The past few weeks have been filled with some of the things I like most: dancing, working with children, and being in Brazil! Almost two weeks ago, I got to visit another community project in a very challenged community. I got to work with the youngest and most amazing group of children and it was so much fun! I got to help some of the children do their homework, play a bunch of games I knew from my childhood, only this time in Portuguese. We even played “who took the cookie from the cookie jar?” but this time it was about who stole the bread from João’s house!
I started helping a little boy with the vocabulary section of his homework were he had to write down words with the specific letters that were given. It was great because I don’t know much Portuguese, so I told him, look, I don’t know much Portuguese, but let’s figure this out! It was amazing to see how while he benefited from me not knowing Portuguese because he had to figure it out on his own, which he did, I was learning a bunch of words that he already knew. I realized how such an essential part of being a teacher is showing your students that you don’t know everything, that it’s all about figuring things out as you go and that they also get to be our teachers. I was also helping a little girl with her math homework and it was adorable because she would ask to use some of my fingers to count. It’s such an amazing feeling when you can help a child understand something and see that moment when they realize they got it!
During the last couple of weeks, I have also gotten to dance samba several times and I love it! I started realizing that it’s a lot harder and more complex than I thought it was. I have also noticed that samba is usually danced by young adults around their late 20’s and up. We have gone to a couple of samba parties were it is just amazing to see the skill and technique of the people. At times I found myself just staring at people’s feet trying to understand the steps. My Brazilian host mom ended up giving me some lessons at another small samba party we went to. I love it and now I have even started playing the songs on my computer. Hopefully, I really learn by the time I leave! Here’s the link to my favorite samba song so far! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDk-D1as8eg