Last Day of School

See what happens when you put ten 3rd graders in a smal room after giving them copious amounts of sugar. I love these kids!

Iracema Falls

Taking advantage of the three day weekend. I took a day trip to Presidente Figueiredo and went to Iracema falls. Another really nice waterfall and this one also had some really cool caves nearby as well. Enjoy my ridiculously touristy pictures from downtown Presidente Figuereido. Enjoy! ;)

Fun Night

In celebration of Children's Day (October 12th) our school
had its first annual Fun Night. The older kids made booths with games and we had ourselves a little carnaval. It turned out well, and it looked like eveyone had a good time. One of the game was "prison" where you pay to put someone in an designated area for 15 minutes. I, as a teacher of course, got put there twice. Good time all around.

Art Class Fun with the 3rd Grade

Here's some pictures of my third graders during our art class. Sidewalk chalk is always a good time wherever you go.

Camp

What happens when you take 20 11-15 years olds camping in the Amazon? Surprisingly no serious injuries and a lot of fun. We took the kids on a school camping trip from the 5th-9th graders. We went to a simple family farm outside Manaus and let them loose for three days. There was lots of swimming, hiking in the jungle, and encounters with various creatures. By the end the two other chaperons and I were exhausted, but glad we bothered to help out. The kids had a blast although they complained every step of the way about having to do chores. We had them carry water in the house to wash dishes and flush toilets because there was no running water. It was pretty rustic, and the kids took baths in the creek on the farm, but they didn't complain about that at least. Anything is better than a regular school day I guess. Enjoy the pics.

Trip to the Interior

Over my July vacation I also made a trip up river to a small town called Anori. I went on a wood river boat called a recreio. People bring their hammocks and sleep in them for the overnight trips, which is what mine turned out to be. It took 17 hours to get there and about 15 to get back.

It's hard to believe there are a fair number of people who live on the eadge of the river out in the middle of nowhere. I actually attempted to explain to a Brazilian what the "middle of nowhere" or "no meio de lugar nenhum" means, and they agreed that we were in it. I feel like I am in the middle of nowhere when I am in Manaus, but that is nothing compared to what life is like in the interior of Amazonas. We're talking some serious isolation.

The boat ride is pretty comfortable, although I found out only too late that the food served on these boats is not exactly sanitary. (Let's just say I lost a couple of pounds after this trip unintentionally.) Anyways, it was a one in a lifetime experience, and I now I say that I have been river boating on the Amazon.

So here's some pictures and a video from the boat.

Presidente Figueiredo

In July I had some vacation time and went north to Presidente Figueiredo about 2 hours north of Manaus. I went with some friends and we stayed at Marupiara, a ranch that is owned by some of the students at my school. It was gorgeous. There are waterfalls everywhere and lots of forest.

We did some hiking in the jungle, kayaked in the river, and bathed in the waterfalls. Totally tropical paradise. Some of the streams are so clean you can actually dirnk out of them.

We took one hike to get to a waterfall that took about an hour. It was really cool to walk in the forest. We didn´t see any animals really, but the plants alone are amazing. Our guide showed us this vine that holds water inside that you can cut open and drink. The best part about the trip, it was warm but not hot because of all the trees and there were almost no mosquitos. Amazing.

We did see some animals at a refuge in Balbina. They had manatees, river otters, turtles, macaws, and many other types of birds.

Spring Break in Fortaleza

If you've ever done one of those meditations things were you are supposed to imagine the most relaxing, perfect place with white sand beaches, warm sun, coconut trees, etc... it's actually Fortaleza, and I went there for Easter break. My friend Stacey and I got to stay in a resort outside the city.

Our first day there we got sunburned under a beach umbrella in less than an hour, and then my friend got sick for like 4 days. So it was not a great start, but we definitely ended strong. We took two dune buggy trips where we drove up and down the beach with our local guide and stopped to check out all sorts of cool stuff: sand dunes, fresh water springs, cool sand formations...

It was off season there was almost no one there. My favorite part was when we did skibunda (literally "buttski"). We slid down a sand dune on a waxed board into a fresh water lake. Totally awesome. We had lunch at a restaurant literally on the beach where we got to pick out the fish we wanted to eat. We're talking fresh.

So yeah, after a rough start it was awesome. Here's pictures from our dune buggy excursions. You can see the dunes, the cool sand formations at Morro Branco, and the traditional fishing boats of the Northeast called jangadas.

Opera Festival

Surprisingly enough Manaus has an annual opera festival in May. I went to see an orignal production of an opera about various legends of the Amazon region. It was a bit strange, but also very cool. My favorite parts were the dancers in complete head to toe spandex and the children's choir dressed like a bunch of little Indians. Here's some pics of my friends Stacey, Felipe, and I at the Teatro Amazonas.

Oh, and there were mimes selling programs.

IPA Fieldtrip

In March our school took a fieldtrip to an agricultural school called IPA. At IPA they practice permaculture, which more or less means that they create self-sustaining, enviromentally friendly agriculture projects. Seven years ago this place was a barren field, and now it looks like the garden of Eden.. They are doing some really great work there.

The kids had a fabulous time. There was lots of plants and animals to look at. My favorite part was when the kids started playing around with this one plant (can't remember the name right now) that contains a natural dye. We all painted our faces and walked around this forest like area. It was sweet.