hey there,
Last week was pure craziness with midterms and other miscellaneous drama so I did not have time to write but you will be fully filled in today!
Last week was a bit of a downer. I worked really hard to give my kids every chance on their midterms. I had a practice test day, a review/study day, and then the actual test day (thanks ACE). For most of my classes this was perfect. However, one lovely student in 6th grade didn't want anything to do with the study day and decided that Social Studies was more important. He failed. I cried. Then we had a little study session and he took it again and passed!
My week kind of went like that; bad things happening all to work out okay. For instance, my wonderful Mother tried to send me my pills for my tumor and that is simply impossible. I really did not want these people or my students to ever know me without my pills but it's all good because the nice doctor that helped me before told me the name in Portuguese and I can get them over the counter here!
Continuing on with said instances, I got a bill from Barclay for $4000. Now, I was told that tuition would be free because I was here doing missions work. That wasn't approved by the board however and I got missed in the who to tell process. So, I had a slight melt down, considered all the possibilities like being expelled and what I would do. But, they let me drop the classes and now all I have to pay for is the one I took online. No worries :)
On top of all those little dramas I'm beginning to think good health is an unattainable illusion. Between my continued stomach problems and some sort of a cold I'm just ready to feel 100%. God didn't promise good health, though.
After that week, I had a fantastic Friday! We, Jeff, Caleb, Emily, and I, went to Recife to renew our visas and ended making a day out of it! We went to this great restaurant that had super unique decorations. The owner came out and talked to us. Come t o find out he had spent a year in Omaha, NE and some time in England so he had the menu in English and it was really funny! There were titles like "Mermaid butt bottoms" and the whole place had this funny, joking, twist and great food! However, they don't exactly make it clear which bathroom is for who. So, guess which girl walked into the men's bathroom and stood there deliberating if it was really the mens??? That's right this girl did. Super embarrassing but super funny!
After that we went to the park. Now, that may not seem like a big deal in the States but it is a huge deal here because there are no parks and this one is really nice. We had a lot of fun and I managed to again make a fool out of myself. We were headed to the swings, upon my request, and one by one the group took off running to get there. Well, I was refusing to run but then I was really far behind. Not only did they stop running when I started but, lets be honest, I look like a total dork when I run. At least the group of Brazilian men got a good laugh out of it or more specifically me.
Our last stop was the super wonderful grocery store that they have in Recife. We went to buy Easter dinner makings but I found a wonderful treasure! I found normal looking ground beef! Now this may seem like I'm being dramatic or like it's not a big deal but I can't cook the beef from the stores here. It's greenish and it smells terrible. I gag. Needless to say, I have been eating a lot of chicken. So, I was more than delighted to see this red and normal looking ground beef. I was especially delighted as I ate my spaghetti last night!
Sunday night, I taught Sunday School in Guadalajara. There is one of the students from the school that goes to church there who is very fluent in English so I was kind of depending on him. Well he didn't come. It made for an interesting class. I taught about friendship and it required my little Portuguese, lots of hand motions, and well what I can only describe as interpretive dance! It was fun!
Speaking of my Portuguese, boy did I really do a funny Monday night! I went to buy bread from the bakery. I've done this before so I was pretty sure of myself. So, I walked up and said "Cinco." I meant 5 pieces of bread but apparently people here order in reals. To give you an idea, 5 pieces of bread is about one real. She tried to tell me but I didn't understand. So as she handed me a HUGE bag of bread I just giggled. There is a little cafe type thing in the bakery and I heard they had cappuccinos and I wanted to give it a try. I didn't know how to say it so I just said "un" and pointed it on the menu. Well, the guy came out with a huge class of milk and I laughed and tried again. Eventually, he got it. It was pretty awful tasting. My next dilemma was that you have to tell the cashier what you ordered. A waitress had been watching me the whole time so I called her over. She was really concerned that I didn't like the cappuccino but I assured her that wasn't the problem. Then I asked her how to say it. Well it is basically the same as in English but she kept making me say it. Then, she grabbed me and pulled me up to the cash register and made me say it with prompting. It was really funny. I then paid for my 5 reals worth of bread and walked home to share my wheat wealth.
There were only 2 days of classes this week! We had an Easter party this morning for the kids. Man do Brazilians get into Easter! I am now rich in chocolate! Yessssss! But they did a passover meal for the older kids and a video and it was really awesome. It made me see it a little differently too.
It looks like I might be teaching 1 more class everyday. I'm pretty excited!!! It will be 1st and 2nd grade and I do love those cuties!
Workshops last week were on contentment. We read "Bread and Jam for Francis" I love that book! The kids do too. I love watching them grasp concepts. Really, I just love teaching.
We are now starting the profiles of my 7th-9th grade class. However, I cannot promise pictures because the girls think they are too ugly to be photographed and the boys are simply too kool.
Hugo Felipe
This boy. Hugo was infamous before school started. He comes from a really terrible family life and has a tendency to take it out at school and on teachers. The first day I met him I got so overwhelmed with love for him I cried (yea yea I'm a sap head). I was really glad to have him in my class and really he hasn't been that terrible for me. We had a rough patch but we got through. Unfortunately, just because he is wonderful in my class does not mean that he is doing well the rest of the time he is at school. Last week he threw a rock at another students head and got suspended for 2 days and yesterday he was up to some kicking and pantsing pranks. Hugo is a definite leader and has a lot of charisma. He is funny and has this high pitched laugh that is incredibly infectious. He wants to please deep down inside but sometimes he buries it. He is probably the least fluent in my class but his face lights up when he finally gets something. He is always brushing his hair like a kool guy and really does think he is kool. He can be incredibly sweet but he can also be incredibly disrespectful. I don't know what his future at the school looks like but I know he could use some serious prayer.
Well, it's time to head up those splendid flights of stairs to hang laundry!
Love you!!!!
Love your flexible, chocolate-loving, dorky girl,
Brittney
Sunday evening we had a big Easter dinner. We had green bean casserole, pork, mac n cheese, rolls, blue berry cream cheese muffins, cinnamon rolls, and I made a cheesecake! That was an adventure! There are no graham crackers here so we bought these dessert crackers and figured they would be a good substitute. WRONG. They don't stick together. so I almost destroyed the cheesecake but it was super delicious so all is well! After dinner, we colored eggs and then went on a hunt for them. It was really fun! Then they gave Caleb and I Easter baskets! It was really nice.
Quite the opposite of Mariana - Yasmin is quiet but still incredibly smart and sweet! She is very religious, when I asked what something was that they did every day she wrote "read my Bible and pray" for a 7th grader especially that's dedication. She has great style! She often wears plaid, chucks, and other fun clothes. She doesn't like to stand up in front of the class or talk out loud in group discussions but she is slowing coming out of her shell and she always has helpful and intelligent things to say. I love having her in class!
