(13) Working with new authors

Out of the many "new" authors I'm having the pleasure to read on critical ELT materials, all introduced by my supervisor, Hilary Janks from South Africa, Witswatersrand University, which has become a great reference in language critical awareness and critical literacy, is one of the most inspiring to me. Her text is easy, accessible, and empowering. Besides, her work during and after the apartheid to qualify teachers and make the local educational system more meaningful and competitive to the minority groups in the country has really made a big difference in the lives of those communities. She concluded her Phd from Lancaster University (UK) in 1996 and her supervisor was Norman Fairclough. Her critical series "People's English" is extremely interesting and has helped me gather a few ideas for my little handbook, which is supposed to be one of the final products of my post-doc. Here's a little bit of Janks taken from her PhD dissertation (1996: 4-5): "Critical language awareness [CLA] focuses on the relationship between language and power and is particularly interested in the way language is used to maintain and contest relations of domination; CLA can contribure to processes of resistance and transformation by de-naturalising dominant discourses."

(12) Lots of things to do here and from home

The days have been passing by very fast. Sometimes, I can't believe how the weeks begin and end, and I'm always running behind. Lots of things to do and still have a bunch of others I left home. So, no chance to say, 'Well, I can dedicate entirely to this phase here in paradise'. I can easily tell I need to exercise my discipline abilities because there will be nobody after me telling me to do this or that. Actually, one of the hardest things in life is to be our own boss. I tend to be extremely demanding with me and I do want to do my best. Work, housework, homechores, a little time to travel around. But, after all, I didn't come to Hawai'i on vacation. So, my commitment has to be full to what I proposed myself to do. I am bravely working on that. Now, it is the phase of readings, and meetings with Graham, my supervisor. Those appointments have been great. It's wonderful to be with someone who can always teach you something and is very open to learn too. This view of Honolulu is just a little sample of how big the city is becoming. Mountains here are not turned into favelas; they are for the rich ones. But the view is as spectacular. Then, I move on...

(11) Meeting the storyteller again

It had been almost five years since I had seen her for the last time. But I still had vivid memories of our encounter back when that area in Waikiki was, at least to me, less crushed. And there she was and it was so thrilling to say hello to her again. Ladies and gentlemen, "The Storyteller". This is a very striking piece of art that will atract the eyes of any visitor who goes for a stroll along the luxury strip of Kalakaua Avenue in the heart of Waikiki. She's there making space for super luxurious and expensive brands like Tiffany's, Chanel, Louis Voutton, Gucci, just to name a few. 

Created by Maui-born artist Shige Yamada, "Ha'i Mo'olelo", in the native Hawaiian language, was dedicated to the city in October of 2002. According to the artist, the storyteller is supposed to depict and illustrate the vision of the Hawaiian people. In other words, to tell stories is part of their cultural tradition. The seven-foot (2,3m) bronze sculpture, according to what I read here, represents a Hawaiian woman in a seated position so she can invite kids to tell them stories. The place continues being very charming and chic although I have noticed that some stores closed. But where she stands, the visitor can really have a nice feel of a respectable Hawaiian figure welcoming all of us to her land. It was good to see her again! Aloha, Mrs. Storyteller!

(10) It is strange to feel a stranger

Honolulu has received me in open arms, I would say. The weather has been great, and, in this concern, I simply feel home. The very few people I so far have been in contact with have been extremely gentle, including my supervisor who met with me more than once and gave me the initial attention we always need when we venture out to engage in such an endeavor. Nothing to complain about. Even so, why do I still feel strange being a stranger? For some reason, I still let myself hide in a sort of invisible silence, so people would nor perceive that I am a little bit uncomfortable with my new condition It is hard to move from the condition where you are fully well-known person to another where you are almost ignored. Not saying this is on purpose or anything; it's only natural. It takes some time for you to at least become part of a community. But it does feel strange to walk around and have no place where to leave your stuff, better, not having any stuff yet, not experiencing that sense of belonging which takes us away from the aforementioned comfortable invisibility. But I'm not an ostrich, I do want to use the best strategies to make myself visible. That's why I froze my life in Brazil to come to work here. And I'm sure as time goes by, this feeling will disappear. As the saying go, 'first things first'. These changes in our lives grant us with butterflies in our stomach, but at the same time help us face life in a more assertive way. Slowly, I discover Honolulu and its mysteries. Slowly, I think I will be able to realize that there is always the time of transition, and depending on what we do with it, it will be longer or shorter. Hopefully, in this experience, it will be brief.  

(9) Aloha, Honolulu, after a few years, I'm back...

Yes, we touched down! Over a day later Honolulu said hello to me. I was tired, still feeling a little out of place, thinking of my loves left behind. The beggining of this whole story was here. When my AA Airbus 321 landed it was almost 8 PM in Oahu, 3 AM in Salvador and in Palmas. I imagined my family sleeping. Gabriel in Palmas, on his own, Pedro and my beloved Simone in Salvador. And the father, this guy here, flying to almost the other side of the world. It was at the exact moment that I sort of had this reality shock: I was coming to be here on my own for over 4 months while my family remained in Brazil. I had to put my head together and move on. My friend Rachel was expecting me at the lobby. As soon as I went down to claim my luggage (yes, my suitcases got here safe and sound) she appeared and said hello granting me with one of the most beautiful things Hawai'i has to offer its visitors, an orchid collar. I felt welcomed and my anxiety lowered down. Very kindly she took me to my new home for the next months. It was a short ride, and there I was welcomed by Joseph, my colleague Marta's husband. He was very kind, showed me around, and over tired at that point, I just needed to relax and wait for a new day to come. I sat down, looked at my luggage, my phone, my hands. From where should I start? I prayed and thanked God for being in Honolulu, taking advantage of that unique opportunity. I also took a few minutes to cry and think of my family. Wiping each of my happy tears, I began to let the saudades linger because very soon they would help live in Honolulu and in Salvador at the same time. Part of the game for those who travel but do not leave...   

(8) The skies which lead me to Honolulu

To get to Honolulu from Brazil (I believe from anywhere in the world) is by nature a long journey. Almost 36 hours after I left home, I am about to reach Honolulu. These are the skies of the last of the long flights I had to face. Frist, Salvador-Miami, then Miami-LA, and, finally LA-Honolulu, this last one almost six hours literally flying over water and the clouds. Compared to Salvador, I will be 7 hours behind in the time zone. The skies look so soft and this was the sunset that, probably, I would believe, was welcoming me in this new journey. Even for someone like me with a certain number of years of experience, to just venture in a sort of adventura like this after a... let's say... established life, is not easy. But let's also say that we are moved by challenges, and goals, real and focused goals which make us create and take opportunities that will teach us lessons for life. In a few hours, I descend in Oahu, Honolulu, and this lovely city will be my home for the next 4 and a half months. Who knows we definitely fall in love with each other? Time will tell... I'm sleepy...

(7) University of Hawai'i, Manoa

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH) is a public co-educational research university, and is the flagship campus of the greater University of Hawaiʻi system. It is located in Manoa, an affluent neighborhood of Honolulu, approximately five kilometers east and inland from downtown Honolulu and 1,6 km from Ala Moana Center and Waikiki. The campus occupies the eastern half of the mouth of Manoa Valley. It was founded in 1907. The current CEO of the university is Dr. Robert Bley-Vroman who was appointed interim Chancellor on September 1, 2014. Coincidently, Dr. Bley-Vroman comes from the Second Language Studies Department where I'll be based under Dr. Crookes', the current head, supervision. Out of the notable ex-students is Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, maternal half-sister of United States President Barack Obama. She is currently an Assistant Faculty Specialist at the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace & Conflict Resolution, which is based in the College of Social Sciences. I'll be meeting with her early October. The campus is really nice, well organized and full of trees. Some buildings are nice, others not much, but the Center for Korean Studies excels. Really impressive. The good thing for me is that I’m within walking distance from the campus. That will save me time and money. By the way, took this picture, yesterday, Sept 14th. 

(6) Dr. Graham Crookes, my supervisor

As we all know, once we decide to engage in a post-doctorate program, we will need to find a supervisor. Naturally, this professional has to be someone who has been doing work in the same are of our interest and who will decisively be able to contribute to our professional development. The moment I envisioned to participate in such an endeavor, I thought of Dr. Graham Crookes, professor and chair of the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. I wrote him, and although he was working in China at the moment I tried to contact him, once he could respond, he replied to my invitation very positively. I was really glad to have that positive answer and great support. It is fantastic for a recent doctor to have the chance to work with someone so experienced. Dr. Crookes' specialties include the methodology of language teaching and teacher development (including practice teaching supervision and more recently, philosophy of teaching). Besides teaching regular graduate and undergraduate courses for the Department of SLS, he has conducted courses and workshops for teachers especially on teaching methodology, action research, and critical pedagogy. More recently, he has published the volume "Critical ELT: foundations, promises, praxis" (Routledge 2013), and his main research interests at present are critical language pedagogy and language teachers developing philosophies of teaching. Lots of common interests, I would say...   

(5) A little bit about the project

The title of the approved project is "The practicality of English as a lingua franca critical pedagogy", and as I said, it will be supervised by Dr. Graham Crookes at the Univesity of Hawai'i, Manoa, Honolulu, United States of America.  Just to make readers familiar with my intetions, as the titles makes it clear, this work is about English as a global language education and critical pedagogy. It is an attempt to extend the work I conducted in my PhD research, entitled English as an international language: for an intercultural critical pedagogy (Siqueira 2008), which addressed this complex theme from a more theoretical point of view, working with Brazilian teachers, their assumptions, values, and beliefs towards the central position they occupy as educators who may not be fully aware of the crucial role they play nowadays into developing students’ intercultural competence in a world of translingual and transcultural flows and increasing mobility (Pennycook 2007; Risager 2007; Blommaert 2010; Canagarajah 2013). 

(4) Lisbon which brings me good luck

Here I was in lovely Lisbon to see some of my dearest friends, and also for the final phase of the dispute for the Post-doc Fulbright-CAPES scholarship. I left Athens early in the morning, flew Aegean to Frankfurt and a few hours later, to "Lissabon". It would be a decisive day as my interlocutor would call me late in the afternoon all the way from Brasília. I always thought Lisbon brings me good luck and this time it was not to be an exception, I prayed. As soon as I reached the airport, I got on the metro, and 45 minutes later was in comfortable and clean hotel room almost ready to talk to Brasília. As I still had some time, I rushed to Él Corte Inglés, one of my favortite shops in the world. I had a quick lunch there, and then rushed to the hotel. 5 PM sharp in Lisbon, on a wonderful and mild autumn afternoon, I received my phone call. The representative was very nice and we talked about several issues related and not to my project. Actually, bottomline, they wanted to know the level of my English. The friendly voice on the side of the line thanked me for appplying in the program and told me to wait until the end of the month (Sept, 2014). I was very positive, but not going beyond realisitc possibilities. To "celebrate" Manuela Guilherme, Ana Gonçalves and her husband Michael, Edleise Mendes, and Lili Cavalheiro, had a wonderful dinner together. Deep iniside I was super optimistic, but, at that moment, my idea was to share my feelings and expectations only with... Lisbon. Until the results were out. Huuum, thanks Lisbon, thanks for your positive energy.  It's great being there!

(3) Lovely Athens and its good winds

I was in Athens, Greece, participating in the 7th English as a Lingua Franca International Conference (ELF7), with several friends and colleagues from all continents, when I received an e-mail from the Fulbright committee saying that I my project had been passed to the last phase, which was the interview. According to the message, I had to be ready two days later at a certain hour, Brasília time, as someone from Fulbright would call me and conduct the interview. After stating I was very happy, I said I was in Europe, 5 hours ahead of the Brasília time zone. And the thing is the exact day they wanted to talk to me, I would be in transit going to Lisbon, and three days later back to Brazil. Well, it then came to my mind to ask them to be interviewed by phone at my hotel room downtown Lisbon. I was elated they agreed. So, I rushed to the conference feeling elated. The next four days were wonderful. We enjoyed Athens and some of the Sardonic islands, including Hydra. Besides our international friends, the Brazilian group which comprised Telma Gimenez (UEL), Michelle El-Kadri (UEL), Luciana Cabrini (UEM), Lucielen Porfirio (UNEB-Alagoinhas), and myself as the only male in the gang, had a lot of fun. Inside, I was overhappy, but the best was yet to come on the same day my TAP Portugal plane touched down at Portela Airport, coming from Frankfurt, Germany. My adventure was beginning to materialize. Thanks, Greece!

(2) It all began in Salvador, between the sky and the sea

In my department at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, I was scheduled to go on a leave for our post-doctorate as part of our professional development. I had several plans in mind, but nothing oficially decided yet. Lisbon? Athens? Vienna? London? Just ideas. Then, while here in Salvador, I came across an "edital" of this CAPES-Fulbright Program in the US for professors who had gotten their PhD title up to eight years at the moment of application. I looked at that and simply jumped in. Constructed a project inspired by my future supervisor, Dr. Graham Crookes, and invited three superb professionals to support me with recommendation letters. They are Dr. Maria Manuela Guilherme (University of Coimbra/Universidade Lusófona, Portugal), Dr. Kanavillil Rajagopalan (UNICAMP, Brazil), and Dr. Maria Luisa Pérez Cañado (University of Jaén, Spain). Backed up by these astounding and fantastic friends and researchers, I had this feeling that I stood a great chance. I just had to wait. Graham agreed immediately to be my supervisor, and then the project was born: "The practicality of English as a lingua franca critical intercultural pedagogy". I have so much to thank these colleagues. And the story goes.    

(1) Introductory words

"In between the sky and the sea: stories of a post-doc experience," in my native Portuguese, "Entre o céu e o mar: registros de um pós-doc," is a personal initiative with the objective of keep tracking of this special moment in my life, and also sharing with special friends stories, feeelings, sensations, impressions, and so forth from home Brazil and faraway lands during a period of roughly one year. The whole "mess" began over a year ago when I submitted my post-doc project for a CAPES-Fulbright Scholarship Program to be held in any American university. Out of 12 recipients around the country, I was of them. For one entire year, I have been preparing myself and my dearest family for the experience. As I will be away from home, creating a new home, it is not easy to leave behind, even temporarily, your beloved wife and sons. But I am about to do it. And only God knows what awaits me between the sky and the sea in the distant state of Hawai'i, in the Pacific waters of the United States of America. I'll be leaving soon, but my heart already feels it is the time to look ahead and adjust the mind to the plans that are about to unfold. I'm excited, the day to leave is around the corner, but a lot has happened before I move on to board a plane that will initially take me to Miami, another to L. A., and, finally, a third one to Honolulu. Over 20 hours in the air. Join me in this adventure which has nothing to do with surfing or "radical" sports. It has to do, basically, with professional and personal development. Be my guest, if you will!!!