The first post

(Originally writing on the 19th Sep )

Ever since I left home and settled myself in my seat on the plane, I’ve been thinking about what I’d write in this post (which I wrote on paper before I created the blog). All the different and funny things that happened became a theme for the post. In my mind, I could even think about the narrative, the best way to tell the events, the conjunctions, I would have to look up words in the dictionary before writing… but by the time I get this BIC pen, I just have one thing to tell you. The best place in the world is the one we can call ‘home’. To quote Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ “There’s no place like home.”

Ok, I just arrived at Heathrow airport (one of the London's airport) and am here preparing myself for the next five hours I’ll spend waiting for the bus which will take me to Nottingham. I know it’s a short and busy time to get familiarised with a place, but still… I’m scared! Everything here is so big! One mistake, you can lose your luggage, your flight, a document, your money. And add to this: NO HOSPITALITY. No understanding you’re not from this place, you don’t know how things work here and especially you are not a native English speaker. So, please, international airport staff, slow down!

And to make things worse, as a sign of my feelings, my throat closed, I was almost completely voiceless and my shoulder felt the weight of so much pressure.

Borders crew
And what about the UK border staff? Nicer than the Canadian ones? No, they are all the same. I guess it’s a prerequisite for these people to not leave their countries ever. They can’t put themselves in my shoes. I can’t forget that albino beluga man at the Canada border saying something I could not understand and screaming at me after I asked him a ‘What’ in an attempt to show him I didn’t understand what he was saying. And he said: ‘Ok, you, girl, can come in to my country. Here you’ll learn how to speak proper English and good manners.’ How would I know that to interpolate someone with a ‘What’ is offensive? Wasn’t he supposed to know that language and behaviour are different from country to country? Bloody whale!

Djois, Djois
The next two weeks will be tough: to find a place to live (I have a room in a hostel for just 2 nights), to register at the university, with the police, to open a bank account, to settle (my)self. I will do it!

But now I am thinking how crazy I am! I booked the hostel one day before I left, I printed the summary of some modules out on the day of the departure, I did my nails in the car heading to the airport! Uh… I fell asleep and my nails turned blue as I slept on the plane, it must have been the blue dye on the seat . Djois, Djois… organize and plan yourself better, baby.

But after said bye to my family and my good friend, cried a little (with a British accent), I decided to enjoy the plane utilities. So I watched a good movie, drank two glasses of wine and tried to make myself home in the four seats which were available just close to me. Not bad. Even though I was expecting to find my Prince Charming right in the plane, at least I got four seats to lie down. (Let’s think positively).

Lisbon
Then I got into Lisbon airport where I spent two hours waiting for the next flight in the wrong gate. But I am pretty sure this mistake of mine was forced by the angels. Whilst I was there I met this strange Italian guy. In the beginning I thought he was from Syria (the main characters of the movie I watched in the plane are from there) or a country nearby it because he really looks like one and also because of his accent. So, he came to me, gave me a punch in my left arm and said: ‘Brazil is here?’ No, no, definitely, Brazil is not here. ‘Yes, yes, it’s here’ – I answered indicating he was in the right gate (so ironic! I was giving information about gates…). I guess he has some kind of mental illness, yes, definitely he was not normal, not exactly a down’s person but for sure someone with mental issues. But he said: “You pretty”. And I was happy with the compliment from a weirdo ( things will get better Djois!) . And for a while my mood lifted. A simple compliment put a smile on my face! Angels, keep playing your holes!