Samba?

Brazil was/is famous because of the beautiful beaches and the samba in the streets of Rio. Carnival has always been the big event that called the attention of many foreigners to visit in order to know a little bit more about the "culture". Many tourists who come to Brazil tend to think that workers are too all about samba. By observing my culture and examining the good and bad aspects of being part of an outgoing and friendly people, I can point out some things that have changed and are changing in our society. In a working environment, the Brazilian culture used to look at work and recreation as if it were a couple holding hands.

In the past there used to be a thin line between work and recreation. Many employees did not take work seriously and that was a big problem in working places and there are two main reasons for that to happen. One of the causes was related to the behavior in a job. It was common to see people who did not do what they were supposed to do in their jobs and didn’t get fired because they were funny and amusing. Sometimes even the boss allowed this kind of playful behavior. Another cause is that our culture allowed this slapstick attitude. Brazilians have never enjoyed being too serious and with time it was erased from our memory the correct way of conducting ourselves.

This mentality of having both things at once has been changing. Due to the access that globalization gives us today to all types of information and the influence that multinationals have in many countries and also in Brazil, the thin line that separated work from recreation is a wall that now isolates one from the other when the aim to be achieved at work is deviated to entertainment. The European posture has had a great effect on the role that Brazilian employees must have in a daily grind. Nowadays, it is easy to find in all the different kinds of jobs people that are committed to the ethics, value and mission of a company or institution. Workers are still merry, but in the right proportion.

In summary, the Brazilian people now stare to the present and future of the division of work and recreation. The actions that take place at work are balanced and much more serious. Employers and employees do not want to be an example of how things should not be. Workers now know that they can be happy without crossing the line and also that there is a time for everything inside and outside the laborious life. Henry Van Dyke, a famous poet, said once: “Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.”

Tomé mi pelo para lavar

Hay una expresión en portugués que dice "Tirei o cabelo para lavar" (="Tomé mi pelo para lavar"). Hice eso. Me corte el pelo, realmente corto. Cortar el pelo puede no ser una cosa fácil. Sin embargo, una necesidad de cambio radical puede ser una motivación. La necesidad de cambio puede variar. En mi vida, mis decisiones, en general, están relacionadas con la forma en que las personas me tratan. "Gabriela, eres muy joven!" o "Gabi, esto no és correcto". Fuera de contexto, estoy de acuerdo com ellos. Na verdad, no estoy de acuerdo. Me siento libre cuando tomo una decisión que es mi propia. Yo no soy un títere de mi familia o amigos. Por otro lado, soy un pájaro libre que está extendiendo sus alas para tener su primer vuelo. Y eso es lo que estoy haciendo ahora. Me estoy preparando para volar.

Haiku

In simple terms Haiku is a Japanese writing style for poetry. At first it was only for nature and seasonal subjects. Nowadays it is possible to write any kind of Haiku.
Haikus have three main points:

1. Clear picture
2. Distinct emotion
3. Insight

Spring departs
Birds cry
Fish eyes fill with tears
Basho Matsu - 1664

A firefly lights up
Another firefly dead
Koi Nagata - 1920

For my writing class I wrote one too about nature. :)

Flowers flourish
Embelish nature
Comes a cow
Eats them all
Gabriela Nascimento - 2009

And about love... another one.

Good night
Sleep tight
Love is a dream
Love is a nightmare
Bed bugs do bite
Gabriela Nascimento - 2009

Cockney Rhyming Slangs and some other nonsense

Cockney Rhyming Slangs are so funny that sometimes I forget the real meaning behind'em. If you can't really understand them in the picture I'll help you out."I don't Adam and Eve it!" = "I don't believe it!" My students get bored easily no matter what I do in class they'll always say something about the lesson, the book or even the game. Lately, I've been trying to call their attention to simple but important things like slangs, tongue twisters, songs and games. I found this program called wordle.net and you can basically create anything random that you want. I decided to do with some Cockney Rhyming Slangs and Crime and Punishment vocabulary. It turned out to be really good and I hope they start liking English as much as I do. :)

One of my pupils often says words like "Ronaaaaldo", "Texas", "Generous", "Aldo" , "Perambulation", "Tropo", "Tombola", "Business" and some other nonsense words that I don't remember right now. My advanced students are quite often tired because of school and the amount of homework they have to do every week. I don't blame them for the lack of interest. This is somethings that is happening in many schools. However, I could not let trouble or worries to be the focus of these young teenagers. One of the topics of study in this planning is Crime and Punishment vocabulary. They have done some exercises already and they'll do many other too in order to keep and memorize the new things they've learnt. With this new visual realiaI hope they'll feel more encouraged to get out of their little box and take a further step in this big world we know as "Planet Earth". They still haven't realized that they are citizens of the world and not only living human beings of a region. In a near future I hope they step up and find their own Wonderland by using the skills and love for languages that their EFL teacher taught in a remote past.