Walking out to the lake at the Dunes (photo cred Kerry Daab)

Trees after the ice storm (photo cred Susie Sanderson)

We have been having such a nice time catching up with family and friends this holiday season and have a few more planned for this weekend.  We have especially enjoyed the awesome winter scenery created by a recent ice storm (though it did leave many without power).  Hope your Christmas and New Year celebrations are merry and bright.

Our backyard (Susie Sanderson)

Merry Christmas from the Sandersons and the Doyles!

Photo by Susie Sanderson

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Re-entering the U.S. after being gone for so long is always interesting because I notice things that I didn't before.  As I walked off the plane into the Detroit airport I noticed the cold, the language, the quiet and the Christmas decorations.  While waiting for my connecting flight I could feel my skin drying out, my lips chapping and my nose running - all sensations that I hadn't experienced for the previous ten months.  I also appreciated the hushed and quiet atmosphere; everyone was calm, talking in low voices and they kept them emotions to themselves.  It was strangely relieving.  It was also funny to notice all of the Christmas decorations and holiday music which was being pumped from every available source.  Finally, it was very odd to see and hear everything in English for the first time in a long time.

It's only been a few days since I've been home but it's a joy to be back re-connecting with family and friends, getting ready for Christmas and eating foods that I've missed.  Last Friday, Sean and I spent the morning at Donutville, one of our favorite haunts.  The best time to go is on Friday because it's the only day when they make and sell blueberry donuts.  I highly recommend it.

Our last visitor to Brazil was Becky, a friend from high school.  Becky flew into Salvador and spent a couple of days there visiting with a friend from college who was on a stopover working on the Semester at Sea ship.  We met up with her on Tuesday night, just in time for the big cultural performances that evening.  Our hostel was in the Pelourinho, the historic district of the city, so we were right in the center of all of the action.

Gotta love McDonalds for Thanksgiving dinner

We spent our time in Salvador exploring the city, checking out one of the famous souvenir markets and hanging out with the fun and entertaining resident directors on the Semester at Sea ship.  Their stories of 800 university students cooped up on a ship for six months sounded like a dramatic reality television series and kept us laughing for hours.  We spent one day at a beach about three hours north to visit a jungle reserve and a turtle conservation center.

Other than one day of torrential rain, we had a lot of fun and it was really cool to re-connect with Becky in a place other than Holland, Michigan.

The giant dog (bull mastiff) that stayed at our hostel, he almost knocked Sean over at one point

In just a few days I get to see the happy faces of my family in person and not just on my computer screen through Skype. I'm excited!

The weekend before my friend, Becky, was scheduled to arrive, Sean and I spent one last weekend at our favorite family's beach house.  It was a relaxing time spent in hammocks, swimming in the ocean and in the river, walking on the beach and just catching up with Caleb, Aryadne, Miriam and Titã.  They have dubbed us "Michigueiros Baianos" while observing that we have adapted to the slow-paced and chill lifestlye that is daily life in Bahia.  It's not hard to do.



We enjoyed one last feijoada feast, a few of Caleb's homemade brews and plenty of typical Bahian snacks that we're going to miss.  We really appreciated having one last relaxing weekend before the craziness of traveling and then packing up and heading home.  Oliveira family we will miss you!

 
Friday was my last official day at UESC (though I plan to go back a few times before going home on the 10th).  My Department Chair organized a little picnic in the center of campus with some kids from a volunteer English class that he teaches in his neighborhood.  Sean and I had given them a class once before so it was fun to see them again and they were really excited for the picnic at the university. 

For this class, Sean and I planned on some fun and simple games and we brought along "Headbandz" and "Spot It" to play together.  The first game involves guessing what card you are wearing on your head using yes/no questions and the second one is a vocabulary recognition game with speed.  Samuel, my boss, had gone all out for the picnic which even included a checkered blanket and basket.  We dined on sandwiches, mixed nuts and cookies.  Hilariously, he also brought along plenty of cans of beer for us and a bottle of wine to share (between the three of us).  This marks the first time that I have taught English while actually drinking alcohol.  We were also surrounded by clusters of pot-smoking students curious as to what we were doing in their usual hang out spot.  Samuel didn't even bat an eye about this, however.  "This is were the students like to come to smoke maconha," he casually remarked. 

Perhaps heading back home to work at the Hope College bookstore for a week or two is going to be a bit more of a culture shock than usual. 

I've written about couch surfing before but I want to touch on it one more time as it's been such a big (and unexpected) part of my time in Brazil.  For those of you who don't know, Couch Surfing is a relatively new program designed to connect travelers with locals willing to open their home and share their time.  All it takes is setting up a profile on the internet site and then responding to "couch requests" about whether you have the time and space to host other backpackers from around the world traveling through your city.

Before Sean arrived and while I was on my own, I hosted a lot of different people and had a fantastic time.  It was not only fun to show them around my neighborhood and take them to some of my favorite places (even to UESC a few times!) but it is fascinating to listen to their experiences too.  Most couch surfers choose to stay in others' homes to save money, but many do it because they want to meet new people and have a personal connection to the place where they are visiting.  So far, I've only ever had very positive experiences and have found my guests to be very grateful, generous, easygoing and a lot of fun to hang out with.



This week, Sean and I are hosting two Swiss guys in their 30s who are traveling around South America for a year.  One of them is a teacher and the other is a banker.  They are both very into Muay Thai fighting and will spend the next three months training in Thailand.  What fascinates me the most is that they can speak: English, German, French, Spanish and Thai (!!) and don't seem to think anything of it.



We have been enjoying our time with them because they have been so easy to be around and are extremely grateful and generous.  On our first night, they took us out for caipirinhas and then we came home after work last night to a steak dinner complete with wine, potatoes and salad.  Tonight I think we are going to make something else together and then play card games.  We've been sharing a lot of travel stories and experiences and it has been refreshing, inspiring and very entertaining to meet and hang out with new people.  Couch Surfing: just do it!

Last weekend was an extra long one due to a holiday on Friday and Sean and I had planned to do a little getaway to Itacaré, a small hippy beach town about two hours north of Ilhéus.  It would be our last chance to travel just the two of us before a friend comes next weekend and before heading back to the States. 

"Bananas" hostel - a classy joint

Itacaré is a remote beach and jungle-filled paradise and I pictured us having a relaxing and romantic time away from it all.  Not thinking, we left planning until the last minute since finding a place to stay usually isn't a problem.  Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea that we had for the long weekend and every private room was completely booked up.  Every room, that is, besides a room at a not-so-romantically named hostel called "Bananas."  I was less than thrilled but since we didn't have much choice and becuase they only had one room left, we made the booking online and crossed our fingers.



In typical Bahian style, we checked in at 3 pm and were told that our room wouldn't be ready for another hour.  We had some dinner and came back and when it still wasn't ready we sat around and had a beer with the hostel owner until everything was finished (7pm).  Overall, our trip was fine and the slow-moving shenanigans at Bananas were just added entertainment.  On our last day we started to worry about missing our bus when we had to find someone to wake up when we were ready to check out and pay.  Sean and I both agree that there probably isn't a word for "Hurry" in Brazilian Portuguese and if there is, you certainly wouldn't learn it by living in Bahia. 

The official end date of this year's grant is November 24 which means that I have one more week left at school.  At our mid-year seminar, we were reminded not to count the days but rather to "Make the days count."  I'm trying to pack as much as I can into this final week of work and it's going to be a busy one, indeed.  Classes are wrapping up with games and goodbye parties, I'm finishing up a lesson planning editing project with my coordinator and I'm putting together a welcome bulletin board and information folder for the new ETAs who will be coming next February.  When you throw in random couch surfers staying over, trip planning for one last trip with a friend flying in from the U.S. next weekend and figuring what/how to send stuff to Belém for next year or how we are going to get all our stuff plus some fun Christmas goodies home, it is shaping up to be quite a busy end to the semester.  That being said, although we are eagerly counting the days until December 11 when we will be with our friends and family in Holland again, we are trying to make the days count while we're still in Brazil. 

Ever since I arrived in Brazil I have wanted to try a real churrasco restaurant - the kind where waiters bring unlimited amounts of grilled meat to you on giant skewers.  The best churrasco place in the area is called Las Pampas and came highly recommended by everyone.  Since it was going to be the most expensive meal for me by far during my time here, I waited for Sean to arrive so we could go together.

Look at how happy Sean is in this picture

Last week, Loni decided to have her birthday dinner at Las Pampas so we ended up going as a big group which was a lot of fun.  The whole churrasco experience exceeded my expectations.  There was a giant buffet of everything one could possibly want (including sushi) and the service was fantastic.  I could not believe the quantity and variety of meat that was piled on our table.  There were several different kinds of beef and chicken cooked to perfection and then sliced for us right at the table.  I don't think I've seen Sean that happy in awhile and he almost ate himself sick.


Brazil is known for their meat and it's one of the things that my students say that they missed/would miss when they go abroad.  After studying in Iowa, one of my students who was also at the birthday dinner, said that his dad drove him directly to a churrasco restaurant from the airport when he flew home so he could make up for lost time.  Brazilians take their meat-eating seriously.

With two more weeks of school left, things are starting to get a little bit nuts.  It's like this every time  we are getting ready to leave; we always think we will have more time than we actually do.  The calendar quickly fills up with dinners, goodbye parties and last-minute visits with families and friends that we might not be able to see for a long time.  This past week and weekend were filled with so many birthday parties (Carnival babies, they are called) that things were getting slightly out of hand.  I actually heard Sean say, "I'll be very happy if I don't ever have to go to another party ever again."  True, he was laid out on the bed with a severe case of food poisoning from some food at one of the parties but, like his dad said, I should have gotten it on tape.

Drawing of me and Sean by one of my students

Another entertaining phenomenon that has varied according to where we live is what we are given as going away presents.  Although very sweet and generous and sometimes humorous,  they often create serious problems in terms of getting them home.  In China we were given huge framed cross-stitched works of art, giant hand-sewn pillows, scrolls of calligraphy, glass mugs and many boxes of combs and chopsticks.  Here in Brazil, so far we've been given: 2 bags of manioc flour, a set of hand-embroidered dishcloths, cake mixes and a decent-sized pencil drawing (see picture).  At least Brazil allows each person to come/go with two 70 lb bags free of charge.  Looks like even the flour might make it home after all. 

Opening Ceremonies

Motivating speech by one of UESC's self taught English professors

Our big Fulbright event on language and culture finished up last week and everyone is breathing a big sigh of success and relief.  We had a lot of fun and a surprising amount of participation by both students and faculty which was great.  The coolest thing was that students outside of the language departments participated (biology, chemistry, engineering, medicine etc.) which brought new energy and fresh faces.  Here's some of what we did:

Guest speaker on studying abroad

Who doesn't love charades? It was an absolute blast

Monday, November 4
Opening Ceremonies
"Overcoming the Challenges of Learning a Foreign Language: Personal Perspectives" (Professor Panel)
"Challenges in Learning English" (New UESC English Professor)
"Studying Abroad Tips and Resources" (American Guest Speaker who works in international education)
"Game Time" (Large group game of Reverse Charades)

"Rollercoaster"

"Bumper Sticker"

"Flamingo" Nice work, Sean

Tuesday, November 5
"Living Abroad: Learning English and Adjusting to New Cultural Norms" (UESC panel of students who had been abroad)
"The Benefits of Learning Another Language and How to Become Fluent" (Loni and Isaias)
"Game Time II" (Large group game of Bananagrams)
"Teaching Language and Culture" (New UESC Spanish Professor)
"Game Show" (American culture trivia with Sarah and Sean)
Closing Ceremonies

Panel of students who had studied abroad before

Language Week Crew

Putting on the event was a lot of work but it was really satisfying to sit back and watch everything unfold and know that we had been behind all of the planning.  The most successful activities were the games which the students raved about and we received comments such as, "We should do this more often" and "This was so much fun!"  Loni and I couldn't have pulled this off without the help of our student monitors and the volunteer efforts of a certain dedicated husband.  We are grateful to all who helped out and made this such a memorable and entertaining event!

My boss, Isaias, discussing his personal journey of learning English

Loni speaking about how to become fluent

Sean helping his team with Bananagrams

My team rocked it!

Sean and I about to play some game shows

I wish I could bring some of the energy and enthusiasm back to the U.S.

During our mid-year seminar in Brasilia, the Fulbright Commission told us about a new opportunity to stay in Brazil for the following year.  The position would be similar to being an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) this year but would have added responsibilities working with the programs Science Without Borders and English Without Borders (Ciencias Sem Fronteiras / Ingles Sem Fronteiras). 

The government of Brazil has been investing heavily in scholarship opportunities for its university students, professors and researchers to study and work abroad for one year to gain experience and knowledge which they would then bring back to Brazil.  Last year, however, many scholarships went unused because the Brazilian students couldn't pass the basic English requirements and exams (TOEFL/IELTS) needed to gain entry into British, Canadian, Australian and American universities.  Thus, the State Department has partnered with the Brazilian Ministry of Education to provide more English teachers through the Fulbright program to help these students pass the necessary English exams and increase their confidence in conversational English.

This is how the new opportunity came about.  Fulbright offered the 30 of us the chance to reapply for 10 spots to stay on as ETA mentors for this new program.  There were 17 of us that applied for the chance to stay and I was lucky enough to get one of the spots.  Next year, Fulbright will be sending the normal 30 ETAs to Brazil plus an added 80 ETAs whose sole purpose is to help prospective Science Without Borders students gain enough English practice to pass the entry exams and be successful in English-speaking countries.  With the 30 ETAS, the 10 of us and the 80 new program ETAs there will be 120 in all which makes for a pretty daunting challenge in terms of organization, orientation and management.  The 10 of us will each be in charge of about 11 new ETAs and help them throughout the visa application process, arrival in Brazil, teaching methods and adjusting to the language and culture.



I am beyond excited to be able to participate in this opportunity as well as get to know a new place in Brazil.  This week, Sean and I found out that my placement will be in the very north of the country, in the city of Belem in the state of Pará.  It's going to be ridiculously hot, humid and mosquito-filled but it's right next to the Amazon and offers access to parts of the country that most tourists never even think of visiting.  As a mentor, it will be part of my job to visit the placements of my 11 new ETAs and I am looking forward to the chance to visit and get to know their cities and universities as well. 



Next year, Sean will be in Belem with me the majority of the time instead of only three months.  We are brainstorming possible things for him to do while he is there and he is hoping to find a job other than teaching English.  With the way the calendar works out next year, we are happy to be able to be in the country for both Carnival and the World Cup.  We hope you come and visit!

Halloween is by far my most favorite holiday to teach and talk about outside of the States.  Here in Brazil, Halloween isn't celebrated at all but the students know a little bit about it from American media.  This week, classes were a blast as Sean and I talked about our traditions (costumes, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating etc.) and played some games.  The games that worked the best were a jack o' lantern drawing game in which students had to describe the faces of their pumpkins to their partners who then had to listen and draw by following directions.  The second game that was wildly successful was "Halloween Pictionary" which included words like vampire, ghost, graveyard, bat, wizard, zombie etc.  The students got really into it and I was glad that Sean was there to help keep things fair and under control as things quickly turned heated.


Sean and I bought a Brazilian pumpkin and carved it and then roasted the seeds which turned out great.  We brought them to UESC for students to try and they thought it was both hilarious and ridiculous that we eat pumpkin seeds (though they thought they were very tasty indeed).  Sean also labored quite a bit over some pumpkin apple muffins which also turned out well despite the fact that we couldn't locate allspice and barely managed to find some nutmeg.  Though we won't be having any trick-or-treaters tonight, I, for one, am definitely going to rustle up some candy.  Happy Halloween!

There was no school on Monday as it was "Public Workers' Day" and the beaches in Ilhéus were packed.  Sean and I had a busy and fun holiday weekend.  On Friday we met and hung out with a group of twenty Americans doing volunteer chiropractic work.  I was able to help with some of the translations but there were a lot of medical terms in Portuguese that were way over my head.  It was really cool to watch some of the more advanced English students at UESC work their magic as interpreters, however.  I walked away impressed and also very relaxed as the chiropractors gave me and Sean adjustments as well.



On Friday night we had three students stay the night and on Saturday night, after dinner at another student's house, we had two friends stay over as well.  We all enjoyed Sunday at a nearby beach called Carurupe that is famous for a little river that runs into the ocean.  That evening, two more friends showed up for drinks and watched, fascinated, while Sean carved our Halloween pumpkin.

On Monday we spent the day at a different beach with my boss, Isaias, and his family.  We had a lot of fun teaching their two boys, Ciro and Arão, how to play frisbee.  After grocery shopping, cleaning a house that had hosted various groups of people, laundry and lesson planning for the week, we both crashed pretty hard last night.  I think our weekends are actually more work than work itself at UESC.