Don't Say Good-bye.

"Don't say goodbye.  Cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight."

I am not ready to say goodbye to my students. I am not ready to say good-bye to Brazil. Not. Ready.

The leprechaun left us a paper chain on St. Patrick's Day and we have been using it to create a countdown of how many days I have left in Brazil. It causes quite a stir with my students, but God forbid, I try to skip it. I try to include the fact that the paper chain just isn't for how many days I have left, but also for how many days until they leave for NR. But they're smarter than that. They know.

There are so many things that I am going to miss about each and every one of them. I've gotten to know their personalities and little idiosyncrasies that make them all individuals. They're wild and crazy and rambunctious, but they are sweet and funny and I am not ready to say good-bye. I miss them when we are apart for a weekend, let alone saying good-bye forever.

I will miss the way Lara, who was most skeptical of me at the beginning, tells me that I'm not allowed to leave, that I may stay at her house if that means not leaving. I will miss Bia starting off everything with "Miss, let me tell something to you." I will miss Guilherme and the way he looks at me and says "WHAAAT?" every time I talk to him. I will definitely miss being called Mees/ Mees Cass/ Mees Cassa. I will miss their little Portuguese accents. I will miss their hugs and they way they pray for me during Religion and then turn around to see how I've reacted. There are so many things that I am going to miss, this only scrapes the top of the iceberg.

How can I leave in a week? How can I go home knowing that I may never see these children who have had such a huge impact on my life ever again? It's hard, it's really, really hard. And I'm not ready to do it. I don't WANT to do it.

Cross Continent Communication.

It started with Tracy. Then traveled to Karen and Kaelee. And finally hit my mom. The itch to Skype people from home and introduce them to my class. With educational undertones, of course.

Tracy Skyped my class the Wednesday before Easter vacation and read them The Pout-Pout Fish. My kids will NOT stop saying "Blub, Blubb, Bluuuuub" like the fish in the book did. Anytime I pull up a video on the screen, they start blub, blub, blubbing. Unfortunately, we didn't have the microphone plugged in, so Tracy couldn't hear my little rays of sunshine SHOUTING good-bye. Don't worry, the enthusiam was still there.

Tracy.

The following Friday, we Skyped Kaelee and Karen. In the afternoon. Did I mention it was on a Friday? The two of them took turns reading a book about a sea turtle to about two students who were paying attention. When it came time for questions, they were all ready to participate though. Funny how that works. Best question? "Why are you friends with Miss Casavecchia?" Thanks a lot, little kid, thanks a lot.

Karen and Kaelee.

Today we Skyped my mom's 7th grade class so that they could help us with our science unit. They acted out little scenarios and my students had to decide if it was healthy or unhealthy. I had taped this lesson as a part of the requirements for my lesson and so happy that I did. The students acted just like themselves, despite having an audience. I know that I will look back on this lesson and smile at how funny they are.

Mama.

I am so thankful for the technology that exists these days and the access that I have to it. Thanks to Skype and fast internet, my friends and family in Ohio were able to see what I'm working with down here and my precious little kiddos were able to meet people who are very important to me.