Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go!!

I started my workweek last Monday, and nothing about it seemed at all like work. Even the drive onto campus feels like a leisurely ride along the river. The university is set along the water, and my professor makes it a point of driving in the same way (even if it is out of her way) just to see the water. It’s gorgeous.

On Tuesday, another group of students at Lindsey’s university, UEPA, threw us a second welcome party.

They brought in a bunch of traditional foods and sweets. We had lots of brigadeiros (small balls of chocolate rolled in chocolate sprinkles) and pão de queijo, which seems to be a staple in most households. They also brought in juices made from native fruits of Pará like Maracujá (passion fruit), and Cupaçu—my favorite. Its taste is similar to mango juice, but I don’t think we have an English equivalent.

A large part of my job while I’m here is to work with the English language professors in their classrooms. This week, I began by observing a couple classes, and eventually, I will be collaborating with the professors on lesson plans. All of the students I am working with are working towards becoming English teachers, so my focus is not limited to the language learning but also centered on pedagogical practices.

I observed two classes last week both of which were my host professor’s. On Thursday, she had a guest professor from Missouri University present a lesson on poetry. A film crew was with him to document his lecture for a documentary on his teaching.

Professor James Bogan began lecturing at the Federal University of Pará in 1985 as a Fulbright Fellow himself. He taught my host professor when she was an undergrad at UFPA, and they have remained close friends since then. Professor Bogan taught art history and film. He is also very passionate about poetry and Belém and has spent three years of his life in Belém over a series of visits following his Fulbright commitment. He has published many articles, written books of poetry, made many films, and is in the process of finishing his book Bound to Belém. He promised me a copy so that I could give it a hard read before it’s sent to press!

Professor Bogan’s presentation was phenomenal to say the least. He is such an extraordinary individual and truly down-to-earth. I knew this the moment he took a swig from his flask just before the students entered! He also joked that his best professors while in Belém were Professors Skol and Cerpa, names of the Belém's most common beers. It was a great privilege to have sat in on one of his classes.

Some of my time at UFPA has been spent in the Master’s building close to the language and communication building. It is adjacent to the psychology school where spider monkeys are kept to observe their behaviors. They make the office I work in a little smelly and pretty noisy but a lot more interesting! The last time I was there (using the internet because mine was down as usual), I got to see some research in action. The monkey had to put the Legos together in order to create a tool to fetch a treat in the center of the cardboard. I was amazed and watched this little guy successfully retrieve his food over and over again.

On Friday, I was officially introduced to the students I would be working with via two informal presentations. I was a little embarrassed because the announcement for the “Open House to Meet, Candice Dagnino, the English Teaching Assistant from America” was placed throughout the school. I was a little nervous at first, but I was good again once I got to talk with my students.

They are absolutely awesome (and I’m not just saying this because I know some of them are reading this)! A lot of them are already wonderful English speakers. They had great questions and were really interested in my experiences in Belém thus far—I directed them to my blog. (Shameless plug, I know! Haha! However, this can totally work as a teaching tool too!) Some of my students arranged to have breakfast with me at the end of this week. They seem pretty excited to show me around and to come to my learning labs.

On a completely random note, Iron Maiden is performing in Belém April 1^st. I was hoping this was an April Fool’s joke, but it’s not at all. Everyone is seriously stoked about the concert. Even our 40-something year old landlord (not the Iron Maiden type at all) is excited and stood in line for hours with the rest of Belém to get his tickets! Not my cup of chá, but I may go to the concert just because of the hype! But really, aren’t these guys a little old to be performing heavy metal?! Just sayin’…