Daily….

New routine also can lead to new sights. New perceptions as well. Here is my daily path to work. I know this time I went too far in  the number of pictures taken, but then… it took me several days to have all them. New job is just great. Funny how the number of people looking for my classes have increased since I started working. I had  to refuse all of them. I have no idea where this is leading me to, but so far I can say I have been enjoying a lot! Next month I’m starting a new course on coordination area. I’m also teaching American Literature for the first time. How exciting and stressing will this semester  be? I don’t care… as long as it’s as rewarding as these past weeks…

One interesting feature of the city pointed out by an American friend of mine is the fact that in most places one can see houses and buildings mixes in the same neighborhood. True. Something quite usual here to be honest.

While waiting for my train, I took took a shot on the view below.

After 20( yes, t.w.e.n.t.y) stations bound south, I get off in the middle of a company complex. I oddly found it interesting how the green and the gray match. Weird is the fact that I do not care about the distance and time it takes me to reach it( about 40 minutes).

There’s a park on the way…

This is the orchid that greets me as I arrive the school. There are sweet new blossoms by now…

This one was taken on a Friday evening. Coming back home. As I entered the train, the same place that  carries about 100,000 a day was quite empty.

Well, then… if my goal is to show the places where I go, I guess I have been doing a good job. I have also made some short videos, but I still have to  find out how to put them here. Till then, Take good care!

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we’re all ok
And not to worry because worry is wasteful
and useless in times like these
I will not be made useless
I won’t be idled with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
for light does the darkness most fear
My hands are small, I know,
but they’re not yours they are my own
but they’re not yours they are my own
and I am never broken  —-Hands by Jewel

This is indeed a very unusual time in my life. Never have I seen so much happen in such short amount of time.  Never have I realized myself so mature and aware of the world around me and the fair possibilities.  First day at the new job was fine.  Though I was so anxious that I could not even go to Salsa class due to a splitting headache…. Almost a week after now, I have already started the other part of the job as a head teacher at the same school. It is strange to have people report to you. It is exciting then to be worried about the quality of everyone´s work and prepare workshops on how to be a better professional. Good thing is to find out most of the topics I’ll convey are taken from my own experience. So, things should be ok even when they seem not to be.

So far I was just rehearsing at the choir till I was ready to actually sing in church. Know what? I did it last Sunday. It was so amazing! We sang with our orchestra. Unfortunately I didn’t have anyone to picture it. But I hope God has liked it.

I have literally changed ways… Way of going to places, way of dressing up, way of eating… On one of those changes, I found out that leaving the subway one station before to go to dance class, I am able to see such great sight. The station “Sumaré“ is right under a overpass that is also an avenue. The bus that I take passes on it. So sad I didn’t have much battery, but I could take some pictures. The avenue below is Sumaré Av., west part of the city.

While crossing it I love to enjoy the height. I believe I have mentioned before I love high places. Below there’s Dr. Arnaldo Av. The subway station( one of the most beautiful I know) is right below me. The bus stop is just ahead.

And there it is… I hope I stay there for long enough to learn and give my best.  So far.. I am enjoying!

Am sleepy now. Something rare. I guess it is because of the double journey. Well… I’m happy and thankful. God allowed me to feel that way. It is nice to come here and share as well. take care, you all.

“I never saw sunlight
Burn as bright
I never felt darkness
The way I feel it tonight” 
                       Little Black Heart-Aha

It is really impressive the way life can change once you let it move, when you allow things to happen. A friend of an old friend of mine found me at Orkut® two weeks ago. It has been about 6 years since I saw her last. She came to ask if I was still teaching. She opened a school and needed teachers and wondered if I’d be interested. Well, I gave it a shot and went for an interview. The lady who interviewed me made me feel really comfortable and it went really well. Basically they not only offered me job as a teacher, but also for what they call “head teacher” which is one last position before a coordinator. As I have taken a course on that, nothing better now than the opportunity itself. So… I got another job! (yay!) It is scary, but exciting and challenging at the same time.

Two weeks ago I also started singing at the church choir. I always ask myself where I can be useful at church, and I have never paid much attention to one nice gift God has given me. So, why not use it in His honor? Thing is, I feel really well by being useful and by doing something that makes me feel good. I’m glad I allowed myself to do so. I know anything I can do to Him is nothing compared to His greatness, but as long as I’m happy in what I do, shows me that working for Him is as wonderful.

These photos below were taken last weekend. A friend celebrated her birthday at a Pub in the building of the Brazilian British Center. I did try to get some more pictures of it, but the place( we stayed at the deck) was pretty dark. I could barely see my friends in order to picture them. Basically the illumination was made by candle lights. So, again… sorry for the not that good quality of the images.

We just managed to enter the pub when it was almost closing. I could take this picture, but at the site there are more. Go there.

This is what I could take from the Deck. Here there are more pictures. Click on the links to see more photos, the place is really nice.

This is Thais, the birthday girl! See the candles? I needed many just to see her through my camera..

This is us through the eyes of the waiter that had 4 attempts to picture us….

Not that good food….

very good drinks! And here, some more on the place.

That’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll have lots to show and tell soon. I congratulate  Italy on winning the World Cup. I know carlo must be happy. And yeah… I have started posting at my photo log here at xanga. Go there if you will. This photo thing is really catching on…

Have a nice week you all!

“Jogando no quital”, or playing in the backyard is the name of the great show my friends took me to watch today. As they told me I would really laugh out of it, then I decided to trust the good taste my friend has and joined them.  

It all started in early 2001, when the actors César Gouvêa and Márcio Ballas decided to develop, in the backyard of César house on Cotoxó Street, a training that joined their two passions: Clown and Improvising. Then they created “Jogando no quintal”( the name of its entry) it’s a game of clown’s improvisation]impressions and the theme is just like a soccer game: anthem of the club, score board, flags, judge, players, and of course, the rooters(audience).

from www.jogandonoquintal.com.br

Adhering this novel experience, and attracted to the possibilities  of researching something new and interesting in this way of expression, clowns with different formation and a lot of experience gathered the two actors. Then, the first games were presented to an audience of 30 people. The show became  such a success  that the audience hasn’t stopped growing.

Currently, the “Jogando no Quintal” receives over 2,000 people per weekend. This one, I was one to watch them.

Basically the competition is: the judge chooses out of the audience any topic that comes to anyone’s mind and the actors/clowns have to act on that topic as well as they can. You won’t believe in those people’s imagination. And after Brazil game today, Nothing better than an evening like that. Please, I’ll let here some more links on the same site. Sadly it’s only in Portuguese, but there are great pictures. I had left my camera at home, so no photo from me yet.

Wish you all like it( too bad not as much as I did), and also to my American readers I hope you guys have a great holiday.

http://www.jogandonoquintal.com.br/caras.asp <—this section is called “caras” or “faces” nice pictures.

http://www.jogandonoquintal.com.br/fotos.asp <—– here there are muuuch more on the show. It is possible for the whole of it to be seen.

from www.jogandonoquintal.com.br

For further information if interested, check www.altavista.com for an effective translation on the site. And I do recommend checking the pictures as well.

P.S. Called him today. Heard his voice. Was thinking… How can a simple sound coming from someone else’s throat go straight to someone’s heart and let it in a status of bliss? hmmm…

I had begun to draw inspiration from the moon to express my mind, but she has been hiding herself for the past few days. I wonder why, she left me in lurch under the deep blue sky when my own blues were haunting me. But I was left with no time to mourn over that.As they say, time and tide wait for no man(woman…)
It did not take me long to get over that phase.
My room has become a haven; not just for me.It is now a meeting place where we flock in after a tiring day out. Intimacy lingers in the air. There is happiness, love and trust. They say I am naughty and it came as a surprise; I knew it to be true, but it had taken time.
Exams are around the corner, so are interviews and training at other schools. If I pass, I have new horizons to hover, if not…I don’t want to think of the if not right now. I have been taking dance classes more seriously as they have brought great people and the sense of seeing a dream coming true into my life.   My backdrop is taking good shape.  Except for the deranging tut’s and the not so frequent (thankfully!) pop-up of the lovelorn reminders,  life is smooth. Hope the tests and trainings go well and give me no more heartaches!

Winter (<–link)started here in the South today. No snow, not that cold, sunny days, lack of rains…. Ah…Tropical countries…  I’ll also take opportunity to show some photos/slides a friend of mine took for a College paper. It is based on Brazil, its colors and also the World Cup fad that is around. The name of the paper is “Proxêmica”, which means the study of the influence of the environment on the individual, on each person.  She took them in a popular commerce center downtown Sao Paulo. Worth showing to you guys  These were taken just some time back, so you can also have an idea that weather doesn’t change much when seasons change.

 her favorite…

 my favorite…

Photos by Karen Ássi

These are (from left to right) Larissa and Karen Assi, two of my best friends.

Not much to say this week… Just to show and comment a bit on the world cup and some recent news. Those pics below were taken last week a bit before Brazil´s fist game. I was at school with my co-workers and we were expecting an array of goals. The game turned out to be terrible, but at least we won. The thing is, there is no “at least” when it turns to soccer team in a Brazilian mind…

Seems like the world stops during a Cup match. This is the school street, a commercial one on a weekday at 4pm. Everything closed and not a soul on the streets. Just me taking pictures…

These are some of our students right before the game. This picture seems blur, which tells me I still need to learn how to use a camera.

If you read my last post, you might remember I talked about Patricia, a nice friend who was getting married. She also took dance classes at the same school I do. On the post, I show her dancing with some of our gentlemen there. Here she is on her wedding day dancing with her husband. It was a simple, yet wonderful ceremony. As Daniel( her husband) is Jew, it was a typical Jewish wedding. They flew to Hong Kong yesterday, where he works. Well, then. Enjoy.

As for Brazils second game against Australia, we think it was quite better. But didn’t convince much. Anyway, if we lose… we still have the Amazon.

Every month there is dance practice at my dance school. This one was last week, and it was also a celebration of its 2 year anniversary. The place was quite dark, so forgive me for the edition but I thought it would be a nice opportunity to show something more that I love to you guys.

On the dance floor, rhythms like salsa, merengue, rock, samba, bolero, zouk, etc. Five hours of dance in a row and my feet are still sore. Below there’s my friend Patricia. She is one of my friends and also one of the first persons to enter the school as it was inaugurated. She is getting married tomorrow and will leave to Hong Kong then to the USA. The owner of the school ( also my dance teacher) made a sort of farewell speech and then she danced with some of the best dancers there.

Below there’s my friend Liliana, Patricia’s sister. I met Lili at work, and she was the one who introduced me to the dance world. Great dancer and friend. Oh,  yeah, the guy is Rodrigo, one of the best dancers there too. I love dancing salsa with him.

I liked this pic below so much, that I decided to play with it a bit. I’ll probably give that to my friend as a gift. This one I know she can take to Hong Kong…. I could have taken more pictures, but then you know.. I was busy dancing. And this is another dance-show and tell post.

I remember when I first started writing here that I didn’t want to use this space to show my writing prowess(which I think I haven’t accomplished…). I mostly wanted to show the places I have been to, to show the Brazil that many people don’t have the opportunity to see or simply to describe to the world where I live in, in a very simple way. The politics, the soccer games, the violence, the Carnival in Rio and whatever may be on the news can be seen and read anywhere. I have never wanted to do much. Just practice my English, know some people’s thoughts through here show what I have got

Since I have purchased my camera,which for some might sound as a  simple thing, to me it was a very important step taken since I have to buy everything I own, I have neither done anything interesting nor had time to come to the net. But then, here I am and still taking my first attempts on taking pictures( understand: make them seem good). This first set was taken last Saturday on my way to some friends’ house.  These first two pictures I’m standing in front of a square and in the distance, buildings and houses can be seen. You can see I live in a high part of the city. it is close to Cantareira ridge, so the hills start right close to home. I like high places. Maybe that´s why I love living on the 13th floor…

The streets in the neighborhood are calm. We  don’t have snow in the end of the year- our summer, actually- but people usually put on lights  on those houses. At night, it is something really beautiful and it’s the time when there are more cars on those streets. People like to see them.

I have a thing about houses. I like the the way they are drawn, built, decorated.. I could enter all those houses just to see them if they let me. Here in my building, each floor has 8 apartments. Can you believe I have made myself known to some of my neighbors so that I could see their apartments? Borrow some ideas, see the colors on the walls, the view from their window… Am I normal? I don’t know… maybe it’s because I have never had one. Blah! Some people like cars, other flowers, I like houses…

Below, that’s another picture of another square close to where I was going to. Uhuhuuu, I turned the camera a bit….uhuhuh…cool effect…

Finally in their house I didn’t take many pictures. First because I already know how lovely it is inside. But then, here are some. On this one you can see the poodle Maggie dressed in Brazil soccer whatever. You know… The World Cup… And then below, there’s a bit of the other living room part.  After I left, I went to my dance class. Later that  day we had an anniversary ball. The dance school is 2 years now. I danced so much that my feet are still sore. But the  pictures come on next post.

Isn’t she cute????

And today is Valentines day here. But just for boyfriends, girlfriends and married couples. Yeah… beautiful day outside too!

Have a nice week you all!

This weekend was busy. Work, dance classes, church meetings and a birthday party. The meeting was a kind of a debate on the Da Vinci Code movie. We as Christians (Protestants/Presbiterians, to specify) found it important to know about such polemics and whether any has foundation. It is nice that we do so, especially for people who has no idea on the Bible and think they can know everything through a guy that is a Paulo Coelho like. Anyway, results on that later.

Later I went to a student´s birthday party at a place that was supposed to be a pub. But of a pub it just has the name ” Saint Patrick’s Pub“. Nice place, close to home, good music and band, but not my kind anymore. I prefer to sit at a nice place, have some food food and good chat with people. One good thing that I could also appreciate was a nice German draft beer. Too expensive, but worth it. We didn’t stay long. My friend and I later went to another place and then I could have my so wanted chat and something better than beer to have. I enjoyed it very much. Please, forgive me for the dark pictures. At church, they were showing a  National Geographic data show documentary on the film, and at the pub the lights were half off thus both places were dark. So there it is. My weekend.

“Hey, Mr Dj… Music.. makes the people…”

Next weekend we´ll have an anniversary ball at dance school. That means 5 hours of dance,dance and dance too. Hope I´m able to share a bit more on that.

Oh, and yeah.. My brother Wilson came over too. This is him after a good lunch watching one of Brazil soccer games…

Have a nice week!

P.S. why did my footprint show me I have 200 visitors fro New York at about the same time? Geez…