One of the ways in which this position is so different than last year's position is that I don't have my own classes.  Instead, I collaborate with Brazilian English professors to create special events, visit classes for an activity or discussion and promote English conversation and American culture by holding workshops and conversation clubs.  It feels like I get to do all of the fun stuff that goes along with teaching without all of the paperwork and politics.

My favorite event so far was a language and culture event that we put on last week.  We worked with two different Brazilian instructors, Juliana and Paula, and combined their classes on Wednesday morning to learn about the American tradition of making S'mores.  The students were studying how to give instructions in English so following recipes fit right in with their unit.  We planned for everyone to meet outside by the river and students brought charcoal, bricks, wooden sticks, chocolate and sweet crackers.  Paula had to look very hard for marshmallows but finally found some funny, colored ones in a candy store in the mall.



The students were very excited to have a non-traditional English class and seemed to really really appreciate the chance to be outside as well as the opportunity to interact and practice English with Anna, Stevie and me.  After we started the coals, which took about an hour in the rain and hot and humid air, we explained the history and tradition of S'mores and then instructed how to make them.



The class was a huge success and the students loved roasting the marshmallows and then making the sweet sandwiches.  They don't have anything like that here in Brazil and many of them went back for seconds and thirds.  Nobody seemed to mind sweating around the fire or the bright and fruity marshmallows.  After the class, students pulled out a slack line and a guitar and we just hung out around the river together.  It was a really fun morning and one that I hope can be repeated in different ways for the rest of the semester.

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