My school has a bell that rings at the end of classes and at the beginning of classes. I'd been told by other volunteers not to count on school bells--because they either don't exist or are really unreliable. I was surprised that my school had a bell at all, but I ignored it because it seemed to be really inconsistent. This week I learned that it's inconsistent because it's actually hooked up to a button inside the Sala dos Professors. Someone has to walk over and physically push a button to make the bell ring.
Teaching is a thing that I'm still doing. I go into the classroom and I stay in there for the prescribed amount of time. That's a given. It's what happens in the 45 minutes between arriving and either barely escaping with my sanity or striding out triumphantly with my beautifully ironed and perfectly bleached bata waving behind me. (do you guys know what a bata is? It's this white lab-coat thing I have to wear to class to signify that I'm a teacher. In case no one could tell... It's made of polyester and it's white so it's double horrible. It never stays clean and it doesn't even try to breathe. I get out of class and my shirts are soaked underneath.) If I'm lucky my classes are hard in the way that charades and repeating everything I say three times is hard. If I'm unlucky my classes become a battle of wills to see who will crack first--me or the students. I've come out on top every time but some of my classes are 20 minutes of fighting 5 minutes of actual teaching and 20 minutes of transition time between fighting and teaching. Nao e bom.
I learned on Friday that next week our schedule is changing. No one could explain to me WHY the schedule is changing, just that it's a thing that happens a few times every year in the first couple of months. We don't have school on Monday because today (the 3rd of Feburary) is a national holiday. Day of Heroes.
I'm going to spend my Monday tearing up my yard if I can find an enxada (hoe) to borrow, and doing laundry (my bata is dirty).
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