First Week

The city

I finally moved and now I’m living downtown. The city center is very interesting. Usually mostly buildings, commercial centers that are all connected which is useful during winter. The same happens with the buildings at the university.

One thing that is better here is that the streets in Calgary are identify by numbers. Therefore if you get lost, you easily can manage to reach your address. I live at 12th Ave with 2St SW. The main street is 8th Ave with Center Street. So as you can see the localization of my flat is quite good.

Ice-skating

This week I went ice-skating. I had tried once four years ago in Saskatoon, but that time I gave up because it was impossible to stay still. Actually I wasn’t confident enough, and that’s the secret.
But this time, I encouraged myself. Tony(a guy from Australia) and Athina were my teachers. We started standing in a circle..Imagine..So funny! Then, a few meters ahead I fell on ice. I almost gave up. Then I tried to slide using those frames, for beginners or kids. Well, that helped me a lot. I started to find my balance and I improved so much. I even run one lap without the frame. Oh, what a great experience! Perhaps, five more times and I’ll be a hundred percent self-confident and then…






Olympic Oval












Tony and I

Meeting old Friends

Hello folks,

Sorry for my delay to upload more pictures, but I’m still without a computer at home, but I promise more pictures very soon.

As many of you probably know, I was in Saskatoon in 2002 and I made many friends there. And believe or not, Canada chases me,hehe(grinning). In Poland I was tremendously lucky when I discovered that Ali, a canadian friend I met in Victoria(Vancouver's Island), was there and we met many times in Warsaw. Now, I still have friends here, and living in Calgary. So, I made some phone calls and I’ve met Melissa Araujo, a Brazilian girl who's been living in Canada for more than 7 years and Cory Sutton, a Canadian friend, who is getting married in a couple of months. It was so “kurwa” cold that day but we went to Starbucks café and talked for hours. It was great!!! It’s so good to have friends around, people that you can trust and are so helpful at all times. Cory also lived in Porto Alegre three years ago, so I felt like home.







Me and Cory at his house.

First Pictures in Calgary

My Arrival at the Calgary international Airport

Dynetek Company

My apartment, the living room!

View from the Calgary Tower!

OH CANADA ! Here We go again...

Introduction

After my awesome cultural experience in Poland in 2005 I fortunately got another traineeship in Calgary, Canada. Before actually taking the flight, i went back to my hometown, Santa Maria, to be together with my family, and then went to Horizontina, Caxias do Sul, and to Paradise Beach (Praia Paraiso perto de Torres). Well, time has come to arrange my cases and say goodbye again to Brazil.

Arrival in Toronto

We landed in Canada at 6:45am and the temperature was -12C. My connection was in 1h 30min, so I had to be very fast. However, I was suprised with a huge queue at the customs. I waited till my turn came in, and finally I was able to pass through it. I was sent to the immigration desk though, which took me even more time. I was pretty late. I started to run to the belts to get my luggage, and i was praying for something bad haven't happened with them.
I won’t describe my sensation at that time, in short I was desperate. But I found my luggage and while i was running to the next terminal, I dispatched the bags and went to check in. I had to act like what we call our Brazilian way, so I passed to the front of the queue with the excuse I would miss the plane. Everything all right I thanked God I reached the plane on time.

Arrival in Calgary

I arrived about twenty minutes before the schedule time. I grabbed my luggage and I started looking for aiesec people. I walked, came back, walked again and then I’ve heard a voice calling my name. Oh yes, they had just arrived to pick me up!! Hugs, happiness, relaxation!! The weather was awesome!! Very warm and sunny! +10C!

First Lunch
They took me to the best place ever in Calgary: the Luciano’s restaurant. It’s a Italian/Canadian place. I ate a lot. I mean, I thought I had eaten a lot, but Canadians eat more, much more.
After that, I was really tired and I went to rest a bit. In the evening, we had a party to celebrate valentine’s day. At this party, which took place at the university, I could meet other trainees and the rest of the aiesecers.
Finally They took me to my temporary house until they settle a flat for me.




Valentine's day Party











The city is big. More than one million inhabitants. But imagine this population with buildings solely downtown, I would say around 200hundred. What I mean is that the city is totally spread out, flat, and everything is far away. It takes me an hour and twenty minutes to get to work.

Other than that, I’m enjoying my time here so far. However, I faced a very cold week in the last days: it ended up with –35C. Chances are, you may not feel a pinch in your legs after walking 10min or more. Sounds funny, but it’s terrible! By the way, I’m getting used to the cold, therefore in a few weeks I’ll be skiing at Kicking horse ski place! You bet your ass!! See next pictures…