24. Aug. 2014
An exchange program starts a long time before the first day in your “new home”. It has all the process of selection, the documents you need to send to many institutions, the organization of your things, buying everything you are going to need, etc.
But this is all in your home, with your family and friends supporting you. The hard part starts when you need to take that plane alone, to go to a place you don’t know, with people that are going to be your family for one year,
This was one of the most terrifying days in my whole life, I had never felt so scared, happy, desperate and lonely. I texted my friends and family till the last second I had before going into the plane. I was crying since I left Porto Alegre. It was a mixture of being the best and the worst day ever, I was leaving home to realise a dream.
I left Porto Alegre during the afternoon. My boyfriend tok me to the airport and some friends met us there. My family couldn’t go, because they live very far). I was doing great, but when they said, “you need to go inside” something paralysed me, I could not go, I wasn’t strong enogh to do this all by my own. It took me a few minutes to have courage to finally say goodbye and go.
I think I’ll always cry remembering this day.
When I arrived in São Paulo I had to stop crying and figure out what I needed to do, all because I had arrived in one airport and my flight to London was in another one. I did it, I don’t know exactly how, I found the bus. It was evening, the city was “empty” because it was Sunday, and in about 45 minutes I was running in Guarulhos, waiting in the huge line for the passport control, paying a lot of money for m last “pão de queijo” and Guarana, and looking for a place to sit, wait and talk with everyone.
The flight was normal, I slept almost all the time, the food was okay, and after long hours I finally arrived in London.
THAT’S HOW MY ONE YEAR ABROAD STARTED.
But this is all in your home, with your family and friends supporting you. The hard part starts when you need to take that plane alone, to go to a place you don’t know, with people that are going to be your family for one year,
This was one of the most terrifying days in my whole life, I had never felt so scared, happy, desperate and lonely. I texted my friends and family till the last second I had before going into the plane. I was crying since I left Porto Alegre. It was a mixture of being the best and the worst day ever, I was leaving home to realise a dream.
I left Porto Alegre during the afternoon. My boyfriend tok me to the airport and some friends met us there. My family couldn’t go, because they live very far). I was doing great, but when they said, “you need to go inside” something paralysed me, I could not go, I wasn’t strong enogh to do this all by my own. It took me a few minutes to have courage to finally say goodbye and go.
I think I’ll always cry remembering this day.
When I arrived in São Paulo I had to stop crying and figure out what I needed to do, all because I had arrived in one airport and my flight to London was in another one. I did it, I don’t know exactly how, I found the bus. It was evening, the city was “empty” because it was Sunday, and in about 45 minutes I was running in Guarulhos, waiting in the huge line for the passport control, paying a lot of money for m last “pão de queijo” and Guarana, and looking for a place to sit, wait and talk with everyone.
The flight was normal, I slept almost all the time, the food was okay, and after long hours I finally arrived in London.
THAT’S HOW MY ONE YEAR ABROAD STARTED.
27. Aug. 2014
I arrived in Nottingham late at night in the 25th. Chintia took me at the coach station and let me stay with her for a few days, for me to get to know the city, make my register (wich I couldn’t do now) and leave something that I don’t need to travel.
I’m going to travel for a while before the classes start. I’m missing my friend Johanna, so I’m going to visit her and one family’s friend, then I’ll go alone to Prague and Berlin, I CAN’T WAI FOR IT!!! Yesterday I walked in the city centre, I’m in love with the city, everything is so beautiful and the sun is so bright, I feel like everything is saying, “WELCOME ANA”. Today I went to the Arboretum Park, is close to Uni, full of trees and the weather was perfect to sit and read a book, and that’s what I did the whole day. I love fall, all the colours, it makes everything look even more beautiful and charming, and it’s making my first days here special. I CAN’T WAI FOR THIS YEAR. |
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29. Aug. 2014
I finally met Johanna again. It’s been two year since she left Brazil (when she finished her exchange). I was so used to have her almost every day at my house that is really nice to meet her family and see her life in Austria.
They are very nice with me, everyone speaks English and teach me some words in german and somethings about their culture. She lives (her family) very close to the border with Germany, so we went by bicycle to Passau, Germany, where the Danube river starts. It is a very charming city, very European. Hahahah
We watched a concert in the church with the biggest organ in Europe (if I can record), the food was amazing, the ice cream made my day and even the rain during the afternoon didn’t ruin our tour.
It was a hot day with a refreshing wind, sunny almost all the time. I finished the day exhausted, thank God her mom picked us to go home by car.
They are very nice with me, everyone speaks English and teach me some words in german and somethings about their culture. She lives (her family) very close to the border with Germany, so we went by bicycle to Passau, Germany, where the Danube river starts. It is a very charming city, very European. Hahahah
We watched a concert in the church with the biggest organ in Europe (if I can record), the food was amazing, the ice cream made my day and even the rain during the afternoon didn’t ruin our tour.
It was a hot day with a refreshing wind, sunny almost all the time. I finished the day exhausted, thank God her mom picked us to go home by car.
05. Sep.2014
It is my last day in Austria. It is weird to think that this was my first country that I visi in Europe and I have the feeling is going to be my favorite.
Since I got here I was very welcome by everyone, not just by Johanna’s family, but also by her friends (actually one of them were really rude and said I should speak in german. He didn’t speak with me, I ignored him), and everyone else we met. Some people actuall though I was Italian (wich, according to Johanna, is a compliment, because Italian girls tend to be pretty). I already went to so many places, Johanna’s hometown (Schardenbeg) and the surroundings (Scharding, Passau). We also went to the mountains, where her family has a house (Ebensee). In the way we passed by Gmuden ( a lovely small town by a lake) where I had their typical sausage with xucrute and bread (also a German dish), and I love it. We went to Hallstatt, this amazing little village in between the lake and the mountain, it looks like a fairy tale place. In there is also the oldest salt mine in the world, where I saw one of the most amazing views ever. |
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Back to her hometown, I spent one more day with her family, I met her oldest sister that doesn’t live with them, and we had a family lunch with some typical meatballs and smash potatoes and salads, all delicious.
In the next day we went by day to Linz, where we spent the day sightseeing. I had a lot of fun and had more amazing typical food. By the end of th day, Johanna and I went to Vienna, where we spent the last few days. Such an amazing city, with so many nica places to visit and see. The public transport is good and quite cheap.
Johanna called her friends to come over to her apartment and I did caipirinha for them to try. One of the worst caipirinhas I’ve ever done, we just had brown sugar. But as they had never had a good one, they love it and drank a lot.
Now I’m going back to Nottingham to make my police registration and in a few days I’m going to visit a family’s friend in Switzerland (I can’t wait to eat chocolate)
In the next day we went by day to Linz, where we spent the day sightseeing. I had a lot of fun and had more amazing typical food. By the end of th day, Johanna and I went to Vienna, where we spent the last few days. Such an amazing city, with so many nica places to visit and see. The public transport is good and quite cheap.
Johanna called her friends to come over to her apartment and I did caipirinha for them to try. One of the worst caipirinhas I’ve ever done, we just had brown sugar. But as they had never had a good one, they love it and drank a lot.
Now I’m going back to Nottingham to make my police registration and in a few days I’m going to visit a family’s friend in Switzerland (I can’t wait to eat chocolate)
09. Sep.2014
Now I have my police registration and my parents feel more comfortable about me traveling with it and my VISA. I still have a few days until the beginning of my classes, and until there I’m going to travel a lot.
I arrived in Zurich during the afternoon, where Dirce and her fiancé (Henrique) went to pic me. They live in a small town, about 4 hours of Zurich. We arrived in their apartment quiet late and I was starving. They said that we were going to have dinner at home, and to my surprise Henrique is a chef (he likes to cook as a hobby). He made some Swiss potatoes with sausages and broccolis. But not just that, they had ice cream for dessert and in “my room” they left a lot of chocolate and a small note welcoming me.
I wasn’t expecting all that. Dirce asked her vacations at her work to travel with me while I am here. She is being so sweet that I already told my parents to buy a really nice present to her when she goes to Brazil.
I arrived in Zurich during the afternoon, where Dirce and her fiancé (Henrique) went to pic me. They live in a small town, about 4 hours of Zurich. We arrived in their apartment quiet late and I was starving. They said that we were going to have dinner at home, and to my surprise Henrique is a chef (he likes to cook as a hobby). He made some Swiss potatoes with sausages and broccolis. But not just that, they had ice cream for dessert and in “my room” they left a lot of chocolate and a small note welcoming me.
I wasn’t expecting all that. Dirce asked her vacations at her work to travel with me while I am here. She is being so sweet that I already told my parents to buy a really nice present to her when she goes to Brazil.
14. Sep.2014
My days in Switzerland finished. I can’t describe in words how amazing and expensive everything was. I didn’t spent a penny there, because my hosts didn’t allowed me to do. They even paid for my souvenirs, which I still feel weird about. I had good food every single meal of the day. We went to Lucerne, Zurich, Liechtenstein, to a lake close to their town (with such a blue water) and they also took me to the alp, to see the Matterhorn (Toblerone Mountain).
My favourite place was the city where you can see the mountain. There is no car there, just those small electric cars for one person. You can only access there by train and it looks like a painting. The day was sunny with not a single cloud in the sky. It was a little bit cold, but the sun helped to feel better. We could see the whole mountain. From now on I’m traveling on my own. This is my first time in Europe and my first time traveling without no one else. It’s going to be a big experience, having to take care of myself, finding everything that I want, talking with people, etc. For one week, I’m going to be my best friend. |
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17. Sep .2014
I spent the last days in Prague. Prague was the city that I had to go first, I had a big crush on it, just by looking at pictures. And I was not wrong about loving that place. It is the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen, looks like it came out of a fairy tale.
Everything helped for my days there being the most amazing ones, my dad paid for a really nice hotel, from where I could do everything walking, the weather was perfect, not a single cloud in the sky, not too hot and not too could. The building are an indescribable perfection along with the colours of my favourite season of the year, autumn, the pictures and my memories from there couldn’t be better. My favourite place in Prague was the main square, where there was a lot of people doing street art, selling handcrafts and street food. I went there every day to see what was going on. One day there were a couple, just married, dancing in the middle of the crowd, taking pictures and looking like they were the happiest people in the world. The other day there was a guy singing with such a soft and beautiful voice, that I stood there listening and eating my traditional sweet bread, Ceske Trdlo. Now I’m going to Berlin, a big city with only two and a half day to visit. I can’t wait to see what I’ll find there. |
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21. Sep. 2014
Berlin surprised me. To be honest I wasn’t expecting nothing more than simple museums and a big city. But when I arrived there I realized that the whole city breathes history, there is nowhere to go that you will not feel the presence of their dark past, that you will not feel sorry for all those people who died because of other people.
The city is beautiful, easy to go from one place to another, the food is great and the people were really nice with me. I’m back from my adventures and the year at Uni is finally starting. This week is going to be the fresher’s week, with parties every single day for all the fist years and us, international students. I’m excited to see what I’m going to face during this year in a new place, with people I’ve never seen before, in another language, trying to go back to Brazil a better person and hopefully a better architect. |
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29. Sep. 2014
The fresher’s week was amazing. I couldn’t imagine myself as a fresher again, but it made me remember how much fun I had when I was fresher in Brazil. We had parties every day, in each of the clubs of the city, with different themes. I didn’t go to all parties, because I don’t have that much energy.
During this week, we got to know the Uni, the places that I would study etc. We did not do much apart from being welcomed in many different places. The Uni, from the International department, in the accommodation…
But the best part of the week was my first trial to the Archery Society that they have here. Nottingham is the city of Robin Hood, and everyone knows that he was good with archery, so I thought that I should at least try. For my own surprise I had a lot of fun and I was not that bad after all, so I decided to keep on going for the training as long as I enjoy.
During this week, we got to know the Uni, the places that I would study etc. We did not do much apart from being welcomed in many different places. The Uni, from the International department, in the accommodation…
But the best part of the week was my first trial to the Archery Society that they have here. Nottingham is the city of Robin Hood, and everyone knows that he was good with archery, so I thought that I should at least try. For my own surprise I had a lot of fun and I was not that bad after all, so I decided to keep on going for the training as long as I enjoy.
04. Oct. 2014
Uni is going well, we are starting our fist “project” that is a book about the area that the other projects are going to be placed. I don’t like the idea of losing my time doing this, it feels like I could do something more related to architecture than a book. But I’m open to this, and I’m trying my best to do something with architecture and still a nice book.
But the greatest part of the week was the Goose fair :D For the ones who doesn’t know, “The Nottingham Goose Fair is an annual travelling funfair held at the Forest Recreation Ground in Nottingham, England, during the first week of October.”(WIKIPEDIA) And it is AMAZING, but too expensive. We had toffee apple, sweets and my flatmate (Ella) and I went to the biggest and tallest rides of the fair. It was freezing up there and it went so fast that I could hardly breath, but it was worth it. We had a lot of fun and everyone else went to other rides. |
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21. Oct. 2014
I had already finish my first project design, and know I feel better to talk about the University and how my year is going to be, academically.
As an international student that had already started studying architecture 2 years ago in Brazil, I was allocated in the 2nd year here, that is the middle of the graduation (it last 3 years and then they keep on studying, masters, etc). Basically, I’m during four modules here. Design Studio that is design things according to the brief. Architecture in Context 2, that is history of modern architecture (and really don’t want to do this one as I’m already done 4 modules of this in Brazil). Technology that is for us to understand how the buildings work, about structure and comfort. And, last one is Interdisciplinary Design, that we don’t know exactly what it is, but know we are having some lectures about urban planning, so I believe that is going to be about this our brief. |
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Since the begging of the year some things already happened that it is nice to mention, or not that nice. First we did a book for design studio, and the only thing good about it is that now I know how it works here. We where separated in groups, and each group has a tutor, that will change after the Christmas break. My tutor is this sweet old man from USA, that really helps me and understands me (I think he does). He is very smart when it comes about architecture and doing it very logical, but he can’t do photocopies of our reviews on his own.
For Tech we had an awkward situation. We are in around 25 Brazilian Students in a class of 100 people. But we are not part of that class, so we feel like Gavin (the teacher of the module) is treating us differently. The first thing he did with us was calling us all to the front of the class and saying to the other students to form groups, and those groups should have one or two of the Brazilian students. I was lucky that my group was nice with me and could really help them with the work, but some of my friends had some problems.
Well, the Uni itself is amazing, but I’ll talk about it any other day.
For Tech we had an awkward situation. We are in around 25 Brazilian Students in a class of 100 people. But we are not part of that class, so we feel like Gavin (the teacher of the module) is treating us differently. The first thing he did with us was calling us all to the front of the class and saying to the other students to form groups, and those groups should have one or two of the Brazilian students. I was lucky that my group was nice with me and could really help them with the work, but some of my friends had some problems.
Well, the Uni itself is amazing, but I’ll talk about it any other day.
26. Oct. 2014
Yesterday we went to the Robin Hood Pageant. That is described by the organizers as: “Every autumn, during the October half term weekend, Nottingham Castle plays host to the two-day Robin Hood Pageant, re-creating an atmosphere of a time long past. The grounds of Nottingham Castle will be transformed into a medieval village encampment complete with a range of colourful characters allowing you travel back in time to the 12th Century”.
It is like going back in time, everyone is dressed like in medieval times, they had music played for the atmosphere be even more realistic, and some weird food and even the king was there. We spent the afternoon there enjoying this funny and different day, and at the end of the day, they has a big show with Robin Hood and all the other characters from the history. |
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31. Oct. 2014
The end of October in here comes with the American tradition of the Halloween Parties.
As I was told, Halloween is short of new here, and most people didn’t had it when they where younger. Sweets or tricks was not part of the British childhood s few years ago. Now is still something minor, but teenagers always find any excuse to have some parties, and here in Nottingham it seems like every day they have a different one. The only thing different about Halloween here is that people dress up like monsters, witches or any other costume that might be related with some short of fear or terror film. But the parties where pretty much the same as any other that they have every week. Still, I had lots of fun, I love to see how people can be creative when it comes to have an unique costume. |
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I always wanted to go to a Halloween party, as in Brazil this is not such a big deal and costume parties are not as common as in Nottingham (I don’t know about the rest of the UK, but here every Wednesday they go out with some kind of costume related to the society they are part of).
We went to the Bar Crawl (the event of every Wednesday) and to another party on Friday, and it was hard to decide how I was going to dress up to every party. At the end I manage to do really good make ups, so my clothes weren’t that important, and I had fun dancing.
The olny thing I wish we had done was going to houses asking for sweets, but my friends said that we were too old for that and that probably people weren’t expecting for that and wouldn’t have anything for us.
We went to the Bar Crawl (the event of every Wednesday) and to another party on Friday, and it was hard to decide how I was going to dress up to every party. At the end I manage to do really good make ups, so my clothes weren’t that important, and I had fun dancing.
The olny thing I wish we had done was going to houses asking for sweets, but my friends said that we were too old for that and that probably people weren’t expecting for that and wouldn’t have anything for us.
12. Nov. 2014
Today we had the Spaghetti Bridge contest in our tech class.
The main purpose was to design a strong and good looking bridge, made only with spaghetti and glue (any kind). There would be two winners, the most beautiful one and the one that had better ratio between the weight of the bridge and the weight supported.
We were in groups of 5, and had a few days to do it. Me and other 4 girls decided that we would try to make the bridge strong instead of beautiful. Obviously, we wouldn’t do an ugly one, but the focus would be not breaking it quickly.
Our bridge weight 316g and hold 8,5kg without breaking.
When all the bridges were already broken we were waiting for the results, as our bridge manage to hold a lot of weight we were positive. When our tutor said that we won it, felt so good. All the tree best bridges were from a Brazilian or Chinese group. Our tutor made a really bad face, as he was unhappy with the result. But we couldn’t be happier, by winning we proved to him that we do know somethings, that we are not stupid as we felt he thought of us. That as he said “all those calculus that the Brazilians do” were not useless.
The main purpose was to design a strong and good looking bridge, made only with spaghetti and glue (any kind). There would be two winners, the most beautiful one and the one that had better ratio between the weight of the bridge and the weight supported.
We were in groups of 5, and had a few days to do it. Me and other 4 girls decided that we would try to make the bridge strong instead of beautiful. Obviously, we wouldn’t do an ugly one, but the focus would be not breaking it quickly.
Our bridge weight 316g and hold 8,5kg without breaking.
When all the bridges were already broken we were waiting for the results, as our bridge manage to hold a lot of weight we were positive. When our tutor said that we won it, felt so good. All the tree best bridges were from a Brazilian or Chinese group. Our tutor made a really bad face, as he was unhappy with the result. But we couldn’t be happier, by winning we proved to him that we do know somethings, that we are not stupid as we felt he thought of us. That as he said “all those calculus that the Brazilians do” were not useless.
22. Nov. 2014
Christmas is almost here. I can’t believe that it’s been 3 months now since I left Brazil. It’s being such an amazing experience, I’ve already been to so many places, made so many friends, tried different things… But during Christmas time it’s harder not to think about my family and not to feel homesick.
But I’ll try to enjoy this clod Christmas, all the Christmas fairs and its delicious food and great handcrafts. All the lights, the decorations and the people, that look happy despite the cold. Here in Nottingham the old market square is already full of all that I mentioned (since the 21th), and they also have this big ice rink with a huge Christmas tree in the middle. I’d never done this before, but on the 22th I manage not to fall for the whole hour. Well, almost the whole hour, because I had to leave earlier because of my screwed up ankle. Anyway I had fun, the girls felt sometimes, and it was funny to see our British friends being clumsier than us. |
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We also decorated our flat with paper snowflakes. Another thing that we don’t do in Brazil, but here all the kids do, and I get why, it’s amazing. We made a lot, and glued in every window we could find in the flat, even at the door. We could say we were the most Christmas flat in the Maltings. I think I’ll do it every year to decorate my flat in Brazil, to remember my Crhistmas here.
04. Dec. 2014
Finally, the term ended. I just submitted my project and now I have to start organizing everything for our trip. It is also almost the end of the year and I just have to be grateful about everything that had happened to me so far.
One of the things that I haven’t mention yet, but is a big part of my days here is my flat and flatmates. I believe I couldn’t be luckier about this. We are all getting together since almost the first day. We are in 8 (5 Brazilians and 3 British) and Andy, that doesn’t live here, but is always in our flat. The only one that is not that close is Will, but he is ok.
We always have fun together at the kitchen (our meeting point), talk about everything, do work together, even though we don’t do all the same course. We help each other in everything and laugh about our cooking skills. We had some flat lunch, all together, like a family Sunday lunch, some days out to ice skating, etc. And I really hope we keep in contact after this year ends.
One of the things that I haven’t mention yet, but is a big part of my days here is my flat and flatmates. I believe I couldn’t be luckier about this. We are all getting together since almost the first day. We are in 8 (5 Brazilians and 3 British) and Andy, that doesn’t live here, but is always in our flat. The only one that is not that close is Will, but he is ok.
We always have fun together at the kitchen (our meeting point), talk about everything, do work together, even though we don’t do all the same course. We help each other in everything and laugh about our cooking skills. We had some flat lunch, all together, like a family Sunday lunch, some days out to ice skating, etc. And I really hope we keep in contact after this year ends.
11. Dec. 2014
On the 6th December me and the girls started our Christmas break trip. Andy, Thay, Elis and I were traveling together since then. We went to two cities in Germany, Frankfurt and Koln, and today I’m in Paris waiting for my boyfriend to arrive tomorrow.
We started our trip with a long time waiting at the airport, Luton. Our flight was early in the morning and the only way was to spend the night there. I got to say, It was hell uncomfortable, there was also no sit empty, so we sit on the floor, that was cold, for a long while. We found Pedro there, doing the same. Early in the morning, we had breakfast and ran to the gate to catch the plane.
We started our trip with a long time waiting at the airport, Luton. Our flight was early in the morning and the only way was to spend the night there. I got to say, It was hell uncomfortable, there was also no sit empty, so we sit on the floor, that was cold, for a long while. We found Pedro there, doing the same. Early in the morning, we had breakfast and ran to the gate to catch the plane.
FRANKFURT:
Arriving in Frankfurt was weird, the airport was far from the city and the only way out there was by coach, luckily we knew that and had our tickets. From the city centre to our hostel was easy to go, by tram in a few minutes we were there. The hostel was nice, very clean. We left our things there and went sightseeing. The city is beautiful, everywhere, from the most modern skyscraper to the buildings from the 15th. As we went during Christmas time, there was lots of Christmas’ fairs all over the city. And as I am German decent, I love German food, I was feeling home. We had a typical dinner. I had a selection of sausages (Wurst) served with fermented shredded cabbage known as sauerkraut. For drink we had apfelwein (like a cider). The restaurant was very traditional, with all the decoration very German, and the environment was pleasant. KOLN: After Frankfurt, the girls and I went to Koln, known for its beautiful cathedral. We went by coach from Frankfurt to Koln, and as we went during the night we slept most of the time. Arriving at the hostel after struggling to find someone that could help us with information in English, we went to take a shower and sleep. On the next day we went to some of the most important churches in the city, we walked a lot, thankfully the city is not big. From those two days there my biggest memory is how incredibly huge and amazing is the Cathedral, that even though I had heard and seen some pictures of it, being there and looking at it was something that it is hard to describe. We also went to the chocolate museum that I was not expecting to be that nice as it was. I told all the history and importance of the cacao and the chocolate. Also, the brand that provides and sells the chocolate there is Lindt, and we had free chocolate in some parts of the museum. Can you imagine 4 girls with free chocolate?? PARIS: For now I spent just one day and a half in Paris for now, but I already did a lot. I’m staying close to Gare de Lyon (station). Yesterday I arrived to early to do the check in in the hostel, so I went walking, bought a sandwich and went walking without looking to any map or signs. I got really lost, I was hoping to get close to Notre-Dame Cathedral, and I end up at Place the la Nation, totally to the other direction in the map. Well, today I did it right, I went to the Cathedral, looked inside and got amazed of how architecture can move me, actually it paralyzes me more than moves. From there I went to see the Louvre Museum, and the Christmas fair in Champs Elysees, had a delicious hot chocolate and walked to the Triumph Arch. At this point I was already quiet tired, but the Eifel Tower looked so close that I decided to go there. As you can imagine I was wrong and it was a good walk there. It was worth it. I arrived there and the view of the tower made me feel good again. I walked to the closest Metro Station and went back. |
FRANKFURT
KOLN
PARIS
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20. Dec. 2014
My boyfriend arrived on the 12th and we started our trip. After I picked him at the airport in Paris, we want to the train station to take the Euro Night train to Milan. As he was the one responsible for the train tickets I believed that he knew the time for our next train to Savona, where we needed to be at 17:00 to our cruise. He said we had 3 ours left in Milan, so we decided to go and see the Duomo, What happened was that we actually had around 30 minutes, and we missed the train. Thankfully there were trains to Savona almost every 30 minutes and we arrived on time.
We had our reservation to our cruise for one week, passing through Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Napoli, and our last day was in Seville. Obviously we paid for the simplest cabin in the ship, but for some reason our credit card gave us almost for free (around 3 dollar) a good cabin, with a balcony and sofa. I was great, the food was good every day, we made a couple of friends in our dinner table, and one day we also shared their anniversary cake with them. After some nights another couple showed up, but we didn’t like them so we changed our restaurant.
We had our reservation to our cruise for one week, passing through Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Napoli, and our last day was in Seville. Obviously we paid for the simplest cabin in the ship, but for some reason our credit card gave us almost for free (around 3 dollar) a good cabin, with a balcony and sofa. I was great, the food was good every day, we made a couple of friends in our dinner table, and one day we also shared their anniversary cake with them. After some nights another couple showed up, but we didn’t like them so we changed our restaurant.
BARCELONA
One day in Barcelona is not even close of being enough if you are a common tourist, but if you are an architecture student is even worst. As we both study architecture it was hard to choose what not to see. What helped with the decision was the money; students never have all the money they need to everything. To see most of the things we bought those bus tickets Hop on Hop off, that go through all the tourist places. We skipped going inside Gaudi places, because they are all too expensive, but I have to confess that is hard to think that I didn’t see Sagrada Familia inside (I really hope to go back there soon). We spent a lot of time inside Barcelona Pavilion, and it was so worth it, seeing it with my own eyes, touching and realizing that is even more beautiful than I though. I already miss Barcelona, the food, the people, and all the thing that I have left to do, but mostly the sun, that after a heavy rain showed up to make everything look even better. PALMA DE MALORCA
Getting lost in this cute little island was so far the best thing that could had happened with us in that day. First we were following everyone else, going to the touristic places that the map showed us, but then we realizes that it was better to see what the city had to offer us, as there was nothing much to do. We found the best seafood Paella that I have ever had, for a really good price and amazing service. Latter I bought some pearls earrings to my best friend, and we kept on walking in those tinny streets, just enjoying the sunny weather. We also had an amazing Gofre (waffle) with ice cream, and walked at the road that follows the ocean. |
BARCELONA
PALMA DE MALORCA
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NAPOLI
I have to say that I was quite disappointed with Napoli. I was expecting amazing pizza every corner for a good price, gelatos everywhere and something more or less like Palma, with the narrow streets and cheerful people. What happened was that we couldn’t find the amazing pizza everywhere, actually I had a very regular pizza. The traffic there was a chaos, and the Italians seamed stressed.
Maybe we were in a bad luck day, as I heard a lot of people saying that Napoli is amazing, but I really dislike it. Maybe one day I go back and change my mind about it, and find the best pizza in Italy.
I have to say that I was quite disappointed with Napoli. I was expecting amazing pizza every corner for a good price, gelatos everywhere and something more or less like Palma, with the narrow streets and cheerful people. What happened was that we couldn’t find the amazing pizza everywhere, actually I had a very regular pizza. The traffic there was a chaos, and the Italians seamed stressed.
Maybe we were in a bad luck day, as I heard a lot of people saying that Napoli is amazing, but I really dislike it. Maybe one day I go back and change my mind about it, and find the best pizza in Italy.
MARSEILLE
On the other hand, Marseille was an amazing surprise. I was expecting to see unité d'habitation, Le Courbisier, and that’s all. But I is so much more than that, all the new area with the museums and squares, the old cathedral, the little church at the top of the hill, the food, the people, everything was perfect. Even the weather decided that it should be warm in that day. As architecture students, we were in heaven looking at those nice buildings close to the old fortification, all together without being aggressive. The beautiful design of the public area, I could imagine it full of people enjoying the ocean and the sun during the summer. |
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In Seville we just hop off the cruise, almost crying already missing all the comfort we had, took the train to Rome. I don’t know if we missed something not stopping and looking at it, but I’m starting to understand that with 20 years old I still have plenty of time to go back if I want to.
29. Dec. 2014
ROME
I could spent days writing about Rome, how I felt in love with that city. Unfortunately I can’t say it was love at first sight.
I could spent days writing about Rome, how I felt in love with that city. Unfortunately I can’t say it was love at first sight.
Rome is a big city, and we knew that Italy is not the safest place to go. We took the train to Rome and arrived there around 7/8 at night, as is was winter, it was already dark outside. To make our situation better, when we where organizing the trip Josué told me that we where going to arrive there in the next day, so I made the reservation for one day less. In short, we arrive at night with nowhere to go
We decided to go to the hostel and check if they had some beds. It was already hard to find someone that could give us directions, but when we finally arrived there, first we couldn’t find the hostel, and the street looked like it wasn’t safe. I started to get nervous when out of nowhere some men appeared on the other side of the street and one of them decided to come to talk with us. They were drinking and making noise, and as a good Brazilian, I thought the worst. Thankfully, I was wrong and he helped us. The hostel was full; I was still thinking that someone would hurt us if we stay on the street. |
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At the end of the street there was a hotel, we went to spend the night there. The guy at the reception could speak Portuguese and he told us that actually that neighbourhood was safe, that we should keep distance from the train station. After he calmed us we took a shower and went to have dinner. What a present was that dinner, simply the best pizza I’ve ever had. We were around 20min walking from the colosseum, so we went to check our first good view from Rome.
All the other days there where amazing, the weather was good; the food was perfect even the Italians seemed friendly. Getting to visit the Colosseum and Palatino almost made me cry, realizing how small we are and how great the human was so many years ago. In addition, it was pretty much my history classes brought to life; I could listen to my Professor in University talking about the columns, the importance of each building for the Roman society. I was an experience I could never imagine it would touch me that way.
Also, the Vatican made me remember about my family, of how my grandparents would love to be there, and how much I missed them. I thanked God for all the opportunities he gave me, to protect my family and helped my grandparent to get better. Rome was, with no doubt, one of the most incredible cities I’ve ever been.
All the other days there where amazing, the weather was good; the food was perfect even the Italians seemed friendly. Getting to visit the Colosseum and Palatino almost made me cry, realizing how small we are and how great the human was so many years ago. In addition, it was pretty much my history classes brought to life; I could listen to my Professor in University talking about the columns, the importance of each building for the Roman society. I was an experience I could never imagine it would touch me that way.
Also, the Vatican made me remember about my family, of how my grandparents would love to be there, and how much I missed them. I thanked God for all the opportunities he gave me, to protect my family and helped my grandparent to get better. Rome was, with no doubt, one of the most incredible cities I’ve ever been.
FLORENCE
After that we went to Florence to visit our friend Miguel and spend Christmas with him and some other Brazilian students. Florence, as well as almost all Italy is so charming and happy, the weather was great, even though was cold, the sun helped to warm up. Miguel was the best tourist guide we could ever have there, he showed us the whole city, told us about the history of it and was quite specific about some buildings. It was good to see him happy and feeling at home, as this feeling is not something I have for England. As we had agreed with him, he would give us a place to sleep and show us the city and Josué and I would cook the Christmas dinner, well, more Josué than me, but I did the cake. We had to improvise, as we left |
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everything for the last moment, there was no turkey left in any supermarket. He did a stuffed chicken, rice we had some wine (a lot of wine as everyone brought a bottle), and for desert my chocolate cake with wild berries. It was not even close to what all of us were used to have for Christmas, but it was nice to share this with people that were going through the same, and where feeling as homesick as I was.
I couldn’t not mention how I love Panetones and anxious I was to try a real one, made from a good bakery in Italy. I told Miguel that I really needed to eat that, so he bought us in one of the best bakeries in Florence for our Christmas breakfast. I don’t have words to describe how amazing that was, and how sad I am to think that I’ll never have that again.
If only I could live of Italian food without getting weight, I would be the happiest person in the world. Another food that I feel sad to think I can only have again in Florence is one Panino we had one night. To explain it easily, is a better version of Subway, with homemade fresh bread, all kind of Italians hams and cheese, fresh salad and homemade sauces, all together for the perfect combination and the best “sandwich” in the world.
I couldn’t not mention how I love Panetones and anxious I was to try a real one, made from a good bakery in Italy. I told Miguel that I really needed to eat that, so he bought us in one of the best bakeries in Florence for our Christmas breakfast. I don’t have words to describe how amazing that was, and how sad I am to think that I’ll never have that again.
If only I could live of Italian food without getting weight, I would be the happiest person in the world. Another food that I feel sad to think I can only have again in Florence is one Panino we had one night. To explain it easily, is a better version of Subway, with homemade fresh bread, all kind of Italians hams and cheese, fresh salad and homemade sauces, all together for the perfect combination and the best “sandwich” in the world.
VENICE
Saying goodbye to Florence was hard, but Venice was waiting for us. I can’t think a better way to visit Venice than with my boyfriend. Even though the weather wasn’t good as all the other days, that city is so romantic that just walking around was good enough. One of the things that I had settle for Venice was buying an original mask. Since I was young and I saw one of those masks at my friends house I wanted one. My mom gave me two when she went there, but still, I had that feeling that I should choose one. As we passed by a lot of shops I found one that called my attention. We walked in and it was so perfect, every single mask, every detail, I couldn’t choose. I left for the last day so I could think about it. I bought one that is all hand made with fine fabric and feather, all in gold and white, simply beautiful. |
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We went to see the Guggenheim, the Saint Mark's Basilica, walked in the Canals, Piaza San Marco, Ducal Palace… But we weren't expecting for something that the climate was saving for us. In one of the days we went out for a walk, to the main square and the Big Canal. Arriving there I started to feel very cold. Ok, it was winter, but I was dressed like I did in Germany, and still feeling cold. There was nothing we could do about it, we try to run from the inside of the restaurants to shops or somewhere else, Nottingham was helping. Suddenly it started to rain, and obviously I had left our umbrella at the hotel. The only thing we could think about was a hot shower and our bed, but it was raining too much for us to go walking. We paid for those bus/boats they have and went back to the hotel, took a shower and went to bed, trying to warm a little bit.
When we finally manage to get out again it was already dark, and the rain seemed to have stopped for a while. We decided to go out to have dinner, I took our umbrella and when we left it looked like I was still raining a little. I opened the umbrella and realized the rain was falling very slowly. I told Josué “this rain looks weird”, he looked at me “it’s not rain, it’s snowing”. The first time I’ve seen snow in my life was in the most unexpected place, Venice. It didn’t snow enough to be all white in the other day, but still, I was beautiful.
When we finally manage to get out again it was already dark, and the rain seemed to have stopped for a while. We decided to go out to have dinner, I took our umbrella and when we left it looked like I was still raining a little. I opened the umbrella and realized the rain was falling very slowly. I told Josué “this rain looks weird”, he looked at me “it’s not rain, it’s snowing”. The first time I’ve seen snow in my life was in the most unexpected place, Venice. It didn’t snow enough to be all white in the other day, but still, I was beautiful.
1st. Jan. 2015
Is there any better way to finish the year than in Paris? If there is, please let me know, because I think I finish the best year of my life in the best way.
Before the last day of the year to arrive, somethings happened, and they are worth mentioning. Josu and I had talked with Thaynah and Andressa to spend those last days together. We had rent an apartment that is already small for two people, but the girls had some problems with hostels (I think Andy can explain this better) and had to stay with us for 3 nights. With that big mess in a small place, we started our fun days in Paris. We went to the Louvre, to walk around the Christmas fair and have a delicious hot chocolate, we also has crepe everyday more than once, somehow we manage to go up the Eifel Tower by stairs (I have to confess, I almost died), we went to see Villa Savoye and it was closed, we had baguets and some delicious food that Josu made for us in our tiny little kitchen. |
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But the best part of all of this was the last few hours of the year. As everyday we went to the market to buy things to eat and drink. We agreed that having dinner at the apartment was the cheapest idea. We found REAL CHAMPAGNE for 10 euros and Josu made this amazing food with so little that we almost missed the time.
If you don’t know, in Paris the underground is free on the 31th December and 1st January, because at this time of the year they change the prices. We never thought that you wouldn’t be able to go into the underground to get to the Triumph Arch. Well, we never got even close of getting in. When we realized it would be impossible we decided to go to La Basilique du Sacré Cœur, as our apartment was close to it.
Up there we had a view from the city and all the people there were in such a nice mood, everyone was happy, I could hear all languages, from French to something like German, Spanish, Italian and also Portuguese. Everyone was waiting for the countdown. When I heard a champagne popping before the time. It was ours, kind of sad, but still, nothing could ruin that day. When the new year came we were all hugging each other, some people had candles, it was beautiful. Our champagne was a little too big, and Andy and I had to drink almost it all on our own. I can barely remember arriving at the apartment, or listening to the girls leaving in the morning to get their plane.
If you don’t know, in Paris the underground is free on the 31th December and 1st January, because at this time of the year they change the prices. We never thought that you wouldn’t be able to go into the underground to get to the Triumph Arch. Well, we never got even close of getting in. When we realized it would be impossible we decided to go to La Basilique du Sacré Cœur, as our apartment was close to it.
Up there we had a view from the city and all the people there were in such a nice mood, everyone was happy, I could hear all languages, from French to something like German, Spanish, Italian and also Portuguese. Everyone was waiting for the countdown. When I heard a champagne popping before the time. It was ours, kind of sad, but still, nothing could ruin that day. When the new year came we were all hugging each other, some people had candles, it was beautiful. Our champagne was a little too big, and Andy and I had to drink almost it all on our own. I can barely remember arriving at the apartment, or listening to the girls leaving in the morning to get their plane.
04. Jan. 2015
After the New Year ’s Eve, we didn’t do much. We went again to Villa Savoye, and this time it was open. Being there was amazing, getting to be at a place that an architected you admire design is one of the biggest experiences and architecture student can have. This was the second one from Le Corbusier, and I wish we had more to see. A manifesto of Le Corbusier's "five points" of new architecture, the villa is representative of the bases of modern architecture, and is one of the most easily recognizable and renowned examples of the International style. It is hard to explain in words that I felt there, but it was a good feeling, I couldn’t stop smiling, and I barely have pictures, just memories of every single detail.
We also went to the Architecture museum, where we finish our tour in Unité d'habitation, there they have and 1:1 model of the apartments, that you can go inside and see all the furniture and how Le Corbusier thought it. There they also have models of Greek architecture, modern buildings, plans, sections, details, everything that everyone that likes and understand a little bit of architecture would love to see. |
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We walked a lot in the city, as it is one of my favourite things to do, getting lost was one of the touristic things I needed to do. Paris is beautiful everywhere, you don’t need to be at a touristic point to realize that it is a lovely place. We walked from Champs-Élysées to our apartment, passed by some neighbourhoods that there is nothing else than residents, normal people. We went inside a market to buy somethings to eat and no one could speak English with us. We lived the city in a funny way, and if one day I go back to Paris I want to do it again, but knowing at least some words in French.
After that we had a lazy day, I was too tired to keep on walking and enjoying the city, so we decided to spend one day doing almost nothing. I have to day it was one of the best ideas we could ever have. We slept so much and had some food at the apartment, and slept more.
But today IT’S MY BIRTHDAY.
When I would imagine myself spending my birthday in Paris? When? Never!! But yet, here I am, having one of the most surreal “parties” I’ve ever had. The whole day was special.
I started the day with a good morning kiss of my boyfriend and breakfast in bed. After our long breakfast we went to see La Basilique du Sacré Cœur during the day and its inside. There we decided to go to the top of the Duomo, where you have a panoramic view from Paris, such a beautiful view, and exhausting way up.
As we didn’t climb the stairs in front of the Basilica, we went down and took the metro to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We were already quite tired of climbing stairs, so we decided not to go up the Cathedral. We went inside, and words don’t seem enough to describe it. It is so beautiful, from the outside I had the feeling that people normally over react just because is in Paris, but when I went inside I could see why it is so famous and why people like it so much.
Then we went to see some modern architecture, after all, Paris is not just about old buildings. First, we went to Pompidou (Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Peter Rice, Mike Davies), that we already heard and read lots of bad things about it. Moreover, particularly I think it is ugly. However, sometimes pictures don’t really show the things as they are, so we went there to check. Both of us just concluded that is not our kind of architecture, but the inside is not that bad.
After that, we went to see a building that I had dreamed to see, I have great admiration for the architects that design it. The Arab World Institute, by Jean Nouvel. “Typical of Jean Nouvel’s work is his attention to façade detailing, and this design is no exception. A main feature and innovative element of the IMA is the advanced responsive metallic brise soleil on the south façade. Nouvel’s proposal for this system was well received for its originality and its reinforcement of an archetypal element of Arabic architecture – the mashrabiyya. He drew inspiration from the traditional lattice work that has been used for centuries in the Middle East to protect the occupants from the sun and provide privacy.” (Archdaily).
During the winter the days don’t last long and at the end of a long trip everyone start to get tired earlier than at the beginning of it. As the sun started to set, we started our way back to the apartment. At night, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, one of my favourite’s foods in the world.
In the next day we are going to take the train to London and then to Nottingham. We are going to go in that trains that crosses under the sea. I wish we could see something, but as I was already told, there is nothing to see, it is just a big tunnel.
After that we had a lazy day, I was too tired to keep on walking and enjoying the city, so we decided to spend one day doing almost nothing. I have to day it was one of the best ideas we could ever have. We slept so much and had some food at the apartment, and slept more.
But today IT’S MY BIRTHDAY.
When I would imagine myself spending my birthday in Paris? When? Never!! But yet, here I am, having one of the most surreal “parties” I’ve ever had. The whole day was special.
I started the day with a good morning kiss of my boyfriend and breakfast in bed. After our long breakfast we went to see La Basilique du Sacré Cœur during the day and its inside. There we decided to go to the top of the Duomo, where you have a panoramic view from Paris, such a beautiful view, and exhausting way up.
As we didn’t climb the stairs in front of the Basilica, we went down and took the metro to the Notre Dame Cathedral. We were already quite tired of climbing stairs, so we decided not to go up the Cathedral. We went inside, and words don’t seem enough to describe it. It is so beautiful, from the outside I had the feeling that people normally over react just because is in Paris, but when I went inside I could see why it is so famous and why people like it so much.
Then we went to see some modern architecture, after all, Paris is not just about old buildings. First, we went to Pompidou (Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Peter Rice, Mike Davies), that we already heard and read lots of bad things about it. Moreover, particularly I think it is ugly. However, sometimes pictures don’t really show the things as they are, so we went there to check. Both of us just concluded that is not our kind of architecture, but the inside is not that bad.
After that, we went to see a building that I had dreamed to see, I have great admiration for the architects that design it. The Arab World Institute, by Jean Nouvel. “Typical of Jean Nouvel’s work is his attention to façade detailing, and this design is no exception. A main feature and innovative element of the IMA is the advanced responsive metallic brise soleil on the south façade. Nouvel’s proposal for this system was well received for its originality and its reinforcement of an archetypal element of Arabic architecture – the mashrabiyya. He drew inspiration from the traditional lattice work that has been used for centuries in the Middle East to protect the occupants from the sun and provide privacy.” (Archdaily).
During the winter the days don’t last long and at the end of a long trip everyone start to get tired earlier than at the beginning of it. As the sun started to set, we started our way back to the apartment. At night, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, one of my favourite’s foods in the world.
In the next day we are going to take the train to London and then to Nottingham. We are going to go in that trains that crosses under the sea. I wish we could see something, but as I was already told, there is nothing to see, it is just a big tunnel.
12. Jan. 2015
Probably today is the saddest day since I got here. It’s been a whole month being everyday day with Josu that I don’t know how I’ll handle without him. I know it sounds ridiculous, by I get use to him, and before coming here he was the person that was always with me, during the da at Uni, sometimes to go out and have fun, he was my best friend before everything.
But I’ll try to think about the good days we had. And we had a lot. After arriving from Paris we spent a few days in Nottingham, I wanted to show him where I was living and introduce him to my friends. We went to Castle, to Wollaston Hall and The Old Trip to Jerusalem, but what I think he likes the most was Primark. He bought so many things, worse than a girl. He also helped the girls with a surprise party, for me, Fernanda and Vitor. I really wasn’t expecting and I wish I had a picture of that night. Everybody was hanging at the common, they made cake I had the change to thank everyone for making my year here even more special. On the 8th we went to Dublin. The sun decided to show up, but we were really tired, so we couldn’t enjoy so much. We walked around for a while and went to rest. Josu knew someone that was living in Dublin, his English teacher from Brazil. We arranged to meet in a pub in the next day, after we arrive from our fild trip to the Cliffs of Moher. The 9th was not our lucky day, the weather was so bad that we almost couldn’t go to the cliffs, and arriving there we could barely see. The best part of it was the lunch, we had a really good lunch at a local restaurant. This food and all the others we had in Ireland, made me wonder: how come British food doesn’t taste this good? At the end of the day we just wanted to sit down at a pub, listen to good music and have a nice drink. Josué’s friend got sick so she couldn’t go to meet us and the Temple Bar, as always, was totally full. We went to another one, also very traditional as they say, with live music. I asked for wine and Josu wanted to try Guinnes. We both don’t like beer. We had fun, and it was another way to celebrate my 21th birthday. And a week late, I have to go back to uni. |
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30. Jan. 2015
Snow everywhere. It is not the first time that snows in Nottingham, but today/tonight was the day that I saw the most I have ever seen. As it never snows where I leave, although it gets really could, I’ve always said, that it is just fair to at least have something nice if you have to feel cold. I really though snow was just happiness.
When I saw it was snowing outside, late at night, Andy and I did not think, we just ran out and started to play with the other girls. They gave up quite fast and we went back inside, but suddenly is was snowing harder, and we went out again. It was could but I couldn’t stop laughing, literary a dream becoming true. We played on our own and made a snowman, Garret, in memory to the guy that clean our kitchen. But as the minutes passed my hands started to freeze, and I realized that maybe snow is not all about happiness. I realized that stepping at it is kind of weird and dangerous to fall and hurt yourself, and that it is hard to play without proper gloves, shoes, coat, etc. |
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After a few minutes that Andy and I finish Garret, the snowman, we gave up and went inside to our warm beds. In the morning is was still all white outside, and I could see Garret outside saying good morning to The Maltings.
12. Feb. 2015
The day I made my first tattoo. Having a tattoo was something I had in mind, but I was never sure about what to do. When I received, my offer I decided that is this was my perfect time and excuse to do it.
At first, I had in mind something more related to Nottingham, but then I thought better and decided that the fact of making in there was already enough for me to remember about this year. I chose the leaf because that was how I was feeling during this time (free to flight with the wind and not having to worry about anything else but my happines) and how I expect my life to be (light and free of bad energies, with many places for me to fly to).
At first, I had in mind something more related to Nottingham, but then I thought better and decided that the fact of making in there was already enough for me to remember about this year. I chose the leaf because that was how I was feeling during this time (free to flight with the wind and not having to worry about anything else but my happines) and how I expect my life to be (light and free of bad energies, with many places for me to fly to).
20. Feb. 2015
Some days ago I found out that even though Carnival is not something celebrated in England, they do have something at the same period of time, that I found a much better way to celebrate the beginning of a religious time: PANCAKES’ DAY!!
When you are away from home, you miss even the things you used to hate. I could not be different from almost everyone, I was missing carnival, but I could not miss the chance to try a British tradition. At my flat, 112, we had a Pancakes’ day with Brazilian music. We did not start well, as Thay and Ella managed to drop our first pancake’s mix. We did it again an then we had a great evening singing Brazilian songs and eating good food. And yesterday we had a girls night. We all dresses up with our animal onesies, made some nice food and went to the common room, to watch a movie and talk. However, the boys got jealous about it and invade our night, eat our food and watched the movie with us. I am not complaining about it, it was nice anyway and I had fun. |
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20. Mar. 2015
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Saint Patrick’s day (17th) is a big party in Ireland, and as there are many Irish people in the UK, they celebrate it as they would back at their home. Obviously that in Nottingham there are not as many to make a huge party, but they had a parade and everything. It was nice to see the city green and so many happy people at the streets.
As always, this was also an excuse for the clubs to have parties, and my friends and I went out (18th)to see how they celebrate it. It was a little bit boring because the party was almost empty and some of our friends took too long to get there. When we were all together, we had lots of fun.
And today I manage to see the solar eclipse, only possible to see from the north hemisphere. I had a lecture for interdisciplinary studio, but our tutor also wanted to see the eclipse, so he let us leave the class earlier.
All of this was possible because our final submission for design studio was on the 16th. In this project, I had a lot of difficulty to do something that my new tutor like; by the end of the process I gave up and did everything she said. I didn’t like the final result of my façades but I am very happy with the way that both houses ended up working together. The plans turned up nice and the way the rooms were arranged made me happy, I just wish I had a better façade.
As always, this was also an excuse for the clubs to have parties, and my friends and I went out (18th)to see how they celebrate it. It was a little bit boring because the party was almost empty and some of our friends took too long to get there. When we were all together, we had lots of fun.
And today I manage to see the solar eclipse, only possible to see from the north hemisphere. I had a lecture for interdisciplinary studio, but our tutor also wanted to see the eclipse, so he let us leave the class earlier.
All of this was possible because our final submission for design studio was on the 16th. In this project, I had a lot of difficulty to do something that my new tutor like; by the end of the process I gave up and did everything she said. I didn’t like the final result of my façades but I am very happy with the way that both houses ended up working together. The plans turned up nice and the way the rooms were arranged made me happy, I just wish I had a better façade.
26. Mar. 2015
Another term is coming to the end. I can’t believe how many already happened and how many will happen from now on.
Las week I was running to finish everything before the Easter break so I can enjoy the time with my mom and my brother. Also I wanted to do nice things with my friends. Ella took me to a Chip shop for me to try the traditional Fish and chips. As I don’t like fish I tried sausage and chips, and I like it a lot. It is very fat, but sometimes it is ok to eat it. In the next day, I showed Ella how chocolate eggs are in Brazil. We have the traditional one, but also some with filling inside and the best ones are always homemade. We bought some chocolate eggs and other ingredients and made our own Brazilian chocolate eggs. They were so good, and we had a lot of fun. |
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I had a nice experience with the university these days. We went to visit an “eco village” and learn somethings about green architecture and build a house with hay and timber. Although it was very cold, we had fun and it was a different experience.
In addition, for the interdisciplinary studio I was finishing my short film. The idea of the project was to do a short film for a specific place (stairs at Arkwright that leads to the marketing area). For these project I decided that I wanted to add some colours to the stairs and focus to the marketing people.
I created a stop motion film in a working desk about ways to be more creative. Here is the link.
In addition, for the interdisciplinary studio I was finishing my short film. The idea of the project was to do a short film for a specific place (stairs at Arkwright that leads to the marketing area). For these project I decided that I wanted to add some colours to the stairs and focus to the marketing people.
I created a stop motion film in a working desk about ways to be more creative. Here is the link.
06. Apr. 2015
My family arrived in the UK in the 28th March, and we went to Amsterdam in the next day, the plan was to enjoy the spring with the flowers and nice weather. Arriving there was already hard because it was very wind and hard for the airplane to land. And the weather was only nice because it only rained at night and for a few minutes during the wait to go the Anne Frank museum but it was too cold to be spring. The flowers were there, everywhere the way I expected.
Amsterdam is a city full of surprises, a diversity of things to do, from museums to coffee shops with marijuana lollipops. The people there are nice and friendly and the food is good. And they do have a lot of bicycles, you have to take care to not get hit by one. One of my biggest dreams was to go to the Keukenhof (flowers’ park) that only opens for 8 weeks during the year. The tickets to go there are not cheap and it is not in Amsterdam, so we had to take a bus to go there. It was worth it, they had many pavilions with a great variety of flowers, mainly tulips, but also other ones. All of them full of colours and perfume. No doubt that was a day that I’ll never forget. |
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19. Apr. 2015
Traveling is and addiction, I thing I’ll never be cured anymore. We just got back from holydays and Andy and I are already planning a thousand places to go. Today we went to a place close to Nottingham, Leeds, where she has a friend studying.
There is almost nothing to see there, but is was already worth it because I met Laura (Lala), Andy’s friend, and we got friends too and had fun. She took us to the army museum, something like that, and to walk around the city. We went to a pub to have some drinks and talk. It was a pleasant day.
There is almost nothing to see there, but is was already worth it because I met Laura (Lala), Andy’s friend, and we got friends too and had fun. She took us to the army museum, something like that, and to walk around the city. We went to a pub to have some drinks and talk. It was a pleasant day.
05. May. 2015
I could not imagine how many places there is to know in England. It is so sad to think that I’ll not be able to see everything. Some days ago I was researching for places to go that where nearby Nottingham, and cheap. I found out that almost everything is really far from here, but there is a place called The pick district, with many towns to visit, and one of the close to us, Matlock Bath.
Matlock Bath is a small town at the edge of the park Pick District, there they have a cable car that takes you up the hill where you can have a nice picture of the region, go inside closed mines and have some food. The town itself has almost nothing to do. They have a chocolatier, some handcraft’s shops and a walk with the canal. We spent the whole day walking around and had a nice time in the only place I went that I didn’t find any other Brazilian. |
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15. May. 2015
The term is almost finishing and this means that the year as well. It is hard to believe how fast this year passed by. We are working in our final project for design studio, finishing our game for interdisciplinary and already finished technology and environment.
Some days ago, we went to the famous beach with rocks instead of sand. Before coming to the UK people told me that there was only beaches with rocks here (as I turned up founding out that it is not true) and I was curious to see it.
Some friends and I took a day trip to Brighton, one of the most famous beaches in the UK. Arriving there it was raining a lot and no one had an umbrella. We decided not to go with the tour guide and wait a little inside the pier to see if the rain was going to stop. Inside the pier, there is a big arcade, where kids and adults can try their luck having fun. We tried, unsuccessfully; all of us together manage to have enough tickets to buy cards and sweets.
The rain stopped and we went out for a walk. We went to the Royal Pavilion (just outside) and to walk in the streets. Everyone felt in love with the charming city that we saw. By the end of the day it was sunny, still cold, but we went down to sit by the sea and properly see how it is a beach without sand. I have to say that I liked it, but if it is was hot I think those rocks would burn anything that touches it.
Some days ago, we went to the famous beach with rocks instead of sand. Before coming to the UK people told me that there was only beaches with rocks here (as I turned up founding out that it is not true) and I was curious to see it.
Some friends and I took a day trip to Brighton, one of the most famous beaches in the UK. Arriving there it was raining a lot and no one had an umbrella. We decided not to go with the tour guide and wait a little inside the pier to see if the rain was going to stop. Inside the pier, there is a big arcade, where kids and adults can try their luck having fun. We tried, unsuccessfully; all of us together manage to have enough tickets to buy cards and sweets.
The rain stopped and we went out for a walk. We went to the Royal Pavilion (just outside) and to walk in the streets. Everyone felt in love with the charming city that we saw. By the end of the day it was sunny, still cold, but we went down to sit by the sea and properly see how it is a beach without sand. I have to say that I liked it, but if it is was hot I think those rocks would burn anything that touches it.
05. Jun. 2015
The term is almost finishing and this means that the year as well. It is hard to believe how fast this year passed by. We are working in our final project for design studio, finishing our game for interdisciplinary and already finished technology and environment.
Some days ago, we went to the famous beach with rocks instead of sand. Before coming to the UK people told me that there was only beaches with rocks here (as I turned up founding out that it is not true) and I was curious to see it.
Some friends and I took a day trip to Brighton, one of the most famous beaches in the UK. Arriving there it was raining a lot and no one had an umbrella. We decided not to go with the tour guide and wait a little inside the pier to see if the rain was going to stop. Inside the pier, there is a big arcade, where kids and adults can try their luck having fun. We tried, unsuccessfully; all of us together manage to have enough tickets to buy cards and sweets.
The rain stopped and we went out for a walk. We went to the Royal Pavilion (just outside) and to walk in the streets. Everyone felt in love with the charming city that we saw. By the end of the day it was sunny, still cold, but we went down to sit by the sea and properly see how it is a beach without sand. I have to say that I liked it, but if it is was hot I think those rocks would burn anything that touches it.
Some days ago, we went to the famous beach with rocks instead of sand. Before coming to the UK people told me that there was only beaches with rocks here (as I turned up founding out that it is not true) and I was curious to see it.
Some friends and I took a day trip to Brighton, one of the most famous beaches in the UK. Arriving there it was raining a lot and no one had an umbrella. We decided not to go with the tour guide and wait a little inside the pier to see if the rain was going to stop. Inside the pier, there is a big arcade, where kids and adults can try their luck having fun. We tried, unsuccessfully; all of us together manage to have enough tickets to buy cards and sweets.
The rain stopped and we went out for a walk. We went to the Royal Pavilion (just outside) and to walk in the streets. Everyone felt in love with the charming city that we saw. By the end of the day it was sunny, still cold, but we went down to sit by the sea and properly see how it is a beach without sand. I have to say that I liked it, but if it is was hot I think those rocks would burn anything that touches it.
11. Jun. 2015
Today was the last day of the term and the last day at University. Despite I didn’t like the course here, I missed the rationality in the designs, I’m going to miss here, the infrastructure here is way more than I could dream. I’m going to miss our studio, that is one of my favourites places inside Uni, the SU and the gym, the quality of spaces and care with the students and the library, with all those books and computers available 24 hours every day.
This week I submitted my two last projects: the one for design studio and the other for interdisciplinary. I am very happy with both, a situation that hardly ever will happen again. For design studio I design a Circus School, with a very nice space to practice and train, that people could see from the outside the performances as they pass by the area, and some private areas where the students could have classes or study at the library and where the staff’s offices would be. The garden of the school was related with the stripes that helped me with the form of the building and it was a playground where the students could have fun and practice at the same time.
The other project was a game about architecture, it was in group. Ours was a board that with the dices you would walked through it and have some challenges. The board looked very nice, with Mondrian colours and some famous building’s sketches. Part of the submission was to play another group’s game, we couldn’t play the one we had to because there was no clear rules and not even our tutor understood our game.
This week I submitted my two last projects: the one for design studio and the other for interdisciplinary. I am very happy with both, a situation that hardly ever will happen again. For design studio I design a Circus School, with a very nice space to practice and train, that people could see from the outside the performances as they pass by the area, and some private areas where the students could have classes or study at the library and where the staff’s offices would be. The garden of the school was related with the stripes that helped me with the form of the building and it was a playground where the students could have fun and practice at the same time.
The other project was a game about architecture, it was in group. Ours was a board that with the dices you would walked through it and have some challenges. The board looked very nice, with Mondrian colours and some famous building’s sketches. Part of the submission was to play another group’s game, we couldn’t play the one we had to because there was no clear rules and not even our tutor understood our game.
There is a big park close to Nottingham, which my friends went last year before I arrived, with a lot of roller coasters and rides. We decided to go with some vouchers that they had in some cereal boxes. But before we go an accident happened in one of the roller coasters and closed the park for a few days. It reopened some days ago and part of the park it’s still close.
As we were in five and the vouchers were 2 for 1 tickets we stayed there looking for someone to share one voucher. It was hard to find someone without the voucher or alone. While we were looking for someone, some guys went to us and gave us two tickets for that day. We couldn’t believe, we went to check if they worked and they did. By the end we paid 3 half tickets and shared in 5.
Even with part of the park close we manage to go in some rides more than one time, and had a really nice girls’ day. It was incredibly sunny and hot; we went to the water rides and got wet, had a picnic and walked in the gardens (even saw a bunny).
By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. When we were leaving the park some staff members were giving free tickets to go back before November, all because of the closed area. I think that it was one of the luckiest day of our lives
As we were in five and the vouchers were 2 for 1 tickets we stayed there looking for someone to share one voucher. It was hard to find someone without the voucher or alone. While we were looking for someone, some guys went to us and gave us two tickets for that day. We couldn’t believe, we went to check if they worked and they did. By the end we paid 3 half tickets and shared in 5.
Even with part of the park close we manage to go in some rides more than one time, and had a really nice girls’ day. It was incredibly sunny and hot; we went to the water rides and got wet, had a picnic and walked in the gardens (even saw a bunny).
By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. When we were leaving the park some staff members were giving free tickets to go back before November, all because of the closed area. I think that it was one of the luckiest day of our lives
20. Jun. 2015
Close to Nottingham there is a small town famous for its cathedral, castle and to have one of the prettiest streets in the UK; and the return train tickets are only £7.20. Andy and I went to Lincoln to see if it was as pretty as people said. We took the train early in the morning and arrived there before everything was open.
We went up the hill where everything was, walked around, went to see the amazing cathedral, that it is even more beautiful than I thought it was. Later we want to the Castle, where they have one of the last original copies of the Carta Magna. Went down the cute street and had lunch. We walked a little bit more and then went to Newark Castle.
Newark was in the middle of the journey back to Nottingham. There they have a huge castle in ruins, that how is used as a public park with. Also they were having a fair, we spent one our there, looked the ruins, the beautiful park they made with the ruins and the canal and went back to Nottingham.
We went up the hill where everything was, walked around, went to see the amazing cathedral, that it is even more beautiful than I thought it was. Later we want to the Castle, where they have one of the last original copies of the Carta Magna. Went down the cute street and had lunch. We walked a little bit more and then went to Newark Castle.
Newark was in the middle of the journey back to Nottingham. There they have a huge castle in ruins, that how is used as a public park with. Also they were having a fair, we spent one our there, looked the ruins, the beautiful park they made with the ruins and the canal and went back to Nottingham.
03. Jul. 2015
One of the places that Andy wanted to go was Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of Shakespeare. The tickets to go there were normally very expensive, and the only way to make a day trip was by train or driving, but both of us were to scared of driving in the wrong side of the road.
One day Andy called me saying that you were going to Stratford, that the train tickets were half price. I didn’t think much and bought my tickets. Arriving there, we felt a little bit lost, as the train station is not in the city centre as it normally is. We walked around a little bit to get used to the old city and went to the Shakespeare’s centre, were we bought our tickets to his house, grave, his sister’s house and some friend’s of the family house.
All of them were nice, as they all are very old, it is hard to have the opportunity to find and be able to go inside, see the constructive details and experience a time that everything was different. We had a great ice cream for desert and the weather was perfect for a day out.
One day Andy called me saying that you were going to Stratford, that the train tickets were half price. I didn’t think much and bought my tickets. Arriving there, we felt a little bit lost, as the train station is not in the city centre as it normally is. We walked around a little bit to get used to the old city and went to the Shakespeare’s centre, were we bought our tickets to his house, grave, his sister’s house and some friend’s of the family house.
All of them were nice, as they all are very old, it is hard to have the opportunity to find and be able to go inside, see the constructive details and experience a time that everything was different. We had a great ice cream for desert and the weather was perfect for a day out.
09. Jul. 2015
My trip to Morocco was already cancelled in my plans, but then some people invited me to go and we decided to have the full experience of the country, going during the summer, when it can gets to 45 degrees easily during the day.
We were in a group of 14 Brazilians and one Argentinian that we met there. Our trip started having one day in Marrakesh. I have to admit that I didn’t like the city and the men there, I felt threatened all the time, with eyes of judgment over me, but the cheap fresh orange juice made that day better with the food and the museum inside an old mesquite. As we are all from Brazil we never imagine to suffer that much with the hot weather, but we did, it got to 43 degrees during the afternoon.
In the next few days we went inside the country to the desert and the mountains. Part of the trip was spending one night in a camp inside the desert. That was the best part of everything, going with camels to the camp and sleeping looking at the most beautiful sky I could ever see. We also climb one big dune to see the desert just by the moon light, an image that will never be able to describe with words and that I’ll never forget.
To resume, Morocco is a place that everyone should go, but go with an open mind, to look to this culture full of things that we will never understand and see the beauty of their life style, culture and country.
We were in a group of 14 Brazilians and one Argentinian that we met there. Our trip started having one day in Marrakesh. I have to admit that I didn’t like the city and the men there, I felt threatened all the time, with eyes of judgment over me, but the cheap fresh orange juice made that day better with the food and the museum inside an old mesquite. As we are all from Brazil we never imagine to suffer that much with the hot weather, but we did, it got to 43 degrees during the afternoon.
In the next few days we went inside the country to the desert and the mountains. Part of the trip was spending one night in a camp inside the desert. That was the best part of everything, going with camels to the camp and sleeping looking at the most beautiful sky I could ever see. We also climb one big dune to see the desert just by the moon light, an image that will never be able to describe with words and that I’ll never forget.
To resume, Morocco is a place that everyone should go, but go with an open mind, to look to this culture full of things that we will never understand and see the beauty of their life style, culture and country.
24. Jul. 2015
Part of the Exchange program was an Internship at the end of the year. This could be a research or work at an office. Our tutor gave us some options, and one of them was design a retrofit to some houses as part of a program of Nottingham Council House. As soon as I heard about it, I said that I wanted to be part of it.
The projet was in groups, and by the end, they would choose the best one to start the retrofit. The two main aims of the new design was to make those houses more energy efficient and look nicer for the residents and the ones that were passing by the street.
My group and I made some researches in materials and thought about garbage disposal and how to improve the life quality of lives. In our final presentation, we showed the result of our month working in that design. We got in second place, but some people from the Council said that they wanted to use our ideas for de common garden.
I really wish they do some of our ideas and that in the future I’ll look for somethings in Nottingham and find some of my ideas improving people live. It is good to know that maybe I’ll make the difference for someone with my work, doing what I like.
The projet was in groups, and by the end, they would choose the best one to start the retrofit. The two main aims of the new design was to make those houses more energy efficient and look nicer for the residents and the ones that were passing by the street.
My group and I made some researches in materials and thought about garbage disposal and how to improve the life quality of lives. In our final presentation, we showed the result of our month working in that design. We got in second place, but some people from the Council said that they wanted to use our ideas for de common garden.
I really wish they do some of our ideas and that in the future I’ll look for somethings in Nottingham and find some of my ideas improving people live. It is good to know that maybe I’ll make the difference for someone with my work, doing what I like.
02. Aug. 2015
I spent a whole year living in the UK and barely travel over it. For our summer trip, instead of going to those places that everyone goes, we decided to know the UK better, starting with Wales.
Josué, Andy, Lala and her cousin and I met in Cardiff, walked around the city, but we wanted to see the coast and more castles. In our first day we stayed in Cardiff, but there is almost nothing to do there, and the entrance to the castle was too expensive.
In the next day we went to Caerphilly Castle, some ruins of a big castle close to Cardiff, where you can go inside for a reasonable price, make picnic, visit some parts that are still there. The view is really nice, and it is in the middle of the town, so you can walk outside, have ice cream or tea in some nice places.
Our last day was for the beaches. We went to Swansea and from there we took a bus that would take us to Roshili and to Three Cliffs Bay. Both very beautiful, the day was perfect, sunny and hot, we even went inside the sea. Roshili is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and I cannot disagree with this affirmation.
Our few days in Wales were nice and we had a lot of fun, but I wish we had more time to visit the north part of the country.
Josué, Andy, Lala and her cousin and I met in Cardiff, walked around the city, but we wanted to see the coast and more castles. In our first day we stayed in Cardiff, but there is almost nothing to do there, and the entrance to the castle was too expensive.
In the next day we went to Caerphilly Castle, some ruins of a big castle close to Cardiff, where you can go inside for a reasonable price, make picnic, visit some parts that are still there. The view is really nice, and it is in the middle of the town, so you can walk outside, have ice cream or tea in some nice places.
Our last day was for the beaches. We went to Swansea and from there we took a bus that would take us to Roshili and to Three Cliffs Bay. Both very beautiful, the day was perfect, sunny and hot, we even went inside the sea. Roshili is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and I cannot disagree with this affirmation.
Our few days in Wales were nice and we had a lot of fun, but I wish we had more time to visit the north part of the country.
09. Aug. 2015
After coming back from Wales, Josu and I went one more time to Dublin. This time with another reason than turism, one of my best friends from Uni, Dali, is starting her studies with the program Science without Borders, and I didn’t want to spent two years without seeing her. As I found some very cheap flights, we went to see her. Dublin is even nicer with the sun, and while she was having classes, we went to some places that we had not gone last time.
In one of the days, we took a day trip to North Ireland, to see the Giant Causeways and the rope bridge, Carrick-a-Rede. I was surprise with the beauty of the nature there, how different it was, even with the rainy day.
In Ireland they have good food, so in North Ireland, thank God that don’t cook like the rest of the UK. We had great food and at the end of the day passed by Belfast, a city that you could never say you visit spending just one hour there.
It was hard to say goodbye to Dali one more time, but I’m happy for her and I know she’ll have a good time here, and when she goes back to Brazil I’ll be there for her and we will be classmates again.
After Dublin, our last country of the UK was Scotland. As time was short we decided to spend 3 days in Edinburgh and really enjoy the city, Josu, Andy and I. We could never done more right, without knowing we went during the biggest street’s art festival in the world.
The atmosphere of the city was so nice, full of people during the whole day, dancing, singing and doing whatever their art was and even more people watching. We also went in a free walking tour, in which we found out a lot of weird stuff about the city and its history.
All of us left the city saying that we want to go back, during the same time to enjoy even more the city, and next time go to Glasgow and Highlands, I still need to see that cow!!!
In one of the days, we took a day trip to North Ireland, to see the Giant Causeways and the rope bridge, Carrick-a-Rede. I was surprise with the beauty of the nature there, how different it was, even with the rainy day.
In Ireland they have good food, so in North Ireland, thank God that don’t cook like the rest of the UK. We had great food and at the end of the day passed by Belfast, a city that you could never say you visit spending just one hour there.
It was hard to say goodbye to Dali one more time, but I’m happy for her and I know she’ll have a good time here, and when she goes back to Brazil I’ll be there for her and we will be classmates again.
After Dublin, our last country of the UK was Scotland. As time was short we decided to spend 3 days in Edinburgh and really enjoy the city, Josu, Andy and I. We could never done more right, without knowing we went during the biggest street’s art festival in the world.
The atmosphere of the city was so nice, full of people during the whole day, dancing, singing and doing whatever their art was and even more people watching. We also went in a free walking tour, in which we found out a lot of weird stuff about the city and its history.
All of us left the city saying that we want to go back, during the same time to enjoy even more the city, and next time go to Glasgow and Highlands, I still need to see that cow!!!
13. Aug. 2015
Summer is here, but the sun insists not to come. We went back to the Alton towers, with our free tickets, Andy and Lala gave theirs to Josu and Aron. It was a little bit could, but all the roller coasters were working, and we manage to go in all of them. The day was nice, Thay, Ella and I got really wet in a ide that we thought it was not going to do that with us.
My last days in Nottingham were in a rush all the time, to organize everything, say goodbye to everyone and not to cry. I’m happy to have Josu here with me, he makes me calmer when I panic. But today no one could help me, when I went inside the cab and realised that it was my last day in that city that now is part of me, I could not help the tears coming out of my eyes.
Leaving Nottingham was harder than I thought, how can we get use to a place in such a few time? I am already missing my routine, my friends and the feeling that everything was possible there. The worst part is knowing that there is no replay, and that from now on we need to restart our lives back in Brazil, but a lot of things will be different and weird for us.
My last days in Nottingham were in a rush all the time, to organize everything, say goodbye to everyone and not to cry. I’m happy to have Josu here with me, he makes me calmer when I panic. But today no one could help me, when I went inside the cab and realised that it was my last day in that city that now is part of me, I could not help the tears coming out of my eyes.
Leaving Nottingham was harder than I thought, how can we get use to a place in such a few time? I am already missing my routine, my friends and the feeling that everything was possible there. The worst part is knowing that there is no replay, and that from now on we need to restart our lives back in Brazil, but a lot of things will be different and weird for us.
16. Aug. 2015
One of the main things that I learn during this year in England was to never say goodbye. And with a tears in my eyes I have to say “see you” England, see you soon I hope. My last days here were amazing, with my friends, boyfriend and my dad (he came to pick me and have some English classes) in London.
It is hard for me to write about it, so today I’ll only thank for the amazing year. My friends and family that supported me to chase this dream, the good friends I met during the year (I’m going to miss you all), the Brazilian government for the opportunity, NTU for opening the doors for all the international students, Leslie for being so patient with all of us, Marisela for the amazing internship opportunity…
See you England, I wish to be back soon.
It is hard for me to write about it, so today I’ll only thank for the amazing year. My friends and family that supported me to chase this dream, the good friends I met during the year (I’m going to miss you all), the Brazilian government for the opportunity, NTU for opening the doors for all the international students, Leslie for being so patient with all of us, Marisela for the amazing internship opportunity…
See you England, I wish to be back soon.