Oioi everybody!

Today is a typical winter's day here in Freiburg: it's pretty cold,but no snow or rain... Wherever I am, I feel that it's winter, I can't explain really, it's the way the air smells and you feel cozy at home and it smells of beeswax-candles and chocolate and stuff like that. Pretty nice, actually. I heard on the radio that there's snow on the mountains, so I'll take my chance this weekend and try go snowboarding (finally!).

Actually, right now I don't even have time to write here, but as usual, I'm just taking the time anyway. Yesterday I did a "fitness" test in a magazine and found out that I'm not actually THAT bad... That made me really happy, since I'm already training for the admission test for sports university (which is very difficult).

Today we've been to the botanic garden near school with our bio class. Of course, there's not much to be seen outside at this time of the year, but they also have a wonderful tropical greenhouse. I felt soooo much at home at 25 degrees celsius, with palmtrees and mango trees all around me...
I miss Brazil so much...

Sometimes, I just feel that I don't fit in completely here, even after 3 years. I've found friends, and people that mean very much to me. But I have also seen a mentality here that is not really mine. Germany is a country of lonely people. I don't wanna speak in a general way, but many people are very selfish here. Everyone takes care of his own business, and everyone tries to take advantage of a situation in his own favour - sometimes without considering whether this might hurt others. These people never learned how to be generous, and they don't understand if you are.
They are suspicious and don't trust each other, perhaps because they judge everyone by their own example. I've heard many times that people are honest here because they say things to your face, and don't hide them behind a smile, but I see that differently. I see them hurting others with their "honesty", and sometimes hurting me too. I see them losing any scruples to say mean things to others, in the name of this honesty.
Well, I prefer the brazilian falsehood then. Brazilians also gossip, and maybe they don't care about others either. But they know that a few friendly words and a smile don't require a lot of effort, but make your day a lot better, no matter what you may think about a person. They don't do the kind of mobbing I've seen so many times here. (A few years ago, I didn't even know the meaning of that word...)
Tolerance should be the word of the millennium. And I really wish I would meet that more here...

But I also found out that there are great people in every place of the world. The good thing about living somewhere else is that you find out that you can always find good things about this place, as well as bad. I don't want to complain, because I've found many answers for my life here, and I actually like being here.
Sometimes I miss the place where I grew up... But I think SAUDADE is the most normal thing in the world. I leave you with two poems that express very much of that feeling...
Beijos!

Kennst du das Land, wo die Citronen blühn,
Im dunkeln Laub die Gold-Orangen glühn,
Kennst du es wohl? - Dahin, dahin!
Möcht' ich ziehen!

J. W. Goethe


Canção do Exílio

Minha terra tem palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá;
As aves, que aqui gorjeiam,
Não gorjeiam como lá.

Nosso céu tem mais estrelas,
Nossas várzeas têm mais flores,
Nossos bosques têm mais vida,
Nossa vida mais amores.

Em cismar, sozinho, à noite,
Mais prazer encontro eu lá;
Minha terra tem palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá.

Minha terra tem primores,
Que tais não encontro eu cá;
Em cismar - sozinho, à noite -
Mais prazer encontro eu lá;
Minha terra tem palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá.

Não permita Deus que eu morra,
Sem que volte para lá;
Sem que desfrute os primores
Que não encontro por cá;
Sem qu'inda aviste as palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá."

Gonçalves Dias