Lazy Sundays

Our first lesson in Rio, don’t wear glasses into the ocean. Two of my roommates, Matt and Bre, both lost a pair in the waves. Lesson number two, waiting for busses can take forever and they WILL drive away if you don’t hail them properly. Lesson number 3, sunscreen is an absolute essential. Sunburn can sneak up on you and takes a while to show up. Lesson number 4, mail to the US takes between 1 and 2 MONTHS… So if you are waiting on a postcard, please be aware of that.

Navigating the streets is becoming easier as we walk around and explore more places. On Saturday night, we walked to the Lagoa and partway around it. By the time we got home, we had walked about 4 miles. I’m going to be in shape! While walking, we happened across a family of Capybaras! They are the largest rodents in the world and native animals to Brazil. On Sunday, we went to the Hippy Fair in Ipanema. The fair is every Sunday until 5pm. There were so many people, vendors, trinkets, colors, and pieces of art. I bought an adorable floppy hat! Overall, we’ve learned a few words and phrases in Portuguese. Here are a couple of the ones I’ve used:

Onde banheiro?- Where is the bathroom?

Praias- Beach

Bom dia/noite- Good day/night

Desculpe- Sorry

Reais- pl. money

Ombrigada- Thankyou

Quantoo custa?- How much?

 The Lagoa at night- Christ the Redeemer in top right

 Capybaras!

 Ipanema

 The Hippy Fair

Teaching starts on Monday morning. The school, Our Lady of Mercy, will give us breakfast and lunch during the week. I’m in a kindergarten room, Matt is with 9^th-12^th, Bre is 1^st grade, and Beth is 5^th. I’ve brought a few books and teaching supplies with me, but I’m not sure how else to prepare. The school day starts at 7am and ends at 3:35pm. I’m so excited to meet my little ones J