no pressure for this post...

THIS IS MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!

From left to right: Monica (other volunteer), Tina my older sister, Gabi my sister, Bob Tina's husband, Sergio "Dad", Eda "Mum", ME! and "Grandpa"!!!


So have recently found out that almost EVERYONE I have met thus far in Brazil is now following my blog! No pressure at all that my fellow teachers, my boss AND my students are now reading this....haha.

This week has been fantastic :) I really feel like I have settled into teaching and life here.

Monday I chilled with Monica and her "brother" Carlos, pretty much just cooking, eating and attempting to speak portuguese! but a lovely day. Monday is my day off work so we have scheduled another date for next week :)

Tuesday I teach my graduate Gersone, and we had a great class on morality. The one thing I do find difficult out here is not having people to discuss issues like this with, it is one thing to chat a bit of portuguese and quite another to be able to have an intellectual discussion haha. So was nice to talk about bigger issues for a bit with him as his english is probably better than mine and he has travelled to so many different countries that he has amazing views on the world and what is right and wrong.

Wednesday and Thursday I had Eleodoro classes....last week I was SO excited about using a blackboard and chalk....and this week I offically hate it. It is difficult to be so passionate about chalk when you come home and your jeans are pink and your hands are blue. But apart from my many chalk dust related choking incidents the classes are getting better and better :) I love my students. They are so passionate about learning English and so excited that someone is taking the time to teach them. Had to move to a bigger classroom on Thursday cause I had so many students but was a tad of a logistical nightmare as half the students couldn't see the board :s But managed to get through it and past the issues of a few more difficult students....definately more of the challenge I came out here for and so rewarding when I hear them talking correctly :) At the end of class I felt so proud when I was talking to a girl in portuguese and she said "minha mae oh no my mum" correcting herself to English. Was so nice to hear :) It feels difficult to make these classes fun at the moment as pretty much just simple words and verbs, but playing some bingo and simon says games and they keep coming back so seems to be working so far!

Friday I got to teach my HARRY POTTER CLASS!!!!!! I had been looking forward to it all week...and it seemed news had spread when I arrived at the classroom built for 18 to find 41 eager students waiting for me! I had to sit some people on the floor! Felt honoured that my classes were becoming popular...yay. I'm not sure how useful some of the vocab will be, but if these pupils ever want to talk about "magic" "broomstick" "wand" or "spell" then they are more than able to! haha. But it did actually bring up some good vocab and cultural British things such as the HUGE queues at bookshops at midnight to get your hands on the new book.

That night Gabi and I had a traditional girly sleepover but with a Brazilian twist. We made brigadeiro....which is DELICIOUS but sooooo sweet and sickly! But again something I will be recreating back home for everyone to try. Watched some great movies (although Gabi was being my annoying big sister and freaking me out during the scary parts! haha).

Other news this week: joined a gym where I can have free Capoeira lessons, been eaten alive by mosquitos, had a little girl ask for a piece of chalk I brought from home because "It has been in London", had a portuguese lesson, sat on the street drinking chimarrao and sent a parcel to Australia (despite much trouble at the post office!).

Much love as always and appreciate all the emails and facebook messages.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

classes, st patricks day, being a celebrity, brazilian bbq and more....

So have had my first classes at Eleodoro the public school on my street! Is so much fun :) Very different from my work at New York School but I love having both, as they are both rewarding in their own way. Classes here are more difficult because of the varied age, ability and concentration span of my students! But they do share their passion for wanting to learn english. My classes are voluntary, so at least I only have pupils that WANT to be there. Slowly word is getting around the school that I am there and one of my classes grew to over 25 and we had to move desks in from other rooms. This also means I am stopped by students who I dont teach in the corridors and asked What is London like? Have you met the Queen? They always seem disappointed that I am not invited to Prince William's wedding...so now I feel quite upset that I am not invited too! haha.

Also received a care package from home on Thursday...this was very well received. Especially the Rough Guide to Brazil and a magazine. I have already read all my books through twice...definately should have packed more books! Made me think about home, but not missing it too much because having so much fun. But lots of stories to tell when I get back and many foods, games and drinks to make for everyone :)

Thursday night was St Patricks Day and we went to the Irish bar in town Hooligans (where I saw the band Terra Certa last week)...it had typical St Paddy's day green beer just like the UK and live music so was a great night with a lot of Gabi's friends and Monica joining us too :) The car journey home consisted of us singing our new favourite Brazilian songs very loudly!

Luckily none of us work til the afternoon on Friday so got a lie-in after our great night out....walked to work about 1 with Monica eating ice-cream on the way (note to self: take advice from girls who have worked in ice-cream shops. error of the day. sauce on a cornetto. hands were a tad sticky by the time i reached work.). It was movie session day at new york school so I settled in for my first of three viewings of "How to Train a Dragon"....very cute, highly recommend! Lots of my regular students were there so got to have a nice little chat with them, and after I planned lessons for next week met more of my students at the second viewing. However this time the movie flowed less smoothly with the sound cutting out half way through!!!! Never at one with technology I had to ask for the expertise of Teacher Rodrigo....but unfortunately it couldn't be fixed and that was the end of my movie watching for the day :(

But on the upside it meant I got to teach a graduate one on one class to an ex-student called Karla. We got on really well, she has led a very interesting life so lots to discuss and talk about. I am relishing the opportunity to meet so many people. Never in my life have I met so many different people with opposing views, interesting upbringings or amazing experiences.

My crazy Friday night consisted of a skype with Murray (which always makes me very happy :)) and planning a Harry Potter based lesson for next week. I got way too excited by this, making links appear in the golden snitch, including photos of queues for Harry Potter 7, facts about J.K.Rowling, extracts from my favourite book (Prisoner of Azkaban in case you didnt know!).....I LOVED PLANNING IT! In fact I got so involved that I started watching the 6th movie online cause I was in such a Harry Potter mood! Im still such a geek over here...don't worry England I will be coming back equally lame haha.

Phew if you have read this far then you have made it to the weekend!

Gabi and I went out for lunch with her best friend Karim at a lovely restaurant in town...most places here you dont seem to order but pay a fixed price and have a buffet plus waiters walk around with meat or dishes of pasta. It is amusing however as I sometimes don't understand what the waiters are saying so I just nod and end up with a lot of food on my plate, or wait for Gabi to translate whilst the poor confused man holding the salmon risotto waits for me to understand! MORE eating later that day with Gabi's sister and mother. I really felt like part of the family :) It is their girly tradition to go out for tea on a saturday together, and I was honoured to join them. SO MUCH FOOD TODAY! haha.

That evening we went to the Cultural Centre where there was various free concerts. We saw a piano receital, a poetry reading, a sertanejo band and a rock band. Although most of the poetry's meaning went straight over my head (there is a difference from understanding colloquial chat and metaphors!) it was still beautiful, in the way that you can listen to English poetry you don't understand and find a beauty in the sound of the words. I loved it. Whilst we were listening to the sertenejo, Gabi got cornered by a little old woman who worked for a radio station and wanted her to be interviewed on it about the Cultural Centre. Gabi introduced me and her friend Mari and organised us to go Sunday night....I really am experiencing everything here! The funniest moments of Saturday however were after the many concerts when we popped to get a drink and some food for Mari. When we went to pay Mari was so excited to introduce me as "the english girl in Cascavel" that she forgot to pay for half the meal and was so busy thinking I was a celebrity that she ushered me out onto the street where the waiter had to chase after us for the remainder of the money she owed! hahahaha. Then THE classic line of the evening...we had met at about 6 and done a lot but Mari obviously still thought the night was young and said we would go home and get changed, meeting back here at 10pm......we all looked at our watches...it was almost 1am.!!!!!!!!!! Whoops! How time flies! Amazing Saturday and Sunday was to be just as good...

HUGE BBQ! Churrasco in portuguese. Literally a huge oven filled with massive metal sticks holding what looked like a whole cow in there! Although obviously the meat wasn't for me (sorry to disappoint you guys, yes I am still veggie!) it did look spectacular and certainly was an experience. I was taught how to cook Maionese...a sort of elaborate potato salad...but it is delicious and I will be whipping some up back home in the summer fo sho. So much food at this shindig it was insane. Salad, bread, meat, three different desserts, caipirinhas, beer on tap and so much guarana! Was set to be a great afternoon...plus the company wasn't half bad either :) Whole family, plus about 25 family friends who I have met at various parties (the only way to meet people here it would appear!) and Monica and her host brother Carlos too. Monica and I taught our "brother and sister" here the card game spit and I had NO IDEA how competitive it would get! haha. Gabi and Monica...wow that is a game to remember! Videos going on facebook soon haha. Also I loved how Carlos called the Jack, a Jake. I'm defs calling it a Jake back home now. Really lovely afternoon with fantastic weather as always.

When I walked Carlos and Monica home we came across some capoeira students practicing in the park. WAS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never seen capoeira before and it is incredible...definately something I want to try before I leave Brazil. Had to hurry home after being distracted for too long by the martial artists/dancers because I had a radio show to get too! Was an amusing hour spent in the studio, the old woman who had cornered Gabi really loved her and it turned into pretty much a radio show about her haha. But was cool to see and met the presenter and guys who work at the station so that was fun. But we left after the awkward talking on the radio and popped home for a quick drink....but not how I was expecting at all! It was a super cool shot of vodka, with sugar...oh yeah and FIRE. THE SHOT IS ON FIRE IN YOUR HAND. And you can make it at home. It is incredible....again another thing I will be making back home!

Before long we hit the road again and went to the fun fair that I have been eyeing up since I got here. I think everyone knows my irrational love/hate relationships for fun fairs, definately inspired by too many Enid Blyton novels as a child. But i loved this one! They had a crazy ride called Samba, which bumps, twists and turns to a samba track whilst you have to try and stay sitting or standing dependng how ambitious you are! haha. Was so much fun.

If you have managed to read all of this then well done! Sorry I am rambling so much...just want to convey how amazing all these experiences are :) Really am enjoying myself so much. Got lots of cool lessons this week planned and I will try to post some photos up soon.

Missing you all a lot. I love hearing what is going on back in Inglaterra. So email me :) lottiebarker@btinternet.com or better yet add me on skype :)

Much love across the ocean.
x

1 month down...cant believe it!

Everything here is going just swimmingly. Since I last posted work has taken a turn for the up, as has my social life and just general well-being. Am a very happy girly :)

Had my best class yet on Friday afternoon....20pupils! yay. And everyone was speaking english and (I hope) having fun. It is a lot easier to teach when there are more students as the conversation flows more easily and there are more opinions to debate. I used my magazines I had brought from home (thanks must go to DrT...that was her idea!) and we debated celebrity opinions of UFOs and ghosts. It also prompted a lot of discussion on British reality TV shows, as they seem to be the only people featured in these magazines!! The evening class was on the same theme, but only 4 students so less views and therefore less talking but I improvised with a nice game of Taboo at the end of the class which reminded me of my crazy game-playing family back home....I will be bringing back some Brazilian ones to add to our collection!

That night Gabi took me to see one of the coolest gigs I've been to in a while (but not until after I had a car journey with one of her friends sucessfully(ish) talking only portuguese..woo!). It was at a pub called Hooligans which has live music almost every night of the week and the band was called Terra Certa. They had all types of instruments...from clarinet, bagpipes, piccolo, drums, violin....was amazing! These guys are worth checking out on YouTube. Was a fantastic evening and I had a lot of fun.

The next day I went to a Brazilian wedding in the city's cathedral. I have now experienced a birthday, graduation AND wedding! Feel like I am getting to know a lot of Brazil's (or at least this city's) culture which is fantastic. It was a beautiful service, if a little more extravagent than an english wedding! Not just one best man and one maid of honour but 12 couples!!!!!!! Each with their own entrance! And the reception is just HUGE, with buffet dinner and champagne being carried around and the bride and groom had a spectacular entrance with fireworks actually being let off inside! The timings were also different. The service didnt start til 8.30pm, with dinner being served close to 12pm and the party kicking off around 1.30am, everything is much later here. Was a nice evening, but I do wish Murray was here so I had someone to dance with. The dance styles are very couple based which means I am not dancing as much as I want to, but am getting by!

Woke up a few hours after getting in so that I could have my early morning Sunday skype :) The day continued on a high note as Gabi took me to her friend Mari's house where we spent the day with her and her cousins in the pool, sunbathing, drinking caipirinhas, eating Argentinian cheese and generally enjoying the sunshine. A perfect sunday.

Yesterday was Monday...and a very exciting day as I got the job at Eleodoro (the public school on my road!). I start Wednesday which is great and yesterday the headmaster showed me my classroom. I'm looking forward to being able to use the coloured chalks I brought with me on the blackboard...eeeeeeeeek. In my head I'm invisioning myself as some kind of cool, approachable, fun teacher...but in reality I know the language barrier will prove difficult and that the classes are going to be a lot more hard work than my current ones. But I am up for the challenge, that IS why I am here!

Hopefully my money situation will get sorted out today, I am very angry at Santander but luckily my wonderful mae (mum in portuguese!) is sending me some money over so yay! Otherwise got a class this evening and planning lessons.

Missing you all, but having the time of my life :)


x

Carnaval weekend...

And what a weekend it was!

Friday I had my first group lessons. VERY nice students so yay wasnt slaughtered like I was afraid of! Managed to teach them the Hokey Cokey and played Simon Says, so I had fun...hope they did too. Then that evening was Mari's (a friend of Gabi's) graduation party....this time I wasnt shocked by the catwalk, party poppers, banners, world's supply of glitter or amazing beer (waiters just walk around filling up your glass...we need to have that in England!). Had a lot of fun, even managed to dance some sertaneja and samba without TOTALLY embarassing myself. Got told by Bruna that I could almost be dancing like a Brazilian...if you didnt really look at my feet properly. Thanks for that. Got home at 5am and collapsed into bed. An amazing first night of our 5 day weekend :)

Woke up late the next day...as in got a knock on my door saying lunch was ready! But was totally recovered and ready to enjoy my afternoon. Went for a two hour bike ride around the city with my boss Denise. Was lovely. Exactly like riding in the Chilterns...LOTS of hills. (My legs still ache!) Literally could not stop smiling the entire ride...was like I AM IN BRAZIL!!!!! I AM ACTUALLY IN BRAZIL!!!! Was a beautifully sunny day and my tan is slowly but surely coming along. Unfortunately I know what will happen. May will be super hot in England and I will come back to everyone being browner than me :( Went out for dinner after a much needed shower to this cool bar that brews its own beer. Had pizza and beer...classy I know. But was so delicious and another great evening that didnt have me home the same day I woke up!

Sunday I sunbathed. Yes. It was that hot. Sat outside all morning just soaking up the rays and desperately trying to learn some more portuguese, it is slowly getting there but incredibly difficult! In the afternoon Gabi took me to her friend's house where we hung out with all her guy friends. It is quite clear that young people are the same wherever you are in the world, as the afternoon consisted just like it does at home of sitting around and drinking beer (only here we were outside in the beautiful sunshine!). They are all really cool guys and remind me very much of when the boys back home get together. Crude conversations, taking the piss of the girls, drinking too much...hmmmmm very familiar! In the evening I went to one of my colleagues Roderigo's house to meet some other new people and attempt to make friends. This was my first outing without Gabi and I was scared that these new people might be like "why are you here?" and "you can't join our group". But it was the exact opposite :) Everyone was so welcoming and even the language barrier didnt stop us gossiping, dancing and drinking. Had a fantastic evening with guitars being brought out well after midnight for me to hear some traditional Brazilian rock. In so many ways it was just like parties at home, but in other ways it was totally different. The soundtrack would change from Foo Fighters to some obscure Brazilian folk song and I loved hearing people talk "normal" portuguese rather than the formal stuff I've been using so far. Was a fantastic night :)

The next day was my first proper hangover day in Brazil...and I'm pretty sure it was the energy drink and not the vodka that made me feel so crap. eurgh. so watched many MANY episodes of friends and slepttttt. The day ended on a high though with a big family game of cards (Mum you probably know this game but it orginated from South America which is cool), its called Canasta and was a lot of fun :) We played for hours on end!

Carnaval weekend passed so quickly and soon enough it was tuesday and our last day off :( Gabi and I had plans for a big night out with loads of people and drove around Cascavel to find NO-ONE willing to come out. However that did not stop us having an amazing time! We grabbed Monica and headed to the same bar that brews its beer....an eventful evening ensued! Firstly we werent served for agessssssssss so we got free beers on the house, yay. After this Monica and I got our drinks but Gabi was told that the bartender couldnt be bothered to make another drink so she couldnt have one. (Was imagining what would have happened at Yates if I had said that to a customer...lol). We found this ridiculous! As did one of the waiters it would appear who, bless him, went behind the bar and made one himself...this was again free...and so it should have been considering the reason it took so long was cause the barman was lazy!!!!!!!! Then one of Gabi's friends came into the bar so he joined us and we chatted in portenglish for a while...he then bought us a round of drinks and paid for our previous ones despite much protesting from Monica and I who had just met the guy. This whole time most of the bar had been staring at us, the quite obvious tourists speaking very bad portuguese, so at this point we got ANOTHER round of beers sent to us from a group of guys. They were really yummy...the beers...not the guys...the guys were old and weird looking..but the beers were cherry flavoured and although they tasted very girly were delicious. We eventually looked at the time and realised it was 2am and we had to drop Monica home...and we had work in the morning! So we left the bar...getting a note from another group of guys who had obviously spent all night coming up with the following sentence in english...

"we want to meet yours" and then drawing a picture of their table and labeling who was sitting where! Quite amusing as we had to keep straight faces until they couldnt see us howling with laughter! Great girls night out :)

Just realised how much Ive written...and I still have more stories to tell! I wish you could all be here with me and be experiencing all of this.

Wednesday was our day back at New York School and was just meetings to talk about the semester. As Tuesday had been International Womens Day we received potted plants from Denise and roses from the male members of staff....was so lovely :) and I now have them both in my room to liven it up! Spent the rest of Wednesday learning how to make a Flipchart on this cool computer programme they have at the school...but in reality it was just Me, Roderigo and Gabi partying in a classroom watching videos on youtube.

It really has been my best week so far and I have lots of plans already in place for this weekend....missing you all :)

Lottie xxxx

The New York School...

The weekend passed by in a haze of sunbathing, caiprihanas and a rather exciting excursion to apparently the worst nightclub in town! It was the suggestion of Monica's boss who took us with her to the place that only played sertaneja music. This is a style of music traditional to southern brazil, which has a simple ballroom dance to accompany it. Well i say simple. Monica and I, both trained dancers, thought the one step two step pattern looked incredibly easy and quickly took to the dance floor to glide as gracefully as the little old couples that were there (it was only 6pm...) however the dance was more difficult than it seemed! But we did have a lot of fun trying. Since this night however, everytime I've told someone I went to "Club Olimpico" they burst out laughing and tell me that they will show me MUCH better places to go out! Still a fun evening.

Since then I've spent everyday at the school I will be working at...The New York School. It is a private language school in Cascavel that teaches all ages from 4 to 84! Although it has two sites in Cascavel, teaches three languages and has a huge number of staff it still feels like a family :) Denise the principal of the school has already made me feel so welcome by inviting me to her house, to her son's birthday party and has introduced me to everyone I need to know. So far have only taught one class. A one-on-one lesson to a Brazilian doctor who wants to improve his already impeccable english! It is more of a chat to keep him practicing the language, but he is very interesting and has travelled the world so am really enjoying this class. Otherwise I have been into advanced classes to talk to students about english culture and give them an opportunity to speak with a native English speaker. Yesterday I spent an hour with a group of fifteen year olds who were intriged by our A-level and university system as well as how our government worked and more personal questions about my own family life. Everyone wants to know everything about me! Cascavel doesn't get many tourists so they are very excited to have me here. I feel like they know all of you back home already haha. They are constantly asking about "meu namorado" (boyfriend), here the first question you seem to ask someone is whether they have a boyfriend or girlfriend. They all think he should've come to Brazil over Australia...see I told you Murray!!! Start my conversation classes with students tomorrow and hopefully an after school club at a public school next week.

Also this week I found out I got into St Andrews so very happy about that also! This year is set to be a fantastic one :) To celebrate that...and to toast to my Mum's birthday, Gabi and I went out for drinks with her friend Mari. Mari doesn't speak much english but we managed to have a conversation where I spoke the little portuguese I knew and she replied in english! I really hope to have learnt a lot of portuguese by June, it is not the reason for my trip, but rather a nice side-effect if I do manage to learn a lauguage.

Skype is all set up so add me lottiebarker.

Big love to everyone back home. xxxx