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

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