Job Search. First Experience.

Davi, the guy from the reception told me a certain guesthouse is looking for a receptionist. I jumped on the opportunity and this morning after breakfast I got dressed to impress and went to go see the manager in order to find out if they're interested in hiring me!
The woman didn't even look at my face.
She just asked me to leave my information with her. I gave her my card.

I have to begin making CVs.
Oh wait, no... I have to find a place to live. 

An Address

By pure luck, I was able to make all my connections and land in SDU a little before 3pm. Flying in, I realized I made the right decision. Yes, I felt the exact same amazing feeling I did three years ago when I landed. Off in the distance I saw the Corcovado, and to the left I saw the Sugar Loaf which I missed visiting last year, but I can’t wait to go see it as soon as I’m settled into a place. There’s something about this city that makes me happy!

I’ve come to realize that settling into a place is key to beginning a life in Brazil. For anything that you’re going to do, you’ll need a stable address.

Yesterday, I spent my entire first day looking for information on how to begin the process of acquiring all my legal documents.

I went to find out how to get an ID card. It’s a free process which is nice, but appointments have to be scheduled through the telephone. I’ll do that soon!

Then I went to find out how to get a CPF. For that and a card to be able to work, I need an address. For a bank account, I need an address. So the focus and main priority has been to find a place to call home.

Today I went to check out my first place. It was cheap economically. Only 360$Reais. It had what I needed: a bed, a bathroom, wi-fi, kitchen and a washing machine. It was in safe location near the police station, on a main street, with a bus stop directly in front of it. The problem was that it was extremely small/tight and a little mold-smelling. There was nowhere to lounge unless you were lying in your own bed. I know I won’t be able to handle staying there.

That was the first place I looked at, so I’m hoping it’ll get better from here! I also noticed that my price margin needs to rise and hopefully it’ll correlate with quality.

I’m still happy. I love being in the city.

Discovery of the Day

I met Caio today. A family friend's nephew who has lived in Rio de Janeiro.
He told me that Rio de Janeiro, like Montreal, has Bixi Bikes!
It's called BikeRio.

I looked it up online, and I was ecstatic to find out that they're cheap 10$Reais/MONTH and that they're widely available throughout the city.
This is AWESOME.

A one way bus ticket is 3.75$Reais,so this'll be a reasonable alternative.

I just need to get used to the fact that Rio doesn't have a flat landscape like Montreal.

New Style?

If you know me... you know I love to wear layers & sweaters.

The comfortable side of living in Canada is that it gives me the opportunity to wear layers and sweaters 3 out of 4 seasons of the year. 

Moving to a tropical country, where in the winter the average temperature is 30 degrees Celsius, the privilege of finding comfort in that style is taken away. 

I guess I'll need to adapt and find a new style. Wish me luck. 

Why Have I Chosen to Move to Brazil?

As the date approaches and I run into people I hadn't yet seen and I tell them that I am off on the 27th, the first question I'll get is: Why?

The answer is simple in nature, yet complex in intent.

The simple answer is: I can, so why not?

I'm young. At 27... yeh, right!

I haven't chosen to get pregnant. 

I'm done with university. 

I don't have a job, place to live or car. 

There is nothing to my name. (No mortgage!) 

I've been to Brazil and I enjoy being there. 

I believe I have skills that'll benefit me in finding work there.... so why not?

The intent of me moving there is deeper than the obvious desire of the pursuit of pleasure. 

How can I explain that it's because at the age of 27, I still don't feel confident leading my life as I want it to?

How can I explain that it's because I don't want to sit here and wonder what it would've been like if I followed my own heart and lived?

It's about my ability to make my own goals and reach them. 

It's about having to deal with my troubles alone, in the manner that it'll someday be.

It's about me "growing up". Yes, as a rights of passage!
This'll be me, becoming a better version of myself and who I'll chose to become without comfort as an influence. 

I think that having the opportunity to move to Brazil is amazing. It's something I've always dreamt of doing. Now is the time, I'm taking a chance because I can. 

Goodbye Comfort Zone

After the play I went to a terrace with Vince.
I stayed till about 11:20pm, then took the metro and the bus home.
The walk home from the bus stop was very pleasant.
It was hot summer night with some drizzle.
The only noise that I herd was that of those creatures of the night, the soft rain and my own sandals hitting the pavement.

I took a moment to breathe in the safety and the comfort I was lucky to have grown up in.

Baie d'Urfe is in the West Island of Montreal.
This place has been my home for over 15 years.
It is a very comfortable place to live in.
Neighbors are respectful.
It's safe, I can sleep with the windows open!
I went to all the schools that are near.
I worked at the local grocery store.
I had various cars.
I've biked or walked through every street.
I had a dog.
I had birds.
I had fish.
I took the train.
I rode my bike.

From my travels, I am aware the world isn't as safe or as comfortable as I've known to perceive it.
The time went by so quickly and I don't want to say that I took it for granted.
I have been very comfortable where I've been living for most of my life.
Things in general have been easy to access and acquire.
As of the 28th, it'll be real test of my own abilities to manage my life.

From an episode of the HBO show "GIRLS":

I wasn't initially inspired by this concept.
Now that I have made my choice to move to Brazil and do it all on my own, I've realized how appropriately this fits into my situation.

I  know I won't be comfortable.
I have accepted this.

I don't know where I'll be staying.
I don't know what I'll be doing.
I might have to work 6 days a week. I might be paid less because of my sex.
I don't know where I'll do laundry or buy food.
I don't know how I'll set up my bank account or CPF.
I don't know how I'll get a job.

It hasn't been easy this far, and I know it wont be... 

I just know that whatever the outcome it'll be worth it for me. 

Volunteering at the Daycare

The best thing that I did the past few months was volunteer twice a week at the daycare with a group of 4-5 year olds.
I did this in order to acquire classroom experience with children. I was lucky enough to be placed with a very inspiring educator named Heather. She does her job extremely well.

Before this I hadn't had much contact with groups of children. I wasn't sure how I'd try to relate to them or how they'd accept me. Through this experience I gained a lot of insight into how children are and how to interact with them.

They want attention. They want to learn. They want to play. They want to be praised. They want to be active. They want to belong. They want to be engaged in activities. They want to relate.

Through observation and mentoring from Heather, during this infield experience I evolved three very important skills.

To Be Calm.
Heather spoke to the children very calmly regardless of the situation. She took the time to explain things to them with tranquility and they listened (99% of the time!). There was some obvious repetitions, but the tone of her voice maintained peaceful and authoritative rather than someone that's annoyed.

This is a skill that I will incorporate into my life. I've always been very anxious about unpredictable outcomes and this is especially difficult when dealing with children, so whilst I was with Heather, I was able to relax and deal with the issues as the came up, rather than attempting to prevent every problem from happening in the first place.  Being calm has also helped me when it comes to finding proper solutions when problem solving. I can stay positive and find the next best outcome. 

To Be Organized.
Heather always had well thought out activities prepared and her day flowed smoothly according to the clock. She had lists of the weekdays with the corresponding activities she'd chosen relating to the theme of the week and she was very flexible.

The beauty of being prepared is also about being able to stay calm! Having a plan is very effective when it comes to achieving educational goals. It's very possible that things don't always go as planned, but incase of deviation from the original plan, it's always easy to get back on track when it is time. A routine will be a part of my daily life because I enjoy moving towards a goal and I can always stay focused with a plan. 

To Be Creative.
Heather (even though she uses pinterest often) is very creative when it comes to coming up with educational activities in order to expand on what the kids already know and what they can already do.

Doing arts and crafts is the main focus of creative expression yet it can have other benefits too. I've come to find a way of finding other advantages for doing an activity. No matter how mundane an activity looks it can be practicing motor skills of their hands, vocabulary, pronunciation, sizes, numbers, textures, colors, names, patterns, etc- an infinite number of things. 

Being able to come up with your own activity (with it's own benefits) helps to be a creative outlet and keep motivated in the work environment. 

These three skills will be in focus when I look, get and maintain a job.
They show professionalism, dedication and enjoyment of one's work.

"You're Going to a Dangerous Place! There's so Much Crime There!"

Telling people you're moving to Brazil gives them anxiety. 

Mostly because they've never been there and must construct the idea of Brazil's reality in their head through what they've seen/herd from the media.

This becomes problematic because people have been conditioned to be fearful of everything and they don't understand "danger" nor "crime".

(Thank you Concordia's Sociology of Fear class for the clarity on the matter!)

Danger is the possibility of something happening. 

This possibility of something happening is possible anywhere. 

It's possible for a person to be assaulted, mugged, raped and even murdered anywhere. In your own country, state/province, city, neighborhood, street and even in your own home!

Danger is something we live with everyday. 

There's different types of danger:

• Basic Survival: Lack of accessibility to water/food/clean air and war.
• Human: People who have the emotional ability to harm another.
• Animal: Getting bitten/eaten by animals. (Dog? Snake? Bear? Shark?)
• Weather: Extreme hot or cold conditions. Earthquakes, Mudslides, Typhoons, Hurricane, etc.

It's through the media that people are most likely to be informed of the existing dangers of living on earth. It's through this means that fear begins to be instilled in people. 

They'll see fellow humans describe the conditions they are in when something has happened. 

• "Ethiopians are starving." (This is sad and true.)
• "School shootings are disastrous!", "Murdered through bullying!", "Assaulted because he's gay!"
• "Bear eats human!", "Bitten by shark!"
• "Hurricane kills 100 people!", "Freezing conditions kills 5 people!"

On a large scale, the world becomes represented a truly scary place to be walking on! 

On a small scale, people always say that the world is dangerous because there's "so much crime!".

The truth is, crime is a small part of life!

Crime is participating in an activity that is punishable by law. 

Everyone's done it.

Ever ran a stop sign or the beginning of a red light? How often do you go back to the store to pay for an item you forgot at the bottom of your shopping basket? Ever smoked illegal substances? Ever drove after a few too many beers? Ever been publicly drunk? Ever jaywalked?

These are all "crimes". They are petty crimes, but crimes none the less.

Just like there's different type of danger, there are different types of crimes. 

I'll name a few.

• Assault.
• Cyber crime.
• Senior Abuse.
• Drug Possession.
• Murder.
• Rape.
• Robbery.
• Stalking. 

These are all real crimes that happened inside and outside of anyone's home country's boarders. 

The problem with crime rates, is that they're tricky in assessing properly. 

1. Not all crime incidents are reported, so in fact there are probably more crimes happening than those that are calculated and shown.
2. From the crimes committed, it's most likely that it's done by people the victim knows and has had altercations with before, from which arrises a motive to carry out a crime in the first place!

(Survival) Life anywhere is about not giving people a motive to harm you and taking necessary precaution.

I know that Brazil is perceived as a dangerous place because of it's high crime rate. 

I'll just do my best to not be part of it, by logically avoiding the possibility of being in a bad situation!

I don't own (or wear) a lot of jewelry, so I doubt they'll rob me of those. 

I wont walk by myself at night,  I'll take a taxi.

I wont be participating in gang activity nor in drug trades. 

I don't dress to be 'pimped out'.

I'll genuinely avoid dangerous situations in the same fashion that I do so here in Montreal.
 This is common sense anywhere one goes!

So before people begin their discourse on a place being dangerous and full of crime, please take a minute to understand and evaluate what the danger and crime really is and if there's even reason to be fearful instead of exercising just basic precaution. 

Telling People You're Leaving.

If you've ever gone away for a while, you've had to tell people you were going to go. 

At first they express how happy they are for you. They outline all the benefits of your adventure.

They express how they'll miss you. They point out past situations that you've lived together and get all nostalgic of the time spent together.

Then... they want to see you again (before you leave). 

It's sweet, except it seems as if they don't realize that time is running out and to re-schedule a meeting with them keeps you from seeing other people or getting things done.
And you don't reject the opportunity, because it's rude and unlike you... because you enjoy their company in the first place.

First Post

I'm about a month away from leaving.

Here is the to do list:

• Buy "professional clothes".
• Put things I don't want/need in boxes.
• Gather all my important documents.
• Tell people I'm leaving.
• Transfer cellphone to Mom.
• Pack (and realize I'm trying to bring too much stuff!)