Been missin Jennifer so bad...

Cruz de Sal

It wasn't too long ago when I had gotten up very early on a fine Saturday and I ran into a huge cross made of salt on my sidewalk. This country which I live in is filled with superstitions and loaded with superstitious people. I got scared at first because my first reaction was: "Oh my! This is some sort of voodoo or something!" But then, I realized that salt is a great element which is usally intended to neutralize energies. I searched on the web and nothing was really informative. The most probable explanation I got was that those crosses of salt are highly recommended to protect a certain area from heavy rains and storms. Pure clear salt in the shape of a cross or individual cubes of salt when shaped and formed together can generate an effective lucky charm for any room in anyone's home. When the cross is made of salt crystal, it is a natural air ionizer that effectively boosts the number of negative ions in the air. The effect of air ionization by salt stems from its physical and chemical properties. So, I figured, "how bad could that be?" And that was not all. The strangest thing was that I got to know there had been several of those crosses spread in the city on the same Saturday and two weeks later, storms got really close to our region but they could not make it to my city. Heavy showers and strong winds have flooded large areas of the south of Brazil, killing over 100 people and many families have lost their homes. It is quite an interesting coincidence which made me think that those superstitious things could mean something. I've come to believe that we got protected from evil. Weird!

A concert that ended up not happening

Updating

It has been crazy like any end-of-the-year is supposed to be.There are so many new things around here to share on this blog that I don't know from where I should start off with.

Lemme think... Yeah. I think I'll begin from the most recent stuff: Christmas decoration. It is the first time we set up a typical Christmas tree. Actually, this is not a typical Christmas tree since we hung on it almost a thousand crane origamis. Those birds were folded by the students and the staff and some of them ended up being customized with glitter, beads, and coloring materials.

We came up with that unusual ornament so that we could take part in a Christmas tree contest being held by the Central Office of our school. We are looking forward to winning this thing.

Then, the other latest is that our school has got new colors on the walls, outside and inside. It is not smelling like wet paint anymore so now, only now, it feels great to teach/live here. I still need to remove some of the masking tapes left.

Remodeling is always hell.

4 new air conditioners were installed. That was something. When it is hot and sunny, the classrooms feel comfortable and icy cold.

We have got a new advertisement campaign and this is more than great. There will be more enrollments because of the new ads. That I know for certain.

On this Saturday, we are going to take one huge step ahead in our school. We will apply official TOEFL exams for the first time and that is another crucial thing we needed to get. It took us over a year to be able to offer these international proficiency tests (also TOEIC) in our institution. Now, we are the only school in town which offers those kinds of tests. We gotta be proud of this.

And, finally, in less than a month, we will be departing to Europe. We are going to go backpacking for a week and after that, I will stay with a host-family in Dublin to take up a two-week course for ESL instructors. I'll get to spend the New Year's in Amsterdam. I will finally know Berlin, and I will go party in London. On this trip, there is nothing to say about except that I hope to get back home alive (ironically speaking, of course...).

Well, there is nothing much left to write here, other than the usual stuff: that I've been overdrinking, overeating, and now overspending with this Christmas decoration thing. Although, I did not splurge with it because I did look for cheap goods from outlet stores.

Tomorrow is payday and I hope to buy some clothes for myself. Need to dress me up a little.

And for today, Roberto and I went to a super fancy hotel to have breakfast. Oh my! I ate the most scrumptious scrambled eggs ever. We are so going back there next Thursday since this hotel is only a block away.

And... and... and... it will take me two more weeks of classes to finally have VACATION. I can't wait to have it. I need it. I lust it. I crave it. I am so fucking tired... No, better, I am demolished. Can I actually use that verb that way? Oh, well. I don't really care about it right now.

Gotta get going. Cheers.