A Free Soul: My Brazilian student who left the Netherlands for Australia
Where were you at 25?
Studying or working?
Sleeping in a tent or a bed?
Single, dating or married?
In your country or abroad?
Today, let me fill you in on where Larissa is.
She is a Brazilian girl living in Australia!
For the last three months, Larissa has been picking berries and blueberries. You see, in Australia, you can work for your second-year visa by spending four months working on a farm. She describes it as a great and challenging experience.
"My normal day is: to wake up at 5:00, start the job at 6:30 and finish around 13:00. At work, it is always a rushing! After the job, I take a nap, or I go to the beach, study English and watch movies (basically that's it). We are living at a shared house with 5 more people but before this house, we were camping (in the tent! š) for almost 2 months and after that in a Backpackers Hostel. The tent was definitively our best home here!"
Who is Larissa Foltran Simon? She is a 25-year-old beauty who has a degree in Architecture and Urbanism. Surprise, surprise! Now you might be asking yourself, what is a Brazilian architect doing in Australia picking berries after having lived in the Netherlands for seven months? This is how it happened: She traveled to Italy in order to get her Italian passport. She began the process and was told it would take around three months. Flying back to Brazil was way too expensive, so she decided instead to come to the Netherlands: A friend of hers was living in Eindhoven. This way, she could see more of Europe, save some money, and patiently wait for her Italian citizenship.
She ended up staying for seven months! She worked, REALLY HARD, always positive and cheerful. She took English lessons, traveled, biked, and woke up every day with the best attitude, looking for new experiences, magical moments, and more adventures to live. She even has a video about her time here!
And the question keeps lingering, what is a Brazilian architect doing in Australia picking berries after having lived in the Netherlands for seven months? Well, several events have taken place. First, she got her Italian passport, but still craved for more adventures. On the other hand, her boyfriend invited her to follow him to Australia. Mmhhh, with this background, you can tell what she decided, right? Yes, to move abroad for love. What mesmerizes me, and I want to repeat, what spellbinds me the most is that it is not only about love, but about a woman who decides to take destiny into her own hands and, as the extraordinary architect she is, is drawing her own path and surroundings. No border, distance, title or language can delimit her. Can you grasp the exquisiteness of it all?
Larissa and her sweet love will move to Sydney, find a job, and see from there. I am sure she will keep us posted. Until then, and before we part, I would like to share her advice with you,
"...the best teachings that stay are: surround yourself with people who do you well and make bloom your most sincere and true, do not forget that the path is more important than arrival and happiness is a daily choice."
 |
| Goodbye card given to me by Larissa |
Dear Larissa,
Thanks for allowing me to share your story. I hope we will see each other again. Until then, keep in touch and remember, "Love your own path and be fearless!"
Love,
-Laura
