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My reasons to THANK 2020
This year is almost gone, and I have seen many people glad for it, having considered this year awful in many ways. However, some are looking for the good and being grateful for the lessons and opportunities that came out from the crises. To some extent, we are all hopeful for the next year to be a better one. 2020 came to shake and destabilize our bases. We understood that we do not have much control over our plans or how things will happen. Everyone was impacted differently through this pandemic, but we all had to review many things in our lives. For me, it would already be a different…
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The best Christmas I have ever had
Natal, Noel, Navidad, Christmas. I have celebrated many Christmas eve in my life, sometimes with my family and sometimes with other people’s family. However, I believed that in 2020 I would spend the worst Christmas Eve ever, locked in my room in the university, watching a movie as on an ordinary night. I was entirely wrong. A few weeks after having accepted this sad destiny, my grandmother comes to my mind. She left us this year, this means that I will never see her again, and I will never spend another Christmas with her, but she taught me one thing that I will keep forever. My grandmother was a very…
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So, it is Christmas…
Christmas is one of the holidays I like the most. In fact, it is my favorite. In addition to celebrating the birth of the Master Jesus, this time brings a terrific energy of communion, harmony, and love. I feel that people are closer and with a more open heart. It would be great if it were like this all year. I love the get-togethers, from the Santa secret at work, schools and among friends (what I love the most) to family reunions and, of course, the delicious feast of Christmas. I love to meet relatives, exchange gifts, and socialize with the people I love. For a lot of people, unfortunately,…
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A gringo in São Paulo
Gringo/gringa = person not born in Brazil, irrespective of their origin, skin colour, religion, etc; foreigner When somebody mentions Brazil, the majority of people think of warm weather, never-ending beaches, football or the Carnival. For me, a Romanian who visited Brazil twice, lived in a Brazilian household and volunteered in a NGO, Brazil means all these things and even more. This post talks about my experience in the largest city in Brazil and South America by population. Background I have always been fascinated by travelling and knowing more about other cultures. When an AIESEC opportunity to volunteer in São Paulo came up, I couldn’t say no. I decided to go…
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La voilà : rapport d’une brésilienne en France !
Je suis arrivée en Rennes début septembre 2019. J’avais hâte de commencer un nouveau départ en découvrant une nouvelle culture et un nouveau style de vie. Je me disais que les français ne font que boire du vin et manger du pain avec du fromage tous les jours, en profitant en permanence de la ‘belle vie’. Cette idée/image, même stéréotypée, est réductrice (inspirée par les films hollywoodiens). Elle a servi quand même pour me convaincre de quitter l’Irlande, à la recherche d’une vie plus tranquille et amusante. Je n’ai jamais été déçue. Depuis mon arrivée, en tant qu’étudiante, j’en ai bien profité pour étudier, apprendre la langue française et m’amuser…
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My 3/30 days Ramadan experience
Since a child, I have learned quite a lot of nonsense about Arabic culture. Now I have been able to realize with my own eyes how misled I have been. In a nutshell, we are used to hearing in the Media and even at school of how backward the Arabic’s are, how they do not respect women, by limiting their freedom, and how dangerous they are to the world. It only by getting out of our comfort zones and getting to know a few of them to start question one thing: who are the backward people? Honestly, I was not far away from thinking that way. Nevertheless, once in France…
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Comfort zone: jump out!
Do you know when is the time to change? Not too far from today, in 2019 I occupied a relatively good position in a multinational Brazilian company, position in which I worked hard to achieve. And still I had great chances of promotion and the possibility of building a successful career in Corporate Communication. I had nice coworkers and a loving boss whom I admire a lot. I proudly lived with my mother, whom I have an adorable relationship, full of respect for each other. Furthermore, I got a couple of lovely friends who have always supported me. In sum, I had everything one needs to be happy, but I…
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Like old sailors: I chose to face my fears!
If three years ago someone had told me that in April 2020, we will be living on a situation of enclosure, I would have never believed. Living confined with no human contacts sounds even now unreal. On the bright side, this current situation has given me enough time to travel back in time to record a moment when I had a chance to travel around Europe during an entire month all alone, enjoying a time of freedom that now more than ever I reckon it priceless. So, today be my guest in this trip in old and crazy memories. Having lived in Dublin for more than a year working as…
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Dublin through the eyes of a Brazilian filmmaker
My name is Raquel Freire, 30, I am a journalist with a specialization in Business Communications. Last year, in 2019, I decided to change my career and my life. I want to become a filmmaker and follow my purpose in life. On January this year I came to Dublin in order to improve my English. Since I intend to take a master’s course abroad, I need a very good score at IELTS Exam. Living in Brazil would have been more difficult to learn and would take more time for me to achieve it. Therefore, here I am. I researched among English-spoken countries around the world, USA, Canada, New Zealand, but…
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Coronavirus: What is in the air?
Regardless what is going on ‘almost’ everywhere in the world, we are all striving to keep on going. Every day, I woke up, brush my teeth, put on clothes, some days make-up, some days, even before combing my hair I move to my office, just beside by bed, to start my online classes. I have lost track of how many cups of coffees and tea I have been taking per day, and how crazy I must look like when singing “All by myself, don`t want to be. All by myself, anymore”. Notice it has been only 3 weeks so far. All this conversation going on made me have a dream…
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London: Love at the first sight
Traveling abroad has been always a dream for me. I was born in a very small city in Bahia where traveling inside the borders was not so easy, even worse offshore. January 17th, 2014 was the day when I arrived in London for the first time. It was also my first international experience, so you can imagine how excited I was. In this article, I will summarize to you what this experience meant to me. My life before London I used to live with my mum and my sister in São Paulo. We did not have our own house and I had just finished college. Even though I had a…
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Relationships: heaven and hell on earth
“Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the only one who seeks out another. His nature – if that word can be used in reference to man, who has ‘invented’ himself by saying ‘no’ to nature – consists in his longing to realize himself in another. Man is nostalgia and a search for communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another, that is, of his solitude.” Octavio Paz Relationships are a subject of great interest to me. The first time I started thinking about relationships was when I was in college and I read The Labyrinth of the…
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The day I could not stop crying in Ireland
Living abroad involves peculiar and remarkable situations. This article is rather a short report written 2 years ago when as I couldn’t restrain tears from washing my face, I described for the first time what it had meant to me living so far away from home. This article is republished in the hope you, by reading it, can have a taste of what means to get out of the comfort zone to face the unknown, even if this ‘unknown’ has been already part of our reality.
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Teach your language in France: application is open
Have been waiting for an opportunity to live in France? So, this is your great chance. The French Government accepts now applications from students wiling to become a Foreign language assistant in France. To participate, you need to: Be a native speaker of the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, German, Hebrew, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish) Be enrolled in higher education in your home country Age between 20 and 30 years (35 years for some states) Proof level B1 of French, on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages The eligibility criteria vary according to each country, so it is fundamental to check the rules that apply in or case.…
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Take your time to deeply get to know yourself
One of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time—taking time to be more fully present (Oprah Winfrey) I am used to listening to this quote every day in Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations, which I highly recommend. Even though I have always agreed, I have never allowed me to have a time for myself. Of course, I have free time and holidays, but I always used them to have fun (entertainment), be with my friends or family. So, I truly never used my time to do ‘nothing’ other than feel my own self. In June, the family I work for came to me and said that they would not…
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10 lessons I learnt by 30
There are few things in life we can say we know for sure: we are all going to die is one of them. As we experience situations, we learn something. Here, in this article, I am going to share with you some lessons I have learnt from my own experience. They are not things I read, or somebody told me. These lessons have changed the way I see life and my position through it. Consequently, my life has improved and I hope to help you to expand your mind and improve yours. Everything is possible! Yes, absolutely everything. Never believe when someone tells you that your dreams, your projects, or…
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Time Capsule – capturing 2020 challenge the Covid19
Presenting the Time capsule Time is relative. What we feel and experience today, no matter how good or how difficult it is, might not have the same importance for us tomorrow. Especially the pain and the fear may seem unbearable now when we live and feel them, but when it comes to pass, the distance gives us the chance to see the big picture and a more clear and realistic perspective on the situation. This year is marked with a couple of global challenges and calls for a need for change and adaptation. One of the most discussed topics is the Coronavirus that has spread worldwide causing panic, chaos, quarantine,…
