English Study

My mom is learning English. Once a week I write a small text in Ensligh and record a audio of me reading it so my mom can practice. We decided to post them here so it might help other people looking for material in English to practice.

Sabbatical

I want to take a full year of Sabbatical!

On my 40th birthday I want to take a Sabbatical. My idea is to spend the whole year travelling around the world, doing the things I like the most (like snowboarding and hiking) but also visiting new places and learning new things.

I want to start my sabbatical by doing the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. This pilgrimage is a hike of more than 1200 kilometres on the island of Shikoku in Japan and it can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days to complete.

After that, I plan to visit some countries that I have never been to, like Australia and New Zealand. Marília and I have some friends in Australia and it would be lovely if we had the chance to visit them. From there, we could go either to South or North America. I would love to visit countries like Chile, Mexico or Canada. I had a couple of friends who recently went to Alaska and they absolutely loved it. That might be an option for us as well. We could also go to some countries in Africa, although I’m not sure if I would enjoy it. We’ll see.

In any case, I want to finish my sabbatical by purchasing a season pass for a nice ski resort and spend two or three months snowboarding!

I know I still have a lot of researching and planning to do, but I’m very excited for this Sabbatical and really looking forward to this day to come!

Two very special guests

About our guests for the summer of 2018

In the summer of 2018, we received two very special guests in our home: Gabi and Cadu. They spent an entire month here in Europe. Besides staying in Amsterdam, we also went to Barcelona for one week.

Since it was their first time in both cities, we went to all the touristic attractions. Here in Amsterdam we went to the Anne Frank’s House museum, to the Albert Cuyp street market and to a famous brewery, near to a beautiful windmill. We also did a lot of sports together, like longboarding, climbing and even acrobatics!

In Barcelona we did some street art hunting, searching for nice graffiti work around the city. We also took a lot of pictures and had the chance to watch an awesome jazz concert on the top of the La Pedrera, a building which is very famous for its exquisite façade. But I think our favorite part of Barcelona was the gastronomy. Besides eating a lot of local cuisine, we also went to a very nice Asian restaurant and, of course, to our favorite burger place in the planet: Kiosko.

We love receiving guests at our home and Gabi and Cadu were no exception. I hope we can meet them again soon, either here or anywhere in the world.

Snowboarding

About snowboarding and ski trips

A few years ago I learned how to snowboard. Since then, I make plans every winter to go to a ski resort. People at my age are usually afraid of trying something new like snowboarding. They usually tell me that it’s dangerous and it’s too difficult to learn when you’re not young anymore. I think this is bullshit! Learning how to snowboard has changed my life and I cannot even imagine my life without snowboarding every winter now!

It’s also a good opportunity for us to travel with friends. Early this year we spent my birthday’s week in Andorra with a couple of friends from Russia and had a really great time there. In the past two winters, Marília and I also went to Switzerland and France with some friends from Brazil and it was amazing.

Besides all the fun that I have with snowboarding, the whole trip is usually very enjoyable. The mountain views are incredible, the food is usually very good and the whole atmosphere is very energizing. Snowboarding is good not only for our bodies - because it’s a very demanding physical activity - but also for our minds, because we get to spend quality time with friends. Every time that we come back home after a ski trip we are usually very exhausted, but also very satisfied and wishing for more!

Porto

Our first time in Porto

Last year, Marília and I went for the first time to Porto, in Portugal. We rented an apartment for one week and invited our friends Jade and Oozora to stay with us. Jade is currently living in Coimbra, which is close to Porto, and Oozora was spending some time in Europe while her American visa was being issued in Italy.

On our first day in Porto, Marília and I met a mutual friend of Oozora and Jade who is currently living there. Her name is Nina. She is German, but she was raised in Brazil. Jade, Oozora and Nina actually went to the same school in Fortaleza!

Unfortunately I was not on vacation, so I had to spend the weekdays working normally. But I can’t complain. I had a great time nevertheless. Even working during the day, I could enjoy the great company, great weather and great food. In the evenings, after work, we played board games and walked around the city.

On the weekend, we went to the beach with Nina and Augusto, her boyfriend. We swam in the sea, despite the fact that it was freezing cold. On our last day in Porto, we went to the beach again and decided to swim before going to the airport. We didn’t have swimwear with us, so we had to improvise and swim on our underwear. Also we went to the airport straight from the beach, without even taking a shower before!

In the end it was a very nice experience! We loved Porto and we will definitely come back again!

Bicycles

About bicycles in Amsterdam

The thing that I like the most about living in Amsterdam is the fact that you don’t need a car to live here. In the city, the fastest way to get somewhere is usually by bike. Here, people ride their bikes no matter what. Even if it’s raining or snowing, you will always see a lot of people on their bikes in the streets.

Different from owning a car, having a bicycle is very practical and inexpensive: you don’t need to pay for gasoline or parking. And, of course, you never need to search for a gas station or a parking lot. You don’t need to pay taxes and usually the maintenance is very cheap. On top of that, riding a bicycle everyday is very healthy, not only for your body but also for your mind. While driving a car in the city can be very stressful, riding a bike usually has the opposite effect: it’s very pleasant and relaxing.

The best part is that riding a bicycle is not only good for you, but it’s also good for others. It’s safer for everyone (you are less likely to suffer or cause and accident) and it’s better for the environment, since there is no carbon monoxide emission and the overall waste involved in manufacturing a bicycle is much lower than the waste to produce a car.

When we read all this information it’s hard not to stop and think: Why don’t we bike more?

Museumcard

Over dutch museums and the museum card

Five years ago Marília and I decided to do something that would completely change our lives. We decided to move to Amsterdam.

Since then, we have visited many Dutch museums, not only here in Amsterdam but also in other dutch cities. There are more than 100 museums in Amsterdam alone! In the entire country, there are more than 700 museums!

One tip that we always give to our friends when they come to visit us is to purchase the museum card. This card costs €65 and allows you to visit most of the museums in the country for one year! If you like museums, it is certainly a good deal. Even if you don’t, with more than 700 museums to choose from, you will certainly find something that catches your interest.

Camino de Santiago

Walking the Camino de Santiago

In 2016 Marília and I did the Camino de Santiago walk. The Camino de Santiago, also known as St. James Way, is a network of different paths, all leading to the city of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. Because of its religious origin, this walk is also referred as Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

We started our journey in a city called Saint Jean Pied de Port in France. On our first day of pilgrimage, we crossed The Pyrenees and entered in Spain. It was one of the most difficult days of the whole walk.

Then for the next twenty five days we walked more than a thousand kilometers. After we reached Santiago de Compostela, we went further to Finisterre, at the coast.

During the pilgrimage, we carried nothing more than a backpack. We slept in albergues and ate a lot of traditional Spanish dishes and seafood, like lobsters, crabs and shrimps. The Camino was a little bit tough and demanding, but it was an unforgettable experience. I think everyone should consider walking the Camino de Santiago one day!

RPG

Playing RPG with friends

One of the things that I’ve been enjoying the most lately is playing RPG with my friends. Once a week we gather together to play, like we used to do back in Fortaleza when I was a teenager. The only difference is that now we do everything virtually.

The game we play is called Dungeons and Dragons. My friend Bruno, our “Dungeon Master”, is the person responsible for organizing a story so all the other players can “role-play” a character inside this story. These stories usually happen in a different world, with dragons, kings, wizards and monsters. It’s like we’re playing Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. But it all happens only in our minds.

Usually we play the same game for months. Instead of a “game” we call it an “adventure”. Every Sunday we play a “session” from this adventure. So, every session would be like a chapter from the story, which is our adventure.

On our last adventure our characters had to rescue a very powerful person who had been captured. We fought monsters, made allies (and also enemies), but in the end we were successful. We were able to find and rescue this person and achieved our mission! As a reward, our characters received a lot of gold and treasure and became famous for their courage and kindness!

Longboarding

Longboarding at the Olympic Stadium

Last Thursday was a beautiful day in Amsterdam. The weather was so warm and nice that people are saying that the spring is over and the summer has started! Because the weather was so good, I went with Marília and Jeroen to the Olympic Stadium to practice longboarding. Jeroen is our instructor at the gym and he also longboards, so we often go out together.

We didn’t go inside the stadium. Instead, we longboarded in the stadium’s parking lot. It’s very nice to longboard there because the asphalt is very smooth and there are no cars! Marília also brought her camera and took a lot of nice pictures! We stayed there for almost three hours. I practiced a lot and my legs are hurting now, but I had a very good time!

Do you remember when we went to Barcelona, that I gave a longboard to Oli? Ana sent me a video where Oli is practicing. We tried to record a similar video to send back to him. I will send both videos to you. Watch them and see if they look similar. I think they do!

I hope the weather stays like this for a long time!