I haven't blogged much lately because I have been on the road.  Fulbright gives each ETA a travel stipend which we can use to either attend or present at an academic conference which pertains to either our research area or teaching English in general.  Since I was a part of UFPA's linguistic research group this semester, I was able to present at CLAFPL (a conference about improving future language teachers in Brazil), one of the conferences where our proposals were submitted.  My presentation was about analyzing Language Advising using Complexity Theory.  It was my first time presenting in Portuguese and I lost a little bit of sleep over it and spent hours practicing.  It went well and I feel extremely relieved that it is over and done with.  It was a good way for me to end the year and tie up my time with the research group.



We have less than two weeks to go and each day is already chock full of activities.  Tomorrow I present at the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) conference in Belém and then all of us are working like crazy to get Halloween workshops and parties ready for Friday.  This has been such a fun year and though I'm sad to be leaving Belém, I'm excited for whatever comes next.

Lots has been happening for me and Sean in Belém recently.  We took a weekend trip to Marajó Island which was a nice little getaway and last weekend was the famous Círio de Nazaré celebration.  The tradition of Círio actually lasts for almost the entire month of October.  It is a religious festival that involves the pilgrimage of many Catholics to worship an image of Saint Mary.  During the celebration, the population of the city swells to more than double and there are a variety of different church services and masses, processions and performances.  It's known as the largest religious festival in South American and being able to witness the event was not only really interesting but also a little overwhelming and emotional.



The first part of Círio takes place on Saturday morning on the river and is called Círio Fluvial.  The saint is escorted down the river to the port of Belém by a large group of decorated boats.  We watched the aquatic pilgrimage from the balcony of one of the Fulbright coordinators who has a superb view of the spectacle.  She also offered us breakfast and lunch replete with homemade traditional foods.  It was a fun and relaxing morning eating, catching up with the other ETAs, and kicking off the holiday weekend with plenty of fireworks and elaborately decorated boats.  After lunch, Sean and I headed home to nap and recharge before the evening festivities began.

The two main newspapers from each extreme predict different candidates to win the election (Photo credit Eric Stoner)

 It's a big day for Brazil today - there are elections for federal, state and local positions along with the presidential election.  For the first time in South America there are two women running against each other for president along with one other male candidate.  To be honest, I haven't been very interested in the candidates' profiles but I have been very intrigued by the election culture here in Brazil.

These past few weeks have been filled with fireworks, increased traffic because of parades, cars with loudspeakers blasting political propaganda, doorbell ringers at all times of day eager to hand out pamphlets and people lining the streets waving flags of their party.  It's made daily life a bit chaotic, to say the least.



Voting in Brazil is required and this obligation is a frequent topic of discussion in our English classes.  Students are both amazed and interested in how the U.S. election system works especially because it is voluntary.  Here, if you don't vote you have to pay a fine and could never be considered for a government position.  You also have to vote in the place where you were born and if you move you either have to do a lot of paperwork to change your voting location or apply for a proper justification of why you physically cannot be there to vote. 

Political propaganda covers the streets of Belém

Voting in Brazil is famously corrupt and when I ask my students what this means they say that it's because candidates "buy their vote."  They either give citizens money to vote for them or give them free things they can use.  One example I heard was one candidate giving out free pressure cookers but to get the very important and necessary lid to the cooker, you had to show up on voting day and vote for him.  Most of my students choose to vote "Nulo" which means they show up to vote but either leave their ballot blank or just write in nonsense so that their vote doesn't count.

One thing I will NOT miss from Brazil: os "Carros de Som" / Sound Cars

Most interesting for me, however, was the "Lei Seca" or the Dry Law which forbids drinking on the night before and the day of the election to try and prevent people getting a little too out of control (for similar reasons, alcohol is not usually permitted in soccer stadiums as well).  Voting is always on a Sunday here so restaurants and stores stop selling alcohol at around 6pm on Saturday night.  That doesn't prevent people from drinking and having a good time, though, say my students.  Everyone just prepares for the weekend by buying their booze from the supermarket well ahead of time.

Check the news tomorrow to see the results of the Brazilian election!

My cousins, Craig and Dave, who live in Germany sent me this link to a BBC article yesterday and it's been inspiring me ever since!  The article describes writer Ann Morgan's challenge to herself to read one book from every country in a year.  She keeps a blog and writes about the experience and what she learned (the list of books she actually read are posted on there as well if you are interested).  Her initial idea came to her because of the lack of diversity in her bookshelves even though she thought of herself as a cosmopolitan citizen and writer.  How true that is!  When I look at my bookshelves and on the electronic reading list of my Nook, I'm struck by the same feeling and it makes me try and remember some of my favorite books that aren't from the States.  It's also an alternative way to travel the world and one that doesn't create a big carbon footprint either. What about you, blog reader? Any recommendations?

Fallen mango during an afternoon rain (Photo credit Leiliane Barro)

This weekend has been both relaxing and productive.  It's rained heavily in the afternoons and Sean and I spent time in a coffee shop working on our "50 Pre-Course Tasks" that we need to complete before our CELTA (Certified English Language Teacher of Adults) course in November.  This is one of my favorite parts of the week because it involves grammar, good coffee and dessert, air conditioning, no mosquitoes and hanging out with Sean.  Both of us have also been working on a lot of job applications as well as we try and figure out what is next for us after Brazil.  Consuming large amounts of homemade iced coffee has helped a lot in this process.  If you need help with a resume or cover letter just ask us  - we're getting pretty good at them.

An afternoon torrential downpour in Belém (Photo credit: Joana Flexa)

Recently, a student and friend, Jean Santos, snapped some beautiful pictures of the campus of UFPA and I wanted to share them with you.  It's an odd feeling to walk around campus in the "fall" but not notice the changing colors of the trees, the swishing of dried leaves under your feet or the coolness in the air.  Instead, we are slowly transferring back to the "rainy" season and the weather is as hot and humid as ever.  I spend a good part of each day walking (and sweating) back and forth between the Language Arts buildings and the science buildings where most of the English Without Borders classes are.  Seeing Jean's pictures the other day reminded me of how beautiful the campus is and that it's worth slowing down and enjoying the scenery instead of always rushing around.  Thanks Jean!

Campus graffiti: Tell me what you watch and I'll tell you who you are

Block H - where most of my classes are

Last year while working at UESC in Bahia, I became very good friends with one of the students there named Shalon.  Shalon was the unofficial and then the official helper for the Fulbright ETAs and helped us do everything from find housing to get registered at the police.  From the first day I met him, his dream was to study abroad in the U.S. and he worked harder than a lot of people ever do to get there.  He received a scholarship to study at Saint Ambrose College in Iowa for one semester and has now been there for a couple of weeks.  One of the requirements of his scholarship program is that he keeps a blog of his experiences and all that he is learning.  I found his most recent blog post fascinating because he gave some honest and real opinions about some of the negative stuff that goes on during our undergraduate years.  Reading his blog also made me learn a lot more about Brazil because in seeing what a Brazilian notices about the U.S. it's easy to see why this is important or different from his home country.  See for yourself:

"I thought everything would be perfect! And I truly have had amazing moments that have made my trip incredibly great... But you know what? Some cultural shocks were unavoidable... I never thought I'd experience so much in a short period of time. Every single day is a challenge for me when I am able to understand and get to know more about this new world and specially about myself. I look at myself today and I can see the difference... I grow day by day... I have learned so many things... I have seen so many things...

Shalon armed with two portable projectors ready to prepare presentations for Language Week