Sharing problems and solutions!

Hello Everybody!
I am curious to know about your PCC Research Project. Have you managed to create the task-based activity?
Talking about activities, I had to observe classes for my course... and I became really sad with the reality I faced. I went to a school where the classrooms have serious structural problems. And the worst part is that these problems are interfering in the way the teachers conduct their classes. What did I do about the situation? I sent an e-mail to the principal. Have you ever faced this kind of problem? What did you do about it? Would you like to share it with us?

Welcome! :D

Hey, dear Students!

How are you? I missed you all during the vacations! It’s nice to be here sharing experiences with you again! :) I wish you all a wonderful semester! And let me know if you need some help or if you want to share something. By the way, as you have to write a short story about an unusual classroom event, I remembered that last year I received an e-mail with a funny story from a friend of mine. Here it goes... I hope you enjoy it!

"Marlon asked the teacher to help him get his shoes on at the end of a busy day. After quite a struggle with the shoes, which were a little tight, Tessa [the teacher] finally got them on.
'They're on the wrong way round, Miss,' mumbled Marlon.
She realizes that he is right; they are on the wrong feet. Staying calm she swaps them over for him.
'They're not my shoes, Miss,' Marlon murmurs again.
Tessa fights hard to keep her cool and asks Marlon why he hadn't told her before. She then kneels down again and helps him pull the shoes off.
'These aren't my shoes, they're my brother's and Mum told me not to tell anyone.'
At this point Tessa can feel tears coming. She helps him back into his shoes. She gets him into his coat and wraps his scarf round his neck.
'Where are your gloves, Marlon?' asks Tessa quietly.
'Oh, Miss, I always put them in my shoes!'
(http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/stories/story_teacher.htm)

Floripa Through New Eyes

Hey everyone! This is the third and last installment about my terrific vacation.

THE CALLING
I have just gotten home from my amazing trip to Gramado when my phone rang:
- Hello.
- Hi Lily. This is Cristiane.
- Hi! How's life?
- Just fine. I'm calling to ask if you are doing anything next weekend.
- (I had been traveling too much and was about to give an excuse but I had a second thought when I remembered that I hadn't met the distance tutor Cristiane yet). I'm available. Why?
- Mike, my Bostonian friend, is visiting me and we would like to invite you to join us for a hike next Saturday.
- That's cool. I'm in! Can you pick me up?
- Sure. Saturday at 8am I will be there at your place.
- Great. See you then.
- Bye!

THE MEETING
Saturday arrived and I finally met Cristiane, Mike and Eduardo - another friend of hers who joined us for the hike. Everybody was nice and friendly and we spoke in English all the time because Mike couldn't speak Portuguese. Well, he could say some words like 'oi', 'tudo bem?', 'obrigado', 'por favor' and 'que vista linda!'. He learnt all these words from a tourist book he bought at the airport. His Portuguese accent was very cute!

Before starting our hiking we made a stop downtown to show him the Public Market, the former Customs'building, and the Fig Square. Mike loved everything, specially the graffiti that we hadn't noticed before! He thought they were very unique. Then we went to Costa da Lagoa. It was a 7 km hiking but it lasted longer than we expected because Mike wanted to take a lot of pictures. He is a biology master's student at Harvard University and he was very impressed with every single plant here. For me that was amazing because when we live in the same city for a long time we just get accustomed to everything. I thanked Mike because I could see my own city through new eyes.

THE RESTAURANT
Later that day we went to the south part of the island and Mike fell in love with Matadeiro beach. But I told him that they used to kill whales there in the past and that was the origin of the name. Then he changed his mind and said that Matadeiro beach was not that nice anymore! Then the funny part happened. We were in a restaurant and Mike went to the restroom. He took a while there then came back and said nothing. A little later the cleaning lady started to clean the bathroom and kept the door open. When she pulled the cord to flush the toilet, Mike enthusiastically said: 'Oh, so this is how it works!!!' Then he told us that he hadn't understood that he should have pulled the cord to flush! Cristiane, Eduardo and I laughed a lot. But now I think we were kind of cruel. Mike was in a new country and didn't have to know how some toilet flushes work in Brazil. What would you have done if you were in our shoes? Would you have just laughed like we did? Or would you have explained the different ways we use to flush in Brazil? But how could that be since we flush the toilet every day without thinking about it? How can you explain something like that?

Brazilian Movie Não se pode viver sem amor

Our exciting visit to Gramado ended with an interesting movie we watched at Palácio dos Festivais, where annually the best of Brazilian movies are awarded. We watched the movie Não se pode viver sem amor. This a fascinating movie which narrates a story about a mother and son who arrive in Rio de Janeiro in a December 23th in order to look for the boy's father. This journey reveals that we cannot live without love. I appreciated the movie because it is always good to see Rio de Janeiro. Besides, I believe we should trust the quality of movies produced in Brazil. I was fascinated with Cauã Raymond's acting. He is an actor who incorporates the character.

My visit to Gramado!

Dear Followers,

I am sure you noticed that my last vacation was busy! I spent some time with all UFSC Tutors, which is why now I am going to tell you about the time I have spent with Rossana and her family in Gramado. To begin with, we visited three traditional chocolate factories: Dolcemonte, Lugano, and Prawer. There you can taste several kinds of chocolate for free. I liked it! (http://www.feriasbrasil.com.br/rs/gramado/chocolate.cfm) With full energy we went to Lago Negro (http://www.feriasbrasil.com.br/rs/gramado/lagonegro.cfm). I was afraid with the fact of being in the middle of a lake, but Rossana and her family were brave and rode the swan shaped "pedalinho". However, they had to wear life vests and they weren't allowed to feed the fish. In addition, there was a sign indicating that you can't step on the grass! Would you agree with that rule? Come on... it is a park!

Curiosities of my last vacation!

Hi there! I visited Amsterdam during my last vocation and I would like to share with you my impressions about some interesting places. I was reading the City Guide of Amsterdam when, surprisingly, I found a couple of unusual museums. One of them is the Museum of Bags and Purses (http://www.tassenmuseum.nl/en), the largest in the world. It offers a collection dating from the 16th century until now. All those shapes, colors, and sizes are amazing! Sadly, a wonderful collection of bags is offered at the museum shop, however I did not had money to buy any! The other curious museum is the Diamond Museum (http://www.diamantmuseumamsterdam.nl/). Besides all the history of diamonds in the world (even in Brazil), the museum exhibits famous diamonds, crowns, and jewelry. In addition, the museum shows how the industrialization of diamond works, that is, we can see workers polishing diamonds in front of us! Really cool! Finally, I was leaving the museum when, unexpectedly, I found a computer which allows us to take picture of ourselves and, then, we can choose pictures of crowns and jewelry to add to our picture! Nice toy! Of course I chose a fancy crown to add to my picture! Besides, Amsterdam has lots of other fantastic places, such as: the Rijks Museum (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/), Madame Tussaud (http://www.madametussauds.com/Amsterdam/en/Default.aspx), Nemo Science Center (http://www.e-nemo.nl/en/?id=1), and the Van Gogh Museum (http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp). Above, you can see a picture I took of tutor Kátia at the Madame Tussaud and another at the Rijks Museum. We traveled together! What an adventure!

Best part of my last vacation!

Wow, wow, wow, people! You can't imagine how I missed you all! I did lots of amazing things on my last vacation. However, my favorite, was my visit to my dear grandma Tereza. She lives at the countryside and she is already on her 90s. So, she has lots of stories to tell and it is very interesting to spend the afternoons eating cake and listening to grandma. Late in the afternoon we sat and she told me that people of the town where she lives, seventy years ago, only drank herbal tea for illness. She was complaining that nowadays people have pills and, in the future, people are going to get vaccines! That's grandma: she's afraid of the flu vaccine! I don't mind having vaccines! Anyway, I want to know about your vacation. Please, please, tell me a little bit about it? Could leave a short note here at the blog? I would be so glad!!!!

Hi everyone! Wow, this week I managed to deal with the GPS device. Actually, it’s very simple once you get used to. Today I'm really energized to go to Chapecó on Friday. After all, it’s October 31st, Halloween! Halloween is a day when children, especially in the U.S., go from house to house asking for ‘Tricks or Treats’. Before they do that they dress themselves up in costumes. It’s quite attractive! If you want to know more about the history and curiosities of Halloween, visit the following website
http://www.history.com/topics/halloween
So, after a week of hard study, let’s go party with our colleagues in Chapecó! See you there!

Hello, Dear Readers!
I would like to thank you for your pieces of advice in relation to the problem with my noisy neighbor. By the way, the problem is solved and his name is Paulo! Today I’m really happy. The students and friends from Chapecó invited me to visit them next week in order to celebrate Halloween. Sure I’ll be there! As I’m not good with directions, I bought a brand new GPS device to lead me to Chapecó. This week, then, I’m reading the manual to know how to use this interesting thing. However, don’t you think that some of the instructions of the manuals are silly? The first step I read was: “Be sure to turn it on.” Of course I would remember to do that! Would you write something like that if you were writing a manual? Anyway, I’m having fun with my new toy!

Hi Everyone! Today I’m really crossed! Last week a new and noisy neighbor moved in to the apartment next to mine. He is very cute but he is getting on my nerves with his stereo. Yesterday I asked him if he would mind turning the stereo down. And guess what? He was very rude and said that he would mind! I’m fulfilled with resentment and frustration. I don’t know what to do to solve this issue. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Hi everyone!
I guess I was wrong! Imagine what Sarah’s favorite Peruvian dish was? Rocoto Relleno. Well, I have to say that she has good taste. I love it too.
Now, Sarah wants to spend an entire Sunday outdoors. So, we are going to go on a hike next Sunday. I have already told her that she must pack a light backpack. Another tip I gave her is that she ought to pack things like water and food in a way that she can easily access them. But now I need your help to decide on something again: where should I take her? She heard that the south part of Florianopolis is very beautiful and she would like to visit it. However, there are three wonderful places in the Southern part of the island. Take a look at them and help me to decide, please!

Hello everyone! Guess what?
Sarah is moving to Florianópolis next weekend and she has decided to live in Trindade, isn't it great? To celebrate her arrival, I would like to take her to a nice peruvian restaurant in Lagoa da Conceição. It's called "O Andyno".
There they serve traditional peruvian food such as "ceviche", "arroz con pollo”, “papas la huancayna” and “rocoto relleno”. Have you ever tried peruvian food?
My favorite peruvian dish is “ceviche”. I believe Sarah will enjoy it too!
I’m planning to take Sarah to the restaurant on Saturday evening.

Hi everyone!
I need you to help me with something. When I was in São Paulo, last July, I met a very good friend of mine whom I had not seen for some time. Her name is Sarah. She told me she passed the entrance examination for UFSC and that she is going to move to Florianópolis with her family. I got very happy!
She asked me to help her decide on where to live. She said that she is looking for a house or apartment to rent in the city. She even checked some websites, and right now, she has three options in mind.
The first option is a house in Canasvieiras. She thought of renting a house there because this way I can spend the weekends at the beach with her. The house has a dining room, a living room, a big modern kitchen, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a swimming pool. There are many windows and it’s very bright. The rent is very expensive, buy her parents think it’s worth it. (She’s lucky her parents can afford that!)
The second option is an old apartment downtown. It’s very spacious but it’s not as bright as the house. It has a living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Besides, there are two parking spaces. Sarah’s parents like this option because it’s near everything.
The third and last option is a small apartment in Trindade. This apartment has a living room, a small kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Sarah prefers this option because it’s closer to UFSC.
I like the three options very much but I need to think about the advantages and disadvantages of each of the places. Can you help me decide which one is the best option? I put some pictures of each neighborhood below.

Back from vacations!

Hello Everyone!

I just came back from vacations, and it was great! I went to my aunt’s house in São Paulo, where I used to spend the summer as a child. There, I met my cousins and we had a lot of fun remembering our childhood games: catch, hide-and-seek, twister, skating… we felt as if we were kids again!

There was only one thing I felt very sad about: the traffic in São Paulo is getting worse! Can you believe we took one hour to go home from the shopping mall? It used to take twenty minutes! There are traffic jams all around the city which contribute to air pollution, too!

I noticed most of the cars had only the driver in them. I've been told (my aunt told me, in fact) it is because there are no facilities for pedestrians and the public transportation systems are crowded, so people prefer to drive.

I think everybody should think more about the environment. The city should provide more bus and subway lines, and people need to be more conscious walking or riding their bikes more often whenever possible.

As I was walking down Viaduto do Chá I saw a person riding a Segway. I liked the idea very much! It is electric and the batteries can go for 35km. What’s best? It emits up to 93% less carbonic gas than any motorcycle or car! Cities should build Segway lanes, and I can’t wait to have my own!

See you all in our virtual classroom,
Lily

My birthday party!

Hi everyone! Last week my parents came to Florianópolis. As you already know, I had to cancel the thematic party I was preparing because none of my friends were coming. So, I watched the opening ceremony of the World Cup with my parents and my brother. I am a great soccer fan!

On the 12th we went out to have lunch at a Japanese restaurant. I love Japanese food! Even though we had a great time together, I was a bit disappointed because I also wanted to celebrate my birhtday with my friends.

Most to my surprise, at night when I had already put on my pajamas Ju asked me to go to one of our neighbor's apartment to help her hanging a curtain. We spent 10 minutes there, then we came back, I openned the door, and, to my suprise there they were, all my friends, with the best party one could expect!


There were many kinds of food and drinks. All of those who told me they couldn't come to the thematic party were there. The funniest part of the party was a powerpoint presentation Ju and Thati organized for me. They presented it in a very big screen and some important moments of my life were shown. I wanted to put it here in the blog, but it does not give support to the file. I will find another way to show it to you.

Well, I definetly loved it all! The only "problem" of the party was that everyone was well dressed and I was wearing my pajamas! And guess who was also there!?! Right! Paul! My paragliding instructor! And I was so embarassed...

My birthday!

Hi everyone!

As you probably know, next June 12th is my 24th birthday! I am so excited about it that I decided to organize a party to celebrate with my friends. Since this is a World Cup year, my idea was to organize a thematic party. Take a look at the invitation:

Well, as soon as I started inviting my friends, they came up with the following excuses.

***

Ana: “I can’t. My parents are visiting from out of town.”

Carlos: “I’m sorry. I have to study for an exam that day.”

Paula: “Unfortunately I can’t go. I will have to work.”

Fábio: “That sounds fun. However, I got a new puppy and I have to stay home with him.”

Cristina: “Oh! It’s my grandmother’s 90^th birthday and my parents told me to visit her.”

***

Their excuses disappointed me. I had many plans for the party! Didn’t they like the idea? Was the day and time too bad? What should I do to convince them to come? Or should I cancel it because no one seems to be coming?

Save Water, Save the World

Hi everyone!

Last weekend my parents came to Florianópolis to visit my brother, Tony, and I.

Juliana, our roommate, prepared a delicious dinner for us! We are very lucky to have her here. 

Besides having dinner, we sat together to talk about the conscious use of water. Mom and Dad were surprised to see some "reminders" I have placed in our bathroom, kitchen and laundry room. Well, I had to do that because Tony is very irresponsible and does not care about the planet. 

How about you? Are you eco-friendly? 

***

These are some of the signs you can see in our bathroom, kitchen and laundry room

(From: http://www.bwa.co.za/Save_water_poster.jpg)

(From: http://www.watersavingtips.org/images/saving_1.jpg)

(From: http://www.akalplumbing.com/images/save-water-pic.jpg) 

From: http://www.cityof.lawton.ok.us/WWTP/images/save_water.png)

A night of exceptions

Last week I went out with Juliana, my roommate, and Paul, my paragliding instructor. We went to COMIDA & CIA, a small restaurant in Florianópolis that serves a lot of international food, and I could not imagine how things could get so messy. 

Our first problem in the restaurant that night was that Juliana is lactose intolerant. To be lactose intolerant means that she can not metabolize lactose, because of a lack of the required enzyme lactase in the digestive system. One curiosity: It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood. Therefore, Juliana had to order all her dishes without milk, butter and other ingredients that contain lactose. OK! I already knew about her being lactose intolerant since we have been living together for some time.

However, to my surprise, Paul is vegetarian! It means that he follows a plant-based diet including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds. A vegetarian does not eat meat, including: red meat, game, poultry, fish, and shellfish. In addition, some vegetarians do not eat dairy products and eggs, but Paul does. So, pleasing Paul was our second problem that night.

Try to picture us choosing the dishes to please the three of us together. After discussing for more than 15 minutes we ended up deciding that each of us would have to choose our own menu and luckily COMIDA & CIA have a lot of options.

Here is a brief description of what each one of us had that night for dinner:

After that night I started considering Paul a nice date for Juliana and not for me anymore! Just kidding!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When talking about food, here are some of my favorite websites. 

Take a look at them:

* You are what you eat! (questions and answers form a riddle thematically relating a person and some agreeable element in their diet)

* Glossary
 - Vegetables (pictures and audio)
 - Fruits (pictures and audio)
 - Ways of cooking (verbs)
 - Ways of eating (verbs)

* Does your mouth water when you look at this?

* Food dictionary (pictures, ingredients, definitions): Epicurus and BBC

* Food Timeline

I CAN’T STAND ONE MORE NIGHT LIKE THIS…

Hey guys! Today’s post is going to be very short. I have loads of things to do but I couldn’t avoid stopping by to say hello!

You won’t believe that I am having the worst week of insomnia ever! And this is totally weird because I am really tired of studying for all the papers and exams which are scheduled for this week, but when I lay down in my bed I simply can’t sleep!!! Well, it may be because when I go to bed I can’t stop thinking…

Oh! Do you remember that last holiday I went paragliding? For sure you remember! My mind is so messy today!!! Well, the adventure was wonderful to help me relax a bit, unfortunately the relaxing sensation was over as soon as I stepped foot on Praia Mole. Wow! I almost forgot to tell you that the beach looks even more wonderful from up there. And I also have to confess that the paragliding instructor Paul is a very handsome and nice guy! ;)

By the way, I have some really bad news. Fluff is sick… He went out Saturday night to date the neighbors’ cat and got the flu or something like that. Can anyone help me find a good and cheap Vet for him? Meanwhile what can I do? He looks so miserable…

Well, I guess I’m stopping by here. I have to write the introduction for my monograph for next week and don’t have any ideas so far. Can anyone help me, pleeeease!

                                                              *** 
Just for fun I’ll leave you with one of my favorite ads. This definitely reminds me that I have to keep an eye on Fluff! ;)

Four countries I would like to visit

Hello everyone! Today I have a guessing game for you.

Here are the four countries I would like to visit one day. Can you guess the name of the countries based on the descriptions and the pictures?

The first country is located in Asia and it is really big! It is a multi-racial country with 56 ethnic groups. It is also a multi-religious country, where Taoism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity are practiced. This country is linked to its ancient civilization and one of the world’s most revered treasures: The Great Wall. Today, you can also see spectacular architecture and towering skylines in some modern cities there. You can visit a diversity of land formations including very high mountains, hills, highlands, plains and basins. You should not miss the rare treasure of this country: the giant pandas. In my opinion they are very cute. However, they live in a solitary existence in dense bamboo forests; so, they are considered unsociable and eccentric.

The second country is located in South America. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area. The official language of the country is Spanish. The national beverage is yerba mate and tango is its musical symbol. The region I would like to visit in this country is farther south. It is an open door to see the immense solitude of mysterious Antarctica. You should not miss the mountain tops in which nature overflows in granite needles and icy fields brimming with glaciers in lakes of unique beauty. Some of the animals you can see there are sea lions, elephant seals, and penguins.

The third country is located in Europe and it is fairly small compared to the other three countries I would like to visit. It is very famous for its art and ancient monuments. This country’s abundant natural gifts are really outstanding! There you can see thousands of indented coasts, imposing rocky massifs, caves, gorges, lakes, rivers, biotopes of spectacular beauty and unique natural habitats. The movie Mamma Mia was shot there. While in this country, you should visit the marine parks to see two protected species: the Mediterranean monk seal and the Mediterranean green loggerhead turtle.

And finally, the fourth country is located in Oceania. It is the sixth-largest country in the world. It is about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometer. One of the really nice things about the country is that I can speak English since it is their official language. A movie with the name of this country was released in 2008 starring Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. Since this is a very large country, you can visit many different places such as deserts, beaches, forests and national parks. The animal which is the icon of this country is the largest marsupial in the world: the kangaroo. Kangaroos can hop, which is their fast and very energy-efficient way to travel.

Do you consider yourself smart?

Can you guess the names of my four favorite countries?

Which one do you think I would love to go first? Why?

Post your guesses here. I will love to read them!