25 May, 2009

Petropolistic

I'm back from my 3-day trip to Petropolis with my 8th graders. We all survived and it was a good time. More importantly for me, it was my first real opportunity to get a sense for the history of Brazil. Petropolis was kind of the Camp David for the ruling Portuguese King when Brazil was still an imperial nation under Portuguese control. The royal family had a palace built there in the 1700's. Petropolis is a small city in the mountains of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the family would travel there during the hot summer months. So today, the palace is a great museum depicting this old world Brazil. We also visited the house of Santos Dumont, the first person in the world to ascend from the ground in an airplane. The important distinction between Dumont and the Wright brothers is that they flew from a raised hill, thus their achievements are complementary but different. We visited a beautiful cathedral downtown that was built over 200 years ago called the São Pedro de Alcântara Cathedral:
Nothing compared to the history of European cathedrals, but beautiful Gothic architecture and an impressive piece of history nonetheless. Yeah, I'm the only teacher who paid much attention to this one. The others are all Brasilians....
We also visited an old casino (although gambling was outlawed in Brazil 6 years after it was built in 1939) and the Crystal Palace as well. All in all, a beautiful part of the country and rich in history. I'm sure I got more out of it than our students.

Of course, when you've got the tour agency running the operation and accounting for the students, there's plenty of time for the teachers to have a leisurly lunch and enjoy the beautiful weather:
On another note, we're getting excited to come back home for a visit in a couple of weeks, evidenced by the countdown chain:
It's been 10 months here, and although it's a wonderful place to live for the most part, there are so many things (mostly people) that we miss and can't wait to come home for. I only wish it were going to be more than a month. All the best to friends and family. Tchau for now.

23 May, 2009

Thank Goodness for Portal

Life has been busy lately. The end of the school year keeps our days filled to the brim, Paul and kids have been sick intermittently, and Paul traveled to Petropolis in Rio de Janiero State this week leaving me to do the solo parenting thing for a few days. I've also been trying to keep some semblance of a training routine for tomorrow's race while feeling pretty run down by everything else. I just realized it is 12.5 kilometers-not just 12. Somehow that is making a big difference to me right now! All of this adds up to pretty poor blog maintenance. Sorry! Hopefully when Paul returns I can download some new photos and at least plaster the screen with cute pictures of Noah and Sophie. I'm sick of looking at my running shoes every time I consider posting a new entry!
Even as busy as things have been I have had time to realize how amazingly wonderful it is to live here in Portal. As much as I loved our house in Virginia, we didn't really have any sense of community there. We had good neighbors (on one side), good friends an hour away, and of course, family nearby-but nothing quite like what we have here.
Just today (Paul's still traveling) the kids and I headed down to the large park around 10:30. We met friends down there and the kids played for a couple of hourse. Then we all (the kids and our friends) headed to the Club for lunch. The kids played more (too cold for swimming though!) and the adults were able to visit and referree occaisonally. After lunch we headed back down to the park-it was just too nice to go inside. It is now almost five o'clock and we just returned home. We are heading to a friend's apartment for a pre-race pasta dinner in half an hour. Such a nice day. Truthfully, here in Portal this is really the norm-not the exception. We are so very lucky.

14 May, 2009

Mother's Day 10k


I was beginning to question my sanity when I realized that I signed up for a 10k on Mother's Day. It is, after all, the one day of the year that I feel I can sleep in guilt free. In the end, I am so glad I did it! For the past three months I have been very committed to both running and yoga and it was good to put my dedication to the test. The day was warm, the course ugly (we ran on a highway!) and hilly, but having Paul and the kids greet me at the finish line was a great Mother's Day gift! Next up, a 12k in two weeks!

09 May, 2009

Ballerina

To celebrate Mother's Day Sophie's ballet teacher invited all of the mothers to come and watch class on Friday. I was able to find some coverage at school so I could dash away for 45 minutes to see Sophie demonstrate her ballet skills (or something like that!). It was very sweet!!


Birthdays-Brazilian Style

Sophie and I attended one of her classmates birthdays yesterday. Her friend, Sofia, turned four years old. I had heard about Brazilian birthdays-particularly about the types of birthdays our students, at Sao Paulo's most expensive private school, have each year. I've shied away from parties (except those of close friends) most of this year. I still am not comfortable driving, I'm usually worried I'll be the only English speaker, and I just haven't felt familiar enough with the system to go on my own. I knew many of our friends would be at this party, and my interest was peaked when the fancy invitation arrived with the menu printed on the back. The princesses on the front were enough to have Sophie begging to go. So we did-and this party did not disappoint!
The party was held at a very nice, outdoor restaurant here in Sao Paulo. When we arrived we found valet parking and a photographer waiting. The tables were set up very much like you would find at a wedding-cloth linens, silverware, and centerpieces. The ladybug balloons were really the only clue we were at a 4 year old's birthday party and not at a wedding! Sophie enjoyed the trampoline, ball pits, inflatables, puppet show, and Sleeping Beauty. She also loved the REAL LIVE lamb, ducklings, chicks, puppy, and bunnies! I loved the champagne! We certainly had a great time, but I am definitely happy our children have nearly a year to forget what a Brazilian birthday is like. We'll still be celebrating in style Americana (cake and ice cream!) while we're here.

The set up at Casa de Fazenda


The cake table...probably over 20 Barbies!

Sophie feeding the bunnies

03 May, 2009

A Sorry Excuse for an Update

I've been terrible about posting this week-no reason really, just the usual cycle of work, school, running, yoga, and family time combined with lots of sunny days spent outside. All good things, but not a good combo for computer time. So here's a little update in the form of photos!
Paul and Noah before the Sao Paulo Football game last week...notice the red-color selection is very important for these games...
An early morning snuggle for these two...I figure I better capture these moments and memorize them! Sophie is listening intently to a "Transformers I Can Read" book!

On Saturday we went to the Sao Paulo Zoo. Unfortunately, the rest of Sao Paulo had the same idea so it was very crowded. Nevertheless, the weather was nice and the animals were out so the kids had a great time.
Noah totally loved this zoo map with all of the animals on it-best R$1 (.40 cents) ever spent!

I don't know how much excitement there will be to blog about in the near future. We're definitely getting into countdown mode (5 1/2 weeks!) for our U.S. return. My Target list is growing by the day! Everyone is excited to finish up our first year and go home to see family and friends!