This Saturday we had a party for Nelson's birthday. On Saturdays it is typical to eat feijao so Marcia had made a huuuuuuge pot of it for the party. There was lots of dancing, lots of beer, lots of caipirinhas and lots of new people! It was lots of fun and great to meet some new lovely people!

Today we went to Estrda Bonit, which is a long round in the countryside, in Joinville. Along the road are lots of different farms that sell homemade cheese, bread, jam etc.

We found another little cafe with an all you can eat home-made buffet. They seem to be everywhere, which is great as it is cheap, but not going to be good for my waist line!!

Today we went to São Francisco do Sul it is about an hour busride from Joinville and was 17 reals return which is about £6.

It is a really cute little port town, we hada really nice lunch on a pier and a wander round the town.

We were going to try and stay in a Pousada (the local definition for guest house) but they were more expensive than we wanted. We were talking to a guy who owned a local night club, but lived in Joinville, who said we could get in free to his club and then just stay at the club for the night! It was a really nice club and we managed to take some photos from the balconies but declined his offer and headed home.

On Saturday Marcia (my boss' sister in law) called and said she would show Monica (my new house mate) and I around Joinville.

Her family are really big sailors and they have a boat at Joinville Yacht Club so we headed down there for a look around and a coffee.
Every Saturday they have have a band playing Samba or Forra, so we sat and had a few beers there.

After we went to Joinville Tennis Club and had some lunch and caipirinha. It was a really nice day but totally different from my experience in Salvador. Yachts and tennis clubs are not really a big thing in Salvador as it is a much poorer area.

So Saturday was actually quite sunny!
I attempted to try and find downtown and the shopping mall... I didn't. But I did take some photos!

The house!


View from the front garden and 'Big' Supermarket


View down the street.

Today is Father's Day in Brazil, so we went round to my boss' brothers house for a biiiig meal and Moqueca. Between about 9 of us we went through 13 bottles of wine, a huge clay pot of moqueca, another one of paella and 4 different desserts!!

Well I survived my first week!

I had mixed ages from 5/6 upto about 11/12. It all went pretty well but is totally different from Korea. The kids here are very lively, talkative and as a whole lack discipline. It was difficult to get them to sit down and stop talking. However a noisy talkative class is always better than a deathly silent one!

I did have one incident with one of the younger ones. I was playing a game and it was time to finish. But it was the little boy's turn and he did not take to kindly to it being finished before his turn. He proceeded to throw a full on tantrum - proper Super Nanny Style. He then told me he didn't like me, to go back to where I belong and that he was never coming to school again because of me!! All in perfect English, so at least that was good! I ended up leaving him in one room but he followed me, sat next to me and continued to tell me he didn't like me!!

Needless to say I was pretty much dreading the next lesson. He was pretty ok with me. At one point he was losing the game and I could see he was about to throw a tantrum, I managed to calm him a little but then another student set him off and they launched in to a full on fight! This class is pretty difficult, I have to sit them all at opposite ends of the carpet so they can't touch each other, kick each other, bite etc.. Seeing as none of this was aimed at me, I thought it was a pretty successful lesson!

Also, the weather here has been COLD!!! I was told it would be cold and was thinking hmph I am from England. However the state I am in actually had snow!! I have about 3 blankets on my bed and have been wearing my leggings under.

I'm going to have a mosey around Joinville this weekend so hopefully expect some pics!

Being a foreigner

What has really struck me in Joinville is that I don't stand out. I am so used to being in Korea and sticking out like a sort thumb. In some ways it is really annoying constantly being stared at. In other ways it gives you a lot more leeway for getting away with things! People tend not to ask you do surveys or harass you to sign up for credit cards etc.

However Joinville is made up of German, Swiss and Norwegian immigrants, so I don't stick out. In one way this really nice, I don't feel as self concious and I can blend in. But it also means that people do ask you to sign up for credit cards or try and advise you on what iron to buy, or if you want to use your hipermarket card. Then when you dumbly stare at them, they just think you are an ignorant person. Hence why 'Nao fala Portuguese, eu sou inglesa' is the phrase I am using the most at the moment!

There is a great quote at school:

I'm a world citizen
the whole world is my home
I am not a foreigner
no matter where I roam

Showers in Brazil

We have 3 bathrooms here that all have showers. As I appreciate my life I only use one of them.

Brazilian showers are electric.. fine you think.. basically Brazilian showers zap the water with electricity usually in the form of bare wires taped to the shower with insulation tape.

One looks pretty harmless but apparently when you turn on the water you get shocked.
Also you get hot water at the sink I have to plug it in... above the sink....

One seems to work fine and there are no bare wires.

The third looks like this.....

Don't worry Mum and Dad, I sent you the details of my insurance policy!!

Saturday was pretty much spent pottering around, making my room a bit more homely, I went for lunch with my boss.

The garden we have is pretty big, we already have an orange tree, lemon tree, papaya tree, some random berry plant, mint, a straggly tomato plant and other random things we have yet to identify.
We have decided to try and grow a few more things and I have planted some tomatoes, lettuce and peppers... lets see how they go!

Today the heavens opened it pretty much rained and thundered all day. I went to Curtitiba which is also where I flew into. It about an hour and half drive. We went to Jardin Grill which was a huge buffet with lots of really nice food. Oh and lots of waiters running round with swords full of dripping dead flesh that would come and carve it at your table! One was so rare that it was called 'screaming cow'!!!

Well first day teaching tomorrow... wish me luck!!