best week so far :)

So I think this has been my best week here :) I am a very happy menina and am sad that I dont have many lessons left in anything...but going to make the most of every second I have left here.

So weekdays were all REALLY great, enjoyed teaching more than ever and really felt I was making a difference this week as my kids at Eleodoro started to make real progress. As the class is optional I have had many fluctuating numbers of students but the last week or two it has been whittled downt to the students who actually want to learn rather than just point and stare at a girl from England haha! So was very happy with their effort and excitement for learning. Funny moment was when i gave out a different worksheet I had created to each student and one girl just copied her partners assuming they were the same questions.....the whole class started laughing (including her) when she realised that I wasn't THAT stupid and that I could tell what she was doing. She was so annoyed haha. Otherwise was going to the gym.....were I keep bumping into New York School kids...quite embarassing! And painting eggs with Gabi and her Mum. I really enjoyed this as it made me feel part of their family :) despite my awful artistic skills! haha.

Also had some fantastic graduates classes this week, I think I am finally get the hang of this whole teaching thing! As well as some of my favorite skypes ever :) Friday was movie session day so I didnt get to try out my great lesson idea...and it is easter this weekend so have to wait two weeks more agghhhh!!

Then we get to the weekend and the most incredible fun ever! Friday and Saturday night were lovely evenings in with Gabi and her friends (one of whom had a birthday on Sunday, so we tied balloons to his gate and took a present over :)).....was also the birth of a wonderful drink we created...well not that wonderful haha. Was condensed milk and mint liquor....odd but funny and in a great cup that looked like the goblet of fire haha.

Then Sunday was um dia perfeito. We woke up after about 3 hours sleep eurgh, so Monica and I were so sleepy the whole hour and a half journey...but when we reached "Marinas" we soon perked up! It is a stunning lake surrounded by rolling hills covered in grass and palm trees. Dotted around the lakes edge are beautiful houses where those who can afford it spend their weekends lounging in the sun and swimming on the lake. Absolute perfection. We spent the morning out on Bruna's boat learning to wakeboard...WAS SO MUCH FUN! I ache like hell today, but at the time was amazing. I had visions of me standing behind the boat with the sun on the face and the wind in my hair but is actually pretty difficult so spend pretty much all the time in the water then a second being yanked through the air and then back to the water again ahha. Bruna and Bea were incredible though and it was great to see how it is done, it is something I would definately like to try again :) Before lunch we also played a game of volleyball, tried to learn tricks with a basketball and filmed ourselves doing stupid jumps into the pool. After cooking a fantastic pasta dish we played cards for a bit before all falling asleep in the sun after our energetic morning! Pretty much a perfect day topped off by Monica and I jumping into the lake and into the sunset. ....
much love to everyone back home. keep emailing me lottiebarker@btinternet.com

xxxxxxxxx

truco, trouxas e tereré.....

had a nice weekend so quick post about it :)

Gabi's family were away in Curitiba so I stayed with some friends....

Friday night with Mayara was so lovely :) Hung out with her and her boyfriend Tony and they taught me to play Truco....a card game that I LOVE. Very fast-paced and much craziness ensued! Followed by an epic teaching of spit, which everyone in Brazil can now play thanks to me and Monica it would appear! Anyways a great night with much card playing, drinking beer and laughing at my attempts at portuguese.

Saturday was super sunny, so spent the morning walking around town and shopping for cute little brazilian things. Was nice and I just love wearing sunglasses everyday...makes me so excited! haha. Then after a delicious lunch at an outdoor cafe went to my friend Ale's house for our epic Harry Potter session, woop woop! Watched in english but with portuguese subtitles and i found it weird that they dont use the same magical words...like "Muggle" is "Trouxa" so yeah....it isnt a real word in either language! Why not just use the same one?!? haha. But yeah. Then had such a nice evening when some neighbours came over and we had pizza with everyone. Another evening filled with beer and laughter and again me speaking a lot of portuguese (or attempting to!).

Sunday I met Mayara and we went for lunch at her Mum's house...OH MY GOSH. I have never eaten so much ever! Everything was new and exciting and Brazilian so I felt I had to try it all! There were about seven desserts because her Mum owns a chocolate shop, so feeling very fat we sat down to a traditional brazilian afternoon outside with terere, fruit and conversation. It was so cool when we just picked oranges and guava off the trees next to us and BAM there is some fruit to eat. Wish we had something more exciting than apples in our garden! Went out for dinner and chilled in the evening, when I had a phonecall from Murray which made my great weekend absolutely perfect.

Lots of travel planned for the next few weeks so should have very exciting stories soon! And have some pretty awesome lessons planned for the next week or so...involving singing Youth Project songs, mazes and costumes...all will be revealed!

big love.

email me lottiebarker@btinternet.com

x

singing with xuxa, amazing nights out and dancing in the rain...

Learning Portuguese is proving a lot more difficult than expected....but now I can officially sing two (and a half) songs in Portuguese wooo. Yes one of them is Happy Birthday, and the half is just ooooohhhhhhhhhhhh casa. But the other one is an actual song. Ok well it is by Xuxa (pronounced Shoesha which makes me laugh) who is called "The Queen of the Children" and it is a song about the alphabet...but I am still impressed with my hard core learning skills haha.

My lack of language is meaning it is difficult to teach in the classroom, but I am forming excellent mime skills and have pretty much made up my own version of portuguese when I dont know a word. The most difficult thing I have had to deal with so far cropped up this week...the time. WOW it is tricky to explain. You would think easy peasy....but not so much. Especially as I think a few of my kids struggle to tell the time even in Portuguese but am trying to get through to them, and a few of the brighter students have already got the “quarter past” thing totally down. Also teaching about music so lots of singing and dancing in the classroom this week which made the lessons a bit more fun, especially after a long half hour explaining possessives. This teaching lark is more difficult than it looks! But a lot of fun too and very rewarding.

Taught Shakespeare classes at New York School as well, which I think I enjoyed more than the students but I hope they learnt something from! Loving my private and graduate classes there as well, a great platform for discussing issues and learning a lot about other people and another culture. Also it was Friends Week at New York School which meant I was introduced to hundreds more students and their friends and made to speak Portuguese to them which was highly embarrassing!!! Looks like more people now know about my blog as well, the secretary of the public school I work at stopped me today and said she loves it…aggghhhhh the hassles of being a celebrity! Haha.

Talking of which, was treated like one all of last weekend when we went out! Thursday night we were queuing like the regular punters when I heard a “Charlotte…over here” and entered through the VIP door! Denise (my boss) had sorted something out with a friend of a friend of a friend etc and got us free entry to a bar with lots of pool tables and amazing life music. Had a fantastic night! (Though I REALLY need to work on my pool skills…when playing with the manager I think I somewhat embarrassed myself haha). Oh also it is interesting how much girls dress up here…This place was a chilled out pub-like venue and yet everyone wears heels and dresses. No-one in England makes that much effort everyday! And I certainly was rocking my grungy, chilled out, jeans and t-shirt look all weekend and stood out like a sore thumb!!!!!!!!

Friday was Murray’s (and Graham’s) birthday so I thought I should party if only out of respect to them ;). Also managed to get a good skype in with Murray which made me even happier if that is at all possible! Anyways I met some really cool people on Friday and Saturday at a house party and then a trip to “Mr John” the newest bar in town. It plays traditional Brazilian music, and like every club here the music is 100% live all the time. Danced and laughed the night away, managing to communicate in Portuguese when asking for a glass of tap water even though the waiter glared at me like I was insane (apparently tap water is just not the done thing here!). Was out until about 5.30am….and after getting some food on the way back fell into bed totally exhausted.

But not for long because Sunday was mothers day (big shout out to Mumma Barker back in the UK) so I skyped Mum 4 hours after I had gone to bed! Agghh. But was so nice to see home and hear everything that was going on so I enjoyed it. The rest of Sunday was pretty much sleeping and recovering from the jam packed weekend!

So far this week has been awesome also with some great classes (as described at the top!) and lots of fun with my new friends. Last Monday there was a proper full-on Brazil storm and Monica, Carlos and I danced and ran about in the rain like crazy things that was so much fun! Hung out with Ale on Monday night and we cooked dinner…which her family hated but we loved! Haha. Also been baking a lot of cakes with Gabi…including one which was green!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got so excited by this haha.

Also today is mine and Murray's one year anniversary....so I love you Murray and I have never been happier. Can't wait to be back in your arms where I belong :)

Got another great weekend planned and totally in love with everything in Brazil. Email me x