Forecast: Frio

In 6th grade science we are studying changes of states of matter.  I hit my own freezing point today.

Supposedly, spring began last week.  That was the word on the street sometime last week.  I didn't take much notice as to the exact date as the end of "winter" was fairly pleasant with cool mornings, crystal-clear blue and sunny skies all day, and a nice gentle breeze in the evenings.  I felt more of the same was on the horizon.

Last week was close to 35˚C (around 95˚F) and humid.  The air-conditioning in my classroom broke and I found out the nice evening breeze doesn't blow straight into my apartment, but parallel to it.  I slept on top of the covers with the ceiling fan on high.

Then today this happened:

I wore my jacket all day long.  And I wished the entire time I also had a sweater.  Now I know I am shaming my Minnesota roots with this admission of meteorologic weakness, however, 55˚F is not warm.  After being free of the hardy mid-west winters for over five years and adjusted to the eternally summer heat of Cali, I would not have snubbed my nose at a parka today.

So, is this a freak event?  According to the forecast, Campinas will have to endure one more day of this:

You know its a bad sign when the temperature color gradient only goes from frio (cold) to mais frio (colder).

The weather was so ridiculous the other night between intermittent splashes of rain and the whistling, whipping wind - my window shutters on the 14th floor woke me up at 4:30am - you would have thought a hurricane was-a-comin' were Campinas not a good 96 km inland.

Found this posted on Facebook during the deep freeze.
Title: "Temperature of the Day in Campinas"
Switch Settings: Alaskan Cold, Tornado Wind, Hard Rain
and Desert Heat

I know its getting colder in the northern hemisphere, but down here on the flip-side of the equator I feel it should be going the other way.  Come June when the school year is coming to a close and winter is setting in, I will be happy to escape to the warm Minnesota summer sun.

I don't feel its too much to ask for Brazil to get its seasons straight.  Or reversed.  Or whatever they're supposed to be down here!

Someone Needs An Education (Edition I)

Teaching Middle School students has given me a newfound appreciation for what I apparently do not know.  This is a semi-frequent post series high-lighting things I, according to my students, should be educated on.  I share my education with you all...

 This is One Direction:

They are a British boy-band from some prior season of that country's X-Factor reality show contest.  Every middle school girl wants to marry them.  They are the imported N*SYNC - and New Kids On The Block before that - of this generation.  Except they all look twelve.

Except they're not twelve.  They are [average age] nineteen.

They also apparently have names.  If you don't know them you are old and lame.

Two of these 19 year-old pop tarts have tattoos.  These two go by "Harry" and "Zayn" (not a misspelling, by the way).  One's social standing amongst friends could potentially be ruined if you a) do not have an opinion on said tattoos and b) if your opinion is wrong.

How did I escape this loaded question unscathed and blissfully still ignorant?

Well, it turns out "Harry" has been inked only a couple times.  "Zayn," however, has eight.  Or maybe nine.  Or eight.  This was a hot-button issue and, fearing for my life, I saw my escape and side-shuffled away just in time.

Lesson Learned: "Clean-cut," parent-friendly teeny-boppers singing harmless, catchy puppy-love songs apparently rival some bikers in the tat department.  What would Joey McIntyre think?!?

******EDITED TO ADD (21 - September, 2012)******

These girls aren't messing around.  Today I received a quiz.  One question, five points, spelling counts.

I failed.

Fortunately, the policy at my school holds that for any summative assessment where the student scores less than 70% they have the opportunity to do a "retake."  As you can see, I was kindly extended this option.


For your advanced education:

190 Candles

In the city of Campinas, the morning of September 7th would be a great day to rob a house and a terrible day to have a power outage or a heart attack.

That's because every single one of the city's police, medical workers, ambulances, utility trucks, and even school busses are making their way down the Independence Day parade route.  And based on this experience, Campinas does overkill well.

After a long delayed start, the parade began with a proverbial flexing of the muscles that every country is allowed to do on their country's birthday.  Every branch and regiment of the military and municipal police force marched down the street in full dress, lead by the (very good) Military Band.  This includes bike cops, police dogs, and ambulance drivers among others.

 

Then we all waited some more and along came the corps of public employees.  This being a national day off from work, I'm sure they were all thrilled to have to marching down the street waving at all those they service.  The crowning moment - after all the power, gas, and electric workers and their vehicles passed by - was the parade of never-ending school-busses.  

Arguably the worst part of the parade for all the kids trying to enjoy
their day off of school.

Now, I could be wrong, being that my Portuguese is still "developing," but I think these may have been new busses for the city's schools and this was their grand premier.  The crowd's excitement was moderate at the beginning and faded exponentially with each subsequent vehicle.

There was yet another long mysterious break, at which point various marching bands and city-wide organizations had their moment in the pavement.  I tried to use today as a practice session for future processional-like events I may want to photograph, such as Carnival, however, I may need a few more practices; parades are surprisingly challenging to photograph well.  Regardless, here are a few shots from the rest of the event:

I'm pretty certain this is the Campinas chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance.
But I don't speak Portuguese so I could be wrong.

Happy 190th Birthday, Brazil!