As a trilingual person (portuguese, italian, english), during the holidays things get very confusing. Since in Brazil the only language spoken is Portuguese, I have been speaking Portuguese for one month and a half....
Which mean that my English went back to what it was like when I first got here in Abu Dhabi back in Grade 7, although it will come back eventually. Another aspect regarding languages is my accent. I now realized that when I speak in portuguese I no longer sound like a native, I sound like a foreigner who learned to speak the language. Additionally I have come to realize that my thoughts are now in English and when I spoke them in Portuguese, it sounded as if I had translated them on google translate. Basically, speaking a bunch of languages is pretty hard and it gets messy.
Furthermore, the readings that I was assigned to complete during summer holiday are going pretty well. The analysis part takes a while because it has to be very detailed but the stories itself are interesting.
My favorite one would have to be Boys and Girls. Firstly I have already read that story back in Grade 11 or 10 (can't really remember the time frame) and secondly that story is more than just a story as it portrayed how women were inferior to men in that century and how the have been fighting since that time which was in 1968 to break the expectations of what a woman should look, do or behave like. Hence reinforcing feministic views. I really enjoyed reading this again because as I feminist myself it pleases me to see the development of it and how women were fighting it with literature. Furthermore what really stood out to me in this specific story is the horse Flora as a symbol of the narrator herself. A wild girl who does not want to be trained by no one and the only thing that she wants is to be free and do whatever may please her. However in the century she is living and in the society she is situated, other factors such as her family corner her into falling into this domesticated girl she is supposed to be. This accurately represents the struggle of many girls and the pressure they suffered form their parents and the people around them.
The summer in the UAE is the winter in Brazil
The weather could not be better, as a tropical country, it is never too hot or too cold, it is simply perfect. Everything about Brazil's nature is perfect, aside from those destroying it, it is the most beautiful country I've seen and I'm happy to call it my home, even with all the mess going around there.
My holiday was amazing and I cannot express the love and joy I feel when I go back to my country and visit my family, my home and the nature that I have a deep passion for.
Nothing that I did back in Brazil is considerably interesting and amusing for some, however myself as someone who deeply values family, appreciates the time that I had to spend with my grandfather and my cousins.
Honestly speaking, my holiday was neither too short or too long. It was just the right time.
Back in my town I did many things such as having the pleasure to eat as much as I could (the food there is out of this world), visit new places in the mountains with my family and try to catch the perfect sunset, have long walks and conversations with my grandfather and go out with my cousins a lot. However throughout my holiday there is one thing that stuck to my head. As I went over my old school to visit my friends which now are more of acquaintances, I realized how incredibly lucky I am to have moved over to Abu Dhabi.
I do not speak of the people, since the people there are just as good as the people here. However I do mean that education and experience wise, I obtained more of that after I came here than I would have if I stayed there. In Brazil there is no diversity, pretty much everyone is Brazilian whereas here I live and breathe the same air as other hundred nationalities do as well.
Another two things that I learned this summer and will carry it with me for life is that:
1- People change and that is inevitable
2- We must preserve the good things in our lives.
