28 August, 2008

You know it is a Brazilian playdate when...

you're asked oh so casually, "Can my driver bring Noah home around five tomorrow afternoon?"

Um, sure.

That'll work just fine...

27 August, 2008

Traffic? What traffic?

Now, I didn't take this video myself. But I might-as-well have. This is pretty typical Sao Paulo driving. Cars force their way into lanes while the "motoboys" (mostly couriers-for-hire) use the dotted lines AS their lanes. Pretty interesting. When the cars are moving slowly and the motos are driving along quickly, they honk their puny little horns as if to warn the cars and trucks: "Don't change lanes please, I'm coming!" I've been told that on average, more than a motorcylist per day dies in Sao Paulo, and that there are almost 20 accidents per day involving them. Pretty low number in my opinion, given the sheer number of motorcyclists and the seeming recklessness with with they drive.

I've yet to drive in Sao Paulo at all. I ride a bus to my school every day, which is a 5 minute drive. But the several times I've ridden into the city center, the scene below is a common one. I've driven in New York City, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Boston.... none of them come close to the seeming recklessness and chaos on the roads of Sao Paulo.

Of course, once you're out of the city, the traffic isn't much of an issue. My school took the middle school teachers on an overnight retreat last weekend - Friday into Saturday. We went west from the city into the mountains a little bit, to a town called Sao Roque. We stayed at a resort hotel and did some "team building" and a handful of meetings. We drank wine at our meetings (a first for me), and ended the first day there by listening to live music in the lounge and, by the early hours of the morning, dancing (I don't know if it was the music or the caipirinhas that got everybody on the dance floor). Nonetheless, this professional group of dedicated teachers were up bright and early for 9am breakfast and 10am meetings the next day. Then our principal mercifully cut the day's agenda short and we came home.

I've gotta say, it's nice to be treated like a valuable employee. Granted, there is a lot more money in the budget for trips, drinks and hotels here compared to public schools. But there is more to it than the money. There is a sense of collegiality and respect here that comes from the top-down. It's cultivated and reinforced time-after-time, day-after-day. The administration doesn't see itself as a necessary evil that dictates to the masses. Instead, they place the teacher on a level that is equal, or even greater than, themselves. They value our time. They respect our expertise. They show their appreciation, and people here are happy. Of course, the money helps. Here are a couple of pics of our retreat at Sao Roque:








The scene: Hotel Alpino in Sao Roque, SP, Brazil

Did I mention the WINE in the meetings?

Practicing Caipoera - a Brazilian Judo-like dance ... most of us weren't very good at it though.

Dancing in the lounge...

In the end, I work with some good people. Peter (in the middle) is my fellow Humanities teacher. Jeff (far right) is my Assistant Principal.

19 August, 2008

Good weather and loud nights

There are many realities of living in Sao Paulo. The weather is good, for one thing...really good. We just spent last weekend literally hanging out at the pool and the club all weekend(that's the Portal club, the da club). We swam, watched the kids play in the kiddie pool, ate, drank, and were generally merry. It's literally like being on vacation all weekend when the weather is so great....and this is wintertime! Can't beat that in my experience. We've been fortunate to make fast friends, and good ones too. I get to play poker, talk sports (I have my fantasy football draft in a week) and hang out. All the while, Abby gets to shop, have manicures and hang out with the girls. As mentioned before, the kids have their baba, friends in the Portal, and pools and playgrounds and soccer pitches, and ..... the list goes on and on.

On the other hand, when it's hot at night, there is a rather uncomfortable trade-off that seems destined to occur: we have to either close the window and hope a little fan can save the day, or open the window to the neverending sound of cars, trucks, and the occasional helicopter. Either way, we're going to have to become more sounds sleepers...well, Abby is anyway. I can acually handle the noise relatively well. Fortunately, the kids don't face the same dilemma, as their room is on the non-road side and they are used to sleeping with their little white noise machine.

Another reality is pollution. While it's not actually that bad here in Morumbi, where there are many more trees and less industry, we still have some days where you can see and smell it. It's not terrible, but stinging eyes and throats can follow a bad day.

But then you can balance it all out with a professional life that is rewarding and generally pleasant in all aspects so far. The setting is pretty similar to that of the Portal where we live: an oasis in the middle of the city. Until next time, here's a couple of pics of the school and the kids. Tchau.



Our school - this is a courtyard in front of Abby's classroom - her room is on the left side of the photo.
















A typical hallway at the school.
















Noah at the playground.













Sophie's modeling debut.

10 August, 2008

Embu and dancing

Oi, friends.
So after more than two weeks here, some things are getting easier. I no longer stress too much about going to stores, or calling a cab, or generally communicating with Brazilians. By and large, the people here are very kind and are willing to laugh with (ok, maybe at) me when I try to speak Portuguese. Then again, my confidence and competence with the language has improved quite a bit in the short time we’ve been here. That’s not necessarily saying much, but it helps.

Yesterday was a great day for the family and me though. We got OUT of the city for the first time – to an outlying town called Embu. It’s an artsy and artisan-y town with tons of little shops on cobbled foot-traffic-only streets. Really nice little place. We bought a hodge-podge of things while we were there: a couple of rugs, some pillows, a plant, etc. Our goal was to get some things to add a little color to our blank-slate white apartment, and we accomplished that a bit.

Random digression: so there are little waste-baskets next to the toilets in every public restroom that I’ve come across in Brazil. After a few days, I was pretty sure I’d figured out what they’re for, but really didn’t want to know for sure. But it came up in a conversation with a Brazilian the other day, and it’s been confirmed that they are, in fact, shitty toilet paper bins. I should defend the country a bit and point out that apparently in the major cities, they’re really not necessary, as the pipes and sewage system have been upgraded. But outside of the major cities, it’s pretty much a necessity. I plan to flush mine anyway.

Ok, so we got back from Embu yesterday, and then I went out to experience the real Sao Paulo nightlife for the first time. In Sao Paulo, Saturday is a legitimate workday for most residents. So since Sunday is the only morning that people can wake up late and hung over, Saturday night is a total throw-down night here. Anyway, I went to the downtown neighborhood of Vila Madelena with a bunch of coworkers, all of whom have spent less than three weeks in Sao Paulo as well. The Vila is a change from where I live in Morumbi, a Sao Paulo neighborhood that is known more for its swanky apartment buildings and actual green space. Indeed, Morumbi is apparently known by some Paulistanos as BORumbi….not very cool. In Vila Madelena, we spent the first few hours of the evening (using the term “evening” loosely here – it was about 11 when we got out of the cab) at a live music joint where we sat and drank local beverages. ***side note: the caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil, and it’s pretty amazing – they use a sugar-cane based liquor called caxasa, sugar, lime and rum. People drink them everywhere here, at all times of the day.*** So the first bar was nice, and not terribly different than any of a number of downtown bars in the states. Our next stop, however, was quite a bit different. It was a dance club where the dance of choice was (I think) the samba. There were probably 500 people in this place, but only about 20 of them were actually on the dance floor at any given time. It was a full Brazilian band playing, and everyone in the place seemed to know the words to their music. It was cool, because I feel like it was one of the first real tastes I’ve had of the culture here since I’ve been somewhat insulated by the American school where I’ve spent most of my time when I’m not at home. Of course, I an do a little Brazilian dancing of my own. Check it out - that's me on the right...I mean left:



Did I mention that I actually taught last week too? Last Tuesday was the first day of school, so Abby and I have both been teaching for four days now. Most of my students are Brazilian, actually. Probably 50% or so. Then about 25% or so are American, 15% or so are Korean, and the others are random. Of course, my percentages might be a bit skewed by the fact that I have a total of 37 students. THIRTY SEVEN! I have 38 in one CLASS at Marsteller one year, so I think I can handle this. I teach two 80-minute blocks of 8th Grade Humanities every day. That’s it. 160 minutes in the classroom. I have one planning period, an hour for lunch, and the other 80ish minutes are planning/team-teaching time. Occasionally I may be team-teaching with the other 8th Grade Humanities teacher, but generally it’s another planning time. The students are generally very nice and respectful, relatively speaking. So work life here is SO much better than it’s been. I had no idea that this type of world existed. As far as elementary teacher’s schedules go, Abby’s is great too. Not as good as middle school teachers but definitely an improvement for her too. Abby's also got the superintendent's wife as a ESL teacher in her class every day, so she's getting us in good with the boss. The kids are doing great with school so far as well. Noah is made for school, so he loves it, his teachers love him, and he’s making lots of new friends (his best friends here so far are kids named Achilles – who is the son of another teacher – and Lukie). And Sophie loves her class too. Probably for different reasons though. I think the chance to challenge another authority figure for 3 hours-a-day is probably what makes her clock tick, but it’s definitely a positive thing for her too.

So that pretty much catches you up on life here. I’ve really got to start taking my camera out with me so I can share some of the sights and sounds of the city here too. I’ll try. By the way, today is Father’s Day here in Brazil, so yahoo for me. Tchau.

02 August, 2008

Picture Post...

Ok, I'm posting some pics I've taken so far. The past week has been hectic, a bit stressful, but enjoyable at the same time. I took two trips downtown this week to deal with Brazilian documentation stuff. Once to the Federal Police station to get our protocolo, then another yesterday to sign documentation for my official Brazilian work book. Employees in Brazil have to have one of these things to work legally, I guess. The rest of the week has been filled with work days for us and play days for the kids. Lots of late nights, eating out at restaurants and at homes of colleagues and new friends.

Last night, we had Happy Hour at the playground. All the other school employee families that live in the Portal with us came down to the big playground and we all brought our kids, our snacks, and our drinks. I wonder where else in the world this happens. At least where it's both legal and socially accepted...expected even.





Here's a photo of the kids in front of the Portal's "waterfall".





Here they are walking in Portal's "rainforest".




A view of our pools from above.






The kids having breakfast in the apartment (the only meal we seem to eat at home these days).




The view from our livingroom at night.