Nascida e criada em Portugal. Já morei na Polónia, no Brasil, na República Checa e agora é a Suécia que me acolhe.
O meu blogue, tal como o meu cérebro, é uma mistura de línguas. Bem vindos!

Born and raised Portuguese. I have lived in Poland, Brazil, Czech Republic and now I'm in the beautiful Sweden.
My blog, just like my brain, is a blend of languages. Welcome!

segunda-feira, 22 de setembro de 2014

F ♥ R ♥ I ♥ E ♥ N ♥ D ♥ S

Há 20 anos atrás estreava a série que acabou por se tornar a minha preferida de todos os tempos: Friends. Não vivo sem ela! Sempre que estou triste, aborrecida ou tenho que fazer uma tarefa que não goste (por exemplo passar a ferro) ponho um episodio de Friends e tudo fica melhor. Já vi cada episódio dezenas de vezes e é incrível como ainda me rio de cada piada. Deixo duas das minhas partes preferidas (a segunda piada só funciona em inglês, por isso não traduzi). 

Twenty years ago started being aired a series that easily became my favourite of all times: Friends. I can't live without it! Anytime I feel sad, or blue, or I have to do something I don't enjoy (such as ironing), I watch Friends and my world becomes better. I have seen each episode dozens of times and it's unbelievable how I still laugh at every joke. I leave you with two of my favourite Friends quotes. 

She's your lobster!!


"Ela é a tua lagosta! É um facto real que quando as lagostas se apaixonam é para a vida. E sabem que mais, podem até ver-se lagostas velhinhas a passear de mão dada à volta do aquário, assim com as pinças entrelaçadas. "

It's a moo point!


sábado, 20 de setembro de 2014

Foreigners

I have been working in an international environment since I started my undergrad project, in 2005. Science is an international field and it is very common for people to move around. Some do it for a couple of years, to gain experience, and then go back to their home countries. Some do it for longer and adopt another country as their own.

I see foreigners as equals. I do not think of foreigners as superior, just because supposedly they have more life experience, and I certainly do not think of them as inferior. I think of them as equals. They might have the disadvantage of not speaking fluently the language and of not understanding the cultural do's and don'ts, but they have the advantage of seeing the same place with different eyes and of observing things more clearly, from the outside.

A foreigner has a completely different lifestyle than a native. A foreigner centres the energy on the surroundings, on the new culture and on the internet trying to keep up with events happening 5 countries away, in a place they once called home. The native is at home, and focus the attention on the people, family and friends, and barely notices the surroundings anymore.

As a foreigner myself, I see three kinds of people. There are those who see foreigners as another element, someone who might have lived different experiences but now is in the same circle, living the same things, even if differently. There are those who see foreigners as poor creatures - they had to abandon their comfort zone - or crazy creatures - why would they do that voluntarily. And then there are those to whom foreigners do not exist, what exists is "stupid foreigners". They don't speak the language, they don't understand that is rude to refuse bourbon from the boss at 10am, they are not invited to the cool parties and they spend money flying home instead of buying cool clothes (all happened, but not all to me).

The biggest barrier between foreigners and natives is the language. No doubts about that. Sometimes it’s an even bigger barrier when they all speak a common language, such as English. There are countries in which a group of 10 people, that includes only 1 foreigner, speak English all the time, including when the foreigner leaves for a few moments to make a phone call. There are also countries in which people refuse to speak a word of English, even if they are fluent, unless they really have to. Or unless they need a favour, of course. They tend to avoid eye contact as well, acknowledging the native that is with the foreigner, and pretending the last is transparent. They refuse to understand that a person that comes to their country for a couple of years does not have to learn their language, especially when the official language at work is English (even for them!). I have observed conversations between a foreigner and two natives in which one of them has to answer the same questions both in English and in Czech, just because the other native refuses to use English. Unless the boss is involved, of course.


The years have taught me to ignore it and think they have not lived enough to understand the situation. It's ok. But secretly, deep down inside of me, in that locked drawer where I keep shameful thoughts, I wish someday they find themselves completely lost in Yemen, barefoot, without a map, a GPS and money, looking for the way home.

quarta-feira, 17 de setembro de 2014

Grand Express train

A nossa viagem à Rússia foi de certa forma especial e decidimos aproveitar esta visita ao máximo e passar o fim de semana a seguir à conferência em São Petersburgo. A viagem de Moscovo a São Petersburgo pode facilmente ser feita de avião, em menos de 2h, ou de comboio em cerca de 4h. Outra opção é viajar de comboio de luxo, ao estilo da antiga União Soviética. 
O comboio Red Arrow começou a fazer o trajecto Moscovo - São Petersburgo em 1931. Hoje em dia ainda se pode viajar neste mesmo comboio, à mesma velocidade e no mesmo estilo, numa viagem que se faz durante a noite e demora cerca de 8h. Este é provavelmente o comboio mais luxuoso, cujos bilhetes custam uma pequena fortuna, principalmente se considerarmos que a viagem é feita em menor conforto, pois o interior recria a decoração antiga (quem experimentou queixa-se geralmente dos colchões duros). O Red Arrow é portanto uma atracção turística, para quem quiser ter uma experiência única e não se importe de passar uma noite mal dormida. 

Our trip to Russia was somehow special and we wanted to take maximum advantage of our time there. We wanted to visit Saint Petersburg as well, and we went there the weekend after the conference. The trip from Moscow to Saint Petersburg can be easily done in less than 2h by plane or in about 4h by train. Another option is to travel by a luxurious train, somehow portraying a Soviet Union style. 
The Red Arrow train started connecting Moscow and Saint Petersburg in 1931. Nowadays, the Red Arrow still runs this route at the same speed and in a similar style, taking 8h during the night. This is most likely the most luxurious train in Russia and the tickets cost a small fortune, especially if you consider that the trip is less comfortable since its interior portrays its original decoration (people usually complain about the hard mattresses on the beds). Therefore, the Red Arrow is a touristic attraction for those looking for a unique experience, that don't mind a sleepless night.

Interior of Red Arrow cabin (from the internet)

Nós pusemos o Red Arrow de parte, procuramos comboios semelhantes mas mais confortáveis e encontramos vários bem mais baratos. Acabamos por escolher uma cabine de 2 pessoas no Grand Express, apenas por ter um website mais fácil de traduzir. 

Discarding the Red Arrow option we looked for something similar but more comfortable and we found several other ones, way cheaper. We ended up choosing a sleeping compartment for 2 people in the Grand Express train, simply because their website was easier to translate. 

Grande Express, na estação de Moscovo / Grande Express, in Moscow's train station

Na estação de comboios e para nossa surpresa, ouvimos um anuncio que chamava os passageiros do luxuoso comboio Grand Express a bordo. Entreolhamo-nos e pensamos "luxuoso??? Deve ser engano". Não era... 

To our surprise, in the train station we heard the passengers of "the luxurious Grand Express train" being called and we thought "luxurious??? It must be a mistake". It wasn't...



À esquerda o corredor da nossa carruagem e à direita e em baixo o interior da nossa cabine. O sofá transformava-se numa cama de 120cm de largura e por cima, tipo beliche, abria uma outra cama de 90 cm.
On the left, the corridor of our carriage and on the right and in the bottom, the interior of our compartment. The sofa could be turned into a 120 cm wide bed, and on top of it a 90 cm wide bed could be open. 


Não me senti num filme do James Bond, mas a cabine era super confortável e dormi melhor que nunca. O comboio viaja devagarinho, daí demorar 8h e não 4h, e sentí-me embalada a viagem toda. Foi como dormir no carro, mas esticada numa cama fofinha. A cama era tão boa como a de um hotel, a cabine tinha armários, um lavatório, mesa e TV. Além disso ainda tivemos direito a um snack antes de dormir e pequeno almoço servidos na cabine. 

I didn't feel like I was in a James Bond movie, but the compartment was super comfortable and I slept really well. The train goes quite slowly, that's why it takes 8h instead of 4h, and I felt I was being rocked as a baby the whole trip. It was like sleeping in the car, but laying down on a nice soft bed. The bed was as good as in a hotel, the compartment had a wardrobe, a lavatory, a table and a TV. We also got a snack before sleeping and breakfast in the morning served in the compartment. 

Lavatório / Lavatory

 Snack: fruta e croissants / Snack: fruits and croissants

Pequeno almoço escolhido antes de dormir: crepe de geleia e omelete de salmão, com iogurte, leite e chá servido numas lindíssimas canecas russas. 
Breakfast was chosen before we went to sleep and we had: crepe with jam and salmon omelet, with yoghurt, milk and tea served in two gorgeous russian-style mugs. 

Algures na Rússia às 5h da manhã / Russian countryside at 5am. 

Adorámos a experiência e valeu imenso a pena porque de manhã estavamos cheios de energia para explorar São Petersgurgo.

We absolutely loved this experience and it was totally worth it as we woke up well rested and full of energy to go and explore Saint Petersburg. 

terça-feira, 16 de setembro de 2014

Post vacation mood

We just returned from our big vacation. We went to São Paulo, for the wedding of a relative, and then to New York City. It was our first time in the big apple and we walked around a lot. We got back to Prague on Sunday morning (evening in NYC), after a long sleepless trip. We took a 2h nap at home and we tried to fight sleep the rest of the day and sleep the whole night instead, trying to reset our biological clocks back to normal, since we had to work on Monday. We went to bed around 9h30 and I set the alarm on my phone for 8 o'clock next morning. However, I forgot to change the time in my phone back to European time, the alarm didn't ring and we overslept until... 13h30!!! I didn't even know it was possible to sleep for so long (unless you are a teenager, those can probably sleep even more)! I slept for 16h! I rarely sleep more than 8h, even on weekends, and I slept twice as that!
We have flexible timetables at work, so that was not a problem, but we didn't fall asleep again until 4 a.m. last night. Now I feel like a zombie and it's been quite hard to think. So much for trying to set my biological clock back in a smooth way...

(Image from the internet)

Regressamos recentemente das nossas férias maiores. Fomos a São Paulo para o casamento de um primo meu e depois visitamos a cidade de Nova Iorque. Foi a nossa primeira vez no Estados Unidos e passamos os dias de um lado para o outro. Chegámos a Praga no Domingo de manhã (noite em Nova Iorque), depois de uma longa viagem sem dormir nada. Dormimos uma sesta de 2h quando chegámos a casa e lutámos contra o sono o resto do dia, para podermos dormir a noite toda e assim acertar o nosso relógio biológico, uma vez que tínhamos que trabalhar na Segunda-feira. Deitamo-nos por volta das 9h30 e eu pus o alarme no telemovel para as 8h da manha do dia seguinte. No entanto, esqueci-me de acertar as horas no telemovel para o horario europeu e o alarme não tocou. Quando acordamos por nós mesmos eram... 13h30!!! Eu nem sabia que era possivel dormir por tanto tempo (a não ser os adolescentes, esses conseguem provavelmente dormir ainda mais). Dormi durante 16h! Raramente durmo mais do que 8h, nem aos fins de semana e desta vez dormi o dobro! 
No trabalho temos horários flexiveis, por isso não foi um grande problema perder a manhã, o pior foi que só voltamos a adormecer às 4h da manha do dia seguinte e agora estou com o cerebro todo enevoado e sem conseguir pensar. Ainda bem que pensei na melhor estratégia para acertar o meu relógio biologico de forma subtil...


quinta-feira, 4 de setembro de 2014

Izmailovskaya Park and Market

Kremlin in Izmailovo

Izmailovskaya é uma área nos suburbios de Moscovo com um parque, um mercado e o Kremlin de Izmailovo. Este é o segundo Kremlin de Moscovo e é quase desconhecido. A sua construção também é muito interessante e colorida. Hoje em dia é uma área de entretenimento com lojas e restaurantes. A nossa visita foi ainda mais especial porque nos sentimos numa cidade fantasma. Tudo à nossa volta era muito bonito, mas quase não havia pessoas e nós não sabíamos porquê. Ao voltar ao hotel percebemos que tinham sido declarados dois dias de luto, pelas vitimas do acidente do metro, e por isso a maioria das coisas fora do centro da cidade estavam fechadas ou vazias. 

Izmailovskaya is an area with a park, a market and the Kremlin in Izmailovo. This is the almost unknown second Kremlin in Moscow and its construction is also very interesting. The Kremlin in Izmailovo is nowadays a kind of entertainment area with shops and restaurants. Our visit was extra especial because we felt we were in a ghost town. It was all very beautiful but for some reason there was almost no people around and we didn't understand why would such a nice place be empty. We found later that it had been declared two days of mourning in Moscow, due to the accident in the metro, so most things outside the city center were closed.


Mercado / Market 



Kremlin in Izmailovo



 Igreja de São Nicolau / Church of Saint Nicholas


 Entrada principal para o Kremlin in Izmailovo / Main entrance of the Kremlin in Izmailovo

 É comum haver casamentos nesta área e este é um dos carros dos noivos que estavam estacionados à porta.
This is also a common area for wedding celebrations and this was one of the cars used to transport the bride and groom. 

 Fila de limusinas / Plenty of limos parked outside

 Parque de Izmailovskaya / Izmailovskaya Park

 Uma senhora a passear os seus dois porquinhos e o seu cão / Lady walking her two pigs and dog

 Kremlin in Izmailovo visto do parque / View of Kremlin in Izmailovo from the park

Catedral de Pokrovski / Pokrovski Cathedral





Pôr do Sol na rua do nosso hotel / Sunset in the street of our hotel

Espero que tenham gostado das fotos!
I hope you enjoyed the photos!

quarta-feira, 3 de setembro de 2014

Centro de Moscovo - Moscow City Center


O centro de Moscovo não é só a Praça Vermelha e o Kremlin. Museus, igrejas, teatros e edifícios imponentes e de arquitectura interessante estão por toda a parte. Aqui ficam as fotos do que eu encontrei nos meus passeios aleatórios e sem destino certo pelo centro. 

Moscow city center is not only the Red Square and the Kremlin. There's plenty more to see, as museums, churches, theatres and interesting buildings can be found everywhere. Here are some photos of the sights I found during my random walks in the city center.

 Teatro de Bolshoi, onde há espectáculos da Bolshoi, aa famosas companias de Ballet e Ópera russas. 
Bolshoi theatre, where the famous Bolshoi Ballet and Opera companies perform.

Museu de Arqueologia de Moscovo / Museum of Archaeology of Moscow

Túmulo do Soldado Desconhecido e a Chama Eterna, na muralha do Kremlin. O monumento é em honra aos mortos da Grande Guerra Patriótica.
Tomb of the Unknown soldier and the eternal flame, at the Kremlin wall, to honour the dead of the Great Patriotic War.

Mudança da Guarda junto ao túmulo do Soldado Desconhecido. 
The change of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown soldier.

 Gruta junto ao Jardim de Alexandre / Grotto at Alexander Garden

Quilometro zero - reza a lenda que se pedirmos um desejo no centro da placa de metal e atirarmos uma moeda por cima do ombro, o desejo se torna realidade. 
Kilometer zero - there's a legend that says your wish comes true if you ask it while standing in the center of the bronze plaque and throw a coin over the shoulder. 

 Igreja de todos os Santos / Church of All Saints

Catedral de Cristo Salvador, a maior igreja Ortodoxa / Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the tallest Orthodox church 



Apartamentos de Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, uma das "Sete Irmãs". 
Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments, one of the "Seven Sisters".

As "Sete Irmãs" são um conjunto de arranha céus de estilo Stalinista em Moscovo, do qual também faz parte o edifício principal da universidade de Moscovo (mais neste post).

 The "Seven Sisters" are a group of sky scrappers in Moscow, built in the Stalinist style. The main building of the University of Moscow is part of this group (more in this post).

 Kotelnicheskaya Embankment

 Ministério dos Negocios Estrangeiros / Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 Antiga fábrica transformada em zona comercial / Old factory transformed into a commercial area


Rua Arbat Antiga, uma rua cheia de lojas, entretenimento de rua, arte, pequenas feiras e muitas pessoas.
Old Arbat Street, a street full shops, street performers, art, small markets and loads of people.


Engraçado como os rapazes que estavam a passar estavam todos pintados como a parede.
Funny how the boys passing by were as painted as the wall.


Biblioteca do Estado Russo com o monumento a Dostoyevsky 
Russian State Library and monument of Dostoyevsky

 Jardins de Alexandre / Alexander Garden


Representações de diferentes histórias infantis, nos Jardins de Alexandre.
Representation of different children's stories at Alexander garden.




 Porta de um restaurante / Front door of a restaurant

 Casas de banho publicas e a pessoa responsável que passa o dia numa das casas de banho transformada em "salinha". 
Public toilet and its responsible, that spends the day inside one of the toilets that has been made into a small "office".

 Margem do rio, usada como praia fluvial / River embankment used as a river beach


Há mesmo muita coisa para se ver em Moscovo e pode caminhar-se durante horas sem se dar conta. O que gostaram mais?

There is a lot to see in Moscow. I could walk endlessly through the streets for hours always enjoying all the sights. What did you like the most so far?