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.
However, I have been living here for almost two years and life has never been tired of surprising me with the Irish people’s kindness. I shall start off telling you about this Irish family who hosted me for more than a year, providing me with accommodation, food, the warmth of a real family and two little boys that I just love so much. They were never tired of supporting me all the time, celebrating my achievements, as if they were members of my family, even when I made terrible mistakes.
When I finally felt it was about time I moved out, giving them back their space and privacy, they not only accepted my decision as they made it clear that their house doors would be always open to me, just in case. Besides, I have worked as a caretaker for elderly people and, during many shifts, I had the pleasure to meet ladies whom I shared my life stories, culture and daily events that they heard attentively as if they could not miss a single word. After spending more than three months off the job, when I returned, I was received with a wide smile and a curious expression of relief for seeing me back from all of them.
Having finished a cleaning job that I covered for a friend, this Irish lady came and surprisingly hugged me saying “thank you” for my help. I was at a standstill. Where on earth does this happen? In Brazil? Certainly not. I just felt over the moon.
And tonight, there it came this sweet woman to whom I drop her little loving boy at school in the mornings. She sat down beside me, looked deeply in my eyes, holding my hand, and said that her house had its doors open if one day I needed a place to stay, that she was deeply grateful for my help and that I could always count on them.
I have worked tirelessly to achieve my career goals, keep studying English, travel around Europe and, finally, save enough money to enroll in a master course. Who knows me here, has seen my efforts and hard work. I did everything to make a living, from looking after children plus elderly people to clean people’s houses; jobs I would have never taken on in my own country, and, speaking honestly, I have questioned my decision many times.
Nevertheless, I realized tonight that I am so proud of all the jobs I have been doing that I feel spreading around. I feel fulfilled and grateful for the trust and affection I received from people of all ages. Affection in which I am not sure I deserve, nevertheless I take it. I reckon now that the big payoff I had was these wonderful people that happened to cross my way; only God knows the reasons why.
I could easily write an entire book about each one of them in such detail, but tonight I just to say thanks to all of them and encourage my friends, colleagues, and those who have cultivated the dream of traveling abroad to come along. Thanks, Ireland, Thanks a million Irish people!
PS: Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes – It is 2:40 after all.
About this article:
This article was first written and published on the LinkedIn platform in 2017. This version has suffered very little modifications to improve its grammar and correctness.
Patricia Costa Freire
I am Patricia, 28 years old. A Journalist doing a master in International Management at IGR-IAE, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France @paty.costa.freire
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