Author: Val J

Today, I was texting with a friend, we started talking about lots of stuff, what he did on the weekend, what I did on the weekend, what are my plans for this week and later he told me that he really wants to buy a camera but he can´t because he doesn´t have any money and I said that his birthday was coming up and that he could ask his parents a camera as a birthday present. Suddenly he realized he is about to turn 16, and we started talking about everything that happened a year ago. So much has changed, a year ago.. I had a boyfriend who is his bestfriend, now we don´t even talk at all. A year ago, my friend group was amazing!! it was formed by more or less 15 girls but throughout the year we all moved to a different school (in my case I moved to another country) and the group got separated. A year ago, my hair was brown, I was at home with my family, I didn´t know what to do with my life, now I have my life organized and I figured out how I want my future to look. A year ago, my english wasn´t that good, I hated coffee, I was stressing about unnecessary stuff, etc. But, a year ago I thought that everything I did was for my best and now that I am looking back, I became a better version of myself without noticing so I came to the conclusion that, time flies and everyday I am improving even when I think I am not.

I believe that most of the times, when people are supposed to write about someone, they usually write about their mom, I have done that a million times and every mom deserves it but, also dads, so I am going to write about mine. My dad, his name is David. He was born on January 22nd of 1972. He is the man that I admire the most in the world, he is the most hard-working, kind-hearted, honest, funny, intelligent, dedicated, patient, charismatic person ever (there´s a million other words to describe him). He has always been there for me when I needed it, he always wakes up at 6:00 am to leave my brother at school so later, he´ll go for work. He stays at work more than he is supposed to, making every cent he can so my mom, my brother, him and I can live in comfort and not worry about tomorrow. He is the one that goes to the stores with me and my mom, carries the bags and waits for us outside of the dressing room without saying a word of complaint. When I don´t understand something, he explains it to me. He even makes me laugh when I am about to cry but, most importantly, he loves me with all his heart and I know that I can always count on him no matter the situation. I counldn´t have asked for a better dad, I am so so so grateful for having him on my life and having the priviledge of being his daughter. So, yes, he might be just another human on this world but, I can say that my world would be destroyed without him.

Here is why I am about to have a mental collapse, I am just so tired of having to translate everything people say to me here in Canada, I am not saying I don´t understand, it is just so exhaustive the feeling of having to know what everything means in another language. That is what I have done since I was little, spanish is my mother tongue so I don´t have a problem when speaking it but everything started to go wrong when speaking portuguese. Can you imagine how difficult it was for a five years old to not know if she was supposed to speak spanish or portuguese in front of other people? Or to know what words are in spanish and whhich are in portuguese? Now I know when to speak spanish and when to speak portuguese and, I can have a normal conversation in both languages because I am fluent, I have practiced them my whole life so the translation is automatic. My problem is english! I barely knew any slang before coming here and I don´t know the meaning for many words so when having a conversation it is kind of difficult. But what is harsh is me trying to express myself and not being able to!! Also, I miss my family so much, the other day I got sick and usually my mom takes care of me, she has taken care of me for 15 years so I got used to it but now that she is not here, I didn´t know what to do and sometimes when I just need a hug she is not there so, it hurst a lot. Additionally, December is coming and I am going to Mexico, my problem is that I don´t like Mexico, I don´t want to go back, most of the people are just not the type of people I like to be around, there are earthquakes, there is a lot of traffic, it is not safe to walk on the street and the fact that I´m going to see people that I don´t like is just ughhhhh!!!! I also have a fear of heights and what could go wrong on a flight, it will be the first time I will fly alone, that is pretty stressful.

In conclusion, this is just 1/4 of the reasons why I am going to have a mental collapse, this will be continued.

Throughout my life, I´ve been to a few concerts like Guns n´ Roses, U2, etc. But my favorite of all time was Bruno Mars. It was the best night of my life, I have lots of words to describe it like; amazing, well-organized, incredible, out of this world, extremely well-performed, etc. I went to that concert with a friend in Mexico named Sofía. I remember that say as if it was yesterday, I woke up so excited, Sofía arrived to my house and we got ready together, we had matching clothes inspired on Bruno Mars´ 24K Magic video, my dad took us to the stadium where the concert was going to take place, while being there, I could feel the adrenaline in me before the show started, when seeing everything we got crazy, we bought matching hoodies and matching sweatshirts. The concert started a little late, it was supposed to start at 20:00 but it started at 20:32, I remember that because I started to make bets with Sof to see at what time the concert would start, I said 20:27 and she said 20:32 and she was right!! She is a witch!! When it started I just shouted and sang the entire night. I LOVED IT!! I need to mention that since I was young, I have been a huge fan of Bruno Mars. All of his songs are so heart touching. I cannot decide which one is my favorite so I am going to give my top 5: Grenade, Locked Out of Heaven, When I Was Your Man, Perm and Count On Me. Each of the songs have a very special meaning to me, an example could be Count On Me; before leaving Mexico, my friends made a surprise party to me to say goodbye one last time and made a video that included millions of photos and videos of us together with that song, it made me cry but still reassured me that I can always count on them.

Since I was a little girl, I´ve always hated sports. There was nothing that could change my mind. That was because I felt like I was not good at it but my grandfather, he always told me that: “Everyone is good at a certain sport, you just need to find yours.” Since then, I started to try everything, football, basketball, baseball, swimming, dancing, soccer, running, etc. On many of them I wasn´t that bad but I just didn´t feel like I could practice that sport because I found it boring or felt like it wasn´t for me. One day, I sat down with my family who were watching a volleyball match, and I swear that I have never been so intrigued and focused watching something about sports. I started to research about it, watch all the games I could, I went to practices and after a lot of effort, I was chosen for being one of Mexico´s national teams libero, that was one of the  best days of my life. After a year playing on that team, I got out, it was a very hard decision but I either stayed there and continued playing or left and came here to Canada.

P.D= This will be continued.

Since I was 8 years old, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor. It all started when I went to Brazil to visit my family. My aunt she is a derma-pathologist that one day asked me to go with her to the lab because she didn´t have the time to leave me at home. When I entered that place, everything was ABSOLUTELY amazing, the samples, the materials, EVERYTHING! and I wanted to know more about it even though I couldn´t understand anything the doctors explained to me. Now that I´m older and I know more stuff than I did 7 years ago, everything about medicine started to make more sense to me, I started to understand it and I also started to have that sense of wanting to know more and more. Additionally, I´ve always liked to see people feel good like, it makes me feel sad when someone is sick and I don´t know what to do, I want to help but I just do not know how. That is SO frustrating. Right now, I still don´t know what especialization I´m going to do because there are so many! Maybe neurosurgeon? I don´t know, the only thing I am sure about is that I want to be a great doctor that cures their patients and does a good job, that is my goal and I am determined to accomplish it.

My mom is Brazilian and my dad is Mexican. I was born in Mexico but since I was 1 month old I spent 2 or 3 months in Brazil with my family, practicing Portuguese. What I always found weird is the feeling I have when leaving both countries, like I´m sad when leaving Mexico but I´m also sad when living Brazil. Both countries make a part of me so it is hard to leave and not knowing when I am going back (In this case when I go back to Mexico). Mexico has an amazing culture, everything is so colorful and beautiful, the food is amazing and I have my friends, my dog, my home, my school and lots of things that have made an important part in my life there. on the other hand, Brazil has an energetic but chill vibe, people are awesome, the food is out of this world, as well as the flora and fauna. Everything in both countries is so different but perfect and, each has a piece of my heart that breaks when leaving. Now that I can´t be on either country because I am in Canada, I just feel like my heart is now separating into three pieces so Canada can also have a special part on my life.