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


     



 

almost a month and still no tan. . .

I am finally feeling better!  No stomach problems for this girl! Ok, its only been  24 hours but I have seriously high hopes that this is how I will feel for the rest of my trip. After spending Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday home sick, cooped up in my window-less room, let me tell you, I am so ready to feel better!

Last Sunday I wore my lace lined tank top with a sweater (it rained so it was bearable to wear)  well a four year old (the Preacher's daughter who is fluent in English) pointed to it and said "not good" well, Lindsay and I were laughing so hard we were crying.

 

Saturday night there was a BBQ at the school so I went.  After gorging ourselves, David, Caleb, Alexis (girl from Florida who teaches in Recife) and I decided dessert was in order! We went for Acai (pronounced ahsie here) and it was seriously delicious! They put granola, bananas, nuts, and honey on top of .  It was perfect! But it makes your teeth blue. Not to mention everyone was watching us because we were speaking in English. 






Sunday I went to Guadalajara for church. I have to stay overnight because there is no bus back after church. The couple I stay with wanted to take me out for a snack. So, we walked down back roads of the town until we got to a small shack (this should have been my first clue not to eat there) then they ordered me some Brazilian thing that I had never had. It's made out of  some potato-ish root type thing and has shredded chicken in it. Well, it was pretty gross but I added ketchup and endured it (should have been my second clue not to eat there). Well, I laid in bed all night, wide awake, with serious heart burn and serious stomach pain. After getting maybe 2 1/2 hours of sleep I was stoked for my shower! Well,  I had barely gotten in and the water ran out. Then I puked like I've never puked before and, of course, there was no water to brush my teeth with. Let me tell you I was not a happy camper as I headed to school sick, stinky, and exhausted. It's funny when you think you have nothing left God gives you all you need and more. In my first class, 3rd and 4th grade, Viniscius came in and told me to close my eyes and open my mouth. Then, my sweet 4th grader popped a chocolate in my mouth! Then in 5th and 6th grade I got 2 stickers from a girl I have been working really hard to get to know. Lastly, and most humorously, in 7th through 9th grade, Hugo Felipe said "Teacher I am sad" to which I inquired on his sad condition and he told me "I love a girl but she does not love me back." I sympathetically informed him that I knew exactly how he felt because I had once loved a boy and he did not love me back. Well, to this he said, "Teacher, I no understand. You are so beautiful and so cool." Well that made my day! 


We had English classes in Guadalajara on Monday night and the electricity for the town went out. Teaching English on a worksheet by candlelight was epic but a tad bit frustrating.


I started my online class, "The Blessing" this week. I think this may be intense. The work load is pretty easy but the information is intense and may take a lot from me emotionally. But, I know that God has this class for me at this time for a reason so I'm ready. The principal, Tele, and his wife, Heather, are also taking the class and I'm excited to have someone to discuss the materiel with but concerned because I am seriously busted if I don't do my homework!


This afternoon, David took me to a Tapioca stand down town. Tapioca is not any form of a pudding here lol I really don't know what it is! We got it with Guava in the middle and it was like a really legit jelly sandwich only better. I think I may be addicted. 






 I found out that the school here started out as an A.C.E school. They still have some of the PACEs, offices, flags, etc and it was great exchanging stories with the girls who had gone to monitor training in Missouri. However, ESL with ACE is just a little too complicated and not really helpful because you don't learn to speak it just read and answer. 

So, after a week of school things and food things I'm feeling good and loving my students!


Miss you and Love you many mouths full of chocolate!


Your dirty-footed, tan-less girl,

Brittney

 

flip flops are my fav

Well, I have been sick since I got here and last night I went to a doctor in Recife and he gave me medicine. So, hopefully I will get better soon. Super nice guy! He studied at Harvard and in Japan and he saw me for free! I super appreciate that.  But, for today, I am home sick.

Last week, we had the kids tell us some things they thought about America for the workshops and we got some really interesting answers!  The most common ones were no trash in the streets, eat cheeseburgers everyday, and eat tons of ice cream.  Well, after seeing a picture of ice cream everyday for a week, Lindsay decided to drive to an ice cream place down the road.  They have really good fruit ice cream including this one kind that's almost like a cherry it's called acerola. I had acerola and chocolate. . .super good! But,in the ice cream shop they have some sort of a petting zoo.  There are goats, some super big rodent things, birds, fish, and then one cage with a ton of guinea pigs, a rabbit, and more birds. Really random.


We had an American Night in Guadalajara last Saturday and as we were packing up things to go I was getting a liter of coke out of the fridge and I dropped it and it exploded everywhere. It sprayed onto the wall in the living room. Klutziness never fails me. But, the night was a blast! We made American style hot dogs, brownies, pancakes with syrup, chips and vegetables with ranch dip, and root beer. They seemed to like everything except the root beer. But I promise you that was the best hot dog I have ever had and I don't even know why.

The boys at the church in Guadalajara know one phrase in English and it is I love you.  I call them the I-love-you-boys.  They are about 7-12 years old and they get these really huge grins when they see me and yell "I love you." It's quite comical.
Last Sunday, a group of basket ball players from Indiana came to church here. They are doing workshop type things at places around Recife. It was pretty cool to have some other Americans and the message was in English so that was awesome too!  We went out to eat with them and it was comforting to see some of their reactions to some of the food.  I knew I wasn't the only one who felt the need to spit the beans out.
 
Sunday night I was going to dry my hands of on one of my towels (which are hanging on the side of my wardrobe) and something flew out and into my hair. I honestly didn't know what it was. So, I was doing this dance, whipping my head around, and it finally flew out. The moths are huge here. I didn't know it was only a moth so then I felt a little silly but in my defense it was rather large.

I am starting my workshops on Nevada this week and I'm really excited. It's funny, you don't realize how seriously beautiful a place is until you leave.  My first class was seriously impressed with the mountains and especially Lake Tahoe. Hopefully, the rest will like it too!
 
Love you all!
 
Love your scaredy-cat girl, 

Brittney

"Teacher Brittney! Teacher Brittney!"

Ohla,
    At last, I have found the love of my life! It is teaching!!! I love walking into school and hearing "Teacher Brittney! Teacher Brittney!" (imagine a cute little Brazilian accent) then receiving hugs from my kids! Seriously, does it get any better than this? So, I am for sure that I will always work with kids!          


     Right now, Caleb and I are learning how to teach the English classes and we are teaching a U.S.A. history and Geography workshop (A workshop is class to help with the kids English).  This week we drew a map of "the states" on the floor and after gaining a basic knowledge of the states we played games with the map! It has been awesome! I love lesson planning, teaching, interacting with the kids, and most of all loving them!

    However, I wore cute new black flats the first day of school and now i have ridiculous blisters on my poor little feet.  Well, one is the size of the toe it's on so it looks more like a deformation but hey, I already have 2 different feet why not add a little variety in there, right? Moral of the story, always go with TOMS.  
    Last Wednesday we had a family from the school over for dinner.  The student's names are Vinicios (4th grade) and Gabbi (1st grade).  We fed them American food and I have never seen small children devour ranch at such a rate on so many edible objects! It was super funny. Needless to say, the ranch was a hit! This Saturday we are going over to their house for a Brazlilan breakfast!
    Emily and I visited a town called Lagoa on Friday to advertise English classes at the local high school.  Boy, oh boy, let me tell you! it was already a chaotic scene when we got there (complete disregard for the bell). Kids were all over the place and teachers were no where to be found.  When they found out we were American they were following us everywhere! I think they will be really suprised when they show up to the English lessons and it is a pregnant woman and her husband teaching not the single American girls.
    In order to keep this fine apartment clean, we have all been designated a domestic day.  A day in which we clean, do laundry, etc (I add cooking because we all know if I only have to do that once I am walking on sunshine).  So, this was my first time cleaning in Brazil and let me tell you I deserve the domestic award! If you really want your laundry clean, you should hand scrub it first then you hang it on the roof of the complex to dry.
  It is all tile flooring so cleaning the floors is much more than plugging in a vaccuum.  The oven, stove, etc are lit by match and have no high or low settings, its all high.  There is no hot water in the kitchen. After cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry in these conditions I am domesticated! I deserve a "preacher''s wife worthy" trophy! So, next time you run hot water in your sink, do some laundry, or turn on your oven or stove, think of me with pity.
    Still loving you all but missing you less (because of the kids)!
Love your not Britney Spears, not Justin Beiber's sister (because of my fringe), not Emily or Lindsay's sister (really we look nothing alike) girl,


Brittney
   

No Brazilian To Marry Yet. . .

Oi (hey) all,

        I'm actually here! I seriously can't believe it. I definitely hit me when I was the only white, English speaking person on the plane from Miami!

        I got off the plane and didn't even have to go through customs and was met by Heather and her son David, who is the same age as me.  Caleb's plane got there 2 hours after mine so we decided to chill and get milkshakes (milkeyshakey in Portuguese lol) while David filled me in on Brisilian culture. Anyway, then we had steak burgers and I was thinking the food might not be such an issue! However, I was wrong.  I really never thought I was picky but I don't like much of the food, especially when I have to plan meals for myself but that's nothing new! I know it will get better when school starts and lunch is provided.  I already had a taste of that food Sunday after church and it is goooooood!

        It is really green and beautiful here! However, I live downtown and it is not so down here.  It is really dirty and very cramped. There is trash lining the streets and a smell that I can only describe as Brazil (or a mixture of poop, spices, meat, and bread)   Actually, it's just pure insanity down here.  There are people walking everywhere, cars trying not to hit them, motorcycles everywhere in-between, and on top of that there are cars with a layer of speakers as long as the car on top that drive around playing music and advertisements.  Some bikes even have a speaker on front and on back.  Its really amusing and loud but mostly amusing.  VW buses are everywhere and only cost 1 real (hayi) but they seriously cram you in there like sardines.  Normally if you take a combie (vw bus) then you have someone on your lap or are on someones lap.  It makes for an amusing ride!

I decorated my room the best I could! It feels much more homey! Living situations here are different.  There's a gate to get into the building, a gate to get to your door, and no complete closing off.  The windows are not covered with glass but are just open holes.  The windows in my room are wood holes I can open that open out into the hallway of the apartment complex.  There is no heating or air conditioning but I have a lovely fan!            

Unfortunately, that fan broke on me last night and I had a wee bit of a dramatic moment and considered my own death but I made it through and into a cold shower first thing this morning!

Speaking of showers, I have already electrocuted myself twice but being the air head that I sometimes am I did not realize that was what was happening until later.  The shower head is plugged in right above it and has a switch for turning the hot water on.  Thus there is electricity flowing through.  I have a terrible habit of rinsing my hand off as close to the shower head as I can get it.  Well, the first time my whole hand felt all tingly and I thought maybe I slept weird or held it in a funny position but when I went to do it again and my other hand had the same reaction I had another dramatic moment and panicked that the cyst in my spinal cord was acting up. But upon pondering and using my brain I realized what I had done and have since avoided getting in close proximity to the head of the shower.

          I have been down to the school everyday this week and the closer my classroom is to finished the more excited I get!  We have had meetings and have been working at getting the school all ready all week and I am so ready to start teaching! I have 4th -5th grade and 7th, 8th, and 9th grade English and Workshops (which are hour long classes teaching whatever subject I choose) with 4th-9th grade.  As well as playtime with 1st-2nd! Monday is just around the corner and I will shadow Emily (my roommate) and Lindsey (next store neighbor) for a week and then I am on my own!

      Church was interesting.  They sang all the songs we do only in Portuguese and then spoke for an hour or so.  I obviously didn't get much out of that. But it seemed fairly normal. Afterwords, the church served this amazing lunch with chicken, beans, rice, and some kind of Brasilian coleslaw. Super yummy!  Not to mention coke! Coke is made with real sugar and cinnamon here and I can't tell you how much better it tastes!

     We went to a town called Paldiho (paldye-o) and it was really beautiful! We learned all kinds of history and saw amazing scenery, buildings, and food! We had a blast and it's only a 20 minute bus/combie ride away!

      I am really wishing I knew more Portuguese! I want to connect with everyone so badly but I can't.  However, there are lots of people around the school who either speak English fluently or well enough to communicate! I know my students will be able to do at least basic communication and definitely connect! I am picking up slowly on Portuguese and I am so ready to start teaching!

      Random Facts:  cleavage ain't no thang here but if your shorts are too short it's super slutty (all rules go out the window at the beach).  there is no certain type of look for a Brisilian.  I've seen anything from Africa to Mexican to Eastern Indian to i don't even know!  Brasilians don't eat with their hands ever. Never drink out of cans. Love pizza. Never put their purses on the floor (still trying not to do that) and drink the weirdest milk!  Also, r is pronounced as h. ricardo is hicado.

      Well, thats all I have for now! I don't have the cord to load pics from my camera so that will have to wait until I get back but I can take a few with my phone so I'll send what I can! If you want to know anything just let me know!

      I love you and miss you all!

Love, your white, redheaded (kinda), green eyed girl,

Brittney