Baby brother is no longer a baby...

My baby brother is blogging!

Well, he his not exactly a baby anymore... It seems that time has passed and he his almost 21 now! (Which makes me feel ridiculously old.. but thats another story).

The thing is that he has just left yesterday to Poznan, Poland.. where he is going to study for one year as an Erasmus student.

You can follow his adventures here.

Days like these...

Sometimes you just feel happier.
You dont know why, but you just feel better.

You smile when you see ALL cars in front of you changing lane at the same time.
You smile at emails exchanged with friends.
You smile at FREE ice cream in the afternoon.
You smile at talks with the colleagues.
You smile when you try to put your groceries in the shopping bag and the guy doesnt allow you to do it.
You smile when your favorite music starts playing (right before starting to dance to it like crazy)
You smile because you wake up early (meaning that you didnt take more than 30 min to get up after the alarm clock rang)
You smile at your new brown and pink bag.
You smile at people who start speaking to you in arabic.
You smile at cumpliments.
You smile at achievements.
You smile at your mum and dad during your first conversation online supported by a webcam.
You smile after "having too much milk on my stomach" and realizing you used on instead of in.
You smile because.. just because...

You smile because you just cant stop smiling!!

I like days like these.. Keep them coming baby! :)

Os meus avos...

Ia a caminho do frigorifico, porque estou com fome... mas a rotina eh sempre a mesma.. abro o frigorifico, olho para tudo e mais alguma coisa mas nunca ha nada que me chame a atencao.. e agora estou com lagrimas nos olhos.

Nao porque tenha fome, mas porque entretanto o telefone tocou... e do outro lado da linha a voz do meu avo Silvino e da minha avo Cremilde... E porque os adoro! E porque os meus avos sao os melhores do mundo.. tao pais como os meus pais.. E porque sinto saudades deles todos!

Gosto mesmo muito de voces... E quero que saibam que de tudo o que me custa por estar longe, o pior de tudo mesmo eh o estar longe de voces... O de nao poder lanchar em casa das minhas avos.. e beber cha com acucar as refeicoes, e procurar os chocolates escondindos no quarto do meu avo Seixas e traduzir as cancoes em ingles para a minha avo cantar nas aulas de canto e coral... e pedir bolinhos de farinha.. e ir ter com o meu avo ah garagem, e sentar me no sofa a ver televisao ao lado do meu avo, e de tanta coisa mais... incluindo mousse de chocolate caseira feita com leite condensado, ver a bola no quarto com o meu avo Silvino.. eu a torcer pelo Benfica e ele pelo Sporting, e tatuagens na Costa da Caparica (devo ser a unica pessoa no mundo que teve, temporariamente, uma tatuagem igual ah da avo!!), e empadas de galinha!... e muito muito mais.

As vezes queria continuar a ser pequena... sem ter que fazer escolhas, e sem ter que crescer. Gostava de continuar a viver num mundo onde o meu avo Seixas me continuasse a dar boleia para o ingles, onde pudesse ir ver os coelhos e matar toupeiras com o meu avo Silvino (incluindo lanches com bolachas de aveia e cerveja), onde tivesse bolos de farinha e pequenos almocos com pao barrado com Planta e leite com cafe todos os dias, preparados pela minha avo Milde, e pudesse percorrer o caminho para a Costa descalca, junto com a minha avo Laura....

ADORO VOS!! E sou a pessoa mais sortuda do mundo por vos poder ter como avos!!!!

Muitos bjinhos para voces.. directamente do meio do deserto!!!
A vossa netinha querida,
Anita

"4 Anas"

Wavelinks and Name connections...

Ana Lopes... Muitos muitos bjinhos directamente do Dubai!! I was just talking to my mum yesterday and she told me you were reading my blog! Thanks so much for your comment and for your wishes! Eh tao engracado pensar em ti passados estes anos todos... lembro me da foto que a minha mae tem minha e do joao a brincar em minha casa, lembro me de irmos ah tua casa brincar com o joao e a rita e de ser uma casa ao pe do aerodromo e de teres uns bolinhos muito bons de amendoa (pq normalmente a minha mae so comprava iguais a esse mas de coco), e de estares sempre com um sorriso e de pareceres muito meiga! Para nao falar do facto da minha mae sempre falar de ti como uma grande amiga do tempo da juventude... E claro, tb me lembro do nosso "reencontro" no casamento da filha da Bernardete. Eh engracado como sao as nossas memorias de crianca... Espero que esteja tudo bem contigo e com os teus filhotes!! Vai escrevendo no meu blog para eu ir sabendo mais coisas!! :)

Hana Silent Spirit!!... Thank you SO MUCH for your gift!! I just loved it!!! I havent written something sooner just because our sweet friend Eric completely forgot about it and only gave it to me the night he left. How "Eric" is that? :) I know we met only once but I immediately felt that we could become really good friends.. I was so surprised when Eric gave me your gift.. it is almost as if you felt the same! :):) Good to know that there are still people you can "connect" without having to spend lots of time together! I really hope you are enjoying your experience in the States and that we can keep sharing our similar experiences... More than that, the gift is so me!! the colours, the style, everything!!!
I just had to put it on and take a pic! :) :) (although not having batteries on the camera is the equivalent of still having to wait for half an hour before I can take the picture and then blog it)

Oxana.. My dear sister! I havent told you this on my reply email, but I was just thinking about you when you wrote me yesterday... I am so glad for you and for your new path! I am sure it will be a great experience and I will be here if you need any help adapting to the red and yellow company! Please make sure that you eat a lot of "gauffres" and chocolate for me!

And here ends my post.. that connects 4 brave "Anas", in 4 different parts of the world all with a strong passion for life!!!

Maybe one day we will all meet in the same place, for tea and almond cookies, and we can all share our experiences...

Wavelinks!!

Sometimes it doesnt matter where you are in the world.. feelings and thoughts, from different people, just get connected and create wavelinks... :)

I was just about to blog about 2 people...

And there they were leaving comments on my blog!!! :)

Posting about them to follow (I havent finished yet)

Some photos...

I am now forcing myself to take my camera with me more often! So here goes some of my recent photos...
As you can see, my "yellow cute thing" is also there.. Yes, I am fortunate enough to get to drive it! At least while my campaign is on...

And talking about my campaign... Just in case you are reading this blog from the UAE, dont forget: "DHL takes you to the movies!!!" :) :) Just send a shipment with DHL and you might get a cinema ticket! ;) If you dont get it on your first time you will get it on your second or third shipment. Garanteed!

Taking my "yellow cute thing" for a ride at the beach

Medinath Jumeirah


Beach Sunset

Couldt resist to take this photo...These guys just stare at you all the time and sometimes they even take photos.. So this time it was payback time! :)

Trinu was here...

Last weekend Trinu was here and it was just great!
First time we met was back in MMS in Portugal at a time in she was burning with fever and almost without being able to move and actually although we have seen eachother in other conferences afterwards we were never that close...

But in AIESEC, relationships are built in seconds and the fact is that we had a great time exploring Dubai!! Pieter joined us and also Daan (sorry if it is not spelled correctly..) a trainee from the Netherlands that just finished his traineeship in Bangladesh.
Just for you to get a glimpse, I slept for 4 hours during the weekend, and it included dancing AIESEC songs in the middle of a bar, chating up to 5 am, DHL Bowling tournament (4 strikes!! yuppi!!), beach, madinath jumeirah, lovely lebanese bread at my favourite lebanese restaurant, sunset on the beach, burj al arab photo shoot and so much more...

The House of Healing

Today I had my first Chinese Massage... And I feel great (although I am still thinking about all that money I spent on it.. ;)

Anyway.. it all hapened in a great place called House of Tchi, with nature sounds on the background and japonese decoration all over.

And it all started with "Mobile Off Whispering On"..

Of course that me and Alisha (my roomate) disconected our mobiles but I have to say that it is quite dificult for an American and a Portuguese to whisper.. we just talk naturally loud. And that was when the nice philipino looking lady came to us and say we had to whisper (as if we havent noticed the huge baner on the door or as if she wanted us to actually whisper)... eheh

Afterwords, we went to the small cubicles and had our massage done... I have to say that it was great and definetely going to do it again... ahah.. I am such a basic girl, not used to this poshy life! I was so surprised when the massage actually also included legs, head and arms massage. But the highlight was definetely the ear massage... :) :) Humm.. just delicious!

Anyway.. on my way to bed now.. I need to let the "blood activate" as I was told..

(mental note: I actually could get used to this life)

Road Trip to Oman

What was supposed to be just a normal day of work.. ended up being an amazing road trip to Oman.
Pieter visa had to be renewed (by the ultra simple way of exiting and entering the country and having a new stamp) that day so i ended up going with me so that he wouldnt be driving around (of course that the fact of really wanting to go to Oman didnt have any influence on my decision...)

Anyway, the trip was just great... desert, mountains, vulcanic rocks, sea, welcoming kids and lovely lunch all in one day. Oh, and camels, of course! :)

And here are the photos to prove it...