Cardio Is Hard-io: Part 2

Not only did I decide it was a good idea to start killin' it at the box three days a week, I decided that I was going to start running on the reg. New year, new me-- or something like that, amiright?

It started out innocently enough. It was November and I was feeling pretty homesick. I wanted something that was from the States. I needed something that was from the States. It might have been a randomly placed Facebook ad, it might have been a spam email, I don't know how the thought of the Cleveland Turkey Trot crossed my mind, but the fact is that it did. 

I looked at the website, figuring that was as far as this thought was going to go. I mean, I live in Brazil. It's pretty difficult to do a 5K in Cleveland from 5,000+ miles away, right? Wrong. The Cleveland Turkey Trot was also being offered virtually which essentially means that you pay the money and run the distance wherever you are around the world. 

So I paid the money, completed the distance, got the medal and the shirt, and haven't stopped signing up for races since.

"Cleveland" Turkey Trot 2016

After the Turkey Trot, I quickly found myself running in the Circuito das Estações: Verão, which was my first live race besides the Color Run I ran in San Pedro Sula, Honduras a few years back. It wasn't as easy as I would have liked, but I also didn't die. Which might not be the best criteria when talking about how much you like a hobby, but haters gonna hate. I do it for the medals anyways.

Circuito das Estações: Verão 2016

And since it's approximately ten thousand degrees with about 3429% humidity all day, every day in Hell de Janeiro, I joined the gym down the street so that I can run on the treadmill instead of outside.

Since then, I've completed a handful of other races. Which are really nothing to brag about, but yeah, I'm going to do it anyways. Waking up early on a Sunday morning is already a feat in itself.

February: Circuito do Sol- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

March: Circuito das Estações (Outono)- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

March: Athenas 6K- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

April: Serie Delta (Etapa EUA)- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

 I had poured water on myself, I wasn't that sweaty, okay?

April: Color Run- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

April: WRun 4K, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In following the example of my one my friends, I thought it would be a good idea to do "12 Months of Races". AKA, complete a 5K or higher each month for the year of 2017. I've done live races for the months of February, March, and April, and a virtual New Years run for the month of January. I don't know if a virtual run counts, but it's my challenge, so yeah, it counts.

....It's crazy the things that you get yourself into because you are bored and need something to do.

Cardio Is Hard-io: Part 1

Guys, I did a thing.

As in, I signed up to join a CrossFit gym (or "box", as those in the CrossFit club call it) and have dragged myself there (almost) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the past five or six months. Before joining the box, I couldn't even tell you the last time I set foot in a gym. I don't know if I have ever lifted a weight.

Now I do it regularly. And despite the words that come out of my mouth (I complain, a lot) and the expressions on my face, I actually enjoy it. 

On more than one occasion, I've conquered the rope climb. Once or twice, I've even done it without standing on a box to start out. I've had less success conquering the handstands and accompanying handstand push ups. Gonna chalk that lack of success up to psyching myself out, bending my elbows, and then bashing my head into the ground. 

This weekend marks the end of the CrossFit Open 2017. Basically, anyone throughout the entire world who does CrossFit can sign up to complete in the open. It's a five week long event with the winners going on to Regionals and then the games. Each Thursday the workout is announced, both the modified and unmodified versions. Everyone completes the same workout, submits their scores, and then you can see how you compare to everyone else, worldwide.

I'm not doing it for the ranking. I know that I'm not elite, nor will I ever be elite. I'm not the best in our box, I'm not even the best in our class. But throughout the Open, we encouraged each other and we pushed ourselves. PRs were set and new skills were attained. 

17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, and 17.5

It was hard and it was awful and Dave Castro is the spawn of Satan. In my extensive experience with working out, I've never gotten nervous before a work out before. I was nervous before every single Open workout. But it was also awesome. It was awesome to see what I would do, it was awesome to cheer on my friends. 

It's also over. Which might be the best part.

Two Years.

October 5 marked that time of year again. Not the time of year when all of Cleveland celebrates the fact that the Indians are AL Central champs, although that was happening and was fantastic and wonderful and one of the best times of my life.   

October 5 also marked two years of living life as a Carioca-- aka a person from Rio. 

Two. Years.

It's been two years filled with teaching math until I could do long division in my sleep and science until I could recite the Scientific Method on command. Two years of meeting and observations and birthday lunches and popsicles for desserts. It's also been two years of caipirinhas and weekends at the beach and sunsets at Arpoador.

It's been two years of ups and downs, smiles and tears. It's been two years of this wild and crazy Carioca life. 

Life Was Meant For Good Friends and Great Adventures

Despite my many nomadic adventures, I've made lifelong friends along the way. They're scattered all across the globe and, unfortunately, it's unlike that I'll ever be surrounded by all of my closest friends at a single time. But sometimes stars align and worlds collide and friends from one place that I call home are able to come visit me in another. Sarah and I met when we were both teaching in Honduras. We started out as two sobbing strangers who found themselves suddenly living together and left as two sobbing best friends who didn't know how they'd survive not living together. 

Sarah and Rachel, along with their friend, Jana, made the 10 hour trek to Rio de Janeiro last month and spent a couple of weeks soaking up all that the city has to offer. Mainly unlimited sunshine and caipirinhas.

Sarah, Rachel, and Jana were able to do a lot of things during the day while I was work, such as hiking up to the Christ Statue which is something I have never wished to do. As soon as school let out, the adventures commenced. 

In our adventures around Rio, we stumbled across this really great restaurant in Ipanema called Rayz. We all had some version of chicken, all of which were delicious, but the best part of the meal was definitely the caiprinha. It was raspberry and blackberry and strawberry with a little bit of vanilla and then a coconut popsicle to stir. Seriously-- drink of the gods.

In search of another adventure, we drove to Barra and frolicked around the Olympic Arena on our way to watch the Olympic test event of Trampoline Gymnastics. The women's team had already finished competing by the time we had arrived, so we were only able to see the men's teams, but it was still pretty awesome. The States and Canada were both there, so we were all able to cheer on our countries.

As a side note, I may have made eye contact with one of the US gymnasts while quietly chanting "USA! USA!" And then he smiled at me. And then in a matter of minutes I had planned our lives together which included me tweeting at him and saying "#RoadtoRio? More like #RoadtoRomance" or tagging him in a photo of the two of us (him on the trampoline and me in the stands) with the caption "This is where forever starts." Imagine my disappointment when I found out he has a girlfriend. I'd settle for tour guide though, so, Logan Dooley, if you need someone to show you around Rio in August, holla at ya girl.

We beached in one of the prettiest places in the world when we rented a car and drove to Arraial do Cabo. We hiked Pedra do Telégrafo and played daredevils for the afternoon. We traversed the palm tree lined walkways of Jardim Botanico and we spent an entire night playing every single category of Heads Up. And then, as all adventures usually do, they had to return back home while I stayed here.

It was a wild couple of weeks. But life was meant for good friends and great adventures. Those weeks had both. 

On a completely selfish level, seeing Rio de Janeiro through the eyes of someone who hasn't been gotten stuck in the mudane everydayness totally reminds me how freakin' lucky I am to live here. In the everyday of living in Rio de Janeiro, sometimes I forget that I live in Rio de Janeiro. I live in a place that some people only ever dream of visiting. I have a preference between Copacabana and Ipanema beach because I've actually been to both enough to have a preference. I turn up my nose at coconut water from a bottle because I know that it tastes so much better out of the coconut. I've been up to the Christ Statue more in the past four years than most people in their entire lives. But in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, sometimes I forgot how awesome it is to live in such an incredible place. Seeing Rio through the eyes of people who have never been here before, who have never seen a sunset at Arpoador or drank mate on the beach, really makes me realize what an incredible opportunity I have here.

You Can Take The Girls Out Of Ohio...

... but you can't take the Ohio out of the girls.

Let's talk about how much I love Ohio. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a solid 10. I'm not necessarily going to recommend making a stop there on a journey across the Midwest, but my little heart does start to pitter-patter when my own semi-annual trip to Ohio is on the horizon.

I love Ohio and my hometown, and Cleveland Indians baseball games, and Mentor Headlands,  and Taco Bell. But what I really love about Ohio is all of the people who have adventured through life there with me. 

Melissa and I lived through the awkward high school years together, which included but wasn't limited to, marching band and our spring break trip to Disney as well as theater and winters spent sledding. I have never claimed to have been cool in high school. Since becoming friends, Melissa and I have lived through TEN YEARS of awkwardness together. TEN. YEARS.  It was horrifying to tell this to my students and have them say "Oh my gosh, I wasn't even alive when you guys met!" 

And I was sharing this little tidbit of information with my students BECAUSE MELISSA CAME TO VISIT ME FOR A WEEK!

After a year and a half of life in Rio, I finally had my first visitor. Well, the first visitor who flew to Brazil with the specific intention of visiting me. (Shout out, Grams and Taylor.)

Always representing our home state. 

We packed a lot into a week. Not only did she get to experience Rio de Janeiro, but we also traveled to the state of Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil to play tourists in the little town of Salvador. 

We made three wishes and tied our bracelets onto the fence at the Igreja do Senhor do Bonfim. We ate the best ice cream in all of Salvador at Sorveteria da Ribeira and it was pretty great. We swam at sunset at the Farol da Barra and danced to Olodum on the painted streets of Pelourinho. We almost sweat to death in a town that doesn't have enough air conditioning for being so darn hot. And then at the end of a nice three day weekend, we flew back to Rio where the adventure continued. 

Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

Upon arriving in Rio, we spent Easter morning hanging out with JC at Corcovado. We brunched with the gringo fam. We sipped coconut water on the beaches of Ipanema. We watched the sunset from the top of the Sugarloaf and then wandered the streets of Copacabana in search of good eats and fancy souvenirs. We played Heads Up until way too late and ate authentic American made tacos. We wrangled 38 rambunctious 4th graders on our field trip to the science museum. We stayed up late reminiscing about the old glory days at Chardon High.

Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

And then after 7 days of Brazilian adventures, we had to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye is always difficult and its something that I have a lot of practice in. I would love to be able to look forward to the future and know that one day I won't have to say goodbyes anymore. Unfortunately, I know that isn't the case because I've chosen to build friendships all over the world and I'll always be missing someone.

And saying goodbye to someone who knew you before the you that you are now always seems to be more difficult. They may not be living the same current experiences as you are now, but they know what you went through to become the person you are now. And it's hard to say goodbye to someone who knows you that well.

For seven short days, I felt like a cooler version of the awkward girl who joined high school marching band because all of her friends were. The tough goodbyes are always worth the feeling of being with people who know you, always worth that moment when you can hug someone from home.

Ms. Melissa, you are always welcome in Rio de Janeiro. Please come back.

Meals at the Metro: The Boua- Kitchen Bar

Restaurant #1: The Boua- Kitchen Bar

Sometimes a person just needs some hearty American food. Like a burger and some beers on tap. (Which sounds like the makings of a country song.) The Boua- Kitchen Bar certainly satisfied every need that I had for some authentic American eats. 

Food photos from me, restaurant photo from Destemperados

Ambience and Environment- 5
The metro station is only a 15-20 minute walk from our house, but it can seem like so much longer when it's hot out. Kenny and I decided to bypass the outdoor seating in favor of the frigid air conditioning temperatures. According to their website, the restaurant is styled after a New York pub and I would say that it definitely fits the bill. It's super industrial with exposed brick and metal pipes and their sound system was blasting all sorts of Top 50 hits.

Service- 3
The service was just average. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great. It just was. In the restaurant's defense, I did have my back to the rest of the restaurant/ waiters and apparently the waiter and Kenny were communicating via eye contact the entire time which is why the waiter didn't come over to check on us.

Menu- 5
Oh, there was all sorts of goodness on the menu at The Boua- Kitchen Bar. Kelly got salmon with vegetables and said she would go back for the vegetables alone. Kenny got some delicious looking bruschetta. And I, of course, got chicken with chimichurri sauce made with malt beer, creamy rice, and french fries. The menu also included many different beverages, both alcohol and non-alcoholic, as well as a variety of beers on tap. The Boua- Kitchen Bar had a pretty extensive menu and a different twist on a lot of the classics.

Wait Time- 3
We waited an average amount of time for our food. Not to the point that we were looking at our watches in anticipation for our food, but it definitely wasn't fast food.

Food Quality- 5
Is it bad if my favorite part of the meal was the drink? Because I ordered the house ice tea with strawberry and cranberry and it was awesome. I would go back just for the ice tea. The portion sizes were more than enough to fill me up and still have some leftovers. Kenny and Kelly both loved their food, so it was thumbs up all around.

Overall Score- 21/25
I've already been thinking about when we can go back to The Boua-- Kitchen Bar, so it's definitely made a lasting impression. While it might not be authentic Brazilian cuisine, it's definitely worth checking out for anyone who is spending any amount of time in Rio.

Meals at the Metro: Venda Mineira

There's a road near the Botafogo Metro that is lined with restaurants. Fourteen of them to be exact. In an effort to get to know my own city, I've challenged myself to try all of them at some point throughout the year. 

Kelly is joining me on this quest and last night, while trying out our first restaurant, we came up with a grading scale of sorts. Because we're obviously the newest food critics here in Rio.

We're going to grade each restaurant in five categories-- ambience and environment, service, menu, wait time, and food quality. And when we've finished all fourteen restaurants, we'll probably have our own Food Network show and, more importantly, we'll actually be able to make some suggestions when someone says "Where do you want to eat tonight?" besides Bibi Sucos.

Restaurant #1: Venda Mineira

Venda Mineira specializes in food from Minas Gerias, which is another state of Brazil. I've eaten at a couple of different restaurants that serve food from Minas Gerais, and in my opinion, the food is always very hearty and warm. It's stews and meats and food that I want to eat when its cold outside. 

Linguiça Acebolada com Cachaça-- Sausage and Onions with Cachaça

Ambience and Environment- 3
Like most of the restaurants near the Metro, Venda Mineira had some seating inside and some seating outside. Kelly and I sat outside and it rained pretty hard while we were there. Luckily there's a fairly large overhang, so we didn't get wet at all. Point for Venda Mineira. The restaurant didn't inspire me to take photos of all the cool decor, but I also didn't feel like I was in danger of catching any weird diseases from just sitting at the table. Which, I suppose, is a win.

Service- 3
Our service is rarely stellar in Brazil (that isn't to say that it's always bad, it's just rarely AWESOME) and I think its because a lot of waiters get nervous when they see that we don't speak Portuguese. I really just want to give them all a pat on the back when we walk in and tell them that it's going to be more painful for us than it will be for them.

Our waiter at Venda Mineira was really friendly and apologetic when he had to come to our table twice to say that they didn't actually have what we had ordered and a third time to say that they didn't actually cook what I had ordered. As we were paying, he complimented our Portuguese which definitely won him some brownie points.

Menu- 3
I'm a fairly picky eater, though I'm trying to be adventurous, and I had a bit of a difficult time choosing what I wanted to order. They didn't have a ton of choices and out of those choices, they weren't even serving a lot of those foods. I settled on shish-kabobs, and then feijão rico (like a bean stew), and then finally sausage.

Wait Time- 2
We timed it. We waited for 50 minutes before receiving our food. FIFTY MINUTES for some sausage, pastel, and french fries. We spent 10 of those 50 minutes looking at the menu and then proceeded to spend 40 minutes waiting. Un-happy campers.

Food Quality- 3
Despite the long wait, the food was actually delicious. It was so. much. sausage. I also got a little loaf of French bread with the meal and eating some sausage and onions with bread was a good choice.

Overall Score- 14/25
If I'm looking for a hefty helping of linguiça acebolada, then this is definitely the place where I will go. Other than that, I could kind of take it or leave it.

Be Joyful. Pray Always. Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving was, is, and forever will be my favorite holiday. Christmas is my favorite holiday season, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It started selfishly-- you eat, you nap, you don't have to spend your money one presents. It's every college kid's dream. But over the years, I've actually come to love Thanksgiving for the act of giving thanks. You know, the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Thanskgiving in Honduras 2012. Thanksgiving in Rio 2014.

As with most people, my family and friends top my list for what I am most thankful for. Sadly, it's been four years since I have celebrated Thanksgiving sitting around a table with blood relatives. It's hard, there's no need to sugarcoat it. Each year, Thanksgiving is one of my guaranteed homesick days. It's hard knowing that my brother is flying in and my cousins are driving home and everyone will all be spending time together while I'm thousands of miles away (and usually teaching, nonetheless). 

And yes, I've been so blessed in both Honduras and in Brazil. In each country, my friends and I created our own traditions and eaten delicious meals with the hodge-podge family that we have become. We've played American football with our students. I introduced my students to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We've hosted dinner and made everyone go around and say what they are thankful for. But we also all know that, despite how much fun we are having together, we still miss our friends and family back home. 

Closely following my family and friends on the list of things I'm thankful for is technology. I'm so connected to the people who are important to me and, honestly, I don't think I could live abroad if it wasn't for that. Throughout the course of the day I was able to Skype many of the people who are so special to me. The people who watched me grow through high school and move to college and then make the difficult decisions to move abroad, but who love and support me every single step of the way. 

So to you guys, I'm thankful for all of you. For your love. For your laughter. For your support, even from another country. For your understanding when I text you at 4am because there's a three hour time difference. For being the people who I miss every single day. 

And to these goons. What a perfect day to Skype the 45 babies who filled my life with more joy and laughter and tears and stress than I ever knew what to do with.

How Do You Measure A Year?

It's been exactly one year since I started calling Rio de Janeiro home.

At the risk of sounding a lot like a popular musical melody, how do you measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets? In midnights, in cups of coffee? In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? In five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes? How do you measure, a year in the life?

(Don't worry, I'll be here all night. )

But really. In school days, in late nights? In roommates, in caipirinhas? In meetings, in field trips, in laughter, in tears? In thirty three thousand, nine hundred and three frequent flier miles? How do I measure a year in my life?

One year ago I woke up on an airplane, cried my way through customs, got carsick on the way to my new home, and made an awesome first impression with my roommates when I walked out of my bedroom and said "Hi, I'm Caitlin. Do you have bowl or something that I could throw up into?"

(Seriously. I used to cry every. single. day. before school and usually at least once during school. I used to throw up almost every morning and would then usually stand in the bathroom at school thinking about throwing up. Every. Single. Day. To say that I was a real joy to be around is a serious understatement.)

Thankfully, exactly 365 days later, my morning started off very differently. I woke up in my bed with my pillows and my blankets, hit the snooze button way too many times, spent far too long deciding what to wear, and then ate a breakfast that wasn't served off a cart with my friends before being greeted by hugs from my students. (Because, you know, two days is a long time to be away from your teacher.)

Life has become excitingly average. In a good way. I don't wake up with the fear that I would throw up before the 8am bell rings and stepping into my class doesn't cause my eyes to fill with tears. I feel comfortable with my decision to be here and I am confident that it is where I am supposed to be right now.

Has this past year been easy? No. Has it been an adventure? You betcha. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Because despite all of the struggles and all of the tears, I really do love it here. I love my students and their crazy stories. I love my friends and their insane ways of making me laugh every day. I love the food. I love living at one of the most famous beaches in the world. I love that 70 degrees is considered cold. I love all of the hugs that I get every single day. Mostly, I love knowing that I did what was right for me even when it wasn't what I wanted to do and it actually worked out. I love knowing that I pushed myself so far outside of my comfort zone and still ended up on the other side. I love the person I became because of the struggles that I went through.

I wish I could say that I came up with this idea, but I actually got it from a friend.

A lot can happen in a year. A lot of sunsets, a lot of laugher. A lot of mate on the beach, a lot of tears. A lot of growth. Definitely a lot of growth.

Also can we address the irony that is me begging someone to buy me a plane ticket to Rio exactly 365 days before I landed here again?

To Have Another Language Is To Possess A Second Soul.

Listen. Learning languages is tough. Like, sometimes I kind of want to roll over and die because my brain is a constant jumble of words in English and Portuguese and Spanish and because 99% of my time speaking Portuguese is spent focusing way too freaking hard on making sounds that I cannot physically make.

Grammar and sentence structure is similar in Portuguese and Spanish which is a huge help, and a large handful of vocabulary is similar. But that's where the similarities stop. Don't let anyone fool you into believing that if you know Spanish, you'll be able to fully understand Portuguese. It's a flat out lie. Especially here in Rio where the accent is INCREDIBLY different from Spanish.

Between English and Spanish and Portuguese, I feel like brain is constantly "ON". And, honestly, not making a ton of sense of anything. I'm exhausted ALL the time. And while I can blame part of that on late night reading in bed, a lot of it is due to always trying to listen and understand and translate and think of a response and translate and repeat. Conversations take a LONG time. 

All day, every day.

Not only am I constantly having to really work at having conversations, but the world around me is in Portuguese. Leaving my house means coming in contact with Portuguese. Going shopping (especially trying on clothes)? Better believe I have to talk to someone in Portuguese. Dinner and drinks after a week at school? Good luck ordering that food if you don't speak Portuguese. Want to get your haircut? Want to get your nails done? Think if its actually worth the time and effort. I am fully capable of doing those things (and doing them well!) in English and Spanish, but literally every single this is more difficult here because I don't speak the language. 

My brain is constantly on. Constantly. And it's tired.

In order to give my tired brain a break, I decided to start taking Portuguese lessons. Which, honestly, is something that I should have done a long time ago. But I didn't and here we are now. I've officially had three classes and am really good at saying things like "calma, relaxe, sem estresse" (calm down, relax, without stress). It's obviously a process, I'm not going to be fluent in just three lessons. Eventually it'll get easier and my brain can relaxe.

I must say, that even after only two lessons, it was awesome to go out to dinner and have a "conversation" with the waiter. The waiter who unknowingly followed the exact script that we learned during my first lesson. Thank you, friendly waiter.

By conversation, I mean the following:

"Boa noite. Meu nome é Antonio. É o seu?"

"Meu nome é Caitlin. Muito prazer."

"Igualmente."

And then I reverted to pointing at then menu to ask for what I wanted to eat. In my defense, it was really freaking loud in the restaurant and I was seated far away from where he was standing to take my order. Baby steps, ladies and gentlemen.

Also, this is how I feel 100% of the time when talking to people who say that I should be fluent in Portuguese because I speak Spanish. Preach it, Batman.

I See You, DuoLingo.

 So there's this app called DuoLingo that was created to help people learn languages. Great concept, but it hasn't been overly helpful, in my experience. I've acquired/ reinforced a lot of vocabulary, but nothing that I have really found to be helpful.

For example, I'm really good at saying "The ant drinks milk", but, even if my life depended on it, I couldn't say "I feel sick and need to go to the doctor".

Anyways, DuoLingo started getting a little fresh last weekend when having me practice all my pick-up lines.

Now I feel adequately prepared for life in Rio.

As long as I don't get sick.

Life Is Like Riding A Bicycle

... in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Kelly, my roommate, and I were feeling a little cabin fever-ish over the weekend, so we decided to get out and explore Rio in a different way-- by bike. 

So on Saturday we packed up our bike baskets with typical bike riding goodies such as water and a GoPro and headed to the nearest gas station because I needed air in both of my tires. We arrived at the gas station and were quite unsuccessful in inflating the tires. After (what felt like an eternity) of struggling, a gas station attendant came over to help us. He was also unsuccessful and sent us to the next closest gas station. 

Do you realize how hard it is to ride a bike with two flat tires? Rather difficult. Do you know how hard it is to ask the gas station attendant for help inflating your bike tires in Portuguese? Rather difficult and involving a lot of charades. 

So, phew. We're finally all set to go and continue to ride around the Lagoa. All 10.8 kilometers. It was awesome.

On Sundays, one lane of the road is closed along the beach in Leblon/ Ipanema/ Copacabana for people to walk and bike ride and long board and roller skate. For whatever reason, bike riding along Avenida Atlantica has been on my bucket list for forever.

Since we had bicycles, we decided to carpe diem and go on a long bike ride on Sunday. All 13.3 kilometers. It was also awesome, but slightly more painful than Saturday's bike ride.

We also had to ride in the street as opposed to the bike lane a couple of times because Kelly and I can't follow directions. Traffic in Rio is a little... wild and my bike control isn't the best. I may or may not have given myself blisters on my hands from gripping the handlebars so tightly in fear of riding right into a bus. A fear that never came to fruition, thank goodness, but the fear was real.

So Rio, so Carioca. So sore, so fun. 

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

More than I care to admit, I think that teaching was pretty accurately summed up in Spiderman.

One of my students has had an emotionally difficult year and it all seemed to catch up with her today. At the end of the day, she came to me sobbing, so we sat together on the bleachers in the front court while she talked it out. But mostly so she could just cry.

In the midst of trying to comfort her with my best teacher advice, I was (selfishly) thinking about how special it was that this particular student chose to come to me in her time of distress. Out of all of her friends and all of the teachers in the school, she searched me out. She wanted to be with me.

And then I realized, oh gosh, she chose to come to ME.

The students who sit in my classroom each day didn't chose to be on my class list. But every day we work through all sorts of things together. Every day they come to me to help them solve problems, whether they be academic, personal, social, or something else entirely. Every day they are trusting ME to be there for them.

Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way, but wow. Talk about pressure.

Caitlin's Quarter Quell

If you know anything about The Hunger Games (which you should), you know that every twenty five year, Panam participates in the Quarter Quell. Games which are more intense, and with more surprises, than the games of years past.

I recently celebrated my very own Quarter Quell (AKA, I turned 25 years old). And, in true Quarter Quell fashion, it was more intense than in years past. I mean, hello, I was in Rio de Janeiro, for crying out loud.

Not only was it celebrated in Rio de Janeiro (and effectively allowing me to say I have celebrated my birthday in North, Central, and South America), it was spent with this beauty.

One of my dearest and closest friends from high school. We've been friends for TEN YEARS now-- I had just finished my freshman year when we celebrated our first birthday together. Who would have guessed that 7th grade her and 9th grade me would both grow up to be teachers at bilingual schools and then celebrate our birthday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? Seriously. Life is crazy and awesome and I'm so blessed to have friends like her along for the ride.

My Quarter Quell was also celebrated with some of the very best people in Rio. When living far from family and friends, it's important to find people you can count on. If you ask me, I've found some of the best.

And in true cafe com leite (literally "coffee with milk", but code for "lame person") fashion, I was in bed by 9pm. 

Here's to another year. To the laughter and to the tears, to the days at the beach and the nights/ early evenings at the bars. Here's to all of the moments that make up a beautiful year, which in turn, make a beautiful life.

Welcome to Rio!

What a crazy and amazing past couple of days! Friday afternoon Dad, Joey, and I set off for Detroit around 11am. Upon arrival into the city, we went to visit TJ at the Freedom House before taking him out for lunch. After enjoying some fine Mexican delicacies, we dropped TJ off again and then drove on over to the airport. Amanda, Brittany, and Claire were already all waiting there, so I just had to go get my boarding passes and then we bravely set off through security.

Dad, Joey, and I visiting TJ

We made it to the gate with no problems and just hung out getting to know each other. Finally we boarded the smallest plane I have EVER seen in my entire life. Amanda and I were sitting next to each other with Brittany right behind us and every single person who stepped onto the plane was like "WOW! This is tiny!" I'm not kidding, it was unbelievably tiny. The plane ride to DC was pretty short and we made it over there without any problems. Brittany and I went to grab some dinner before boarding the 9 hour, 9 minute flight to São Paulo. Luckily, the four of us got our seats rearranged so that we were all able to sit next to each other or we would have been pretty lonely.

Back when we were strangers.

We got to São Paulo and sat on the airport for what felt like ages. We just sat around on the plane, hanging out, complaining about how much we wanted to be off the plane already. Finally we took off for Rio de Janeiro and our flight lasted all of... 35 minutes. Which was nothing compared the nine hour flight we just sat through.



Getting through customs and getting our luggage was absolutely no problem-- which is so lucky! Melanie picked us up and brought us back to the apartment. We were here for a New York minute before going out to dinner at Porcão. This restaurant is absolutely incredible. It's located across the bay from the Sugarloaf and had panoramic views of the bay and the mountains. And the food-- oh my gosh! We got some of the food from the buffet which was exponentially better than a Hometown Buffet and then when we went to sit down they kept bringing food, such as vegetables, calamari, shrimp, and french fries, to the table. While we were chowing down on all that, the waiters brought around all different sorts of meat on a stick and then would shave it onto the plate. It was so much food. We were in such a food coma afterwards. Then Melanie drove us around the different beaches and it put all four of us to sleep, so luckily she brought us back home so we could go right to bed.

Our personal alley.

The apartment that we live in is really nice, but definitely an adjustment from the Senior Apartments that I have been living in! We had a hard time adjusting the first night, but it's gotten easier with time.

On Sunday we explored Botafogo on our own. We had our first Christ Statue sighting!! Everyone else was just walking around carrying about their business and all four of us stopped to take pictures. The day that the statue doesn't take our breath away will be a very sad day, for sure. We survived dinner and grocery shopping on our own, without a translator. All in all, it was a pretty calm day on the Brazilian homefront.

This morning we woke up and had various orientations at the school. We met so many people, I can't even remember them all. There's so much information coming at us that I cannot even begin to recall anything when I need to. We had our fingerprints scanned and our pictures taken, so now we're official!

The entrance to our school.

The superintendent, Josh, took us out for lunch at a local buffet. The food here is fantastic, I wish that everyone could eat food as wonderful as this. We don't have much on the agenda for the rest of the day or tomorrow-- fingers crossed for some time at the beach!

Being here in Brazil reminds me of Costa Rica so much!! They both have that whole Latin American feel and it feels so homey and wonderful to me.