Drama Club

Hey guys!
Now that we have the first performance of our play under our belt, I wanted to share with you a little bit about what we've been doing in drama club since I got here in March.
So, to begin, I wanted to start a drama club at UTFPR simply as a way for students to practice English creatively. For those of you that came to the first few sessions, you remember that we did a lot of role playing games, dialogues, monologues, some very silly warm-up exercises, etc.
Though this was fun, it seemed that drama club wasn't really progressing or advancing towards a specific goal. Around the time I realized this, some Dalem professors and students mentioned the possibility of working on a play. Since I'd had VERY little experience with theater prior to this year, I was open to the idea of doing a play, but envisioned it as something simple. Maybe 45 minutes, simple story, simple language, maybe we'd even perform it in front of the Letras students?! Who knows?!
At this point, I scheduled a meeting for those interested in the possibility of working on a play. What resulted was a mixed batch of students...different ages, varying levels of experience with theater, different interests, etc.
During this meeting, we discussed several different possibilities, but finally (as you can now see) we settled on Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Now, you may be asking yourself (and this is something I often asked myself when we made this decision) "how do you go from expecting a simple 45-minute play to choosing to work on a famous MUSICAL that has been on Broadway and was a famous film?!" The answer is: the ten wonderful students who decided to take part in this project.

From the beginning, there were many challenges. Many hours of rehearsals were spent discussing questions like "what if I can't sing? How are we going to reserve the auditorium? How will me make props? Where will we rehearse? What if they can't understand what I'm saying? What will we do about costumes?" And the list goes on and on. I think I can say that we all went through moments of doubting how exactly we were going to get all of this together. However, when I think of what made our performance possible, I go right back to the same answer as before: the ten wonderful students who decided to take part in this project.

As I mentioned earlier, I had VERY little experience in theater before this year. And, NO experience directing...anything. From the beginning, this whole project has been a collaborative effort. At some point, every single one of us played the role of director and any other role that was needed throughout this project.
Because of this collaboration and help from so many great people, we got more confident with each rehearsal. We took advantage of our time without classes during the strike and practiced many hours each week. Soon, we started seeing everything slowly coming together. Of course, some final details didn't "come together" until the last minute (as happens with any big project), but, as those of you who attended our first performance can see, we did it! And, we did it well.
Igor, Belisa, Evandro, Luiz, Jeferson, Wil, Gabriela, Rodrigo, Naire, Daniel...I'm so proud of what you've all accomplished. You've worked extremely hard and the hard work paid off. None of this would have been possible without every single one of you. I don't know how to thank you for how special you've made my time here.
Ok, enough with the sentimental stuff. Following, some pictures of our progress over the last few months:

One of our early rehearsals in N001

One of our more "creative" rehearsals at MON

Opening night!

An extra special thanks to Andressa, Natasha, Tassia, Carolina, Alex, Mariana and EVERYONE who has helped us put this together!

And again, to the 10 of you...YOU made this happen! So proud of all of you.

Fifth round of journal entr(y)ies!

TOPIC: If you had to describe Brazil to someone who knew nothing about it, what would you say? Interpret this question as lightly or seriously as you'd like. You can include anything from travel tips to your opinions about social and political issues, and everything in between.

Robinson

No, I don’t see monkeys on trees very often, only at the Zoo. No, I’m not going to work wearing only my underwear. Yes, we have electricity. Yes, I have an iPhone. No, politics sucks everywhere. Yes, we are the third world, or at least we used to be. Yes, I live in the South but it’s not a paradise. No, we don’t have the best bus system, it’s only a theory.

Ok, I exaggerated a little bit (or not, who knows?!), but I still hear these kinds of astonishments, or people who can’t believe that I have never been to the Amazon forest, as if we were neighbors. Whenever a foreigner asks me about my country, I say if you like Carnival, come to Brazil in February and of course, to Rio de Janeiro or even Salvador. If you like nature, go to Bonito – MS, if you miss cold weather, try to visit Rio Grande do Sul during the winter. My country still needs to learn a lot, regarding its political, health and education systems. We are so unequal, having rich getting richer and poor getting poorer, and it’s not changing at all. On the other hand, we have natural landscapes, people here are so welcoming and according to lots of people who already travelled abroad, our food is the best. 

Maybe I’m not the right person to talk about my own country, because I often think that I was born in the wrong country, sometimes I feel I don’t belong here. Don’t ask me to explain why, I just feel it. Yet, I still recognize that I’m privileged by living in a country without hurricanes and tsunamis, where people try to make a living every day, without giving up. Still, you can come and visit my country and I assure you won’t regret it, just go to the right places as you would in any country you visit. And make the most of it. 

Fourth round of journal entries!

TOPIC: What's your most memorable moment of "getting in trouble with an authority figure"? This is hopefully something that, though not funny at the time, may be funny looking back on the experience. An "authority figure" can be a teacher, police officer, parents, etc. How did you react? How did you feel?

Pri

Well, I’m no saint that I can tell you. During my life I have had many troubles with authority figures, now I guarantee you I’m more relaxed and don’t go against authority anymore (unless I think I’m right).

If I tell all my troubles in here, probably I won’t finish this today! (LOL)

Although, I’ve been thinking which one was the funniest nowadays. Maybe, it was the one in which I had a fight with a hallway inspector (actually at school I had huge problems – I hated school)! Well, with the same inspector I had two problems.

My school was very strict about wearing uniforms, and my uniform was sky blue, really more like Smurfs blue. So, the director said to all inspectors that we (students) should only wear white or blue sweatshirt/jackets/blouses, and these clothes shouldn’t have any picture. But something that stupid director forgot to say was that the picture shouldn’t be BIG…

Can you imagine what kind of problem I had? Yes, in one day I was wearing a white sweatshirt, but it had a tiny brand written on the right-top and the inspector complained about it asking me to take off my sweatshirt. Of course I said no, I just had that blouse, and I was cold, so wouldn’t take it off.

So suddenly he started to yell, all my classmates were looking at me, I got really angry and said bad things to the man. Ok, I’m not proud of that, and I know he was just doing his job, but I hated (and still hate) when people “single me out” in front of others without me being.

The result was a silly thing: the coordinator calls my mom, the inspector and me to talk. I had to apologize to the inspector, he apologized too and after that the director said to all workers from school since students’ blouses are blue or white and just a have a small picture there wasn’t a problem to use that.

I think I started a revolution without knowing that. J However, nowadays I see many students from the same school I’d studied wearing any color…

Yuri

Well. Despite being pretty much an authority-questioner, I don't really get in trouble with persons who have some kind of authority. I learned to dodge conflicts and arguments with my parents long ago - life here has gotten much more decent since this, and it's actually funny to see how my brothers get in trouble with them and get mad at it.

I've never gotten in trouble with teachers, except for one time back in seventh grade when I accidentally called my teacher a douche, and one time in fifth grade - but this one isn't much of trouble: I woke up that morning feeling sick, but my mother sent me to school all the same. It was a test day. During the test, I got to feel mighty bad, and when I felt I couldn't take it anymore, I raised my hand and said 'Teach, I don't feel well'. Surprisingly, the hag said 'Ah, whatever'. I still repeated the sentence two times. And after the second time, I barfed all over the Maths test. and stood there, dumb, not knowing what to do. All the guys around me were laughing and pointing at me, and the girls were like 'Eeeewwww', and I felt like shit, Then, the teacher calmly grabbed the classroom phone, dialed the director's number and asked him 'Hey, some dude here just threw up. What should I do?' - she was so matter-of-fact about it - ; then one school inspector came rushing through the corridor and took me to the infirmary like lightning. That sucked big time.

Now, for some policeman stuff. I never actually got in trouble with them - mainly, I think, because I don't do things that might turn into a reason for them to bother me. And because I'm a white, blondish, clean-shaved boy. Anyway, I don't fear 'em, 'cause I never give 'em reasons to pick on me or bother me. Well, whatever. So one time - oh, I think I already told you this story, Cyn - I was walking back home at night, in the empty and dangerous streets of Rebouças. I had my hood on, and walked like a drug dealer, hands deep in the pockets, feet ready to run like a madman at the slightest sign of someone suspicious. I was two blocks from my house, and already thanking God almighty for passing safe and sound through the worst part. Then along comes a police car with two policemen inside, slowly, and stops by the corner just some twenty meters ahead of me. I release a deep sigh of relief, for now I was safe - but better take off that suspicious hood and walk like a decent person. I let the streetlights illuminate my face. They approached me slowly, still in the car, and I kept walking my way. They got to me and one of them cried 'Hands on your head', to which I promptly responded by placing quickly but softly and matter-of-factly my hands on my head. Guy got out of his car and asked me where was I going, and I said with perfect, polite pronunciation I was returning home. At this moment, he got to look me in the eyes, and I think my smart way of talking and my upper-class face threw away his suspicions. He poked lightly my front pockets and asked me if I had any drugs or guns with me. That got me by surprise. I laughed, and said 'No way, I'm just a student' - ironically forgetting that students frequently carry drugs, especially Humanities students. Then he smiled and said 'OK, good night' and I said 'Good night' like a gentleman and ran back home laughing light-heartedly.

And that's all, folks.

Wednesday's (Oct. 24) new session: writing workshop

Hey guys,
I forgot to address this in conversation club today. Wednesday, we'll have our first writing workshop. The basic idea is for you to bring some text you've written in English, we'll discuss general issues, we'll do peer editing, I'll take a look at your text, etc. Basically, general help with writing.

Some instructions for Wednesday's writing workshop (what to bring):

-The original idea was to write an essay on what we discussed in conversation club (tonight was the American South) and work with that text on Wednesday night. If you came to conversation club on Monday (Oct. 22) or are interested in writing something about the American South, that's one option.

-Another option is bringing any essay that you have to write for other classes and we can work with that text.

-Yet another option, you can bring a journal entry.

-Lastly, anything that you've written in English that you would like help with!

Hope to see you all there! Email me with any questions.

Journal Entry Activity # 5

TOPIC: If you had to describe Brazil to someone who knew nothing about it, what would you say? Interpret this question as lightly or seriously as you'd like. You can include anything from travel tips to your opinions about social and political issues, and everything in between.

Remember, this activity is for you to write freely. It may be as long as you'd like, but please don't send anything shorter than one paragraph or longer than two pages. Since today is October 20 and you have 10 days to submit your writing, please email me by Tuesday, October 30. Then, I will return your writings and post a new topic. 

My email address is cynthialmartinez0@gmail.com.

Next week's schedule (Oct. 8-12) and the following week (Oct. 15-19)

Hey guys!
The activities schedule will be a little different the next couple of weeks because I'll be traveling. So, here it is:

This week: Oct. 8-12
Monday: Conversation Club    17:40-18:40    N001
Wednesday: Daily Usage English    17:40-18:40    N001
Thursday: NO LESSON PLANNING (CANCELED)

Next week: Oct. 15-19
Monday: NO CONVERSATION CLUB (CANCELED)
Wednesday: Daily Usage English    17:40-18:40    N001
Thursday: Lesson Planning    17:40-18:40    N011

Hope to see you this week!

Journal Entry Activity # 4

TOPIC: What's your most memorable moment of "getting in trouble with an authority figure"? This is hopefully something that, though not funny at the time, may be funny looking back on the experience. An "authority figure" can be a teacher, police officer, parents, etc. How did you react? How did you feel?

Remember, this activity is for you to write freely. It may be as long as you'd like, but please don't send anything shorter than one paragraph or longer than two pages. Since today is October 1 and you have 10 days to submit your writing, please email me by Thursday, October 11. I will return your writings and post a new topic by Monday, October 15. 

My email address is cynthialmartinez0@gmail.com.