Hi everyone.. As promised, here goes the "second installment" of Carolina's adventures... If you've missed the first part, you can read it here. Thanks for stopping by again, and hope to see you again soon!
Dani. ;)
~ The beginning ~
How did it all happen? Well, I’m going to tell you everything, but without many details, because the sooner I go through this part, the better I feel (meaning, the less guilty I feel).
So… it all started three months ago. I was with my friend, Lisa, on holidays in Campos do Jordão. It’s a town in the mountains, about two hours from São Paulo, with European-like houses and atmosphere. It was the beginning of June and the combination “chocolate fondue and wine” is a must have in such cold nights. Also, a great place to see beautiful people – I mean, cute guys.
I’d known Lisa for about three years. Clara, my oldest sister introduced us, and after she got married and moved abroad, Lisa and I kind of comforted each other and started spending time together whenever we could. We mostly travelled together. She is this little cute woman, a couple of years older than me and has curious background. Her father is from Thailand. Her mum, Chinese. She was born in El Salvador and has lived in the U.S., Spain and now lives in São Paulo, Brazil. She’s a primary school teacher. She is sweet. And she is fun. God, she is fun!
So, as usual, we were talking about life, career and love. Also, as it was common those days, I was crying over that stupid Jean. I told her I was tired of studying, sick of all the ordinary in my life. I wanted to do something different. Then, she said:
‘ Hey, you been taking Italian lessons, right?’
‘ Yeah’, I said, playing with a strawberry in the melted chocolate, while looking at a very cute boy that had just arrived. ‘But I’m just in the first semestre of the course. Why?’
‘Well, I’ve been looking for jobs abroad. I don’t know, change things a bit. My dad’s been nagging me again about getting a boyfriend, you know, his kind of boyfriend, obviously, and it’s doing my head in. So, yesterday I came across this ad on the Internet. It’s for English teachers in Naples, Italy. I applied for it. For both of us.’
When she said that, I rolled my eyes up, thinking: ‘Oh, there she goes again…’ I looked at the cute boy and smiled one of my biggest smiles. My mouth went down like a sad clown’s when I saw the gorgeous blond that was all over him.
‘Never mind. I bet his feet smelled anyway,’ I mumbled.
I turned my attention back on to Lisa, who continued:
‘What did you just say? Well, anyway. I know you’ve never been a teacher before, but your English is brilliant. The money is really good, we’ll have our weekends free and we will be in Europe! For a year! What you think?’ she asked, casually taking a sip of her wine.
She always did that. Teased me. She was the adventurous one. I’ve always been the ‘boring’ one. So said she. I prefer to call it careful. Sensible. I told her I was going to think about it, but didn’t give much thought to that. I thought it would be a bit too much and would make my parents go crazy at me.
Before I go any further with this craziness, let me just tell you a bit about my family. My parents come from a poor family. Yeah, I guess I can say that. My dad used to polish shoes to help his mum bring up nine children. He only got to finish high school and is a self-made man. He started his own business with a lot of hard work and sacrifices, so for him, getting me and my sisters through university had always been a matter of honour. For him, all the three of us would have been doctors. My mum. My mum, as my dad, only finished high school. She then worked as a teacher, but quit when I was little, so she could “look after me better”. Those were her words. After I was in school, she worked with my dad in their shop, but she’s never been an independent woman, if you know what I mean. And because I am the youngest and the only daughter living at home, we are pretty much attached to each other. Yep, I meant exactly what I said: attached. Sisters, I have two. My oldest sister, Clara, is an English teacher (my dad nearly lost all his hair when she quit Law school to become a teacher) and she lives in Wales with her Welsh husband. She is the adventurous and the traveller of the family; very laid back and open minded. A bit crazy and carefree sometimes, I’d say. My mum has always encouraged her (maybe because she couldn’t do the same herself?). My middle sister, Laura, is a very strong woman. She is a vet. She spent a year and a half in America at the end of her undergraduate degree and she is a very secure person. Very independent, she knows exactly what she wants. She’s focused, organized and because of that she can be a bit harsh when giving advice or expressing her opinion. She is happily married, has got the most beautiful blue-eyed baby boy in the world, her own house and sometimes I’m jealous. Shame on me.
Anyway, going back to the subject of quitting Medicine and going to Italy to teach… We had a Skype interview with the school owner and, what are the odds… One month later, actually, five days before my graduation, I got an email saying I'd got the job.
Shocked. Terrified. I had no idea how I was going to tell everyone. My dad would kill me. Oh, my. Oh, my.
'Hello.'
'Lisa? Did you receive an email? Have you told your parents yet? What are you going to say to them? We need to buy our tickets!'
'Oh, hi Carolina. How are you? I'm fine too thanks.'
'Lisa!'
'Yes?'
Aaaffff...
'Ok. You win. Hi, Lisa. It's Carolina. How are you?'
'Hahaha... You always fall for it, don't you? I wonder if there will be a day I won't be able to wind you up.'
'You twit.. So...?'
'Yeeeeeeesssss!!!! Carolina, we've both been hired! I'm so excited! I can't wait. I've been looking for tickets and all. And obviously we'll go visit Clara in the UK, right?'
'If I'm alive until then... I'm terrified of telling my folks about it. Any ideas? What are you going to say to yours?'
'I'll just tell them, I guess. It'll take some convincing, but my I haven't lived with them for some time now, so I think it should be ok. What are you going to say?'
'I haven't a clue. I may wait till the graduation, I don't know. I still have five days to "rehearse"..'
'And I'll be there to back you up! Your parent's have always liked me.. hehe'
'I wouldn't count on that so much after I tell them, Lisa. You and I might not get out of this alive. Haha. Lisa, gotta go. My mum's just got it. Speak soon.'
'Ok. Good luck. Bacione, bella. Haha.'
....
'Carolina?'
*************************
'Hi mum! Was the supermarket full today?'
That was the first, stupidest thing I thought of asking her. Shit. Shit. I don't care. I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!
*************************
How did it all happen? Well, I’m going to tell you everything, but without many details, because the sooner I go through this part, the better I feel (meaning, the less guilty I feel).
So… it all started three months ago. I was with my friend, Lisa, on holidays in Campos do Jordão. It’s a town in the mountains, about two hours from São Paulo, with European-like houses and atmosphere. It was the beginning of June and the combination “chocolate fondue and wine” is a must have in such cold nights. Also, a great place to see beautiful people – I mean, cute guys.
I’d known Lisa for about three years. Clara, my oldest sister introduced us, and after she got married and moved abroad, Lisa and I kind of comforted each other and started spending time together whenever we could. We mostly travelled together. She is this little cute woman, a couple of years older than me and has curious background. Her father is from Thailand. Her mum, Chinese. She was born in El Salvador and has lived in the U.S., Spain and now lives in São Paulo, Brazil. She’s a primary school teacher. She is sweet. And she is fun. God, she is fun!
So, as usual, we were talking about life, career and love. Also, as it was common those days, I was crying over that stupid Jean. I told her I was tired of studying, sick of all the ordinary in my life. I wanted to do something different. Then, she said:
‘ Hey, you been taking Italian lessons, right?’
‘ Yeah’, I said, playing with a strawberry in the melted chocolate, while looking at a very cute boy that had just arrived. ‘But I’m just in the first semestre of the course. Why?’
‘Well, I’ve been looking for jobs abroad. I don’t know, change things a bit. My dad’s been nagging me again about getting a boyfriend, you know, his kind of boyfriend, obviously, and it’s doing my head in. So, yesterday I came across this ad on the Internet. It’s for English teachers in Naples, Italy. I applied for it. For both of us.’
When she said that, I rolled my eyes up, thinking: ‘Oh, there she goes again…’ I looked at the cute boy and smiled one of my biggest smiles. My mouth went down like a sad clown’s when I saw the gorgeous blond that was all over him.
‘Never mind. I bet his feet smelled anyway,’ I mumbled.
I turned my attention back on to Lisa, who continued:
‘What did you just say? Well, anyway. I know you’ve never been a teacher before, but your English is brilliant. The money is really good, we’ll have our weekends free and we will be in Europe! For a year! What you think?’ she asked, casually taking a sip of her wine.
She always did that. Teased me. She was the adventurous one. I’ve always been the ‘boring’ one. So said she. I prefer to call it careful. Sensible. I told her I was going to think about it, but didn’t give much thought to that. I thought it would be a bit too much and would make my parents go crazy at me.
Before I go any further with this craziness, let me just tell you a bit about my family. My parents come from a poor family. Yeah, I guess I can say that. My dad used to polish shoes to help his mum bring up nine children. He only got to finish high school and is a self-made man. He started his own business with a lot of hard work and sacrifices, so for him, getting me and my sisters through university had always been a matter of honour. For him, all the three of us would have been doctors. My mum. My mum, as my dad, only finished high school. She then worked as a teacher, but quit when I was little, so she could “look after me better”. Those were her words. After I was in school, she worked with my dad in their shop, but she’s never been an independent woman, if you know what I mean. And because I am the youngest and the only daughter living at home, we are pretty much attached to each other. Yep, I meant exactly what I said: attached. Sisters, I have two. My oldest sister, Clara, is an English teacher (my dad nearly lost all his hair when she quit Law school to become a teacher) and she lives in Wales with her Welsh husband. She is the adventurous and the traveller of the family; very laid back and open minded. A bit crazy and carefree sometimes, I’d say. My mum has always encouraged her (maybe because she couldn’t do the same herself?). My middle sister, Laura, is a very strong woman. She is a vet. She spent a year and a half in America at the end of her undergraduate degree and she is a very secure person. Very independent, she knows exactly what she wants. She’s focused, organized and because of that she can be a bit harsh when giving advice or expressing her opinion. She is happily married, has got the most beautiful blue-eyed baby boy in the world, her own house and sometimes I’m jealous. Shame on me.
Anyway, going back to the subject of quitting Medicine and going to Italy to teach… We had a Skype interview with the school owner and, what are the odds… One month later, actually, five days before my graduation, I got an email saying I'd got the job.
Shocked. Terrified. I had no idea how I was going to tell everyone. My dad would kill me. Oh, my. Oh, my.
'Hello.'
'Lisa? Did you receive an email? Have you told your parents yet? What are you going to say to them? We need to buy our tickets!'
'Oh, hi Carolina. How are you? I'm fine too thanks.'
'Lisa!'
'Yes?'
Aaaffff...
'Ok. You win. Hi, Lisa. It's Carolina. How are you?'
'Hahaha... You always fall for it, don't you? I wonder if there will be a day I won't be able to wind you up.'
'You twit.. So...?'
'Yeeeeeeesssss!!!! Carolina, we've both been hired! I'm so excited! I can't wait. I've been looking for tickets and all. And obviously we'll go visit Clara in the UK, right?'
'If I'm alive until then... I'm terrified of telling my folks about it. Any ideas? What are you going to say to yours?'
'I'll just tell them, I guess. It'll take some convincing, but my I haven't lived with them for some time now, so I think it should be ok. What are you going to say?'
'I haven't a clue. I may wait till the graduation, I don't know. I still have five days to "rehearse"..'
'And I'll be there to back you up! Your parent's have always liked me.. hehe'
'I wouldn't count on that so much after I tell them, Lisa. You and I might not get out of this alive. Haha. Lisa, gotta go. My mum's just got it. Speak soon.'
'Ok. Good luck. Bacione, bella. Haha.'
....
'Carolina?'
*************************
'Hi mum! Was the supermarket full today?'
That was the first, stupidest thing I thought of asking her. Shit. Shit. I don't care. I'M GOING TO ITALY!!!
*************************
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