A tale of two students: why willpower matters
I’ve never liked trite phrases like “You can do anything you put your mind to!” – they somehow fail to motivate me. Yet over the past year, I’ve seen …
Why I lose 5 pounds every time I come back to Brazil
In each of my seven trips to Brazil, I’ve noticed I always slim down a few pounds without even trying. (Obviously, I gain this weight back when I’m in …
Brazil Mystery #5: Our Lady of Mini-Skirts
I’ve ranted before about the lack of silence in my neighborhood – it’s especially bad on Sundays, and even worse during Carnaval season. But today it turned into a …
The army’s in town. How bad is the police strike in Salvador?
Before I came to Brazil, I don’t think I even knew a police strike was possible. But the Military Police in Bahia have been on strike for the past …
Daily Differences: “Ice and sugar in your orange juice?”
In addition to the Brazil Mystery series, I’m starting a new one called Daily Differences, inspired by something Lindsey said in her post: Everything is different and new every …
Why I’m working at home alone on a Friday night
Christian has gone out to a samba in the neighborhood, and I chose not to join him. To be honest, it’s been hard for me to drum up energy to …
AWKWARD.
One of the first things that most visitors to Brazil notice is that Brazilians greet each other with a kiss on the cheek (one or two, depending on the …
One thing I really miss about home is…
…silence. It is never quiet where I live. For the past 3 weeks, I’ve been struggling to make the audio recordings for Espresso English. We’re not talking 30-minute monologues …
Espresso English: My new “baby”
January is a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad month for English teachers in Brazil. My group classes are on break until after Carnaval, and my individual students have been …
Video: Random maracatu procession
When you live in the historical center of Salvador, sometimes you look out the window and see this: The rhythm they are playing is called maracatu – it’s a …