Happy Valentines Day! Yes, you may be thinking that I am 4 months behind, but it is Valentines Day in Brazil. There are some advertisements for it at the mall, and a restaurant had a special menu tonight, but other than that, if I had not been told when I arrived here, I don't believe I would have known. When visiting public and private schools today (more on that at a later date with pictures) there was very little evidence. Only one set of students had teddy bears, and there was 1 sign at the private high school. Students were not wearing pink and red, and or had flowers. Much different than in the US.
As I am not using my phone while here, and not having wifi as we go about the city or in my room while in Brasilia, I am relying on catching up on correspondence, news from the lobby/bar in the hotel. I realized today how much I rely on technology. It is a strange feeling.
While out the other day we saw police officers and K9 dogs, of course I took a picture. Kept waiting for them to tell me to stop or delete the pictures but they did not. The first 2 mornings here a few of us went out on a run in a nearby park. There are so many runners for during the weekday.
Tuesday we were off to the US Embassy in Brasilia. The first lesson of the day was on safety and security, and made his point very clear about do's and do nots. Next we learned about the various projects the US is involved with in regards to education with Brazil. Brazil is currently implementing plans to improve their educational system, as well as having 1,080 teachers to other countries, many to the US, to learn English. At a department in the Ministry of Education they discussed current plans for teacher education programs. It is a law in Brazil for all teachers to have college degrees and be certified to teach, but unfortunately that is not the case. The government is trying to get all teachers certified to teach the subject areas they teach, as well as encourage university students to enter into teaching with the proper teaching programs. Funding has increased exponentially in the last 4 years to assist with these programs.
Cathedral of Brasilia
Police & K9
Paranoa Lake, a manmade lake, 2nd largest in Brazil
Vegetation at the lake
Dom Bosco Sanctuary, the chandelier weighs 2.5 tons and has 435 light bulbs
The stained glass up close.
The president's house. Brazilians refer to people in their first name, so President Dilma Rousseff, their first female president is just called Dilma. Teachers are also called by their first names.
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