Nefilinda Berrios’ blog

Well, I made it to Brazil!!  My flights all left (relatively) on time, and the only real problem/delay we encountered was as we neared São Paulo to land...it was too foggy to land, so we had to circle around for a bit before we could land.  We were delayed an hour because of that, but all in all, it wasn´t all so bad.  The worst part was trying to get all of my luggage onto the 2 push carts I had to use and then trying to get both pushed through the customs line.  I was sweaty and hot by the time I got through, not to mention having the privilege (that´s sarcastic, y´all) of being chosen for extra screening before clearing customs.  From what little I could understand, they thought I was bringing in too much luggage, so they decided to look through it all.  Grr.  Eh, well, it´s fine.  I made it through and being with Fernando again is, of course, fabulous!!!  Right now I´m staying with the family of one of his partners.  Their 4 year old girl is pretty cute and we played together some yesterday.  Hehehe...I guess I just can´t get away from the kiddos no matter where I go in the world!!  Interestingly enough, it was easier for me to understand and speak to her in Portuguese than with the adults.  Go figure.

Today I didn´t do much...finished a book I was reading, did some word puzzles, played some solitaire, took a nap...Fernando has to work during the day, see.  So I am going to have to figure out something to do during the day so I don´t go crazy, out of my mind, bored.  It´s a little difficult not understanding (most of) what anyone is saying around me.  I think by the end of the summer, maybe I´ll have more of a handle on the language, but starting out is pretty tough.  As for things to do, I think once I go to church on Sunday and meet more people, maybe I´ll have more things to do.  We´ll see.  If not...well...I did bring a LOT of books.  :P 

Okay, well, I´m signing off now.  I think my honey needs the computer again as he keeps hovering around me.  :P  Ah, it´s so wonderful to be with him again!!! :D:D:D:D  Tchau!

Well, hello there people.  Again, I have been a slacker in keeping my blog updated.  Right now I am waiting around at the airport until I board for my flight to Brazil...that's right, Brazil!!!!!   I'm ecstatically excited about being with my fiancé again...this time for a much longer period of time!!   Luckily, this flight is a direct flight.  So all I have to do now is get on the plane and I'm on my way!  Another good thing is that these flights to Brazil are always at night.  I suppose since they're so long, they make them at night so that it's easier to sleep most of the time there.  It is a 10 hour flight.  But I've done it before, so I know I can make it.  And then I'll be with my babe!!!!  Ahhh!!!   So excited.  :D

Let's see...school ended pretty well.  But an abrupt change came a couple of days ago.  My teaching partner from this past year called me on Monday morning to inform me that she had accepted a job offer elsewhere.  Although I was disappointed about that at first, I was also happy for her because I know that the job she took is what she actually wants to do for her career and will be a blessing in many ways for her.  And a few minutes after she told me, I realized that I knew the perfect person to fill her spot.  I have a friend who I met my first year teaching as she was on the kindergarten team with me.  At the beginning of the year, she vowed to corrupt me and get me to start drinking. :P  That was only in a half-joking manner, as she knows I'm Mormon and don't drink.  But we did become very good friends, for which I was grateful as a new teacher, fresh out of college.  She moved to California after that year, to be with her boyfriend.  They came back to Texas a few months ago and she put in an application with my school district to try and get a job back in our district.  Well, she had not received any calls...until the position as my partner opened up!  Within about 30 minutes of getting off the phone with my partner, my assistant principal called me to see if I could make it to an interview...with none other than my friend!  Since I was already out of town getting ready to fly out to Brazil, I couldn't make it to the interview, but I let her know how ecstatic I would be to partner with my friend.  My friend called me after she got out of the interview....we're going to be partners!!   That's so awesome!!  Ah, it's gonna be great and I can't wait!! :D

Well, I'll try to post some this summer and keep everyone updated on my happenings in Brazil with my sweetie.  Until next time, tchau amigos!!!!!  :D :D :D

Packing is not the most fun activity.  I packed up my classroom on Tuesday in preparation for summer cleaning/treatment starting Wednesday morning.  Then, starting on Wednesday, my sister and I've been packing up my entire apartment.  I have an awesome landlord who was generous enough to allow me to stay an extra week without having to pay extra rent so that I could do so.  That helped so much, since my last work related day (I had a workshop on Monday) was Monday.  Still...it's tiring work.  I can't believe I have so much crap!!  Needless to say, a lot is being donated to a second-hand store.  It's at times like these that I wish I had a truck...

Ah, well.  The more I work, the faster the days go and the closer I am to being with Fernando.  I can't wait!!!  Well...I guess I'd better get back to it, now.  Wish me luck! 

Packing

It's over.  I can't believe it's over.  And it was so hectic and busy, that I hardly even saw it coming.  With a million and one things to do in not enough time to do it, it came before I was ready. 

I had to say goodbye to my second group of students today.  :(  

Summer is always a welcome reprieve, but at the expense of saying goodbye to them forever....to send them off to a new teacher, to new experiences...well, I mean, I WANT them to have those experiences, of course...it's just bittersweet, is all.  I can't believe that the next time I walk into that classroom to teach, there will be new faces, new relationships to form, new children to love and fall in love with.  New lessons to learn...and hopefully some that I can teach them, too. :)  I can't believe that the faces and voices and laughs and arms that have come to mean so much to me, will move on to someone else.  How I wish memories were more substantial than mine ever are...they filter through my mind, against my will, much quicker than I would like. 

Can you tell that I'm feeling a bit nostalgic?  A bit like a tree that has lost its leaves...in that sense, summer is more my winter...bare, without the life that comes with each of those leaves...in the fall, they will come again, ready to grow and thrive...and I will feel alive again, in that sense, surrounding by those precious ones that are a blessing to me.  I really do have the greatest job in the world.  :)

Okay, well, I still have a workday tomorrow, so I must get me hence to bed.  Thank you for indulging a teacher's yearly plight.  :P  Hey...it's only my second year!!  :)  ~Nefilinda

So, I know....it's been a long time since I posted anything.  Life has a funny way of getting IN the way.  I'm sure y'all know what I mean.  This is my last week of work before summer vacation.  Needless to say, there have been countless events/tests/projects/etc to finish up and all.  This is a bittersweet time, seeing as summer vacation seems so within grasp...and yet, as a teacher, I have, of course, grown so attached to my students and haven't necessarily yet learned how to reconcile within myself the fact that they will indeed be moving on, never to be in my classroom as my students again.  Last year I couldn't keep myself from shedding some tears as I wished them well on their summer vacations and the next step in their educational careers.  And while none of them really seemed to grasp the concept that I was stumblingly trying to make peace with (that we were forever parting ways as teacher-students), I think I felt it poignantly enough for all of us.  I believe each year will be the same, as I am already feeling the familiar wrenches of  my heart as I think of leaving at least part of it with each one of those students.  We've created our own little world this year, growing together, learning how to love each other, get along with each other, have compassion towards each other, disagree with each other in a civilized way...and we've had some academic stuff thrown in there as well. ;)  But, well, that is the life of a teacher.  You receive a new batch, planning all of the things you will teach, how you will mold these precious children that have been entrusted to you...and then you always learn how very much they can teach you.  It's such an emotionally tied career.  Man, it's great.  The stresses that come with the "administration" part (testing, etc) are worth the wonderful relationships that one has with these beautiful children. 

And then, my lease at my current apartment ends this weekend, so I've also been trying to get things packed...kinda.  It's really been a half-hearted effort, if I'm honest.  I am quite the master at procrastinating.  This is no different.  *sigh*  Not only that, I've also been trying to keep track of and packing up Fernando's bike things that I will be taking down to him when I go to Brazil.   That's been kind of...hectic.   Seriously, sometimes I just feel like his business partner.  :P

Today was a good day, though.  Some friends and I got together for a Memorial Day barbecue by the poolside and then played around in the pool, which was a lot of fun! 

I went back home last weekend for my mother's graduation (she got a master's degree in Spanish-Literature).  It was good to be with the family for a while.  I also went to a friend's wedding reception, which was sweet, albeit a bit awkward for me since I went alone and didn't really know anyone but the bride and groom.  Eh, well, it was fine and I'm glad I went.  Here's the thing, though...

On the way back, my brother was driving...we were headed back to my parents' town (which was about 2 hours from the city we were in)...well, trying to get back on the freeway to go home, there was a traffic light that none of us really saw.  The next thing I knew, we were in the intersection and a truck was flying in front of us.  My brother slammed on his brakes, but we hit the back of the truck.  I just remember closing my eyes and lifting my arms for protection and hearing the bang of airbags inflating and the smell of the chemicals smoking.  My brother got the car to a semi-safe edge of the road and we all got out...after I turned off the car and grabbed the keys.  When I looked across the intersection, I saw that the other truck had flipped over and people were climbing out of the windows as it was upside down.  I was so scared!  We all ran over and tried to make sure that everyone had, in fact, gotten out of the car.  There were some scrapes and I think the other driver had a broken arm, but thank God that there were no major injuries.  I was in such a state of shock and fear, though, that I couldn't stop shaking at all.  I was shaking very badly.  My brother told me to call my father and as soon as I told him we'd been in an accident, the tears started flowing.  I felt so out of control with the crying and shaking.  It was awful.  There were kids in the other car!  As I looked at the truck upside down, all I could think was that they could have DIED!  I almost fainted then....but then remembered I was wearing a skirt and somehow that little bit of cool-headedness filtered through my brain and prevented me from fainting.  Although I did have to double over and breathe a bit.  It was a crazy and frightening experience and I couldn't stop thinking in my head what a miracle it was that none of us were seriously injured and that everyone was walking and alive and okay.  We had to wait for my father to come from their town (remember, 2 hours away) to pick us up, so we asked the police officers to drive us to the police station to wait...we didn't feel very safe waiting at that particular street corner with all of our things.  So we did.  We were able to thaw out a little from the shock and start making some nervous/tense jokes to ease things a little.  My poor brother.  I know he felt awful. 

I hope the other family is all okay.  :/ 

So, as you can see, life has been quite busy and stressful as of late.  But!  Time always keeps marching on, come what may, so school will end, summer will be upon us, I will be with Fernando then I will come back and we'll start it all over again.

Oh!  I almost forgot!!  I tried on my wedding dress this past Saturday!  And, I may be a bit biased, seeing as I chose the dress, but I have to say that it is absolutely, wonderfully beautiful!!!  It's flattering in all the right places and simple, but elegant, as well as classy and just...beautiful!  And for those of you wondering, we had originally intended to get married in July, which is why I have the dress so early, but since we changed the date to January, I'm just ahead of schedule.  Which is fine with me.  :)  Now I just have to find shoes so that it can be hemmed correctly.  Yay!  :)

Well, then, I hope that all of you are gearing up for summer vacation as well and enjoying each day that you have.  Each day really is a gift...I wish I could remember that more often and show more appreciation for that gift.  Until next time....~Nefilinda

And the follow up...:P

I think this is absolutely hilarious!!  I found it a while ago, but just remembered it now and want to share it with y'all! :) 

So when it comes to the topic of love, I think my heart is much more eloquent in feeling, but as that feeling rises to my lips, it escapes in a much less eloquent manner...and so what I feel in my heart, I most often find worded just right by someone else.  Hence, I went looking for some quotes that would describe what I feel for my future husband.  Indulge me...:)

"In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing."

"I've loved you all my life. Even before there was you there was the promise of you, and now that we've met, I'll never be the same!"

"I never thought love could be so magnificent until I saw the sincere look in your eyes, telling me that this time...I would never shed another tear."

"To truly love something, you must first give it a chance to fail. If it survives, it is going to be stronger than ever. Distance is pure proof of this, and forever we will love if we survive."

"It's not who you are to the world, it's who you are to me. It's not how many times I say I love you... it's how much I really do."

"You are my soul mate, my sweetheart, you are my dream come true, from now until the end of time I give my heart and soul to you."

I am very blessed...23 days until I'm with him again!!!!  And for 2.5 whole months!  Wowzers!!!

Shania Twain - From This Moment On

Sweet nothings? :P

I am trying to create a path for my blog to appear elsewhere.  This might or might not eventually become something else.  We'll see how it goes.  See ya on the flip side!

***So, I think there's a common theme in a lot of my writings...but, hey, what can I say?  I write to release the demons inside.  So it stands to reason that what I produce would have a common theme.  Either way, here's another I wrote a few years ago.*** 

Lonely Depths

A whispered roar of waves

Crashed against her seashell ears;

A memory adrift inside her mind

Tossed and tumbled by her past.

No means to purge her stormy thoughts-

She came to scorching sands

And scalding waters

To cleanse her soul;

Scorn, guilt washed over her instead.

“LIFEGUARD OFF DUTY’

No one to save her now…

Rolling white crests taunted and teased,

“Come and play,

Be reborn in an ocean of foam”

Her silent step ignored her screaming heart,

Ocean hands grabbed her ankles,

Massaged her unwilling legs;

“Close your eyes

Forget about despair”

Haunting siren song lured her

From further off, beyond her reach.

She released her torment

And whispered surrender

To roaring

silent

waves.

Lonely Depths