Pirate Day!

The elementary kids had pirate day to end off the month of September. My 7th and 8th grade students were the helpers and team captains. The kids rotated through different stations: computer, craft, and snack. After the stations we watched a pirate lego movie and had a pirate treasure hunt around the school grounds. I was stationed in the computer lab. We set up a bunch of the teacher's laptops in the kitchen (outside the computer lab) to give more kids a chance to play pirate games on line and get their pirate name from a website. My name was First Mate Long Legs! The kids had a blast and enjoyed the afternoon. My roommate Gina is in the third picture from the end helping Lucas on the computer. We were going to get a picture of the two of us together but in all the craziness we didn't get to it. We made pirate hooks together out of plastic cups and tin foil! My students did a great job helping corral the younger kids. I've included a few pictures of the event and then a picture of my students - girls and boys. One of the twins was out sick for the week and didn't make the picture, but I'll have to take more in the future. The day was a success and a great chance to work together with my students as a team.

Afternoon Exploration!

Well - my 3rd week of school is behind me. As each week passes I'm feeling more and more like I'm getting the hang of things. I'm still adjusting to the various levels in my classroom and prepping/teaching two separate lessons for math and spelling/vocab. I'm getting to know my student's personalities and more about them as each day passes. I've started teaching piano lessons to one boy at school. He's in first grade and very excited to learn. His dad is the school secretary/administrator and knew that I was musical. He asked if I'd consider teaching his son Alex. I agreed since he was a beginner. I may have 2 more potential students, the daughters of other teachers. This is a new experience for me - but it's fun to get a little extra spending money on the side.

 After church this morning we had a potluck dinner. I decided to bring an apple pie along. I had fun making that yesterday. It turned out pretty well and I think people enjoyed it because I brought back an almost empty pan! It was a good time of fellowship and a chance to get to know some people better. The weather was so beautiful that I decided to go off on my own adventure this afternoon. Down at the bottom of the hill, where the larger grocery store is (Jumbo) is the beach and marina. Since arriving in Portugal I've never stepped foot on the beach and decided this afternoon was the time. I geared up for the 20 minute walk down and took a towel, book, my camera, and a water bottle along. The water is a bit chilly, but it was fun to walk along the beach and then just sit and read for a little while. I enjoyed a walk along the edge which twists and turns with the coast line. It was a beautiful afternoon as you can see in the pictures. The train station is also at the bottom of the hill and runs along the coast. It was a great way to spend the afternoon and fun to see some new things that were within walking distance. I've included a few pictures below.

4 Week Update

Well - I've taught 2 weeks of school and met all my students. Three of my girls are Greek, two boys are from Nigeria, another student from Zimbabwe, one that's Portuguese/German and another Portuguese/American, and the last is British/Portuguese. My students have a variety of English accents. I love listening to the ones with a British flair to their English - who knows if they enjoy listening to me that much! My students are warming up as the days go by and opening up more. During our morning break and lunch/recess time I have a chance to get to talk with them more one on one. The high school students also have their break then so I'm getting to know the 8 students in high school as well. Since I'm with my students at break plus lunch/recess I feel like I don't have much "free" time during the day to collect my thoughts or get organized for the afternoon. That's one thing I do miss.

Yesterday was an Open House where I met with the parents of my students and we had a picnic lunch that followed. Of course I was nervous, but it was good opportunity to meet parents and share with them a little about myself. They were all very pleasant and I'm glad I had the chance to meet them. The Open House was scheduled to begin at 11am. There were probably 2 families there at 11! The Portuguese culture is not driven by clocks and a schedule. By 11:30 we began the meeting and families continued to trickle in. Each family brought a main dishes that was traditional to their country. I enjoyed sampling a variety of yummy foods yesterday - desserts included. Someone even brought homemade vanilla ice cream!

I'm feeling more like the apartment is home now. I planted some flowers in the window box outside my bedroom (top picture) and a a few on the balcony (picture above). There were already window boxes with dirt in place. I'm going to keep thinking about what to plant in the remaining boxes that are empty. Quite a few pigeons like to sit in our window boxes and the balconies in the building. I'm hoping once there are plants they may try to find other places to land. The flock of birds will often fly overhead on my way to and from school. They seem to "own" the area.

I have not had much chance to explore Portugal yet since I've been so busy getting things ready for school and teaching. As I meet more people at church some have offered to take my roommate and I to do some sight-seeing. Today I was encouraged to meet a lady from Toronto, Canada who is teaching 4th grade at another International School in Portugal. She and her husband have been teaching internationally for quite a few years. She was very friendly and we talked about getting together after church one Sunday. God has been good in helping me feel settled and making this my home for the year.

School Pictures

 

Here are some pictures of school. This is the front of the school. The door leads directly into my classroom. This is also the church auditorium where I go on Sundays.

 

This is a view from the door of my office. The kids' lockers are in my office which is down a short hall and around a corner from my classroom.The next two pictures are taken inside my classroom. It's nice having the overhead fans to help give a breeze. I'm able to use the projector on the ceiling to do powerpoints. It's nice to have the option of hooking up my laptop to help teach. The last picture is taken upstairs where the high school and junior high eat lunch. The recess area is just beyond the picnic tables.

First Week of School!

I survived my first two days of teaching. Two of my nine students won't be in class till Monday of next week. I won't think about trying to catch them up yet! My students were SO quiet on Tuesday I had to work to get answers out of them. It was hard to read them and know if they were enjoying the day or not. I do have an inside source (Marcia's son Daniel) - according to her he had a great day and is looking forward to the year. I'm sure I get some extra points for being his friend already! :O) My classroom is actually in the church auditorium which means my office is in another room. I felt so disorganized Tuesday since I made tons of trips to my office to get things I'd forgotten - white board markers and erasers, textbooks, pencils, paper....I'm sure I'll have the routine down soon enough, but I felt kinda out of it yesterday. Today I was a bit more organized with all my teacher books. Each Friday and Monday we have to move all the desks, chairs, boards, and my stuff into the office. I caught myself at lunch today feeling like it was 4pm and time to go home. Tomorrow will be the first full day - I'm sure I'll feel tired at the end. I keep forgetting to take my camera to school, but I promise to get some pictures of my room and office up soon.

International Handicrafts Fair

Tonight I got to go to a handicrafts fair in Cascais with my friends Marcia, Pedro, and their sons Daniel and Lucas. This was the same festival they took my sisters and me to on our visit back in 2006. The craft fair was open for the month of August with lots of booths selling craft items linens, kids toys, pottery, clothes, jewelry etc. Paper lanterns were strung from the trees overhead giving a fun lighting feel. At 9pm there was a live concert in the open air park. The musicians walked out and I wondered what they'd sound like. There was a bass player, guitar (also played the accordion), clarinet, violin, and a drummer/percussionist. The clarinet player was the leader and I was pleasantly surprised with their music. What seemed to be an unusual assortment of instruments sounded great. Their melodies and harmonies fit so well together and the pitches were right on. The music definitely had a Jewish flair to it. The band played a variety of songs - mostly toe tapping and upbeat while others were slow with haunting melodies. Lots of the songs had a gypsy sound to them. I could picture a group of people dancing around in a circle (and then they asked the audience to form a circle and dance!). My heart started to beat a little faster, but those of us in chairs remained seated. Some "volunteers" from groups that had gathered on the sides came down front to dance. It was a fun way to end the day since music can be enjoyed in any language. The picture below was taken in bad lighting but you can see the stage and some of the musicians. The top picture is the entrance to the festival.

Weekend Thoughts

My roommate Gina came back from a visit to the market this morning with a surprise for me - a bunch of sunflowers! They brighten up our living room and make me smile. :O) There are a few random things that have stood out in my mind as being "different" so I'll share those with you.

*All the sidewalks are made of cobblestones and sometimes they are very uneven or even missing in places. You have to always watch your step, I haven't tripped yet but it's only been 2 weeks. I hear they get really slippery in the rain! It helps give a quaint small town feel, but on the practical side I can feel each individual stone and the unevenness beneath me depending on my shoes.

*There are roundabouts everywhere! This is a picture of the roundabout close to my apartment building. The next shot shows you one of the streets that I walk down on the way to school. It's about a 5-10 minute walk to get to school. There are striped white lines for pedestrians to cross the street. Pedestrians always have the right of way. You just step out and the cars are supposed to stop. Some of the cars come zipping up and I'm getting used to taking the first step even though traffic is coming. Obviously you don't go if a car is too close but sometimes I feel as if I'm putting my life out there. :O)

*Frequent trips to the grocery store are very convenient because Pingo Doce (the name of my grocery store) is located right in front of my apartment building. You can see the store on the bottom and apartments on top. My apartment building is located around the corner directly behind the store. There are always cars coming and going. It's quite interesting to watch the delivery trucks trying to back out when they leave with all the cars parked around. I'm amazed at how people can maneuver their cars in such tight spaces and parallel park too. I've seen tons of SMART cars - even a Barbie pink colored one. Below is a picture of my apartment building. I'm on the 2nd floor, just below the light on the lamp post.

*A few final thoughts. Dryers are not very common. People hang their laundry out to dry. I'm sure I'll miss my dryer in the colder months when things don't dry as fast. Tile is used everywhere - in apartments, for street names, and decorative designs along the road. Cement walls are also very popular. Yogurt is a big thing here - so much that some grocery stores have 2-3 aisles of it to pick from!
*School starts September 1st! You can check out the school website here: http://www.icsc.pt/. I'll have two half days to start out the week. That's all for now...thanks to those of you who have sent me comments or e-mails. It's great to hear from friends.