Buzios!

A couple weekends ago, April 11th-13th, we finally made it outside the city of Rio. We traveled alone to a beautiful city about 3 hours east called Buzios. Our first night there, we were exhausted from the school week so we went straight to sleep at the Catavento Guest House. There was some confusion in finding the guest house at night, but we made it safe and sound. First thing in the morning, we were treated to a delicious breakfast of coffee, ham, cheese, bread, papaya, and watermelon. Then, of course, we got ready to go to the beach!

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was warm and sunny with a fresh tropical breeze blowing all day long. The main street of downtown Buzios is called Rua das Pedras. It’s a quaint little street running parallel to a beach. The road is paved with cobblestone and lined with little shops and restaurants that open and close whenever they please. For a tourist destination, we found many good bargains for souvenirs and things to bring home. After walking around aimlessly looking for a good beach to swim at, we met a man offering buggy tours around the island. I'm so glad we agreed to go because it was an amazing opportunity to see the entire peninsula, its gorgeous views, and colorful neighborhoods.

The land was very open with rolling hills, tall trees, flowering bushes, open fields, and rocky cliffs. The traffic was also refreshing compared to the cut-throat drivers from the big city. The buggy man dropped us off at a beach called Ferradura and agreed to pick us up again around 3pm. The water was cool and calm because it was in a cove which blocked most of the tide. It was so clear that we could see straight to our feet and a few fish swimming around. I probably looked like a crazy person playing in the sand, but it was so clean and soft that I couldn’t stop running my fingers and toes through it.

After returning back to the guest house to shower and change, we went back downtown to shop and find a place to eat. The restaurant we went to had the most amazing fresh fish I’ve ever tasted. And our waiter spoke English because he used to be an MMA fighter in California! We ended our perfect vacation by walking around, enjoying the night life, listening to music, and watching street performers. We walked to Ferradura one more time the next morning to get some sun before heading back to Rio on the bus around 4pm.

 Breakfast at the guest house

 Rua das Pedras

 Our wonderful buggy tour guide

 One of the best meals I've ever had

 All wearing our Brazilian outfits :)

View from the guest house

International Festival

On March 29th, the school had it's International Festival. I've attended similar events at the mosque in Perrysburg, Ohio. Many tables were set up around the school's courtyard- each one had traditional foods and decorations that represented a different country. We, the student teachers, were asked to represent the United States! The school's cafeteria made us brownies and hot dogs to hand out to people. We also had a football, US currency, a 50 states slideshow, popular children's books, pictures of important US monuments, and t-shirts from BGSU decorating the table. It was an honor to represent our country and share our culture with the people here! I also enjoyed trying EVERY kind of food from the other countries. My favorite tables were Israel and Columbia. Mexico was also right beside our table temping us with their mini burritos and chips and salsa. The whole festival lasted from 2-6pm. We had a great time but were exhausted by the end. On our way home afterwards, we ran into one of our neighbors in the villa. He is a frail old man that lives with a couple of women that take care of him. We've seen him walking to the end and back of our villa street before but have never been able to communicate with him. Luckily, one of the teachers from school was with us to translate. We learned that the man's name is George and he used to be a famous horse jockey when he was younger! He had an ancient photo album to show us some pictures of his past horses and races. Such an amazing man!

 The children were taking over our booth :)

 Felipe and his beautiful son, Bernardo

 George!

"Be True to Your School"

The majority of news I've shared has been primarily about the city and our adventures outside of school. I think it's about time I introduce my classroom and what I'm teaching at OLM! My first observation by Mr. Rundle was this past Tuesday. I taught a lesson introducing subtraction symbols to my Kindergartners. We sang the "5 Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree" song to start off an activity with little monkey and alligator puppets. Overall, the observation went really well! I did well with classroom management, adjusting my plans when necessary, and keeping the students engaged. I need to work on how I word questions, where to position myself amongst the students, and being more clear when explaining instructions and expectations. Mr. Rundle said that I have a very positive disposition with the students and great intuition as a beginning teacher. My 2nd observation will be next Monday.

Other lessons that I have taught are the senses of smell, hear, and touch, addition, the letter K, rhyming, St. Patrick's Day, sight words, and short vowels. For the sense of smell, I had various spices and foods in little cups for students to smell while blindfolded. It was funny to hear some of the things they guessed. Tomorrow those spices will be mixed with paint and glue for them to paint scratch-and-sniff pictures with. Our touch lesson was exceptionally fun because we made oobleck (cornstarch and water) and I let the students feel pig eyeballs (peeled grapes) and cow brains (squiggly noodles) while blindfolded. Some poor kids were so afraid to touch the eyeballs and brains until I revealed what they really were after the activity! None of them guessed that both items were only food. My students are going to have to get used to the fact that I use music for everything. Luckily they were willing to accommodate me when I told them to walk around a huge letter K taped on the floor while singing a song to the tune of "My Fair Lady" :)

 The leprechauns came leaving a big mess, green footprints, and chocolate coins!

 My homemade vowel chart. Inspiration came from my 1st grade classroom back home.

 I'm very proud of my classroom management strategy! The board goes with the book "How Full is Your Bucket?" Students earn a sticker in their agenda book at the end of the week if they earn at least one drop each day. Drops are filled and spilled throughout the entire day so that they know exactly which behaviors are/aren't acceptable. Names have been edited-out for student confidentiality.

 Oobleck! It was a HUGE mess but entirely worth it.

 A game I made-up to practice subtraction

Addition aquariums to go with the book "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." They turned out so well!

Christ the Redeemer

On the 19th, we finally went to see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain. We took the long way there by first stopping at the Chinese Overlook that sits across the mountain range from the actual statue. The Chinese Overlook is a small pagoda built in the 20th century by Chinese immigrants that came to Brazil to start a tea plantation. It's one of the few perspectives from where you can see both the Christ statue and Sugar Loaf at the same time. The drive through the mountains was extremely scary. The roads are narrow and random people, cars, and bikers pop out of nowhere! Not to mention you can't see what's at the top/bottom of a hill or around a tight corner 99% of the time.

Luckily we survived to see the spectacular view of the city at night. Because there were so few people, it was very quiet and serene. I was almost afraid to talk too loud. The air had cooled down significantly, but the ground and stone railings were still warm from the sun. Standing under the majestic glow and watchful eyes of Christ, I felt very at peace. Up close, it was interesting to see the heart carved onto his chest and small diamonds cut out-of the palms of his hands. The view to our left was the new world cup stadium. Straight ahead was the view of Sugar Loaf. Towards the right we could see the cemetery near Botafogo where we stop when riding the 434. To the right of the cemetery was the Lagoa. Copacabana and Ipanema were above the Lagoa. Because we arrived by car, we were allowed to stay after everyone else had left. We also stopped to pray at the small chapel located at the base of the statue.

 The Chinese pagoda

 Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf view

 The Lagoa, a bit of Copacabana, and Ipanema

Couldn't resist doing this!