had to show this

For those who are unaware, I have been taking ballroom classes for quite some time now. Last Sunday there was a ball thrown by my dance school.  They played rhythms like Samba-Gafieira,  Forró,  cha-cha-cha,  Salsa,  Bolero,  Zouk among some others. The most popular rhythm is Samba, but I can say I enjoy dancing all of them.

The first pic below shows almost everyone on the dance floor. And yes, I was there somewhere. I just didn’t take more pics of myself because I had forgotten to take my own cam.

Down, that´s my friend and her dance partner at that presentetation.  He group is the most advanced at school and they made a Samba de Gafieira performance.  Some of the pics were taken by me, so sorry if the quality is not that good.

Then, some more….

Dance classes have now become something I simply love. It has been an old dream of mine and now I have been living it little by little. Good points of it, is the way we develop the way to listen to music. Every time I listen to some songs, I do think of dance steps.  So sad I haven’t got a gentleman  closer to whom I can practice more.It´s ok though.

www.andretoffani.com the site of the school. in Portuguese, but you can click “entrar” then ”eventos” and check some photos too.

Universal Language

Is there such a thing as The Truth?

The universe is a strange and baffling place. It doesn’t have a good track record for making a lot of sense. Even when we unlock its secrets there are only bigger mysteries waiting around the corner to confound us. The easy solution is to throw your hands (or wings) up in the air and give up on the whole business of sorting fact from fiction. But the true heroes march on, confronting paradoxes, tackling enigmas, and battling the Hordes of Relativism in a fight to the death.

Reality is like a giant multi-dimensional puzzle. It can be complicated. It can have a weird shape, texture, color, and feel. The Truth is our humble attempt to come to grips with Reality and describe it in accurate ways.

Most everyone agrees that there are mathematical truths. Then there are timeless truths like—”a stitch in time saves nine.” Generalizations that are true most of the time. And then there are observed truths like—”the tomato is red.” Something which you could document with a photograph and get the vast majority of clinically sane people to agree on.

There are often many different ways of looking at things. But one of those ways happens to be objectively. A detached viewpoint that does not take personal bias into account. It may be impossible to completely disregard our subjective perceptions in some situations. Our thoughts are always somewhat shaped by the language we use. Our assumptions are based on our experiences. And we are innately emotional creatures with a strong tendency to become personally invested in certain interpretations of reality. But the statement “there is no such thing as the truth” is self-contradictory. It is a statement that cannot be “True”. The mind reels.

Beyond all of that, Warriors of Truth are always faced with the disturbing possibility of being Wrong. The best antidote to this problem is to embrace your mistakes. They are golden opportunities for learning.

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written when recently attempting to get a certificate in English. Got a B on it. Well.. I passed. What else is true in my world? Got fired for the first time from one of the schools. Boss said it was not personal, but she thought I was not organized enough. But seriously?  I was too tired.  Felt bad on the day, but already got a better job. As for the dance… Oh… I have been dancing a lot. And work at church has saved me from madness. And ah! I have been hoocked on F.R.I.E.N.D.S lately. I have much more to share, but time still holds me away from net and Xanga. I see people have been forgeting me here. It´s ok. I haven´t gotten much time either.. Take care, you all!

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São Paulo

Summer vacation is coming here, and most people like me will leave the city. We usually say that it is a city for those who work. Or like working. Maybe it is because we haven´t got  neither beaches or mountains, but that´s not quite true. The city is charming ans it has rich cuisine and cultural life. Those pictures were takes some time back while walking around downtown. São Paulo is much more than that, but I just decided to show a bit of what I´m leaving soon, before showing some of what I´ll have as vacation…

São Paulo is the third largest city in the world. There are almost 18 milion people living in it. São Paulo is also the most important city in Latin America. With its 5 milion cars, the city has one of the worst traffic jams in the world. I recommend that you  visit São Paulo during school vacations (July, December and January). In SP you certainly have a lot of things to do. Just check them out (click on the pictures to see them on original size):

Paulista avenue is the main postcard of São Paulo. It´s the most important street of the city. There are many modern buildings. On Paulista av. you can also visit the most important museum of Latin America, MASP (São Paulo´s Art Museum) and a beautiful park: Parque Siqueira Campos, known as Trianon Park. TIP: You should visit Paulista av. on Sundays and take a walk.

Have a nice day!

The Tension

Brazilians do not celebrate this date as Americans do, but as Christians we do have lots to thank for. I have got plenty of blessings to thank. So many, that I can´t even remember to list here. I took some pictures recently that I would love to share and thank for some things they represent.

I’m thankful for having a place to live. Somewhere that is not mine, but I take care as if it were. I like to make it as comfortable as I can, and I can also “raise” my buddy plants….

below, sunny view from my living room window…

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I’m also thankful for having not only a job, but two from where I get the money I need to support myself. I thank the kind of job God allowed me to have. Those kids are from one of the schools I teach, the regular one. In order from up to down are: 1st,  2nd, 5th and 6th grade. Love those kids!!! And they drive me mad all year….

I’m  thankful for the friends I have. And the few times we are able to hang out together. There are lots others, but those pictures are well represented.

I’m  mostly thankful God for having what to thank, and for having the heart towards Him knowing that life if a gift. And…yeah, please click on the pics to enlarge….. I haven’t had time to learn to manage properly my new scanner, which I also need to be  thankful for!

God bless you all!

The universe can seem like a dark and hostile place to those deeply sensitive souls in search of their cosmic twins. Finding that one person who can banish loneliness forever with a kiss is a daunting task. Curious how a little thing like expectations can be so crushing.

And even when cupid’s arrow hits home, and two lovebirds fall head over heels for eachother, there is a catch. Because the person you fall in love with is never quite real. They are just a mirage on which you pin your hopes and dreams. Naturally, when the spell wears off you are in for a bit of a shock. Both parties are often dumbfounded at the unforeseen faults that suddenly appear. Not little forgivable eccentricities and foibles, like a fondness for wearing socks that don’t match. But rather deep and glaring flaws. It’s a bit like discovering an elephant hiding in your fridge. You just scratch your head and wonder how you could have missed it.

And that’s when you find your true soul-mate. When you learn to love your fridge, elephant and all. Acceptance is the first step on this path, followed by compromise, and then sacrifice. Naturally this is a tricky dance step, that many people today are unwilling to learn. They have been conned into believing the fairy-tale endings. So they ditch their ersatz true love and move on to the next flavor of the month. Condemned to spend their romantic lives trapped on a never ending ferris wheel of amorous highs and lows. Which is exactly the kind of error that can lead to missing out on some of life’s most important and wonderful gifts. So remember, your soul-mate is the person you choose. No matter what you found lurking in the fridge.

Hey, I have been really busy with school and work lately.
I have had a lot of assignments and tests to make and  to correct these past few weeks. Now it’s time to buckle down and get ready for finals. WOW!!! I can’t believe there is only two weeks left in this quarter. It seems like it was only yeasterday that school year started.
I have all students relatories due a week from Monday.
Here in Brazil, the school year ends now at the end of November. Classes will start again in February and that means I should have plenty of time to rest before my own classes at College start as well.

 

Loneliness

To all those who are lonely . . .

Madness tears at my soul –

Not wanted now or ever!

Away! Away! my life line flows,

For from its chords I’m severed.

Insanely on this vast sea -

This vast sea called life,

Loudly, yes, loudly I scream,

Yet no one hears my cry.

Hopelessly I float yet still

Striving for my breath.

Weakly I’m losing my will;

Come! O come! Sweet death!

Yet somehow death is distant -

I haven’t the strength to let go

Though the wild billows around me chant

And threaten to take me below!

None! None! Why will none answer?

Does no one hear my cries?

And as the billows become ever stronger

I look up to the skies!

What do you suppose I found there,

Upon it’s magestic wings did fly,

The answer to my cries and prayers -

The bird of death heard my cry!

It swope down close to me

And waited there a while.

I grabbed it’s wings, you see,

Death took me my last mile!

You see no one knew how I

Found sweet peace in death,

For no one would care if I would die

So I gave up my breath.

Loneliness is greater strife

Than any tongue can tell.

And not being wanted here in life

Is worse than any hell!

So peace in death came to me

And gave me great relief;

For to live, on life’s great sea -

Alone – gave me only grief!

Shy~Sep05

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Coming back to college  to a new course on Education. Sometimes I wonder whether I want to remain in this path.  It can be so disappointing… Anyway, cheers to that!

Also cheers to both Madonna and Enya´s new album! Gosh, I love their music! And talk about music, a student gave me the DVD of the movie School of Rock which I have seen a hundred times so far and definitely fell in love with Jack Black! Hmm… Haven’t I given up on love??

Anyway, not  much to show now. I´ll come up with thousands of pictures soon. End of semesters are always full of new things to be shown, like the visit to TGI Friday´s. HHmmm….

Take care.

Old memories, new spots… part I

I was resding one of Steve´s blogs on his memories of fall and I sort of remembered some memories I have too. Going through some pics I had the idea of copying my friend and showing them to you as well. These ones below were taken in July 2001 when I traveled with friends from College. It is one of my favorite memories of Winter here( yeah… no snow ) and also one of  the best trips I had. This is Paúba beach it is a sort of a private beach close to another famous one ( Maresias) in the north part of the state of  São Paulo. It is close to São Sebastião city ( beaches are nice too) and Ilhabela( island). This makes me think of one of the main reasons I have to keep posting here; showing you all a bit of this nice place I live in.

                                                            Below, cool friends. Miss them.