Chilly Macae!
Here are a few more pictures from our weekend in Macae with Francesca and Sophie. My camera batteries died in the first morning, so I had to wait this week for Francesca to upload and send me the shots from her camera. Here's me the first night in Cesca's apartment...it was late and it was chilly (it is winter here afterall) as the wind off the ocean blew through her veranda door.

We enjoyed a couple of hours on the beach Sat. afternoon, despite the breeze and overcast. Neither of us ended up in our bikini--it was too cold, but we had the chance to have Sierra take this shot of the two of us. My neice saw this photo and said I look like my sister here. (I often look like my sister.) Another friend of mine looked at this picture and said Francesca and I look like WE could be sisters. She's such a good friend of mine that she's like a sister, so I guess that counts, right?
Here is the beach in front of her building. The last building on the right in this picture is Cesca's apartment building. Seriously!?! Could you stand it? The only thing you hear is the ocean crashing on the shore! It's amazing.
Our angel babies, Sierra and Sophie. Despite the 5 year age difference, these two played extremely well all weekend long. Sierra is the patient "big sister" and Sophie is a gentle joy to be around.
Would you take these two to lunch?? We did!! Proudly!

I think this year will find us in Macae often, visiting Cesca and Sophie. It is a beautiful, quiet city just outside of Rio and a welcomed rest from busy, noisy city living.

I'm thinking of buying a new place...

Check out the support beams they're using during construction!!

The downside of being a teacher.
Last year I started a project at school teaching adult staff members English one night a week after school. I had a huge turnout the first couple of months (almost 30 students) then schedules and staffing changes forced over half of my students out of class. They were no longer able to keep up with work responsibilities and attend class. However, I had four or five regular students who persevered through the entire school year, many of them making great progress in their acquisition.
When I returned to Rio this July, I learned that my star student had been released (not as in The Giver released) from staff (a.k.a. fired). I was shocked and heartbroken. This man is one of the kindest people I have ever met. He was so driven to learn English that he was continuously asking me for more practice exercises between classes. He made incredible strides in his oral fluency. It was very rewarding to both he and I.
I don't really know what happened or why he was released; I guess I don't really need/want to know the details. I just felt like I never had the chance to bring closure to a friendship. I felt like it was stripped from my life without warning, and I was sad that I might not ever know what becomes of him. This, my friends, is not a new thing to us teachers. However, it is never something I enjoy.
However...I opened my email this morning to find this email:
Hi Ms Sara.I am not working in the school now. If I am writing this e-mail, it is because I had a good teacher. What I learned, will be very important for my life. I don`t know what I go to do now. I am studing the books and I am doing the exercises. You will be my teacher always.Thank you.
As I read the email, chill bumps traveled up my arms and down my neck, my eyes welled with tears of happiness and pride, and I said a small prayer of thanks for knowing that I have helped make a difference in this man's life.
I am going to offer the class again the year; we will begin in a couple of weeks. I need to give the supervisors time to sort through the schedules to make sure those who attend class can be successful. I also think I will work it out to meet this former student once a month for coffee to practice his English.

Look who turned 10!
Sierra's 10th birthday was Friday and to celebrate I had a cake and some brigadeiros sent to her classroom during brunch for the class. While we were in MN, she celebrated with a birthday party at Justice with her cousins from WA and a friend from MN, so she didn't have another party here in Rio. She told me Tuesday night, "No offense Mom, but I don't really want to do anything with you this year for my birthday. I just want a friend to come over and hang out. You can go out."
So, her friend Marina came after school and stayed with Tania, our maid, until about 9 o'clock. The girls did a little "cooking" in the kitchen, played at the court and play level here at the condiminium and rented a girly movie. I hope this isn't an indication of "teenager" mentality when kids don't really want to "hang out" with their parents. It's just too young.

Here is Sierra's class with their teacher, Ms Diane--far left in black shirt--before singing "Parabems" and digging into the cake and brigadeiros.
The boy on the left in yellow is also the birthday boy. Fernando and Sierra share August 15 as their birthdays. They are in the same class, but Fernando turned 11. His mom and dad and I put 2 sets of candles on the cake, an eleven and a ten. At first Sierra didn't like having a birthday buddie, but after it was all said and done she said it wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of neat once they started comparing the time of day they were each born.

As for me, I find it hard to believe that my baby is 10 all ready! Sometimes I look at her and still see the sweet, tiny little baby in my arms. Other times, I look at her and wonder where this very mature insightful young lady has come from. Always, I look at her and give thanks for the true blessing in my life that she is.

Happy happy birthday my baby girl!

Official Jason Mraz - I'm Yours video

I LOVE this song. It makes me smile and want to move my feet!!

Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself and not recognize the person in the picture?


My friend Barrie had a birthday party for herself last night--Moroccan style. They transformed their house with beautiful draped fabrics and mosaic candles lighting every table. The food was unbelievably good, as it always is at their house. It was a great evening, but when I looked this morning at the few pictures taken last night, I didn't recognize myself. Weird. Maybe it has something to do with always being the one behind the camera instead of in front of it.

Here's one of me and my friend Suzanne. (Her eyes are actually open!)Not sure what I'm in the middle of saying, but I'm not surprised that Suzanne's eyes are closed.What in the world is this about??? Who is this?This one is actually pretty good. From left to right: Suzanne, me, birthday girl Barrie. The three of us make up the middle school English department at EARJ. I think I'll make each of them a print of this picture.

We also have the resident Mae (pronounced "my" and means mom). Vania is such a source of stability for many of us younger teachers on campus, and the ongoing joke is for all of us siblings to vie for attention from Mae. She didn't move from the sofa very often last night because each of us fought over our turn at her side.

Here are Priscilla and Ana Helena getting their "mom time". I am so lucky to work with so many wonderful people--my Brazilian family!!

Hi Dixon!!!

We miss you (and your mom!) Sending you big hugs.

Going Brazilian...

I have lived in Rio two years, and I finally had my first Brazilian. All I can say is, "What was I waiting for?!?!"
(it is not possible to publish pictures for this post.)