Embu Das Artes

Last weekend, Lisa and I visted Embu das Artes. We started by visiting Sao Paulo, and going to the "Bodies" exhibit there, as well as going to Liberdade, the Japanese area of town. We ate the superbestotimomuitobom sushi there, and bought some pirated Dvds. The Bodies exhibit was also really interesting, and I loved most every part of it, except the parts that sliced the human body laterally, so we look like a piece of bacon (another reason I never want to eat bacon again, or most meat for that matter). The part where it showed a smoker's lung and a non-smoker's lung, also made me glad I'm not a smoker. pretty crazy stuff...

Here's a picture of the creepiest thing I saw there:

yep, that's the nervous system. looks like something out of the movie "Aliens"

The coolest thing was probably the alveoli of the lungs, and seeing all the circulatory system...SO MANY BLOOD VESSELS! Humans are amazing.

also, seeing just how many nerve connections there are from our legs/ feet to the rest of our bodies.

Then we made our way to Embu das Artes, a small town dedicated to showcasing artists and their many crafts. You could find everything here: paintings, homemade cachaca/cheese/wine/hot sauce (I bought one cachaca and hot sauce), paintings, clothing,jewlwery, puppets, food, etc.

I brought home tons of stuff. I dig going places with Lisa.. she's a pretty awesome travel buddy.

Pictures:

Capoeira in the streeeeeets

Yes we CAN represent in Brazil! And next to Jesus, no less...

Accordian player

artsy fartsy

Things I bought today

I bought some things at various places today. The street market on Maria Monteiro, the centro, and the Convivencia hippie fair.

Biscoito de Polvinho= best. snack.ever. kind of like cheetos without the nasty fake cheese.

super cool looking fruit. I already forgot the name.. ugh.

They're for my kids, not me...

ok, these are for me. They smell like fruit!

super cute puzzle of love.

A tupperware shaped like cheese.

Ponte Preta Futbol Cloobi

I attended my first Brazilian soccer match tonight thanks to Pierre, the most wonderfully adorable Portuguese teacher ever. He took 6 of his students (Kim, Janelle, and I included in the mix) to see his favorite team Ponte Preta, which is the first emblem on the page. It was a pretty amusing couple of hours. Lots of cheering, non-stop samba drumming, jumping up and down, and throwing our arms in the air to show disagreement with the ref's calls on the team. The best part was how many times I heard the word 'PUTAAAAAAA!" yelled in the hour and a half I was there. The most popular phrase being the equivalent of "WHO IS THE WHORE THAT RAISED YOU?!?!" in English. I watched several kids, probably about 7 or 8 years old, yelling a string of cuss words every time the goal was missed on our part.

haha, I say "our", but in reality I do intend on attending a match for both of the Campinas teams before deciding which one I'll be an official fan for.. I think Pierre is trying to rope us into his club by making it out first game, and he may very well have a hand in my final decision. The other team is Guarani, the green emblem above.

We stayed till about ten minuted were left in the game, and the score was still 0-0. Literally a SECOND after we walked out of the gate, Ponte Preta scored. Although I wish we could have still been in the bleachers, it was fun to run back into the stadium and watch everyone celebrate. I guess I'll just have to go to another game to see it happen again.

Some pictures:

a HUGE flag that the crowd moves up the bleachers at the start of the game. No exaggeration here, It's really HUGE, like parachute style.

Their mascot is a gorilla with super sharp fangs!

Kim likes the band.

My classroom

I finally finished the main bulletin boards in the classroom. It's looking pretty cozy now. I get lots of light from the windows, which is super nice.

Here are some pictures:

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Our first Samba lesson

Last night Kim, Lisa, Sean and I ventured over to the other side of Anchietta Ave. and found ourselves in the centro for a very interesting night.

We first sat out on the patio at a very cute, historic building that has a piano bar upstairs. Unfortunately, the piano bar was closed for the night, but we had a good time anyway just sitting and chatting. We ordered a carafe of wine, because we couldn't believe it was only 10 Reis each. We ended up ordering two, and when we got the wine, it was obvious why each carafe was about the equivalent of 6 US dollars. The stuff was SO sweet, it tasted like Welch's grape juice! I had a glass, but gave up pretty quick, and Kim had to finish off the rest by himself. The juice was a bit deceptive though, because although it tasted like candy, it still got Kim pretty tipsy.

After our suco de uva, we walked across the square to a bar named Tonicos. They had live samba music, complete with a ukelele, bombos, whistles, the works. We couldn't find an empty table because the place was so crowded! The best part was the variety of ages represented there.. There were tables of people in their 20's all the way up to 60's and 70's. Everyone was clapping, dancing, and using their menus as percussion instruments.

We met a lady named Ana once the bar got a little less full, and we sat at a table near the music. She taught us all some samba steps, and then took turns taking each of us out on the dance floor. By the end of the night we were getting a lot of attention from the regulars. A lady in her 60's was having a super swell time dancing with Sean, and Lisa found a 4 ' 8 samba champion to whisk her away. Kim and I practiced some spins that included the classic "dirty bird" move.

We had pictures snapped of us, and were giving our e-mail addresses out to our new Brazilian dance partners. We agreed to be back this Friday for some more dancing. It was a pretty awesome night...

I found a video on YouTube of the lady who was singing last night. It's not from last night, but its very similar to what we saw. The band behind her was different.

The music was excellent. I can't wait to be a samba queen. Hopefully my butt will learn to move that fast.....

Things I'm learning:

- Lots of flowers in Campinas look like something out of a Dr.Seuss book.

- Brazilians take oral hygiene very seriously, and most kids take a tooth brush to school to brush their teeth after lunch.

- Never take the bus home around 5:30. Rush hour is pretty rough.

- I need a watch. like whoa.

- I have a very pleasant group of kids in my class. The first day went really well, and I had them write me a letter about themselves today. All but two seemed excited to be back at school and wrote a lot.

- I'm glad I have a small class size to start out with.

boa noite

As much as I'm loving Campinas as a city, and the people I'll be working with, adjusting to a new school can be overwhelming. New names, faces, schedules, language, reading and math series, online grading and curriculum planning.. just to name a few.

Many of my teaching supplies are in a shipment that won't arrive till next month, and students come in on Wednesday. I can't help feeling a bit anxious about having everything ready for the first three days of school. Fortunately, the other 5th grade teacher will be a great help because she's worked there for 7 years and is very eager to share her ideas and plans.

Still, I feel like there is SO much I still don't know. My main task tomorrow is to forget about the small things (ex: "will I have all my bulletin boards done?") and tackle the most important stuff first (ex: "What will I be doing in math/reading Wednesday when the kids come in?") I'm going to be working pretty late tonight and tomorrow... I think I'll also be working on a day by day basis for a while.

I'd do anything for school to start next week.. I feel like two days in the classroom is cutting it a bit close for "pre-planning" time. But hey, I'll get it done because I have to.

Anyway, I'm trying to push all anxiety producing thoughts out of my head and focus on the positive. Like all the awesome stencils and graffiti I see on the way to the bus stop.