A Brazilian adventurer around the world

by Claudio Augusto Benvenho (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find Canada

It's early Sunday morning, I'm sitting in front of the fireplace, having a good cup of coffee. Morning in which the temperature is negative, typical climate of a harsh winter in Canada, more specifically in Ottawa, where I have been living for a few years. At first it was not easy to live away from family and friends, because I am Brazilian and I had not gone overseas before. Well, you must be wondering why I have decided to live in another continent, far from my home country. The answer is very clear, I am here looking for better professional opportunities and to broaden my cultural awareness. I have been living for 3 years in Ottawa, a beautiful city, capital of Canada and known as the metropolis of cultural festivals. Here the seasons are relatively similar to those in Brazil, except for winter, which is freezing! It snows and the thermal sensation is very low. During the winter in Ottawa, we can walk on the famous ice skating rinks. I have begun a new life in Canada — lonely, exhausting, and literally hungry for new learning — leaving behind everything I knew as “home” on the other side of the world. As I was there as an exchange student, I would spend a few months studying the language, and after several months there the only friend I made was Aabharan, an Indian guy. We were studied in the same room and every day of the week he used to wait for me to go to school together. Every day I waited as much as I could, hoping to see Aabharan around the corner, before my alarm clock rang warning me that I was late. Sometimes I went to school alone, because Aabharan missed class or he only arrived at the second class. Eventually, the months for my exchange passed and I needed to go back to Brazil. I packed my bags, taking with me many memories and my good friend, Aabharan accompanied me on the way to Ottawa International Airport (Macdonald-Cartier), I promised him that I would return as soon as possible. I returned to Brazil, even though I knew it would be temporarily, only until I managed to renew the new Canadian visa and thus work in the IT area, as I already had training at Brazilian universities. When I managed to return to Ottawa, but now definitively, Aabharan had already returned to his country to see his relatives, this time I had already big experience in Canadian regions. In a short time, after returning, I was hired by a renowned technology and science company (IBM), with excellent employees and a renowned team of developers. Ottawa, today, is one of Canada's technological poles. There are several large companies located here in the city, serving the most diverse careers in the technology sector. On July 1st, after work, my colleagues and I went to celebrate Canada's independence, a very important date usually celebrated with cultural festivals, which are held at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, an event currently known as Canada Day. While celebrating this very important date, tasted a good Double-double (typical drink from the country) based on coffee, on that celebratory night, I met a doctor from the local hospital (Ottawa Hospital General Campus), named Isabela and also from Brazil, she had been working for 5 years as a doctor in Ottawa. So, with a lot of courage and a backpack on my back, I have known this vast Canadian territory, from north to south, east to west. In this way, venturing into Ottawa and the region, I found something I did not expect, a true admiration for the country and I met Isabela, who I am married today. As with all the comforting things that had vanished from my life, I soon got used to it, the hours of that Sunday morning passed as I was reading about an adventurer, the context of the book told my own story. I ran out of coffee and the fireplace went out, warming me enough to start a new adventure story in another country and then write new stories of adventures around the world.