course, Carlos was there waving down buses just to be sure. But as for the bus thing, I got it. 

     

Seasons are changing and it has been raining a ton. Which is fantastic for me! It's cooling off a little and the rain is beautiful! 
    



      Last Friday, I brought my students Reese's. There is no peanut butter here so it was a seriously big deal. They loved it and now ask me everyday for more. But I'm not sharing :).  They, in turn, brought me Brazilian candy and it was super yummy! It was like a chocolate covered something with something else yummy inside. I know that was helpful but I don't know how else to explain it. Maybe I will bring a bag home.
     Carnival is next week so there is no school! Carnival is like Mardi Gras only intensified by a passionate crazy country full of people. They have already started the block parties which entail tons of drinking, dancing, and those large speaker cars driving down the streets as people follow. Needless to say, sleep will be sacred these next couple weeks.  
     I was lesson planning for this week and came to Friday and I sat and pondered the day of school before a break. Visions of writing Bon Jovi lyrics and passing them under the divider to Maggie flashed and I decided to show movies for classes Friday. Well, it seems to be an impossible task to download a movie here. I paid for it and that took some cheating of the system but it won't let me downlaod. Arg. I just want my 7th-9th graders to see To Save A Life. Jeff made one last attempt for me today so I will know tomorrow.
     Last week I did my workshops on Nevada and the kids were hysterical!  I did a slide show of pictures of  Mt. Rose, Tahoe, Balloon Races, Hot August Nights, and the Rodeo and the kids were literally screaming. It was hysterical. I thought they were going to break glass when I pulled up the Balloon Races one. It was really funny and now they are constantly making "it's cold like Lake Tahoe" jokes!
     I've been dealing with some serious bully situations since I got here and it is really frustrating!  Honestly, I understand the punching more than I do the older kids picking on the younger (however the punching can get very frustrating when it is continually happening). 

   


   So I am going to start profiling the kids in my classes for you! I will do a boy and girl each week. I'll start with 3rd-4th grade. We are learning how to describe and compare things in 3rd-4th and these kids are all brilliant!  They are all, except one, very strong willed kids so it can become very interesting sometimes but I really enjoy it. My favorite is when I hear "Oh Teacher" in this cute little whiney voice. . . I suppress a giggle every time.








Vinicius

I love Vinicius! He is so incredibly intelligent and has the makings for a great leader some day.  However, getting him to stop talking can be quite the task sometimes so we have a reward system going right now. If Vinicius is quiet for journal time for a week then he can teach class for 1o minutes at the end of the week. So far, it's really working! Vinicius was the first student I met. He and his family came over for supper before school started and honestly I love the whole family. As soon as Vinicius sees me he yells, "Teacher Brittney" and comes running for his hug.  He even put his arm around me during opening session one morning in front of the whole school (I was sitting there thinking, "Is an 8 year old staking a claim on me?").  Vinicius loves, sports, his sister, and drums [he is incredibly talented (although I think he was serenading me)]. He is super passionate and pretty cute.




Olivia (LiLi)
Oh, LiLi. She is my one non-strong-willed student in class and how I love this sweet thing! She incredibly smart. She is very fluent in English and comes up with the most ideas for our projects in class. She is really shy but once she feels comfortable this girl is a bucket of hugs! She loves Nike (she wears these tight pants and has these huge metallic multi-colored nike's on and it's the cutest thing ever), pink, and Karate. The girl can play some beats. I've never seen her play the drums but she is constantly pounding on her desk and dancing to it. It's adorable. On days that I feel like I can't get my class to listen, I can always look to LiLi and see her knowledge thirsty eyes and know that it's worth it. LiLi is a super sweet, super adorable, super intelligent little girl!




I love you all!  Will be sure to take lots of pics of the beach this next week! Maybe even get a tan!


Love your independent girl,







Brittney