I've signed my contract

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....

I love not having a job

Ooooh, not having a job is sweet. S.W.E.E.T. It's relaxing, stressfree, and just plain enjoyable. I have all kinds of free time. I can stay up late. Sleep in. Go swimming. Watch TV. Order take out. I love not working. Love it. 


Now before I get too carried away; I'm not technically unemployed. Well, I guess. I mean, I have "retired" from the Orange County Public Schools and have turned in my letter of resignation stating that I will not be returning for work in the fall (the 2011-12 school year). So they're not expecting me back. On a side note, I'm grateful that I still have insurance through the county until August. That is a relief. I also have a job waiting for me in Brazil so I do have a job, I just haven't started yet, so I do feel like I don't have a job. Fun. Fun. Fun.


Speaking of work, I just found out that I'll be teaching 9th, 11th, and 12th grade next school year. At first it can seem overwhelming to have three preps (different grade levels to all of the nonteachers out there), but what it does give me is a challenge. And I am always up for a challenge. Anyway, I won't have to teach as many periods per week as I have had to do in the U.S. so even with the extra preps, and various novels that I'll be teaching, I shouldn't have more work to do in Brazil than I've had here. I mean, isn't that the point of switching jobs? I also enjoy teaching older students so teaching upperclassmen is something that I've been interested in for awhile. I am appreciative of the opportunity to teach 11th and 12th graders. Oh yeah, and I get to teach To Kill a Mockingbird again. What a powerful book!

Ok, enough with the digression.

Now back to my summer vacation.....I'd say one of the best parts of not having to work is that I can sleep in. No more 5:45 a.m. alarm clocks. I'm also not as exhausted as I was previously this month (or last month) and my eye doesn't twitch from lack of sleep and stress like it did before. I can stay up at late as I want (oh Lord, I sound like a teenager). I can also spend quality time with friends, like I did today (hopefully pictures will be posted later on) and can travel without worrying about taking days off of working (or how many sick/personal days I have left) or having to get back to town in order to work. We don't need to drive back and forth to Miami in one day; we can stay down south and stay in a hotel near the beach (like we're doing this weekend) and relax. And of course, we can visit my family and friends in New York any day of the week, for as long as we want (within reason of course).


I also have free time to read. On my Kindle for sure. I finished a (not so interesting) book yesterday and then read My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler in fewer than 24 hours. It was a great book! I couldn't put it down. AND it was on sale for only $1.99. So even if it wasn't as good as I thought, it was still a fabulous deal. (The price has since gone up). I wouldn't have time to read a book, especially that quickly, if I were working. I'm now the (proud?) owner of the book (on the Kindle) Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert - it's the sequel to Eat Pray Love. You can't be surprised that I'd want to find out exactly what happens to the American woman and her Brazilian lover, correct?


All of this is funny to me because I used to have such a strong work ethic. I started work as soon as I could - at the age of 15. I worked nonstop unless I was abroad. I've worked two jobs, and probably three if I worked hard to remember. I've worked summers even though I was still getting paid by the public school. Then again, maybe I haven't changed that much because I'm taking books and resources with me just in case I decide to give private English language classes.


But for now, I'll gleefully enjoy my month long (or is it six-week? :) summer vacation, relaxing by the pool, hanging out with friends and family, and taking pictures of botanical gardens, Miami beaches, and Times Square in New York City.

Orlando, the happiest place on Earth

I'm not kidding that that's the sign that was only 10 minutes from my house for the 2 years that I lived right near Disney. I could watch their fireworks, take a quick drive to Downtown Disney in just a few minutes, and  watch all of my neighbors go to work in their hideous Disney "costumes" every day. Now I live near Universal Studios, even closer than I did to Disney in fact, so I can experience all of the traffic that leads there - like I did when I was near Disney - but I'm also only a few minutes from the movie theater, restaurants, and of course, the theme parks. Not too shabby, I'd say. But the happiest place on Earth? Not quite sure, but it can be fun.

I read in the Guinness Book of World Records (from 2009, I think) that the most visited city in the world is Orlando (Florida). Of course I'm not surprised. All you need to do is go to Downtown Disney during Christmas vacation and you'll see the streets PACKED with people. Watch a movie at the theater at Universal's CityWalk and you can't even count the crowds of people leave the parks to go home. On a Wednesday night in May.

This is where I live. I've been in the Orlando area for 4 years and consider it home. It's the only place that E really knows well in the United States, though we've traveled along the east coast and into the Midwest a bit. I often think about the fact that many people spend their whole lives saving to go on vacation in Orlando, and we've gone to the parks so many times for free that it seems unfair. I mean, in 6 years I've never paid to go to Universal Studios and have never paid full price to visit Disney. Sea World has always been free since I'm a public school teacher, as has been Kennedy Space Center. It's really been awesome. Oh yeah, and Busch Gardens is close by and we've not paid full price there. Not even for parking if I remember correctly (and that is up to $15 these days). 

I'm glad that I took the opportunity to live and work in Orlando and to call it home. I've made AMAZING friends and am pleased with the university I chose for graduate school. I've had good jobs here and will miss it more than I think I will.

So here are a few observations I've made over the years....

I'm used to every other person working at a theme park, or at least knowing someone who does. I'm used to seeing a million different license plates on my way to work. 

There are street signs, highway signs, and billboards with directions all over the city. This is a city built for tourists; you can literally never get lost.

Tons of Brits come to America.

Brazilians really boost the economy.

I live where people vacation.

Living in Orlando means lots of touristy things to do (i.e. Arabian Nights, Disney's Food & Wine, just a drive away from the beach, Comedy shows, etc).

Butter beer (from Harry Potter) tastes better than it appears in the books. 

Although I already knew it, roller coasters rock.

Orlando, although you may not be the happiest place on Earth in my eyes, I'll miss you and all that you've given my husband and me. Thanks for the AMC movies, the restaurants, the theme parks, the shopping centers, the friends, the teaching jobs and the perks that have gone with it, the university, the sun, the proximity to other cities, the coast, and everything else that has helped make central Florida my home. Oh yeah, and your attraction has brought people that I love to the city to visit. 

Stay in touch,

My love affair with Manaus

I somehow knew, even before I received notification that I'd be teaching in Manaus, that that is where I was going to spend one year of my life while teaching EFL in Brazil.

I first went to Manaus in 2004 after being accepted into a program that allowed me to work as an intern teaching English at a language school. I was "hired" by a Brazilian NGO called IICA  (Instituto de Intercậmbios e Cultura Americana) that placed me in a very well known Brazilian school called Fisk. The school teaches English and Spanish; there are schools ALL over the country - and even in the movie that I love, "Bossa Nova". The particular school that I worked at is a franchise and the owner (my boss) frequently requests native English speakers to work at his schools in Manaus and in the nearby town Itacoitiara. In fact, there had been Americans working at his schools in the past, there were two while I was there, and there were more after my time. It's a great opportunity for both the American teachers and Brazilian students. It is truly an exchange program.

I worked in Manaus for a year. It was one of the best years of my short life. I had been to Brazil before, and I had volunteered in ESL classes in the United States, but this was a unique chance for me to really experience Brazil, learn the language (one of my goals for going to Brazil in the first place), learn more about teaching English, and spend more time in South America, the continent that I love.

There is not enough space here for me to describe why my year in Manaus was so unforgettable and just down right amazing (for lack of a better word) and I'm afraid to start and leave anything out. I'm sure that one of the best reasons was that that is where I met my husband, my love, E. (There is a post about him on this blog somewhere). But it's more than that. Manaus has so much to offer - a wide array of tastes and smells, of welcoming and wonderful people, culture, nature, contrasts, heat....

I fell in love in Manaus and at the same time with Manaus. I miss everything about the city and so much about the life I lived there. I miss what I did while in Manaus, I miss my job, my students, my friends, my trips, the Amazon River and forest, the neighborhoods I lived in, the places I frequented, the parties..... The city, and all that it encompasses, will always have a special, sweet place in my heart.

There will be another time when I will be able to find the words to describe in more detail my love affair with Manaus.

Freelance Translator? Yes, please.

I've been interested in translation/interpretation since I was in high school. In fact, during my freshman year I took a sign language (night!) class with a bunch of old ladies to improve what I'd already started to learn from hearing impaired friends. At that time, I was certain that I wanted to study Speech Language Pathology while in college, and then later become an interpreter for the deaf - as my profession. However, my first study abroad experience to South America put me in a new, different direction - but only towards translation versus interpretation.

I still am fascinated with sign language, interpretation for the deaf, closed captions - you name it. I just don't know if at this time I'll pursue that career.

Instead.............I'm more interested in (freelance) translation.

I took my first translation course in my third year of college and I have enjoyed it ever since. I continued to study translation during my undergraduate years as well as participate in a translation/localization workshop the summer after I graduated (right before I moved to Manaus to teach). Most of my experience has been with non-literary work; I translate Brazilian Portuguese ->English and Latin American Spanish ->English. I also have extensive experience with proofreading and editing, of which most of those documents are written by non Native English speakers from Latin America.

So, why get back to translation/interpretation after the long hiatus, you ask? Well, I've always loved this profession (anything language/linguistics related) and now that I'm returning to Brazil, I think I'll have more opportunities to do what I love, and hopefully be well paid and respected for it. I mean, I started interpreting back in 2000 when I was living in Bolivia. I continued with it by taking undergraduate and graduate courses, and then got paid to translate while in Brazil in 2005. I've done extensive interpretation (and to some extent translation) since E arrived so that's given me a great deal of practice and has reminded me where my heart has always been. I think now it's time to get paid, and maybe add a second career. Also, just the other day I was reading a blog by a fellow translator, an American travelling back and forth between Brazil, who wrote an informative post on being a freelance translator and so I've decided to take the plunge.

Since I read that blog just days ago, I've update my resume and have applied for many jobs - both paid and unpaid. Now I guess I just have to wait and see what happens. But I'm hopeful and believe I could eventually have a career change, if not another job that I love.