R.I.P. Lobo

It was 1998 and I was resting from my first end of semester rush at college. My mom called:

- A Husky puppy has followed me on the street. I think I'm bringing him home.
- But what about the cat? - I asked, worried about MY pet.
- I can't help, she said. It followed me to my friend's houses' door and it waited for me 'till I left! I'm bringing it home.

Ok, it was her choice. More than one hour later, mom came home. There wasn't any puppy with her. It was as big as a German Shepard and it was brought by the third taxi driver. None of the previous agreed on putting such a big dog in their cars.
- Ok, it's just a Husky, mom. Call him Lobo, as any other Husky, I said poshly

He was tired and weak from having spent such a long time on the streets and he couldn't even stand. We called the vet and made an appointment for the following day. At night I went up to him and try to stroke his head. He growled at me. I was scared and a thick wall was built between us.

I kind of liked him but I was a little afraid. Then I realized my cat didn't like him so I started to side with her. In addition, I felt a little jelous because my mother loved him so deeply but she only liked my pet.
Time went on. My cat died of cancer - poor thing. So difficult to put her to sleep...
Anyway, the days went by and I still couldn't feel comfortable with that dog. He was big, bold, roomy and lazy.

In 2000 my mother travelled for 2 moths. My sister had left home to live by herself some moths earlier, thus it was just me and him. For 2 long months. "I'll just feed him and give him fresh water. That's all.", I thought, forever bearing that first night growl in mind. And along came what I now name as "our second first night".

I had just left my mother at the airport and the house was mine. I had the brilliant idea of watching The Shinning. Alone. At home. At my BIG house. I was scared to death! I went up to my bedroom, resigning myself to a sleepless night. To my surprise, that dog, that big bold roomy and lazy dog climbed the stairs behind me and tucked himself in right beside my bed. That night I could sleep. Soundly. Like an angel.

After that I was free to love that brown furry big fellow as I'd always wanted to, but had been too pride to allow myself to do so.
Many years went on, with him bothering me so many times to walk him, embarassing me so often by popping in front of my neighbours' doors, annoying me by barking at every single dog that would pass by my house at 2 in the morning. On weekends, very early in the morning he would open my bedroom door, wake me up to walk him. Extremelly annoyed, I would turn the other side and come back to sleep only to wake up later and find my books all peed.
I remember bathing him on hot summer days as an excuse to have an outdoors shower myself. More than once he would escape from the leash to seek asylum under my mom's legs - completely wet and covered with soap.

Today Lobo is gone. Gone for good, after having escaped so many times to chase little lady dogs.
He is asleep forever, after so many nights sleeping by my side. Cancer has won again and has taken another pet away from me - this time the pet I would never forget. The big, bold, roomy and lazy lovely dog.

R.I.P., Lobo. May dog's heaven be full of books for you to pee on, comfy sofas for you to sleep on and little lady dog for you to chase. I'll deeply miss you.

Read me to sleep

I started studying for the Cambridge language examinations in 1997. I enrolled for the CPE preparatory without the slightest idea of what it was. Obviously, I dropped it after 3 months. Last year I decided to go for something easier - CAE.
At the beggining I though it was as difficult as CPE. I almost gave up once more. However, few hour of studying per week has lead me to a brand new universe: the I-am-capable-of-doing-it universe. Consequently, I've become aware of what I would have to do to fill the language gap that has always bothered me: have fun with English. I have always loved listening to the news (don't ask me why... I just love it. Period.), so I've been insanely downloading the Global News Podcast in an almost daily basis from the BBC website.
Nonetheless, it's reading that's been making my days deliriously happier. I've been madly in love with it since I first joined two syllabes to make a meaninful word come to live. Therefore, I'm deeply immersed into cubic meters of a wide range of language, soaking up every single chunk presented to me by those who have been touched by sweet the hand of inspiration. And I'm about to be tucked in by one of them.
So, good-night, sweet readers and flights of angels read thee to thy rest.


Soundtrack: Asleep - The Smiths

It's been a hard day's night...

... and I've been working since 7.30a.m. I've already had a rebel teen messing around in my class and crook  wannabe but extremely good student trying not to learn English.
I got home at 8 at night, I've been planning classes since that and I still have 2 classes to go, CAE exam-like exercises do to, homework for the CPE course, writing included. Moreover, tomorrow I'll have been up for 2 hours at 9 am. And you know what? I am in a wonderful mood and deliriously happy. That's what assures me I deeply love what I do.
Go figure...

Literary and Medieval Dublin.

Ok, go ahead and say it. I have been here for 2.5 weeks and I haven’t published a single post about Dublin. A crime I admit committing.

Despite being the capital of the Republic of Ireland (not part of the UK), Dublin is a quite small city, with 1,2 million of people, 10% of São Paulo’s population. However, it holds so much Art and History that it took me 7 days of endless walking to get to know half of it. And I am definitely sure I won’t be able to see everything. But, I think I have enough fluency of Dublin to talk about Literary and Medieval Dublin.

Birthplace of many of the greatest writers in English Literature, you can actually “meet” them and see their houses.

Wilde’s house

Oscar Wilde

Bram Stoker’s house

Me and James Joyce

Then you can see Medieval Dublin. Star with DVBLINIA, an interactive exhibition that recreates the Viking period. The statues are astonishing, due to their human-like form. Even an archeological excavation site has been recreated.

The ticket to DVBLINIA allows you to visit Christ Church, the oldest church in Dublin (and the oldest I’ve ever seen), which dates back to 1100. There you can visit the graves, where many politicians and famous people are buried. Moreover, you can check the Treasure – but no photos allowed.

Christ Church

Mummified cat and mouse, found while some repairs were being done.

End your Medieval tour in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s not as beautiful as Christ Church, but it’s worth the visit.

Take another day to see the Dublin Castle, because the Medieval walking tour is exhausting, but you won’t regret doing it.

Cheers, mates! =)

Host family and friends

Definitely, the best way to be in touch with a culture is staying with a host family. Not only because you can experience the day-a-day of a country, but also you might have cohabitants, who will add a different taste to your trip.

I’m having the opportunity to have a Japanese guy, Russian and French girls, 2 Korean people and a Belgian guy in my everyday life. I’ve also met people from Italy and France during coffee break or lunch time and, on the top of that, I have teachers from England and Scotland.

Yeap, it IS a lot of different things, but I think the pictures will speak for themselves. Enjoy! =)

Left to right: Reiji (Jap.), Irina (Russia), Edele (Irel. and host mother), Maureen (Irel. and MY host mother), Selène (France) and Soo-Jean (Korea). They were having caipirinha. I did it myself! u.u

Left to right: Reiji, Henrique (Brazil- classmate), Soo-Jean, Alex (Korean – classmate), me and Kevin (Belgium –classmate). Alex took us to a Korean restaurant. VEEEERY hot food. VEEERY hot.

On my birthday, we had a party here at my house and then went to a pub. Reiji bought the cake, my host mother bought the wine, and the girls and the mothers wrote me cards and bought me very nice gifts.

Next Thursday Irina, the Russian girl, will cook Russian pancakes for dinner. =D
The only sad thing is I’m leaving in two weeks and I’ll probably never see most of these people again. They have been making me feel at home away from home.

Miss you all!

Liverpool em dois dias

Chegue o mais cedo possível a cidade, mas não antes das 9, pois NADA funciona antes das 10 da manhã – ao menos de final de semana. Após emocionar-se por estar no Aeroporto John Lennon (chorei, claro), pegue a linha de ônibus 500, pague absurdas 2,60 libras (porra de país caro essa Inglaterra!) que te deixará em Albert Docs. O lugar é lindo, frio e cheio de lojas (porra de país caro essa Inglaterra).

Aqui é onde a experiência começa:

THE BEATLES STORY ENTRANCE

E ela é emocionante. Dentre as salas da exibição, que cobre absolutamente toda a biografia da banda, elejo a réplica do estúdio da Abbey Road e a sala Imagine como as melhores.

Sim, chorei nas duas. Tá, na imagine não chorei, me acabei. A atendente da loja veio ver se estava todo ok. Mico. Ao final da exibição, vá ao Tourist Information Centre e agende a Magic Mistery Tour, que te levará de ônibus psicodélico a todos os pontos que importam da história dos Beatles. Eu preferi agendar para o segundo dia, pois assim teria tempo de conhecer a cidade antes.

De Albert Docs, após explorar bastante o lugar, os museus e as lojas, vá até a Anglican Cathedral. Linda, gigante, com um parque maravilhosamente mórbido ao lado, com lápides por todo o lado.

Depois disso, vá para o hotel. Fiquei em um hotel bem central, bastante justo, chamado Lord Nelson. Fácil de achar, em frente a estação central de trem de Liverpool e muito próximo de lugares como a Central Library e St George’s Hall. 55 libras a diária.

Check in feito, só há um lugar para ir: THE CAVERN CLUB. Maravilhoso. A balada lá começa 2 da tarde sem hora para acabar. Muito familiar, com gente de todo qto é lugar d mundo, de todas a idades com um único objetivo: ouvir música ao vivo. A entrada é baratíssima (algo barato nessa porra de país caro que é a Inglaterra), só 1 libra. E o pint lá dentor não sai por mais de 3 libras. Conclusão: conheci uma garota do Paraná, enchi a cara e nem sei como cheguei ao Hotel....

Domingo, após combater a ressaca, vá a Mersey Ferries, onde há mais Beatles Story para ver. Infelizmente não é permitido tirar foto. Após a Mersey Ferries, volte a Albert Docs para pegar o Magic Mistery Bus e emocione-se novamente.

In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs

On the corner is a banker with a motorcar

Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout

Strawberry fields forever

Dicas para os beatlemaniacos: junte grana e fique no Hard Day’s Night Hotel, que tem quartos para cada um dos integrantes da banda (aposto que a do Ringo é minúsculo) e traga muita grana, ou você passará vontade. Tem mto souvenir pela cidade toda.

Em resumo: Liverpool respira música. Em todo o lugar. Mas ela não se resume só a Beatles. A arquitetura é única e lindíssima e há muito que se ver entre uma Beatle tour e outra.

Próximo post em inglês de novo: Brazilian night with my host family and friends E Guiness Storehouse. \o/

Pub, finally!

As incredible as it may soud, yesterday was my first visit to an Irish pub. Yeah, I know... too long, hun? Well, I surely had my compensation. 3 pints!
I started with a black beer (NOT Guiness), Smithwick's. As soon as I come back to the pub, I'll check it's name. It's very very light, a little bit similar to the Brazilian  Xingu, but much stronger and bitter.

This is me, my pint and my friend's pint. =D

The we went on with another one, Blumer, that looked nice, but it tasted like Lambrusco - yes, that champaigned wine. I couldn't get though the pint... I hated it! It was fruity and sparkling!! EEEEEWWW!!

Well, after that deception, I HAD to have a pint of Guiness. I had already had a Guiness here. And it was good, of course. However, it was a canned one, not from the tap (I've learned it's draught beer - o famoso CHOPP). It was my frist draughted pint of Guiness and it IS going to soun obvious, but it was THE BEST GUINESS I'VE EVER TASTED. According to my pubmates, my eyes were brighting!
Now I have afternoon classes and then I'm going to another pub, to taste another beer and have another pint of Guiness before dinner.

See you soon!