favellagirl?

So Hong Ik, do you really want to know why I'm called favellagirl? Here's the story... it's not actually that fantastic, but it's a story nevertheless.

So, quite a few years ago, when you were starting secondary school... I was leaving it. I had decided that I wanted to go somewhere where I could experience a different culture, different way of life, contribute to a society beyond my own and to find a few more pieces of myself and that lead me to Brazil.

I went to Brazil throught a project called 'Project Trust'. In fact, they still send young people abroad to work with people who need help and broadening the minds and lives of those that participate. It was one of the major events in my life.

Anyway, I got to Brazil and O had the fortune to go and stay with a wonderful family in their little flat on the mainland of a city called Florianopolis, which is also partly an island, in the South East of Brazil. My family were fantastic and are still fantastic. I'm not the best at staying in contact, but I miss them and love them.

So, when I went, I was also accompanied by a another girl of the same age. Her name was Helen. I don't remember her surname now. We both went to the same city and then were sent to different houses to stay with different families. Helen was staying with a family that at the time were much wealthier than mine. They lived in an area called 'Lagoa de Conceicao' and I went to a more down-trodden area called 'Capoeiras' on the continent, but I was very happy to be with the family I had. Very lucky in fact. I met them and fell in love with them. Helen lived in a bog house beside a beautiful lake surrounded by nature, whilst I was living in a small flat high up, beside a lot of wasteland and shacks, where poorer people live.

Oneday, Helen came to my house and she looked out my bedroom window and said... er... there's a little favella there... and from then on, I was favellagirl. Actually, it is not too far off. I come from a family of very humble means, so maybe I am an original favellagirl from the U.K... we're just not allowed to make our own here, so we live in council flats. ha! So, there you go, that's where I got the name... in the same year and month, I made my hotmail account and decided to use the name as nobody else had it. It has stuck ever since.

Claire de lune and my students

This morning, my students and are becoming familar with blogging. We are listening to claire de lune for inspiration and a little less silence, so that we can think of something to write that might interest others and let them into our lives.. especially their lives while they are far from friends and family. Maybe their blogs that they create today will become a part of their daily habits... maybe I will get to hear about their lives after they have left... it's always difficult to say goodbye after all, isn't it?

So, they write... writing about the pub last night, or when they left home or their first impressions of London... what else? Er... writing about the trials and tribulations of being here or writing about a story they heard their silly teacher tell.. as well as getting lost in London and then finding their way... or what an exhausting time they are having trying to rearrange their life as everything always seems to be up in the air here. One of them is writing about something they studied about in class and the impression that it had on them... so you see, we can write about absolutely anything and it may be of interest to someone out there... actually, of course it will be!

So, here I am... this is the first page of my journey that started long ago... more instalments to come.