Coming up for air.

Kicking it off with some photos from Chapada Imperial, a guided waterfall tour just an hour from our house.  Lots of swimming, hiking, monkeys, giant spiders (not my favorite and no picture because I was headed at mach speed in the other direction),  and of course, a giant lunch afterwards.

Hmmm, wonder who was the first kid to jump off the rope swing? 

I had to go back and read my own blog entry to try to get a feel for what all has happened in the eternity since I last wrote.  Apparently, that eternity is just about a week and a half, so my word choice might be a bit dramatic.  So what has happened in that time?  Good question.  Ten days of school, two trips to the farmers market, at least three more to the grocery store, five basketball and two volleyball practices for Hannah, one trip to a waterfall, two classroom parent open house coffees, one school BBQ open house on a Saturday, a failed trip to find a mattress topper, two successful trips to buy Hannah and I new bikes, a few full on meltdowns with crying and screaming (and not just Sara and I), exhaustion, elation, chocolate dessert crepes, lots and lots of watermelon, three Portuguese lessons, living the reality that teaching is hard everywhere, countless miles walked to and from school and around town, and just not enough sleep for anyone right now.

So how are things going?   Lila could probably be a little happier, but barely.  That girl is all in and having a ball. She is making friends, playing hard, loving her teacher, and probably doing the best of all of us right now.  We had another surreal moment when Lila got invited to go swimming at her new friend’s house, which most people around town just call the Swedish Embassy.  It sounds way more exotic than it is.  This great Swedish family lives with a few other families on the embassy property and you visit them like anyone else.  But it was still kind of cool.  Exhaustion hits her like all of us, but food or sleep is the magic that sets her right every time.

Surprisingly, I give Hannah a close second.  She actually said out loud that this hasn’t been as hard as she thought it would be.  Thank goodness for team sports!  She is playing both basketball and volleyball right now, and loves her new teammates and coaches.  Every time I see her around school she is smiling and talking with someone.  She has been advocating for herself with the school counselors, who are amazing, to get the class schedule she wants and has already moved up a level in Portuguese and is going to be playing with the high school band.  Her classes are small, and her teachers are amazing, so we couldn’t ask for more for her right now.  She misses her old friends, and is excited about her new ones.  And of course somehow one of her new friends just happens to be the tallest 8th grade girl in the school.  Her name is Payton, but she reminds me of Penelope, Kendall, and Chloe put together.  Love to you girls from Hannah!

I am getting my teacher butt kicked, but in the way I expected, and in the way I wanted, most days.  I have been doing a lot of self mentoring, and folks who worked with me would be cracking up at the things I am saying to myself.  “Relationships are the most important thing.”  “You will be teaching routines and expectations every day all year.” “It will get better.”  “It doesn’t have to be perfect.” “Taking time right now to do what your kids need is ok.”  If I missed anything folks think of when they start their year, let me know.  And like I hoped, I already love my kiddos and am so happy to have them every day, if for no other reason than to have a do over from yesterday.  I am also lucky enough to have two teachers on my team that I am excited to learn from.  They are so good!  I’m learning through every conversation with them and it’s amazing.  Every day I am feeling a little more like the teacher I want to be, and I really am happy to be back in the classroom.  It’s no picnic.  I’ve been flat out told “no” more times this year than several years combined stateside, and I have a handful of kids who are still four years old, so cranky is the norm after lunch.  As a group, we are already making progress, and they do really get excited about learning to read and write. The daily roller coaster is my reality, but it does at least seem to be trending upwards.  Next step is working on the overall balance of our lives here, getting more sleep and exercise, not eating every single piece of the amazing food that is everywhere, and fine tuning the comfort of our apartment so we feel even more like we are at home.

I’ll let Sara speak for herself in her next post, which might also be labeled as her first post, so I wouldn’t hold your breath out there.  Kidding, kind of.  She is riding the ups and downs like all of us, and even busier than I am with school stuff.  Giant shocker for those that know her.  She has an amazing teaching partner, and figures out more every day.  She is overcommitted already to extra trainings and is living the nightly laptop work at home dream.  She too is working to find that balance we all are, but has a neat class and an incredible teaching assistant, so it is headed in the right direction.

It is still strange to see flocks of green parakeets instead of swallows, and to see marmosets instead of squirrels.  Now I know why people stop and take pictures of squirrels when they first see them.   They are wierd little animals when you stop to think about it.  The little things keep us going, like the incredible smiles and kindness of 99% of the people you meet, and we have yet to meet that 1% person who is rumored to out there and grumpy.  And being able to stop by the fruit stand on the way home and pick up half a giant watermelon for less than $3.00 will probably never get old.

Yesterday was rough, today is better, and who knows what tomorrow will bring.  We are slowly learning to live like a Brazilian, which currently means to pack a water bottle, a sense of humor, some patience, and a smile.

Lots of love from all of us down here to all of you up there.  

Tchau, tchau,

Adam