Starbucks and Frank :)

I received some of the best news ever today...Starbucks is coming to Portugal. Granted, the first one is opening about a 20 minute drive from me--and I don't even have a car--but I don't care!! I'm just so excited that Starbucks is coming and I might just get to have some of those famous holiday coffees! I've been dreaming about the Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread Lattes...Yay! I heard it will be about 5 euros for a tall drink (which comes to about $7) and that's super expensive--so I don't think it'll be something I'll get to do often. Everything is expensive in Portugal! Even one pint of Hagan Daaz ice cream is 8 euros ($11.50)!!!

In other news, I've made a new friend. He is the cutest, sweetest boy I've ever met. He is a blonde with striking blue eyes. He hangs around outside my apartment, and the first time I saw him, my heart melted. Gina won't let me keep him, but we've bonded anyway. His name is Frank, after THE Frank (as in Sinatra). If you haven't guessed by now, he's a dog. And I looooove him. I try to sneak him food--which I know I shouldn't do--but he's always here and I just feel so badly!! I'll try to get a picture of him up here soon--then you'll all understand! He makes my day so much brighter...I know it's ridiculous to try to keep a stray. I don't have the money to take him to the Vet to get his shots or to get his licence. I don't even really have the time to take care of him properly, and there's no way Gina would let me keep something that may pee on the floor. But still! I love him! And I worry about him out there on the streets :( I know, I'm pathetic!! Gina says if I want to feed the hungry, I should feed people. Not dogs. I'm telling her right now (she's sitting next to me as I write this) that she has a heart of ice and stone.

Alright, well, it's already almost 11 here, and I'm feeling pretty exhausted! I'll keep you all posted as things keep on keepin' on.

P.S. Thanks for all the prayers for my brother, Nathanael. He's in Baghdad now, and he's serving as the Chaplain's assistant. This is actually really great--it's one of the safest jobs he could be doing...and also a great opportunity to minister to the other soldiers he's with. So please, keep him in your prayers.

P.P.S. I've divided up my time here into "Yay Portugal Days" and "Nay Portugal Days." Just thought I'd let you all know that I am having many more Yay Portugal Days than Nay. :)

xoxo
Ariel

Boa Noite!

This would be the beach. It was foggy and cloudy, but we were all still there--and it was fun :)
This is downtown Cascais, where I live. There are tons of cute shops and cafes--but the sidewalks will make you dizzy!
These are funny because they are the most in-depth locks EVER. Portuguese people are VERY into security...which is funny, cause I never hear of anything dangerous happening. Maybe it's because everyone uses these suckers on their doors!
Um, yes. Those are canned snails. And the come with snail shells, so you can stuff them. And then eat them.
These are fish bodies--cut open and salted. Then they're stacked like this on tables and hanging from hooks and ewwww! They smell something AWFUL!
Welcome to the beach! I went for the very first time today--and I enjoyed it! Though, I was constantly reminded that this is Europe by everyone's attire and beach protocol...
This is one view of my classroom at ICSC. My room has 3 glass walls, with floor to ceiling shades that come down (actually these are over EVERY window in EVERY building--including my apartment--it all comes back to security!) It's quite snug, but I like it. The science teacher I work with, Robb, mocks my desire to make it "pretty," but hey I have to stare at it all day, so I'll try to make it as pretty as possible!
This is my desk here in the corner of my classroom.
The front of my classroom--the library is right outside my door. So when I'm teaching, everyone in the library is learning too--whether they want to or not!
This picture is for B-ma--she wanted to know about my bedroom--well here it is! Not very exciting--and lots of white walls, but it does the trick.

Today at church, I heard two songs that made me smile--the first was "For the Beauty of the Earth," an old hymn that makes me think of Little Women and the second was "Eternal God," which took me right back to somewhere around 1995. Both of these songs brought back great memories--and made me miss home a bit! To be honest though, I haven't had too much time to be homesick lately. My life is entirely FULL of things. If it's not teaching, then it's planning; if it's not planning, it's some sort of meeting (apparently, we educators love our meetings); and if it's not a meeting, it's most certainly me making a list of the next 1,000,000 things I have to do!

This weekend, for example, I have been contemplating the Christmas Program that I've been put in charge of. Sounds great right? Christmas carols, twinkling lights, eggnog and gingerbread!!! That's what I thought too--when I agreed to do it. Now, however, I'm thinking--my bob, what have I gotten myself into???

I have moments like this pretty often. I feel like as soon as I cross everything off of one list, I've got another list, 3 times as long, waiting for me. It's a little time consuming--this teaching thing. I find myself at the school from about 7:30 am until about 6 pm everyday--and then coming home and usually working here for another few hours. Even weekends, I have spent a lot of time working on plans and grading papers. Sometimes I feel like I get so caught up in the details, that I tend to forget why I'm really here. Don't get me wrong--I want to be an amazing teacher. I want my kids to learn--and I think that's why it takes me so long to get everything done--I'm sitting for hours trying to figure out ways to make this academic book stuff come alive for them--and that's hard! I want my students to enjoy school and to do well. But at the same time, I want to be careful that I'm not just their teacher--I want them to feel like they can come to me with anything. I'm here to be there for them--and I don't want to get some wrapped up in the little things that I forget that. This may all sound confusing! I apologize--it's just what's been going around in my brain this weekend.

Anyway, I'm attaching some new pictures :) Thanks so much for all your prayers everybody--I've been feeling them! I love you all!

xoxo

Ariel

Mais Fotos!

This is our school library...very small!
New uniforms! They'll start in November...and the kids are not entirely jumping for joy...
Isn't she sooo cute? Her name is Anissa and she's from Nigeria. She has the sweetest accent!


Pastor Carlos, and four of my students--Gaby, Sari Anne, Aisha and Keziah
Parfitt, Shyanna and Tom
Ezri, Gaby and Shyanna
Par, Sari Anne, Aisha and Mercy

Our Director--Elden!

I have survived my first full week of teaching--and more than that, I even kind of enjoyed it! I mean, I'm exhausted beyond anything I've ever experienced--but I feel like this week was successful. It's Sunday morning here, and I'll be heading to church in about a half hour, but I wanted to write a quick note to let you all know that I'm still here!

Classes are going well. We've started reading Romeo and Juliet--which the kids seem to like--in the 9/10 grade English. In 11/12 English, we're starting The Crucible tomorrow--and who doesn't like a good story about the witch trials? Then, in World History, we've been covering the ancient Egyptians, and particularly studying their mummification process...and in Bible, we're talking about King David's beginnings. So, school is definitely in full swing, and I feel like I go non-stop! I teach and then I plan for the next lesson and grade their assignments--and the list goes on! As soon as I feel like I've finished one list, there are five more waiting for me. Anyone who thought teaching was an easy job--hah! So not true.

I'm starting to build relationships with the kids as well. A lot of them come from very broken families and are really hurting. Please pray that I can be for them what they need! I'd ask that you specifically keep one girl, Alexa, in your prayers. She's just got a lot going on at home right now--and it's a really big mess. I can tell she's just really sad and searching for someone--anyone--who will pay her some attention. She's had history of lying a lot in the past, and I think for that reason, the former faculty here was just fed up with her...so I think she needs someone who will listen to her and not judge her for her past actions...so pray that I can do that.

We had our ICSC open house and school picnic yesterday, and I'll post some photos of that on here somewhere. It went really well, and I was able to meet some of the parents of my kids. And one HUGE perk of working at an international school is when you have potluck meals, you get dishes from all over the world---yummmm! REAL Greek and Italian food! It is super good :)

I also got to hang out with Ashely, Stefanie, and Emily again--which is great. I really like them! We went to Lisbon on Friday night to the Chiado--a section of Lisbon where lots of people hang out at night. It was definitely kind of crazy--and I've never felt more European than I did drinking coffee in these little shops with hundreds of other Europeans around me.

Well I've got to get ready to go to church! I've already listened to a Vineyard podcast this morning, and now I'm off to my Portuguese services! Can I just say how much I miss Vineyard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, love you all!

Ariel

Pouring in Portugal

It's Friday evening--about 7:30 here--and it's pouring rain. Which figures, since I did laundry this morning and hung it outside on the line to dry. It's only rained twice since I moved here--and both times it was when I did laundry! Anyway...

So today concluded my first week of teaching. I am so exhausted, but hey, I survived. Classes started on Wednesday, and I feel like I've been going non-stop since then. The kids are really great.

They are:

Mercy
Helio
SaraLisa
Parfitt
Ruth
Aris
Alex
Gaby
Keziah
Colin
Aisha

There are actually a few more coming this next week--they've just been delayed in getting here from the countries they are moving from. It's great having so many different kids in the classroom. I love their accents :) And I'm sooooooo jealous of their multi-language abilities.

The kids seem to respond really well to me. I haven't had any problems yet--I think they're just excited to have a young teacher! I really like them, and I hope thing keep going well...

I have been staying until 6-7 pm every night at school, just trying to get everything done and prepared for the next day--but I just had to come home tonight. I feel like such an old lady! It's only 7:30 and I'm already in my PJ's! But I know I still have a ton of work to do this weekend, and right now I just want to sit around and do nothing :) Tomorrow night, Gina and I are having Stefanie and Ashley (two girls working with Young Life here) come over to make some homemade pizza. It'll be nice to hang out with them--they're really fun!

I'll try to get some pictures up here soon--I haven't really taken any lately because 1. I haven't really been doing a whole lot of sightseeing just yet and 2. well, my batteries have died and I have to get more! I am hoping to go to Spain soon (we have two long weekends coming up in October!) and I'll definitely take pictures there!

I've been getting a little homesick, but it comes in waves. Mostly, I miss my puppy!! (Don't be sad, family--I miss you too!) I do okay most of the time, even accepting the frustrations of living in Europe with a grain of salt...but every now and then something little will happen and it's the straw that breaks the camel's back--and I fall apart a little! I think my short lived honeymoon phase is nearly over. Don't get me wrong, I still really like it here, but everything is just that much more difficult here because I don't speak the language.

And believe me, if there's anything I've learned, it's that Portugal is not America (see earlier posts...). Things are just weird here! Like today, Gina walked to school holding her coffee tumbler (smart one! she brought it from home!) and everyone we passed looked at her like she was a total freak for having coffee in a to-go mug like that. Meanwhile, we passed (probably 2??) people carrying actual glass mugs of coffee or tea on the street--and that's normal??!! What???!! This place is very, very odd. It's also very annoying that people mow their lawns at 11pm. Now where is the sense in that? It's dark....couldn't that be dangerous? Okay....but. There are wonderful things about Portugal too. (Gina makes me list good things when I start to get angry--I'm telling you, God definitely knew what he was doing when he sent her here to share an apartment with me!) It's very pretty. The pastries are ridiculously good (don't be surprised if I weight a gazillion pounds more when I get back). Euros are colorful and very pretty. See? Good things too.

Anyway, I'm beat, and I'm going to go lay out on my couch and watch one of the two channels I get in English--BBC World News or MTV. Miss you all!

Love,
Ariel