Today, I traveled waay down south to the rolling hills of Brazilian wine country for a teachers' conference in Caxias do Sul. Even from the plane, I could see the soft hills and green mountains that reminded more of the terrain of parts Europe than what one would normally associate with the tropics. No wonder this area was settled by many Italian immigrants in the late 1800's. Brazil is the size of an entire continent, so it shouldn't be surprising that it has such geographic diversity, but I am consistently struck by its size and heterogeneity.
Why were we so far down south? For a meeting of 1,500 teachers of English, of course, and the bi-annual BrazTESOL international conference. It was a large event hosted at the pretty campus of the University of Caxias do Sul. I was impressed with how polished the event was, including some really thought-provoking speakers, both international and local Brazilian. I sat in on conference sessions, listened to plenaries, met with alumni and potential partners, and got to know lots of teachers... all in the backdrop of this beautiful place and over a few glasses of delicious wine from local vineyards. The conversations here about the field and professionalism and a responsibility to support and reach out to public sector teachers resonated with me on many levels and I look forward to continuing conversations over the next three years.
Here are a couple of shots from the conference. I have solidly amazing colleagues in the Regional English Language Office in Brasilia and felt surrounded by the warmth of the Brazilian teaching community. This is going to be a great tour.
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| The all-star RELO team in front of our booth |
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| The dinner we hosted for friends and alumni at BrazTESOL |
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| Our English Language Specialist Dorothy Zemach interacting with participants after her plenary talk |
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| Raffling off free materials in front of our booth |
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