My students were bickering over who had stars on the Awards Wall. One was proud of her achievements, but disgruntled that there were other students’ on her heels–soon to achieve the same thing she did. Negativity is not allowed in my English classes. I watched the dynamic for a minute, conjugated a few verbs in …
Time is Everything
Hey y’all—I just wanted to share something with you. I’m wicked excited. I started this great course (Happy Birthday to me! Thanks Dad!). Why? You might have noticed that there’s been a lull in the writing over here at Minhas Crônicas do Brasil. Part of that is life with a toddler and a full-time job. Part …
Cat’s Eye View
He flopped out of the basket and righted himself. Taking in his surroundings, he wandered on unsteady feet out of the kitchen and in an uncertain direction to explore the world. Grandma scooped him up and placed him back in the basket with a tch of her tongue. “That kitten is hungry. What a shame! Look …
Anniversary: Year Two
I’m a little late on this post. We arrived in Brazil on September 9, 2011. Somehow I blinked and this year’s September anniversary rolled by. I’ll blame it on the pregnancy, my scapegoat for all things memory-related in 2013. Last year on my one-year anniversary here I wrote about how life will slip by unless you …
Musicrônica: Som e Alegria
It was a hot bus ride home at the end of a day of touristing in Salvador, Bahia. We were taking advantage of my pregnant belly to sit up front in the preferential service seats, so I could see them hop onto the bus out of the corner of my eye. They started to introduce …
Hygge-Happiness
Have you heard of the Danish idea of hygge (hue-gah)? Alex Beauchamp explains it this way: The Danish word hygge (hue-gah) is a feeling or mood that comes from taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary everyday things simply extraordinary; whether it’s using real lights on a Christmas tree or breaking out the good wine when friends come …
Delicia
There’s seven flights of stairs at my school to the dining hall, and one old clunky elevator. If you’re at all athletic a slow pace up the stairs will outpace that musty old beast every time. She rounded the top flight and blew out a gasp: “Uuuufa! Delicia!” (“Pheeeeww! Delicious!”) I like her style. What …
A Nation of Older Siblings
Yesterday our cousin told us this story: It was a church event and we had bought some fireworks to celebrate. We set them up outside the church and everyone lined up outside to watch. Unfortunately the fireworks flopped over as they were going off and started shooting into the crowd! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! People scattered; the …
Returning Home
I am back home in Brazil and the spring rains have come. The air is deep and damp, and the humidity fills your lungs and greases your skin. I like it. It reminds me of summers at home in Maine. Funny how that happens here; this place is familiar even though the packaging is different. …
