Special Events
2012 Batizado e Troca de Corda
For most capoeira groups, the yearly batizado e troca de corda is their biggest event. A batizado is a capoeirista’s official induction or baptism into the Brazilian culture of training capoeira. A troca de corda is a change of cords, going to the next highest one as recognition for all the training that a capoeirista as undergone … Continue reading
Setting Things in Motion
Two things that I set in motion for the upcoming batizado e troca de corda are printing up Tribe of One T-shirts and getting a credit card swiper for my smartphone. Both endeavors have had hidden challenges. First of all, the original credit card processing company I wanted to go with would have given a … Continue reading
Living My Dream
So I first got the heads up that I needed to exit the teaching profession the first year I taught in Austin, TX. That conclusion came to a shock to me since I’d never thought that I would ever need to exit the classroom until I retired. I’d taken so much time researching where I wanted to live … Continue reading
Brazilian Music Weekend
By an extraordinary mix of schedules, I spent the better part of this weekend immersed in some genre of Brazilian music. One of my friends and fellow capoeiristas discovered that a Brazilian band was scheduled to play at one of my favorite dance venues this past Friday. Since that was the day grades closed for the … Continue reading
Spring Tango Festival 2012
One of the lessons I learned two years ago was that attending dance workshop blitzes only left me feeling like a zombie, too pooped to enjoy the big dance party on Saturday night. So, for the past two dance festivals, I just skipped all the torture and just partied at the Saturday night hoopla! Since … Continue reading
2012 Capoeira Evolucao Fundraiser
For months, I’ve suspected that my capoeira group had become significantly better ever since we moved into our new studio last year. Initially, we all swelled with pride at how beautiful our training facility was: newly installed wooden floor, freshly painted walls the colors of the Brazilian flag and featuring a mural of Mestre Bimba, … Continue reading
Vatican City Prostitutes
I can truly tell that spring break is a week away, given how challenging last week was. Due to two doctors’ appointments, I took Wednesday off, but I still felt just as drained on Friday as if I’d actually worked five days. I noticed that one of my neighboring teachers, who is new to my high … Continue reading
For Colored Girls
Nothing like February to bring out the Black History in the States. I used to make a point to read books written by Blacks during this time, but my life has become so complicated with schedules that I’m happy to read a little of everything in my current stack of books and magazines. I just trust an … Continue reading
Water Wench
As much fun as I’ve had during this Presidents’ Day weekend, one would have thought that I actually had a long 4-day weekend like my students. Truth be told, without the responsibility of supervising students, I enjoyed spending Friday at an all-day professional development series of workshops. I was a little late to the first session, but … Continue reading
Writers’ Retreat
It’s been years since I headed out of town immediately after school on a Friday. The mission for this getaway was to attend a writers’ retreat. My regular schedule’s so jammed packed that it’s a vacation to abandon it for a spell. In less than an hour, I arrived to the resort ranch and immediately saw some … Continue reading