Getting Down to Teaching

The Workshop

“Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” - M. Scott Peck

This last week was my first opportunity teaching the Career Workshop. The workshop was located in a stake center on the other side of the city. We would take a taxi to the metro station and then take the subway. So far, we’ve only had on taxi driver that’s tried to place us for a fool, and succeed. The trip about doubled in price. Well, that’s what you get when you don’t know the area and tell them you’re American.

The first day of the workshop wasn’t exactly everything Adriel and I had hoped for. About 20 people showed up, but we came out all stiff in our teaching.  Throughout the 3 hours we warmed up a little, but it still felt like the time dragged on. We came together the following day and started to work on energizers and ways to pass the information without lecturing. When it came time to teach the class, we came prepared with visuals and activities, and what a difference it made. The people felt more alive and the 3 hours passed quickly. Lesson learned, people like to feel not just included but valued. The class will finish up this week, so plenty of time to implement these new findings!

A Simple Excursion

Adventure of Rua Santa Vigenia

“One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.” - William Feather

After the disappointment of the Xingy Lingy, our internet problem was still not fixed. It called for an adventure across town. Adriel and I had been hearing rumors about a place across town about a Disneyland for electronic sales. It’s called Rua Santa Vigenia. A whole road dedicated to side shops and stands where we would be able to find a cheap wireless router.

We hopped on a bus and headed off across town. We only knew that we had to go to the last stop, so after getting off the bus we had to ask for directions. I don’t know why, but we had people sending us all over. After a couple of wrong turns, we arrived.

 There were many cool looking buildings. The architecture stretched from modern looking embassies to old cathedrals. We also visited the Praça da Republica which is famous park in São Paulo. We managed to work our way through the stands and find our router. We decided to top the day off with an awesome Churrascaria. Then we took the subway back home.

Overall, it was good excursion into the big city and I can already tell my Portuguese is getting better.

The Xingy Lingy

The Xingy Lingy

"When in Brazil, do as the Brazilians do" - Anders Bostrom

Now you are probably thinking to yourself (or maybe even out loud), what in heaven's name is a Xingy Lingy (pronounced shíngy-língy). That was exactly what I was thinking when I first heard the name. Do not worry, all will be answered in time.

Adriel and I were on a quest to find some things for our apartment. Most importantly was a splitter for Ethernet cable splitter. Internet was an important if not vital tool for our stay here in Brazil. How else would we be able to Skype our family, talk to our friends, email our assignments, and make enjoyable posts on our blog. All we had up to that point was a small cord that came out of our phone. We were managing alright, switching off using internet, but as we became busier one cord just wasn´t cutting it. Our manager mentioned a place called the Xingy Lingy. That got our attention.

The Xingy Lingy is a marketplace of little stalls right by our office. It´s here were you´ll find watches, sunglasses, videogames, mp3 players, and electronics for cheap (for Brazil). As I entered the Xingy Lingy, I immediately felt like a superstar. Everyone wanted us to come into their store. As I tried on sunglasses and watches, all I heard was a string of compliments about how great I looked. As I would leave, they would try anything to get me to stay. I´m starting to think that it had nothing to do with my great personality, or how I looked in a watch.

Luckily, we found a splitter. After getting home, it didn´t take long to figure out it was for a phone cord, and it didn´t work for our internet. All I have to say is:

“Touche Xingy Lingy, touche!”

Life's Necessities

Life's Necessities

"I am proud to be an American. Because an American can eat anything on the face of this earth as long as he has two pieces of bread."

- Bill Cosby

I love mangoes. The combination of sweet and sour is perfect, no sour and a whole lot of sweet. Here, they are cheaper than dirt, and a healthy addition to anyone’s breakfast. They can add an amazing (but not too strong) flavor to your banana smoothie in the morning or they taste great by themselves. If you want to sweeten the deal, try adding a little bit of sweet and condensed milk on top, you’ll find that heaven isn’t quite so far away.

We were able to visit the ERS office this week. It’s only about a fifteen minute bus ride from where we live. The office is on one of the busiest streets of São Paulo. When I got off the bus, it immediately reminded me of Manhattan. Skyscrapers tower overhead and all around you are people from all over South America going every which way. The office runs with two paid staff (not including the janitor), and the rest are volunteers. All of them are awesome! This center here already has many volunteers that teach the Career workshop, so Adriel and I will most likely be teaching in Stake Centers in the surrounding area. I’m looking forward to traveling and getting to know the city better.

 

This last week, without a planned course to teach, Adriel and I were able to participate in the Career Workshop here in Brazil. There were definitely some differences in how the teacher went about it, but we were able to pick up on some good tips. So far, with the training in Salt Lake City, the two career workshops I was required to attend at BYU and now this one in Brazil, I have participated 4 times! I could practically teach this thing! 

Some Good Times to be Remembered!

Brazil at Last!

There are a few things that I've noticed these last couple of days that I want to share.

São Paulo Temple

The Perks of being in Brazil!

•    With the way the rain falls here. You only have to take a shower if you really want to (Mom, I’m only joking).
•    There is no need for roller coasters or thrill rides. Bus trips and car rides give you enough of an adrenaline rush (and yes, you still have to keep all hands and feet inside the cart at all times).
•  Being an American, everyone still thinks you’re a missionary. Hopefully some of those special blessings rub off with the confusion.

I’m starting to rethink my opinion on traveling. Visiting new and foreign places is great, but traveling there is not. The plane rides are long and you always have confused next couple of days about seeing the time on a clock and having your body tell you that there is no way in heaven that could be right . . . but it is.

 

São Paulo Airport after landing

The first day we arrived, Adriel and I (tired, confused, yet excited) made it through customs and met with our ERS manager (Osvaldo Bassi) by baggage claim. It was different to be surrounded, once again, by the language I spoke on my mission. At first, the Portuguese wasn't coming easily. Our manager was probably questioning if we were even speaking Portuguese, as we tried to remember the vocabulary on only nine hours of sleep in the last three days. We found out that our apartment is in the temple housing, in the senior missionary section. The place is fully furnished and even with Cable TV, the only thing missing was food.

We met some new people

As soon as Mr. Bassi wished us luck and left, Adriel and I were already falling over on to our beds. About 5 hours later there was a knock on the door. Some of the young single adults had heard we arrived and were inviting us to go see a movie with them. Even though I was half out of it,the movie was good, but I didn't understand half of the jokes they said, but the group of people we were with were awesome. They made us feel as if we were part of the gang. Sunday, we got together with them (and met some new people) and played games, sang songs, laughed, and made waffles. Seems like an awesome group of people.

For now, the weather has been quite wet, but pretty soon I should be able to work on my tan. My body is adjusting to the time difference and the language is coming back to me. I have rekindled my love for mangoes  I can’t express enough the love I have for mangoes (especially with sweet and condensed milk poured over it).

All in all, these are some good times to be remembered!

Pictures of São Paulo

Tudo Começa com uma Idéia

            An idea alone has exactly zero potential, yet when combined with capability and will, one idea can change the world and the heart.

I’m in Brazil. I had to remind myself again of this when I woke up today. The whole place seems foreign to me yet there’s a pleasant feeling of home. It has been one crazy week and my mind is racing to catch up with everything that has happened over the last few days. The adventures Adriel and I had while getting here were definitely one of a kind.

It started with an idea to do an internship with LDS Employment Services down in Brazil. After looking it over and seeing how it could work. I decided to take a leap of faith and go for it. The reasons behind it were to get more international experience and really have something unique about me to get into business school. After telling Adriel about it, he decided to leap as well, so we began planning.

Adriel and I in Salt Lake City

The first part of the internship consisted of a training in Salt Lake City to learn how to teach the Career development workshop. Eight hours a day we would spend in the Church History Library on the bottom floor. Twelve others we also accepted to this internship going to many different parts of South America. We all bonded during the long hours of sitting, listening to lectures and practicing to teach in our language.  The church also fed us like crazy. We would have a breakfast buffet in the morning, lunch in the cafeteria of the Church Office building, and dinner at some restaurant of our choosing. I actually became tired of feeling full all the time (that full feeling has passed, trust me). On Thursday, we had our graduation dinner and said our goodbyes.

Penn Station

Our plane left for New York Friday morning where we had a 5 hour layover. Because of a promise to David Petersen, I needed to buy a soccer ball in order to send to a friend of his in Passo Fundo. I hadn’t been able to buy one and was looking for a strip mall or something of the sort close to or inside of JFK airport. We didn’t find anything inside, and the closest mall would cost us $40 in cab fare for a round trip. In desperation, we decided to walk to the closest strip mall. As we walked outside of the airport, we both noticed the Airtrain rumbling above us. We soon found out we could arrive at Penn Station in about 35 minutes. It didn’t take long for us to decide to chance it, and soon were walking in the streets of New York City with a nice drizzle to keep things interesting. We only had about an hour in the city, but we managed experience a piece of New York. Who would have known that a random search to buy a soccer ball would take us to the city that never sleeps and end with a New York Frank in our hands? Now, I'm off to Brazil!

In front of Madison  Square Gardens