Dinnertime!

Thais doing a craft project

Because of a computer glitch in the U.S. Department of State's computer system,  for about two weeks hardly any foreigners were allowed entry into the country.  Naturally, this wreaked mass chaos and havoc on travel, study and business plans for many internationals and also caused a problem for our Brazilian language and culture immersion camp called "Mar e Floresta" (sea and forest).  For the first couple weeks of camp it was just four of us running everything - me, and a few other Brazilians who had arrived before the problem.  Finally, our whole team has arrived from Brazil which has decreased individual workload significantly - hallelujah!

Any showing the students around

Giving Portuguese class

Dance class

Bruno on the guitar

Campfire time

There are eight of us in all and I am the only American which is both good and bad.  Good in that I'm practicing my Portuguese like crazy and learning a lot but bad in that at times the activities are way out of my league for my current vocabulary (i.e. trying to teach archery barely knowing the technical words in English is a challenge).  Sometimes I don't feel as useful since I can't contribute as deeply to some of the cultural activities because I haven't lived there my whole life but other times my knowledge of English comes in handy.  Most of the Brazilians don't speak English so I help a lot with translation and also with safety/emotional issues with the campers when they need to communicate in their own language.  I also do all of the official paperwork and documents in English along with the nightly cabin council to talk about how things are going.  We are full steam ahead with some campers here for one week, others for two weeks and still others who are here for the full month (which is unfortunate as this means we can't repeat some classes/programs/activities).  Let me introduce you to the team:

Bruno (Brazil, 35) - Assistant dean of the Portuguese camp and our fearless leader.  He is a physical education teacher in Brazil and also plays a number of instruments.  This is his 5th summer with CLV.

Carla (Brazil, 34) - Wife of Bruno and primary education teacher in Brazil.  Is in charge of the academic and activity programming.  This is also her 5th time here.

Any (Brazil, 30) - Gym teacher who also teaches dance, zumba and capoeira.  This is her first time in the States.

Andrueza (Brazil, 32) - Primary school teacher in Brazil and this is also her first time in the States.

Guillerme (Brazil, 33) - Gym teacher in Brazil and is here for the first time.

Sofi (Argentina, 26) - Gym teacher who learned Portuguese while living in Brazil for a year.


Thais (Brazil, 22) - Former villager turned counselor.  Grew up in Brazil with Brazilian parents but is now studying in Bennington college in Vermont.

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