"I Wish Nothing But The Best For You"

It's been almost two months since I have been home from Rio (and ironically, two months until I leave for Honduras) and not a day goes by that I don't think about my students and my experiences there.

My last day there was CRAZY! Honestly, I don't remember the morning. Not even a little bit, not even at all. In the afternoon, the kids sent me to me down to 2ndA to "read them a story and tell them hi from Ms. Shafer." I kind of had a feeling that something was up because I hadn't talked to these students or their teacher my entire time in Brazil. And Paulinha and Heitor may have dropped little hints on accident. But I went with it.

My little girls.

I went down the hall and read a book to the second graders and we chatted for a bit. Camila came to get me while I was still reading the story and I told her that I would be down when I was done with the book. Fast forward about three minutes and she's back in the classroom with Lara, Paula, and Sophia and they are doing their best to look absolutely panicked saying that I HAD to get back to our classroom. I tell them that I decided to stay in second grade, I passed first grade and am moving up to second grade. Cheers erupted from the second graders and my poor girls looked like they could have burst into tears.

While singing Adele.

I said good-bye to the second graders and went down the hall, holding hands with the girls. They were jabbering a mile a minute about how it was an emergency and how I needed to get back right away. As I walked into the classroom all of the lights were turned off and the students shouted "We will miss you, Mees Casa!" Even though I knew it was coming, I had to blink back the tears. I don't know which student started it, but they all ran up to hug me and soon I was sandwiched in a 19 student hug. We ate snacks and took pictures and just had fun enjoying our last hour together.

The boys-- what a handful.

Guilherme played his Adele CD and all of the students sang "Someone Like You". I understand that it's about a break-up, but wow, could he have played a song that made me cry more? Geeze. Around 3:15, Ms. Cruz told all the kids that it was time for the bus kids to leave. Enter-- tears. From all parties. I kneeled down to hug the kids and started SOBBING. Giant, non-stop crocodile tears. Some of the bus kids had already left the room before I started crying and I heard Ramiro yell out the door "COME LOOK! MEES IS CRYING!" Which made me laugh because they are all just so precious.

My precious little girls.

I hugged each student and told them how much I would miss them. Camila pretty much just brushed my arm and then walked out the door. I was pretty bummed because she'd been hanging on me all day and I was really going to miss her, so our good-bye was pretty lame. Ms. Cruz peeked out in the hallway and told me that Camila was out in the hallway sobbing. Which is why she couldn't stay to say good-bye to me. Because it was too hard for her. It broke my heart.

The best teachers ever and I-- couldn't have done this without them.

The good-byes were tough. Each student was different in how they dealt with good-byes and I knew that I was going to miss each and every one of them. I missed them as soon as we said good-bye, I miss them two months later. They were crazy and rambunctious and loud and overwhelming. But, over the course of twelve weeks, those 19 students in 1st Grade A stole my heart and made it almost impossible to leave Rio.

The Decision.

Not to mirror Lebron in the heat of the NBA Finals (see what I did there?), but I have to say, I'm taking my talents to Honduras.

Yes, it's true. As of yesterday,  I am the 1st and 2nd grade English teacher at Siguatepeque Bilingual Christian School in Siguatepeque, Honduras. I am incredibly excited and blessed to be given this opportunity and cannot wait to get started! That isn't to say that I'm not nervous because I really don't feel old enough to be a teacher!!

As far as the logistics go, I'm employed on a year to year basis. So next summer I can decide that I want to stay for longer and, assuming that the school likes me, I can sign up for another year. If not, I'll be in Honduras until June. I leave the States on August 10 and school begins at the end of August. I will be in Honduras from August- mid December. I'll be able to spend Christmas and New Years at home and will the return to Honduras at the beginning of January. After that, I'll be home in June to enjoy the summer with my family and friends.

And when I get to Siguatepeque, I have this little gem waiting to see me.

Miss Vilma, I'm coming for you! <3

I Think I'll Stay.

Why didn't anyone warn me that saying good-bye was going to be this hard?

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.

The Lasts.

Well, this week begins it. The first of the last. Our last full Sunday. Our last Monday. I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can say good-bye to this country and to these people.

I'm living in a state of pertpetual saddness and constantly living on the verge of tears. Couple that with the fact that it's supposed to rain every week and you're in a for a real treat. (I like to think that Rio is crying because we are leaving-- hence the forecast.) There's some excitement mixed in there, don't get me wrong. I am so estatic to see everyone again. But right now, I can only think about how sad I am to be leaving here.

It's funny. I was so sad to be leaving Ohio and going away from all my friends to spend time here. And here I am, three short months later, not ready to leave here. Like I said in one of my first posts, how lucky am I to know a place that it so hard to say good-bye to?

I don't know how I will make it through this week.

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.

Oh, The Things They Think Of.

I always rave about the funny things that my students say, but never actually provide any examples. Here's a story about one of my dear little girls, just to prove that I'm not making all these things up. Let me paint this picture for you...

The students were in music. They were seated in a circle at the front of the room with the music teacher. Ms.Souza and I were using the computers at the back of the room and Ms. Cruz was at her desk. The students were talking-- no big shock there. The music teacher had asked/ told the students to sit at least five times without them listening. She begins to raise her voice.

Enter Bia.

After the music teacher telling the students to sit down again, the students get quiet and at that moment Bia SHOUTS "Everybody sit now! Dun. Dun, dun, dun."

I know that it is funnier if you were there, but please try to picture this (she also had dance motions, so imagine that too) and imagine being the teacher and trying so hard not to laugh. Seriously, it was impossible.