The past month or so

Life has been moving forward.

I love teaching my kids, especially the oldest ones. We have had a lot of interesting conversations about the US as a whole with a lot of different viewpoints, which keeps my on my toes. I love it. I'm struggling a little with figuring out how to get my 6th graders engaged - there is just such a huge difference between 11 year olds and 18 year olds. It is becoming more clear to me that I prefer the older kids. It's a good realization to have, but as longs as I'm here, I don't see the age range I teach changing. So I'll learn to adapt.

I also love coaching. I have gotten to build some relationships with kids through passing on my wisdom and continuing to demoralize them when I play against them. Ha! There is a high school girls team for the first time, so that's a lot of fun - and a lot of work. Teaching 16 year old girls the basics of basketball is not something I saw coming. The boys keep referring to how great the NBA is... and I keep reminding them that it sucks because it stole the Sonics. It's all good fun.

I also have had some interesting conversations:

Randomly in the middle of class:
Student - "Miss, why do you have wisdom hair?"
Me - "Because I am old."
Student - blank stare

During break one day:
Student - "I wish you would lecture more" (I never saw that one coming)

Before a basketball game:
Student - "Miss Maxwell, you should get a car so you can give us rides to the game."
Me - "I'll give you a ride to the game, but not home. You guys stink after the game."
Student - "We can roll up the window and just sit in the smell" (or something equally as gross)
Me - "I'll get a convertible and only give you a ride home when it isn't raining so the top can be down."

During civics:
Student - "I need to learn about government because I want to take over the world"

Also during civics:
Student - "Did Hitler get elected like Trump did?"

Again, during civics:
Student - "Miss Maxwell, where would you go if there was a Zombie Apocalypse?"
Me - (pointing to map of Alaska and Canada vaguely) "Somewhere around here... I can't tell you. You're not invited"

While learning about the rise of Christianity in Rome:
Student A - "Miss Maxwell, are you a Christian?"
Me - "Yeah"
Student A - "You're not like the other teachers. You don't force it on us as much."
Student B - "You have to be a Christian to work here."
Student A - "It's like the others don't care about what we believe"
That one struck a chord a little - it definitely reminded me of going to a Christian school growing up. It was a good reminder that there is a reason why I am here.

I'm learning a lot here. One thing I need to keep learning is how to let Christ invade every aspect of my life and my teaching so kids don't wonder if I'm a Christian or not, but also continue to not feel forced to believe what I believe....

Window Screens

If I were to walk into Home Depot or Lowes back in the US and look for window screens, I could almost positively find it on my own. If not, I would be able to clearly ask for what I was looking for. Not the case here in Brazil. There have been some serious bugs getting into the apartment, so I decided it was time to get some window screens. I went to the hardware store hoping that I could find them on my own and not have to use my very, very, very limited Portuguese. But no. That would be too easy.
So I looked around for the kindest-looking person I could find and said, "nao quero moscas no meu apartamento" (which I am pretty sure means, "I don't want flies in my apartment").
She asked if I needed "tele para janela" or something like that, which I recognized as meaning window screens.
"Sim, sim," was pretty much all I could respond with (yes, yes).
"lajsdgglkj otro lado ba;ksdjhfas," was pretty much what I understood next, so off I went to the other side of the store.
I still couldn't find them. So I found more people to ask. This time I was armed with more words. My mouth said, "tele para janelas?" and my face said, "please help the poor foreigner who doesn't know how to speak your language."
"sl;dfjasdlfkj 108 askdjfhasd" is what I thought I heard.
So off, I went to aisle 108. It was plants. So I just wandered around for a while and eventually found what I needed in aisle 112.
Maybe not the best hardware store experience, but I got what I needed. And hung them up with pretty owl duck tape.

My New Normal

I haven't written lately, because things just seem to be normal. I wake up in time to (hopefully) spend a little bit of time with Jesus and coffee before walking to school. I have conversations with kids that stretch me more than I thought they would (I was told by one student that everything that is bad in the world is because of the United States). I help out with basketball to end my school day. I walk home. I try to decompress. And I do it again.

On the weekends, I have been exploring a little more. I got an early birthday present bike from my parents, so I've been out riding on the highway, which is closed every Sunday. I also went to a market with some friends and have wandered a little farther from home. Things are almost comfortable here. I have done a horrible job of taking pictures. I'll work on that.

We entered rainy season, which is a relief from 90 degree days. I like the rain. Here it rains harder than what I'm used to at home though. It's all good though.

I'm learning a lot. I'm being stretched in ways that I didn't predict. In some ways, I'm not being stretched as much as I thought I would. Things are good overall.

Basketball

I'm pretty excited about some of the non-teaching opportunities that have come up so far. One that took up a lot of time this weekend is being able to be an assistant coach for the boys basketball team. They had a tournament this weekend (4 games in two days), which was a lot of fun and created some loooong days. The boys finished second, losing out on first by just two points. It should be a fun season!

A week in the Bay Area

I'm Good news! 

I have my work visa. I'm totally official. 

Bad news... 

I had to miss a week and a half of school.

Good news! 

My mom came to hang out with me in San Francisco while I waited for paperwork. And she made sure I had lots of good food to eat 😀

Coit tower! 

Amazing cake!

Ice cream!

Food truck falafel!

A tiny taste of fall!

Then I got to hang out in Walnut Creek with my godparents. It was nice to get out into the brown open space and not be in a city for a while. 

Nancy took me to In n Out, even though she hates it!

We went to the beach in the clouds!

I love the ocean!

We saw whales out there!

Hiking is good for my soul!

Nancy bought me the best ever ice cream sandwich!

After hanging out for a while, I went back to the city to pick up my visa and head back. I had just enough time to explore a little more...

Golden Gate Bridge!

Really good cupcake!

Bad news...

It took me a little longer than anticipated to get back - one of my flights was canceled - but I eventually made it.

Good news!

Brasilia feels like home for now, which was confirmed while I was gone. It really is good to be back. 

Open house

This was supposed to post on August 27... Oops.

Yesterday was the first parent event of the year. Open house is a big deal around here. I only met a handful of parents, which was enough for me. I will likely not remember any of the parents that I met because it was in quick succession. 

On the bright side, we got t eat crepes! Apparently crepes are really big down here. Which may help to fill the waffle sized hole in my heart. 

The dinner set up was higher end than I would have expected for a school. Also, I'm not sure how clear it is, but there is an inflatable toy on that basketball court for the kids to play on. 

Supporting Kate

I have had a few people ask if I am raising support. I would love if you partnered with me while I'm on the mission field, whether through prayer or financially. 

If you plan to partner with my through prayer, check back here for updates, both serious and sometimes comical. 

If you plan to partner with me financially, there are a couple ways to do so. 

1. Online, for convenience 

-Go to www.nics.org/donate

-select frequency of donation

-under designation, click staff support

-in the staff name or project # box that pops up, enter Kathryn Maxwell, #003958

-fill out the rest of the form like any online purchase

2. Through the mail, like the good old days

-write a check to NICS/Oasis

-put #003958 on the memo line

-mail the check to 

    NICS/Oasis Finance Department 

    3790 Goodman Road E

    Southaven, MS 38672

-you will receive a donation confirmation receipt in the mail

3. Over the phone, because some petiole actually like talking to others

-call (662)892-4332 M-F 8-5 central time

-talk with Kim Ponder (she's great)

Regardless of a decision to support financially, I would love your continued prayer. I'm getting the hang of the teaching thing little by little, but please pray for opportunities to share Jesus with kids, not just history (though I can usually tie those together). Pray for open hearts and minds to receive the love of God.

A little update

The first week of school was a bit of a whirlwind. All of the things that I learned about teaching would come and go at different times in my head so sometimes it was fine and sometimes it wasn't so fine. But I'm definitely getting the hang of things. God is good and I believe he won't let me fail too badly. Just enough to rely on him more. 

This weekend was much more chill than last weekend. I hung out around the city a little and watched some Olympics on a screen instead of in person.

It rained once this week. Apparently it wasn't supposed to rain this early, but it happened. The sky was super interesting. 

I walk to and from school every day. Part of my walk is along busy roads. But part of it is on a cute little path:

This weekend I fly to San Francisco for some finalizing of my visa stuff. Prayers for that whole process would be much appreciated. So much red tape to get into this country...

Olympics

This weekend was probably once-in-a-lifetime...

First, I went to a soccer game here in Brasilia on Saturday. 

Germany beat Portugal 4-0.

Then yesterday, I went to Rio for the day with three other teachers to see some volleyball. 

We saw the Netherlands beat Serbia...

... And we saw South Korea beat Cameroon.

Then we went looking for the Olympic flame.

We walked along the water for a little while and saw just how gross it was.

Then we went to the airport with enough time to make it to make it to Starbucks before our flight. 

It was a good, full day. 

Then today it was back to school. 

First day (week) of school

I survived!

I felt very clearly like a first year teacher this week, but that will continue to improve as the days go by. 

I also had my first Brazilian food truck experience 

So far, so good. 

Weekend

On Sundays the main highway is closed so it can be used for bikers and pedestrians. 

It's pretty hot out there (to me anyway), but there are still a ton of people who get out and use the space. 

It was good to take a Sabbath and do no school work before the craziness of this week set in. One more work day until kids show up. 

Church and school - from August 1

Things are going well. I love how easy this city is to navigate (so far). The numbered system of planned Brasilia is really easy to pick up. I haven't wandered too far, but will definitely do that more this weekend. 

I went to a Portuguese speaking church and did surprisingly well understanding things. While Portuguese does sound very different from Spanish, it sounds similar enough that I can understand some. Also, the pastor knew I was coming, so he printed out a copy of the sermon in English. Thank you, google translate. 

Yesterday was the first school day. 

Naturally, this is how the director/principal welcomed people to school. 

Ah, the weekend

School starts Wednesday. Things are coming along. I decorated a bulletin board, which I would not generally consider my favorite thing. 

Yesterday I got to go bowling, which was pretty great (and almost identical to the US). I got the highest score of the night, so I won some points for my house cup, which is apparently a pretty big deal. 

Then I went to someone's apartment to watch the entirety of the opening ceremony on the local Brazilian channel. I've never watched the whole thing before. And I'm not sure that I ever will again... Especially in a language that I don't understand. I needed Matt Lauer and Bon Costas to explain what was happening. 

Today I went out to lunch at a Korean place (naturally). 

Then I went to Walmart with a few of the teachers. It was walmart-y, but not as big as most of the ones in the states. 

Little Victories

I got my missing checked bag yesterday! I don't think I have ever been so excited to see a piece of luggage. I'm sure that there is some reason why I didn't get it for the first four days - that there is something that Jesus taught me through needing to do laundry to avoid running out of certain key clothing items, but I'm just not quite sure what that is yet.

Today, I also combed my hair for the first time since I was in the US (sorry mom). I was sure that I had packed my comb in my missing bag, but it turns out I didn't pack it at all... so today I had to go out and buy one. It's the little things in life...

Today in Brasilia...

Leaving the school... I left after all the other high school teachers (I'm on one side of the hallway by myself). I walked to the gate, but the guard wasn't there. So I walked back in the school to find someone who might know how to contact him. No luck on any of the English-speaking staff, so I said in broken Portuguese to one of the maintenance guys, "eu nao sei como salir" (pretty close to I don't know how to leave). He then radioed the guard who opened the gate for me. 

Wandering the city

Today, I went out with five other teachers for lunch and had meat that they cut from  a sword. It was pretty much a dream come true. 

Then we went shopping for some thrilling things like shelves and hangars. And we got milk shakes!

It was a good, full day. 

Tomorrow!

It is so crazy to me that I finally leave for Brazil tomorrow. I feel like this has truly been 12 years in the making, since I first went to the Dominican Republic with the INN during my time at UW. It's crazy to see how God has been preparing me for this for a long time, most likely in ways that I don't even fully realize. But off I go... after just a few more errands. 

Why Brazil

Well, the short version is that it seemed like it was the right fit and that God wanted me there.

The slightly longer version is this:
I have lived in Anchorage for the past three and a half years working for Camp Fire Alaska mostly doing before and after school programs for K-6th grade. For the past two years I was in middle management, working more with the college-aged staff than the kids. I know that I learned a lot through my time there, but I also had a deep longing to do something more meaningful and more in line with my faith in Jesus. So I started looking into teaching again (I graduated with my Masters in Teaching in 2011).
Let me back up a little... In March of 2015 I went to visit my friend, Karen, in Seoul, Korea. She was working at the time as the elementary librarian at an international Christian school. I came back from that trip and felt like I needed a change from Alaska and felt that I wanted to go abroad. I started seriously considering teaching and living abroad. After a few months of loving Alaska but dreading my work days, I decided that I would apply to work with the same organization that Karen works for. There are 18 schools in 14 countries, so I knew we wouldn't be in the same place, but I also knew that I trusted the organization, and that meant a lot. I applied in November and jumped through a number of hoops, which a) strengthened my resolve that I wanted to do this and b) confirmed for me that God wanted me to do this too. By the end of January, I was talking with the placement specialist who recommended me to the school in Brasilia and in Caracas, Venezuela. I heard from the director of the school in Brazil almost immediately. After talking with him, I knew that it was where I wanted to be. I got back in touch with him a few days later and told him that it felt to me like my random background of everything Alaska made it feel like a really good fit to work at a small school where I would get to know the kids well and be encouraged to reach more broadly than just teaching American History, which is what I would want to do if I taught in the states.
I'll be teaching secondary social studies at a school of about 180 kids. I have a 6th grade class, 7/8 World History, 9/10 World History, 11/12 civics and government, and yearbook. It should be an interesting year.