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Lauren Weinheimer and Rose Cunninham, two my 22 students who participated in the Brazil trip, at the docks in Belem, Brazil.
While in Belem, we went to an international school. We used web cameras and projectors to create a virtual classroom with an elementary school in Maine. The children asked each other questions about weather, animals and sports. Through the window at the back of the classroom in Maine, we could see snow falling. It was 96 degrees farenheit in Belem.
Joan Downing was the only LDS student on the trip with me. She helped to facilitate the classroom connection with Maine.
What happened this week...?
This week was a hectic one, trying to get the final details ready to leave for Brazil. The reality of being gone from the family for three weeks and taking on the responsibility to take care of 22 college students hit with very real impact this week, but it was just time to forge ahead. All the students were on time to check in, in fact, I was the one who was late. By the time I arrived, most of the students were checked in. We flew all day, by way of Cincinatti, Miami, and Manaus, Brazil to finally arrive in Belem at approximately 3:20 am, Saturday, January 12th. We stayed in Belem until Tuesday, January 15th, when we board the boat 'Navio Santarem', bound for Manaus, 1,000 miles up the Amazon River.
Best wishes to all,
Matt, Joanne, Jessica, Emily & Madeline