[Greenhouse Two] Brazil Planning Meeting I on Herbology

Nathan Xavier

December 23, 2016 3:17 PM

[Greenhouse Two] Brazil Planning Meeting I by Nathan Xavier

Nathan Xavier had done some research on Brazil over the midterm to make sure he knew enough to help direct his group of students. As no students had offered any suggestions to the suggestion box, he'd been able to pick any country that sparked his interest. He'd gone with Brazil due to the vast number of plants that grew in the Amazonian rain forest, but he suspected that would barely blip on the student group's radar, so he'd been sure to brush up on the culture and history of the nation before hosting the first Brazil fair booth meeting.

He had sent out owls inviting the six students who signed up to meet him in the smaller of the two greenhouses on the first Sunday evening after classes resumed. It looked, from what he knew of the students in question, that he had three distinct pairs of friends/couples, which ought to made it easy to split them into three shifts during the fair itself, but might not be conducive to working as a six person team during the design and construction of the booth. On the other hand, most of them should know each other from being in Teppenpaw together, as only Lily Spencer wasn't from Nathan's own House, so he had hopes that maybe they'd integrate enough to create a booth for all of them rather than three separate displays lined up next to each other.

"Hello, glad you could all make it," he greeted them when the six students had arrived. He'd been sure to add an array of jungle plants to this greenhouse to help them get into the right frame of mind for learning about Brazil. "I'm here largely as an advisor and what you decide to showcase in the fair booth is up to you. I am here to answer questions if you have any or to obtain any materials or specimens within reason that you may want to include. I've borrowed a number of books from the library of various aspects of Brazil from its history both before and after the Portuguese colonists, its various cultures, some of its claims to fame, its land and resources, and about the Amazon River, Rainforest, and Valley in general. Feel free to peruse through those for ideas."

"You might want to just spend this first meeting familiarizing yourself with the country and each other, but if any of you have ideas bloom for how we can present or organize the booth, you can absolutely discuss that, too. There are no set dimensions you need to meet, on either the minimum or maximum sides of things, so it's pretty much anything goes; whatever works best for what you folks want to do. I'll need to check with the other leads, though, if you think you're going to take up more than an eighth of the Quidditch pitch." His tone and wry smile suggested he didn't think this was a limit he expected them to have any trouble staying inside.

He waved an invitation to the center work table with its stacks of books as an invitation to begin. "Go, research, talk, brainstorm, make friends," he instructed in order of increasing importance.

1 Nathan Xavier [Greenhouse Two] Brazil Planning Meeting I 28 Nathan Xavier 1 5

Jemima Wolseithcrafte

December 24, 2016 1:34 PM

Let's make lists! With colour coding! by Jemima Wolseithcrafte

Jemima was excited about the fair. So far, it seemed to have the perfect mix of elements - she got to spend more time with someone special to her, but also to branch out and meet new people. She also occupied a rather strange position in her group of being joint oldest with Owen. Jemima was used to being second youngest, and given that Ingrid had tended to whine until she got her way when they were younger, to always being told by others what to do. Now, she was the most senior member of this group, both in terms of age and being a prefect. Not that those things necessarily mattered. This was a group project where they were all equals. She was determined not to start bossing the younger ones around as had been done so often to her by her older siblings, but she sort of hoped they might look up to her and want her to take charge, and that was an exciting feeling. It was part of why running art club was so much fun because it put her in a position that she didn’t normally have.

She arrived promptly to the meeting, greeting Professor Xavier politely. Her main motivation in making her choice had been interest in the country, alongside there being enough space for Owen to sign up with her, but she had to admit it was a bonus to have her head of house in charge of their group because she liked him very much. His introduction was very general, but the mention of ‘specimens’ caught her attention, as did the large number of tropical plants in the room. It wasn’t an angle she’d been considering, but she was sure that Brazil must have a lot of fascinating nature now that he brought her attention to it.

His first advice to them was to read up, and that seemed very reasonable, although he encouraged them to talk and bounce their ideas around as they did so. As he seemed to be taking a back seat from that point, Jemima decided that opening up the discussion was a perfectly reasonable and not too bossy thing to do. She was sure no one else wanted to spend the whole meeting reading in silence.

“How about, to get to know each other, we all say our names and why we chose to join the Brazil group?” she suggested. “And perhaps we could make a spider diagram, with that and anything else we find from the books, so that no one’s ideas or opinions get lost” she added, pulling a sheet of parchment from her bag and casting ‘engorgio’ on it so that it was nice and big. She retrieved several different coloured felt tips too, thinking those might be easier to work with given that they would all be jostling for space. She passed the pens around the table, so that everyone could add as they wished to, as they came across things that took their fancy. “So, my name’s Jemima and personally, I joined the group because I think carnival costumes and samba dancing look really interesting, although it seems like Brazil has a lot of really neat flora and fauna too,” she added, because she thought it would be important to Professor Xavier that they included that.

13 Jemima Wolseithcrafte Let's make lists! With colour coding! 304 Jemima Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Jozua Sparks

December 28, 2016 9:59 AM

Jungle Exploration! by Jozua Sparks

Jozua arrived at the greenhouses at the appropriate time but almost went into the wrong one out of habit. As a beginner, he'd only ever had occasion to go into the larger one and the advanced greenhouse just seemed so far distant from his current level that even after he saw the one was lit up and the main one was dark, he still hesitated uncertainly before pushing open the door and stepping inside.

His eyes grew large as he saw the towering jungle plants around them and he immediately appreciated the much warmer temperature from the winter night air he had just been walking through. Okay, he had totally picked the right group. This was awesome. It was like being in the rainforest right now! He grinned at Lily when he spotted her and took a seat beside his best friend.

He listened to Professor Xavier's advice and instructions, immediately imagining creating a demonstration rainforest for exploration that took up a full eighth of the Pitch, with dangerous beasts (or probably just illusions of them) lurking about to jump out upon the unwary. That would absolutely win them best fair booth ever.

Of course, that bubble popped an early death when Jemima started talking and reminded him with her talk of samba dancing that Brazil probably had more going for it than just dense adventure laden jungles that should probably be showcased in their fair display.

When nobody immediately spoke up when Jemima finished, Jozua decided this was an extracurricular activity and so they didn't actually need to go in an orderly fashion around the circle and went next. "I'm Jozua, and I joined the Brazil group because some of my favorite adventure stories take place in the Amazon. I was kind of thinking we could maybe set up a big rainforest maze for people to explore," a bright flash of an idea struck him then so instead of downplaying this idea as not inclusive enough, he became excited and continued, "And then our intrepid adventures can discover the other things Brazil has, like one pathway might open up into a clearing where they can watch and maybe even learn samba dancing! And other one has, um, whatever interests you about Brazil," he said, waving toward one of the other group members at random, and giving that person their opening to make their introduction.

To further impress upon them that he was done talking and it was their turn now, he picked up a green marker and wrote "Jozua" on the large sheet of parchment, and the words "Jungle Exploration!" nearby. He circled his name and drew a square around his idea and connected the two with a line.

1 Jozua Sparks Jungle Exploration! 348 Jozua Sparks 0 5

Owen Brockert

December 31, 2016 2:25 PM

Suggestions by Owen Brockert

Owen was excited about spending time with Jemima. This wasn't entirely even because of the fact that she was busy more this year with Art Club and being prefect but because he was genuinely always excited about spending time with her.

However, he didn't really know the rest of the people in the group. He had classes with Peizhi and Abby and was in Fundraising Club with the latter while the former's sister was married to Adam Brockert but Owen hadn't really spent what he'd consider quality one on one time with either of them. Afterall, he had a girlfriend so wasn't too interested in spending quality time with any girl other than her except maybe Ginger and Lauren some. And all he knew about the two second years was that Jozua was in Teppenpaw-a very good thing, Owen wasn't given to house supremacy but Tepps were nice - and that Emerald really didn't like Lily.

Oh and that Lily was Jack Spencer's sister but Owen wasn't going to allow either of those two facts to stand in the way with working amicably with her. Especially given that Jack hadn't actually done anything to him. It wasn't his fault that he was probably the exact kind of guy the Wolseithcraftes would want their daughter to marry. Nor were he and Jemima even really friends. In fact, Owen was perfectly secure about Jemima only liking him, he was just insecure about her family doing so. Though he'd previously gotten the impression they approved, Theodore had thrown him for a loop last year.

He took a seat next to Jemima as the meeting began. Owen didn't mind a bit when she took charge either though what she asked them to do made him squirm slightly given what his reason for choosing Brazil was. Maybe the two fourth years would think it was sweet as they were Teppenpaw girls? And Jozua probably wouldn't be rude about it either. He listened as the younger boy gave his ideas.

The fifth year spoke next. "I'm Owen Brockert and I um," His face flushed, "joined this group because Jemima did." He hoped nobody would laugh at that. He might not have signed up for the fair at all if she hadn't. Owen rarely joined anything that Jemima wasn't in except Fundraising Committee because helping others was something he really liked. The only other activity he was in was Art Club because Jemima was running it with Ginger.

He wasn't too sure how his next suggestion would go over either. Jozua was clearly the adventurous type and Lily from what he understood was as well. "Can we maybe have something for less physically inclined and less adventurous too?" This wasn't just because of his asthma either, there were others who just plain didn't like that kind of thing. "Like we can sort of do the maze but like have different...rooms to visit. Maybe one with samba dancing, one with food, one with information on some other aspect of Brazilian culture. Like, um making Carnival headdresses." That would probably appeal to Jemima's artistic nature. "And since the maze is decorated like the rain forest we can have little notes that talk about the plants and animals of the rain forest." Owen suggested.

11 Owen Brockert Suggestions 300 Owen Brockert 0 5

Wu Peizhi

January 12, 2017 5:19 PM

Following along. by Wu Peizhi

It was a group full of almost exclusively Teppenpaws, led by the Teppenpaw Head of House. Nothing to be nervous about.

No matter how many times she repeated these things to herself, Wu found herself a little uncomfortable going into the fair group meeting. She was grateful to have Abby with her, and was also grateful they had agreed on doing Professor Xavier’s group; those factors did well to lend her some relief. But she didn’t really know the other members, and all of them except Jozua Sparks were from families she was meant to know. To a skittish little pureblood who now habitually disappointed her father, that was a bit intimidating. Owen Brockert was in fact technically related to her in some way or another, since he shared the same last name as Wu’s brother-in-law Adam. Maybe to that end she should have been less nervous with him since she didn’t have to report on the Brockert family as much, but the possibility of the proximity negated any solace she could have found.

Seated next to Abby, she listened to their groupmates introduce themselves and begin suggesting ideas. After about half of them had gone, Wu took a deep breath and made herself speak. “I am Wu Peizhi,” she introduced. “And I joined this group because it was the one Abby and I both found interesting to do together.” She glanced nervously to her roommate for support before going on. “And also, I think that as an international student, it is such a honor to attend such a nice and supportive school, so I wanted to help bring another culture to attention, too.”

Wu gave a weak smile. “I really like the rainforest idea that Jozua gave, but I wonder how much space is too much? So maybe it should be not a maze but just a short path? With the notes like Owen said,” she added, incorporating another suggestion.

12 Wu Peizhi Following along. 316 Wu Peizhi 0 5

Abigail De La Garza

January 19, 2017 6:50 PM

Supporting. by Abigail De La Garza

As it turned out, all but one of the students who had signed up for Brazil were Teppenpaws and Abby supposed this might have something to do with the fact that it was their Head of House who was running the booth. It must be nice for Professor Xavier to know that he was popular among the students in his house, since he was part of the reason that she and Wu had agreed to sign up for this country.

She didn’t know any of the other students signed up awfully well, besides Wu of course, but Jemima and Owen were in her classes so it would be a nice opportunity to get to know them better, as well as meet new people.

Abby felt rather embarrassed that she didn’t have any particular reason for joining this booth, not like Jemima and Jozua did anyway, but this worry faded when Owen spoke. He’d only signed up because his girlfriend had, which was sweet, and Abby felt relieved. But then he followed that confession up with some fantastic ideas (although she didn’t see how learning about a country’s food and things could be unadventurous), which was good for the booth but not so much for Abby who didn’t want to sound unhelpful by lacking ideas herself. But that was a selfish outlook and she should know better than to assume people would think that. There were many different ways she could contribute to the fair booth and she would definitely make sure to put in as much effort as everyone else.

Surprisingly it was Wu who spoke next. Her roommate was a shy girl so it was nice to see her put herself forward. She didn’t just offer the basic introduction of herself but said some really nice things about Sonora and contributed the pool of suggestions.

“I’m Abby De La Garza,” Abby said, smiling at Wu who had sort of already introduced her. “Yes, like Wu said, we think Brazil sounds like an interesting country to do. I don’t know much about Brazil so I think doing this booth will be a fun way to learn about it.”

“I do know a little samba dancing though,” she admitted, although her knowledge of that dancing style was limited so she was a little reluctant to put herself forward for it. Her mother had been a professional dancer back in the day, although not a samba dancer of course. Thus she had been keen for Abby to learn to dance from a very young age and she had covered a range of dancing styles over the years, some much more thoroughly than others. The truth of that matter was that Abby was nothing like her mother - as their contrasting figures suggested, Abby lacked the graceful beauty that Citali De La Garza still possessed even now. But she was a good dancer, thanks to all the dance classes her mother had put her through, and she did enjoy it most of the time - just not as much as her mother would have hoped.

“I really like these ideas,” Abby smiled. “But Wu makes a good point. We probably won’t have enough space for a real maze, so if we could just make different paths for each focus then I think this could work.”

8 Abigail De La Garza Supporting. 315 Abigail De La Garza 0 5

Lily Spencer

February 04, 2017 12:04 PM

Jumping in. by Lily Spencer

After Lily had signed up for Brazil, she had done some of her own research beforehand. Though she'd initially joined just because Jozua had, the more she looked into it, the more she knew she was going to enjoy this booth. Brazil seemed so exotic compared to the other countries she'd visited; she'd never been to South America, but she really wanted to see what a rainforest looked like.

She was the only Pecari in this group, but it didn't bother Lily one bit. She didn't know the names of her fellow members except Jemima and Jozua, but it would be nice to make friends who were older than her. She was excited to be working with them.

Lily arrived a little early and waved at Jozua when he came in. She was very glad to be in the same group as her best friend, especially when they were working on a country that had the potential to be rather adventurous. Jemima seemed to be keen on organisation, which was brilliant for someone who didn't care much for those things, and Lily let the others introduce themselves. She was a little surprised at Owen's honest answer, and she guessed Jemima and Owen were either dating or best friends.

When it came to her, Lily sat up a bit straighter. "I'm Lily Spencer, and I joined first because Jozua did, but Brazil's a really interesting country. Everyone's ideas sound brilliant, but I'd like to bring in an exotic plant or animal - if it's possible." She quickly glanced at Professor Xavier knowing he was the only one who could practically make that happen. "I love the idea of different rooms," she continued. "Maybe instead of a big maze with different rooms, since we won't have the space, we could create a smaller sort of maze with different paths encompassing the different aspects of Brazil we want to include. It doesn't have to be complicated or big by any means, but I think a maze might be fun and unique."

40 Lily Spencer Jumping in. 357 Lily Spencer 0 5