I have received my teacher contract for the next two years (which can be extended) for the international school where I'll be teaching in Brasilia, Brazil starting next month! I printed three copies, initialed the margin of the first page and signed my signature on the second for each copy; tomorrow I'll mail all three copies to the school - they'll give me a copy after everyone signs their copy so I can keep one for my personal records.
It's official now :). It could seem weird that I'm signing the contract now, versus in December when I received the job offer, but not all schools/counties work the same. For example, I signed the last contract that I had from my former school district in Florida (from August to August) MONTHS into the school year. I did receive a written job offer from the school in Brasilia and they have invested a lot into me, so I never doubted that I had the job. I actually don't even feel much better now that I'm putting the signed contract in the mail. But I AM glad that it's taken care of.
Once I printed out the contracts I realized I had to print out 13 copies of our cell phone bills, meaning each bill from the last 13 months. This is part of our requirement in providing proof that E has lived outside of Brazil for at least a year. I was having a problem printing them so I only got a few months in hand, but we still have a few more weeks so I'll do it later. AT&T is not the best phone company in the United States and of course their website was having difficulties. At least I got started with this.
On to the rest of moving....I gave away a framed piece of artwork that I love (one by Gustav Klimt) - but did so to a classmate of mine so I'm happy that she'll be able to enjoy it. We also have packed two full suitcases that will not be touched until we arrive in Brazil. One of them is 60 lbs (full of E's clothes) and the other is about 68... lbs. These are our smaller suitcases so it's OK that the first one is not heavier, plus it's jammed to the max (thanks to my amazing packing skills). We'll take all of our bags to FedEx to weigh them before we arrive at the airport to make sure they're all under 70 lbs. I did have to open up one suitcase to find the novel 1984 since I just found out that the 11th graders will start the year reading that book; turns out I won't be able to teach To Kill a Mockingbird until the year after, but that's OK. I could potentially fill that suitcase more, but I'm not going over 70 lbs.
This week we need to visit the army/ navy store and hopefully buy a heavy duty duffle bag and we're good to go. Our closet is almost empty and our piles are significantly smaller. Most of the books have been packed away, as well as some of our valuables, tucked between towels and pieces of clothing. It's the rest of our valuables and kitchen appliances that need to be carefully packed. Our list of items to buy has also shrunk greatly so I know we're almost there. Good to know because we'll be on "vacation" in a few days and I don't want to worry about anything at all.
Until later....
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