In the Swing of Things

These past two weeks will be combined into this one blog because this time was the closest thing to a routine I have had here in Brazil, although I use this term lightly.  While we didn't do the same thing everyday, most days consisted of going to the office or a school and riding the bus home, or working on reports on my computer.  That being said, I still moved around during the weekend, but it was nice to at least know the general layout of my day. 

Being able to bond more with the kids these last two weeks of the internship has been more than worth it for me.  It's amazing to me how many of them remember my name when we had only spent thirty minutes in their classroom!  I suppose I am something different than what they normally encounter, so they are more prone to remember.  I should have studied up on my Hannah Montana songs though; that's who they associated me with, and they would have gotten a kick out of me singing something for them!  The bilingual activities ran smoother each time we did them, and I have become more comfortable speaking Portuguese.  We were also able to implement the garden relations activity with some older children, and that went very well.

5th Grade class learning about garden relations

 

Excited to try new words!

 

A group of younger students interested in the presentation

 

My hope is that we made some sort of impact on these kids.  Home gardens in Brazil are very uncommon, so this could be a foreign concept to most of them.  But it definitely makes sense to have one because it can be a needed source of food for a struggling family.  These activities have also given them an interest in English, if it wasn't already there.  Most of the kids knew about the United States and even spoke a few English words, but those that didn't were happy to learn.  By knowing about different cultures and what the world offers, they can take opportunities that would have been otherwise unexplored.  I will definitely miss going to class and seeing their smiling faces; they always made my day.

My last day of the internship was Dia de Rio (River Day) in a division of Curitiba called Pinhais.  We went to one of the schools and celebrated the day by having them participate in our dirty/clean river activity.  The dirty river was represented by black fabric with items of trash on top, and the clean river was represented by blue fabric.  The students had to "fish" for a piece of trash, and once they caught something, they had to put it in the appropriate recycling bin.  Then they won a paper fish that they were able to place in the blue river, showing the difference that they had made!  It was a great success and the kids loved the activity.

Fishing for trash!

This past weekend consisted of graduation parties, bus rides and beaches.  Raquel's sister's boyfriend was graduating from the university for electrical engineering, and this was by no means a small deal.  Every night there was something different to go to, whether it was the actual graduation, a fancy dinner with family, or the "prom" as they called it, which was just a huge dance party.  I was surprised and appreciative that I was invited to go to these events, because they really are something different than what we experience in the states.  For example, the "prom" isn't just for the students; the entire family comes and more!  Each graduate must have had twenty to thirty friends and family there to celebrate with them.  If I can figure out how to get the picture they took of us at the family dinner, I will post it on here later!

The second half of my weekend was spent at the beach with Brazilian friends.  It seemed as though people just kept coming out of nowhere, but in Brazil it literally is the more the merrier!  We had a nice big cookout and played card games and pool.  Unfortunately the weather was overcast and too cold to swim in the ocean, but we did manage to chill and go for a run on the beach.  Here's a pic of most of our group.

The homestay, the traveling and the internship are now over.  All that's left is finals week with the group in Curitiba, and then we will return back the states.  Next week's blog will be special:  most and least favorite things, cultural differences, and bittersweet goodbyes.  Until then, keep smiling. :)