Answers to 11 Questions from the 11 Blog Challenge

Source: http://wendyloudesigns.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/april-number.html

 

So, here are my answers to the questions the people who have tagged me in the “11 Blog Challenge”. Since I was tagged by Carol Goodey, Adam Simpson, Divya Madhavan, Sophia Mavridi and Juan Alberto Lopez Uribe, I thought I’d be better off choosing 11 of the questions they asked and answered those.

1 – What would you do if you were not an educator? (by Juan)

As I thought about this question I was surprised to see the difficulty I had in considering another profession. I’ve done many different things in my life, while I was in college. But I can’t really see myself doing anything not related to education. The best I could come up with was owning a book store, restoring books (like really old books and manuscripts, which would put my love for art, books and history together) or a museum tour guide.

2 –  Do you exercise much? (by Juan)

You mean besides carrying a bag filled with books everywhere? 🙂 I am not crazy about exercising and sweating… I do love walking and I’ve been taking pilates lessons twice a week (3 times when I can) for the past 10 years. I have taken yoga off and on too. But that’s as much exercising as I can handle.

3 – What is the next language you’d like to learn? (by Divya)

When I was much younger I set as a life plan to be fluent in 5 languages by the time I turned 35. Well, 35 have come and passed and I’m afraid I’m only fluent in Portuguese and English. I can get by in Spanish and I understand the basics of French but I never really got fluent. It just feels so much more comfortable, so much easier to fall back into English when things get a bit more complicated…

So I guess the next one would be French.

4 – Do you have a preferred variety of house pet? (by Divya)

I have always been a dog person, for the interaction you can have, for being able to go out for walks or a run together and play. I was never much of a cat lover. But I’ve had a recent experience of living in a house with 3 cats and taking care of them for a while and I have to say that has changed. I’m a cat lover now too 🙂

5 – Do you prefer reading on screen or on paper? (by Sophia)

For me nothing beats the smell of a book, the feeling of the paper, the weight in your hands. I’m still crazy about paper books. I’m especially crazy about old paper books, for the stories that they bring with them. I’m also still stuck to printing texts when I am studying, for my need to highlight and write notes on things. But I’ve succumbed to digital books more than I thought I would, for their practicality and price. I have quite a few titles in their digital form now, especially books that I plan to read while traveling, to avoid the extra weight!

6 – Have you ever lived in another country other than you live now? Where was it? (by Sophia)

I lived in Kansas as a teenager. In a little town in Northwestern Kansas, USA, called Morland. It had a bit over 300 inhabitants when I lived there and the whole high school had 43 students! It was the best year of my life, and I learned a lot. People were beyond friendly, caring and supportive. Things were simpler, people were closer.

7 – What do you most enjoy about blogging? (by Carol)

There are a few things I enjoy about blogging. When I sit down to write, it’s almost as if I’m having a conversation with myself, or with a real interlocutor. And as I write and reflect I think about the issue, I consider different aspects. I also love the fact that by blogging whatever I write becomes available to anybody with an internet connection, it completely ignores borders and distance. But most of all, I love the connectedness that blogging brings me. I love the interaction in the comments, hearing how people read what I wrote, their reactions and experiences, their opinions.

8 – What do you enjoy most about the work that you do? (by Carol)

It’s going to sound super cheesy, but what I love about education is connecting to people and being able to make someone’s life better by giving them a skill they didn’t have. A skill that’s going to empower them, to give them a better job, broader perspectives, the chance to live in another country with dignity. And every once in a while I’m rewarded with the extra bonus of helping a student find (or boost) their self-confidence, overcome a difficult thing they are going through. When that happens it really makes my day – or term!

9 – What month next year are you most looking forward to? Why? (by Carol)

There are two months I am really looking forward to. The first is January and the week off from work I’m taking, which I’m spending in Rio, seeing friends and family or just spending the whole day on the beach with a good book. The second month is May, when the Braz-Tesol national conference is taking place in the neighboring state, and when I’ll be able to see friends and learn some!

10 – Go to You Tube and basically surf around until you find a song you’ve never heard before. Share that song with us here. (by Adam)

I chose this question because I loved the idea of searching for something new 🙂 Here’s what I found (and I liked it!):

11 – Would you prefer to be the guy from ‘Memento’ who wakes up and can’t remember the previous day, or the guy from ‘Groundhog Day’ who wakes up to exactly the same day over and over again? (by Adam)

I’d much rather not remember the previous day, than reliving the same day over and over. Not remembering makes it new in a way.

This has been such a fun challenge! Getting to know more about bloggers I read and respect and also letting a bit of the person I am show. Thanks for including me in this, guys! Looking forward to reading what the people I’ve tagged say. Happy Christmas to everyone!

The 11 Challenge – The person behind the blog

Hello blog! Long (long, long, long) time no see!!!

It’s been quite a year, which will be a blog on its own. And I’m not sure the readers of this blog will be impressed by this “come-back” post. But it’s a challenge, and those of you who know me it’s really hard for me to turn down a challenge. 🙂 And I’ve been tagged by a few people: Carol Goodey, Adam Simpson and Divya Madhavan.

So if you are tagged, here is what you need to do:

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

So, you’ll get two posts: one with my eleven random facts and one with the answers to the 33 questions 🙂

Eleven random facts about me:

1 – I love to cook. Unlike most of my friends. I love to cook for myself, when I don’t have the kids with me or a schedule, I’ll spend hours cooking my own dinner.

2 – I have a BA in graphic design and used to teach art history at the federal university.

3 – I cried at Musee Rodin in Paris. It’s still my favorite museum in the world so far.

4 – I am extremely flexible. I have a “condition” in which the joints are “loose”, so I can touch the floor with my hands without thinking about it. It also means the bonesxjoints get out of place more often than not.

5 – I am terrified of flying insects, no matter how small or threatening they are. I got treated in therapy for it.

6 – I live in the same apartment building as 3 of my brothers (one is still not here) and my mother. I live on the 5th floor, my mother on the 7th, a brother on the 10th, 2 brothers on the 14th.

7 – I make the best brownies you’ll ever taste. (And am extremely humble about it!)

8 – I once won a competition online and went somewhere else to meet the actors of a TV show called “Scrubs”.

9 – I can’t play any musical instrument, which is frustration for me. I dream of playing the cello.

10 – I take the filling out of all the cookies with fillings I eat (oreos included!).

11 – I can’t drink whisky. It makes me immediately sick.

 

The eleven bloggers I nominate:

@eltbakery

@harmerj

@llea_dias

@barbsaka

@brad2earth

@willycard

@kenwilsonlondon

@lauraahaha

@TEFLPet

@sandymillin

@theteacherjames

 

And here are my eleven questions:

1 – If you were to lose one of the main five senses, which would you part with?

2 – What’s your favorite comfort food, the one you long for after a bad day?

3 – What kind of music do you listen to when you have to work?

4 – What would be your last meal?

5 – What is the one book you’ d recommend to people?

6 – What are the three things you’d take to a desert island for a year?

7 – What’s your favorite board game?

8 – What’s the funniest situation you’ve been in?

9 – What are you currently reading?

10 – What’s your dream purchase?

11 – What keeps you blogging?