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islaland-blog · 8 years

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This month, February of 2017, has completed 2 years that I left my country, Brazil! I had lived lots of new experiences and met so many nice people around the world and just decided do it a bit better from here! I hope! (:

In this time I have visited 11 countries in 3 different continents, collected lots of nice pictures and friendship! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Who is me?

Isla Grossi, I’m Photographer, formed in Photography at Universidade Positivo in Curitiba/Brasil. I had born in Paranaguá, a little and beautiful city in the coast of Paraná, South of Brazil (I know is “south”, but is still very hot there) I know you imagine Brazil like a big forest with nice beaches and everything involving tropical fruits, good weather, and now that I lived out of my city/country I can tell you, yes, it’s exactly like this!

My name is Isla cause my parents just love fishing, go to islands, and do basically everything that involve SEA, so they just decided put my name like this, ISLA that means “Island” in Spanish! All my childlessness was getting the boat with them in the weekends, go camp somewhere, and maybe cause of this I am like this, they don’t understand too much, but they know are their fault! :p (They understand better now).

When I was young I was always doing artistic shits around, like cropping important papers of my parents or school to do collages when I was 8 (Wasn’t nice), making and teaching some choreography for my cousins when I was 10 (think about TITANIC), and when I was 11 I just discovered my love for photography, my aunt had a camera and I was all the time taking pics with, I got my first camera when I was 13, so the 2 years between I get it I just got very intense “home student of photography”...

Then I finished high school, lots of pression from parents and teachers about what you gonna be, my colleges were talking about medicine, architecture, engineer, and I was like wtf?? I just hate all them, so why am I here? What will I be in this life? I know this can sounds weird for you, but in this time I had like 16 or 17 years old, I just converted for christianism and try to discover more how to do that and how to “talk with God” I didn’t understand too much, So yeah I PRAYED to God show me what to do, cause maybe he knew more than me, and it was pretty weird but I just dreamed that night that I tried 3 different universities and one of them I was accepted, was really real dream, I don’t know how to explain, I remember a paper with the 3 names and DESIGN, so ok, yes maybe this is “God” talking, I did that, and I was accepted in one of them!

Studying Design! WOW COOL! nooo. The college was in the capital of my state, I was living on the coast, so yes, I traveled every fuckin day to go there and watch the classes, 190km, go and back, aaaand waking up 4:30am, cause that classes started 7:30am :D

nice

Ok, I did this for 1 year! and when I was starting the second year the first surprise apear, I was with a tumor in my boobs, and the lovely doctor just said that was fuckin big with the size of an orange! I was really afraid about this shit, I made a surgery to take this off of my body so I stayed like a month not moving my arms, and couldn't go back to the classes, was just impossible travel like that! I tried! really bad idea... hahaha!

Same time, my college was opening a new course! PHOTOGRAPHY! AND! AT NIGHT!!! Was perfect! I like design but the best days of my life were always in the photography classes! I was wishing this so muchhh! So my boyfriend asked to marry me, we were 4 years together and living so well, he was my first boyfriend, I met him when I was 14, yes we loved each other, we did it, beautiful party, my mom gave us a house, we bought a car, cats, dogs, good money, good work, growing growing, getting nice equipment, thinking about babys... So I was finishing my college, whaat?? PERFECT LIFE!! We decide cebrate our wedding birthday travelling to the capital, I forgot my stuff of photography in home and was very sad about it, was a special moment! we just remembered about it in the middle of the way...

Ok, the trip was nice, but I lose my prefer t-shirt in the hotel and went home feeling so sad about it, I paid pretty much like “50 euro” let’s say, and was almost crying in the way home, just because of this, cause I worked for that money and it was so bad... So when we arrived in home, my father in law was in the door, and my door was broken, I didn’t understand... We walked inside home, and I saw just my couch in my living room, and messy around the ground, what happened? What was happening? I run around the house looking for my bag of equipment and I couldn’t find it, my tv, video game, guitar, everything was gone! My house was robbed, I couldn’t sleep anymore, my ex husband was always afraid about me and waking up in the middle of the night worried about the house, and if happen again and we be inside the house? and if we work all the years again to get all the money to buy everything again in this guys come back? And GOD why that dream? I was not suppose to be a photographer? And ALL the years travelling to study? I was starting my last job to conclude the college, I was travelling Brazil with christian rock’n roll musicians... Was the worse days of my life... Me and my ex decided sale the car and the rest of our stuff in home to try life out of Brazil, my head was so confused, I think is still!! My mom, him, friends, clients, helped me to buy beginner photography stuff again, So I could work and buy everything again. I don’t remember what I was doing and how, but 6 months later I was in Ireland, with any english, anything and no friends, just knew 1 or 2 Brazilian people there.. I was desperate! I started the english course but needed like months to start talk something, so how to ask for food? and I had to work!

One day I was looking for second hand shops and I found one pink shop very nice in the middle of the temple bar! I texted them on fb with google translate help haha, and I got my first job, in one week! the owner, Deirdre, was an amazing person! I think she don’t know how important she was in my life, she used google every day to translate and talk with me, I needed understand which pictures she wanted, after 2 months I remember perfectly she opening google on computer and talking with me, and I understood everything so she didn’t used fuckin google!!! haha I was soo happy about it! but same time, YES ONE MORE SURPRISE!!

ARE U READY???

My english school went bankrupt and closed, so we lose all the rest of our things, the money from the car, the couch, the freezer that we sell in Brazil to study there, lucky us that we got the student visa fast! So we could stay in Ireland for the year! After 4 months I think I was talking english pretty good, but because of work and photo shoots, I met the best people ever there, in the shop just up of that one that I was working, so I started work there as well, 4 beautiful and crazy Lithuanians! MAgne Shop! Every Sunday I was there making photo shoots like the pics that I saw when I was 12, creating, doing my collages like when I was 8 years old but know really knew about, and dancing like when I was 10 but in a place like movies! People say that my head opened, but the true is that my read exploded! I started travel and look so many new things, I didn’t know what to do, I felt like I discovered what life is, so everything started make sense, all the shits, I still don’t understand but things happen because need to happen, same time me and husband where going very bad, going to different ways, I was discovering myself and living like I wanted and he didn’t lived the same, missing family more than me, want go back to Brazil, we married very young, I was 18, he was 19, we were in love this time, but I don’t know what happened with my heart and feelings after the rob... I just don’t trust more anyone, it’s hard to say, and didn’t want somebody suffering this with me, I wanted see he happy like me, doing what he loved like me, but he was always worried about me and make me happy, but I couldn’t stay there just smiling and saying thank you and trying to do the same back, but didn’t work, after that, something died inside me, and without this thing that died inside me I couldn't keep it! I really wish that he find a good girl for him, but that he do what he really loves one day and find himself! I wish all the best Renan! So I stayed my last months in Ireland single, but never alone! hahaha, sorry!!! But was the first year of my life single! no more here about it, blá!

OK!!! NEXXTT!! Yeah, my dream, Iceland!! I did my last trips before go back to Brazil, and Iceland for suuuree was the biggest dream of my life! I saw and photographed Northern Lights, amaziinng!!! Left Ireland and stayed 3 months travelling Brazil, didn’t know to much what to do about life, but divorce yes, so I did this, and I came to Portugal! In my second day in Brazil I was crazy crying to come back to Europe, I love my country but I few very unsafe there now and the way how a big part of the population just go really opposite about who I am and what I think, and it envolves religion, politics, and everything that you can imagine, my friend said to me that she had to options, come to Portugal or be a kind of “war woman” fighting every day to try put things in the correct place! It’s very hard to understand how the government do things there, is just unacceptable! I really hope to see my country better one day! I’m sorry Brazilian people for be so vulnerable and very physiologic shaken, I just couldn’t stay more! I know that what that guys the ones that stole my house did, were not their faults totally! I know they didn’t have the same opportunity than me to study and were not theirs fault! I know nothing explain a rob! But we never know....

So I came to Portugal, Faro, is where I am now! Almost 1 year here, now I started my residence visa! I arrived here with not too much money, was staying in my aunt’s place, I got my first job in a handmade shop too, Sardinha de Papel, started sale things from the shop from Ireland (MAgne) they were sending me stuff and it kept me eating! haha and I made few open markets in the summer doing henna tattoos! I didn’t know too much what to do about life, my money was short, the guy that I “was with” broke up with me, so I was very sad, what to dooo???? And that day, was drunk day, Pedro, or PEDRÃO, or MAGAS! found me very drunk in some street and tried help me, I know I was very lucky, and it never will repeat in my life, I promise! So bring me home, I hope I was not smelling like homeless in that time, but I was almost like that haha! Other guy helped me as well! Nuno, from The Backpackers Asylum Hostel, I started work there for change for a bed, And these guys more than helped me, Pedro got me a job with him in a bar, with contract, exactly what I need to get the residence visa and stay here, he teach me lot! and yeah, More 2 months hopefully the visa will be in my hands, I did everything that they ask for, not so easy, lots of papers and months waiting for the papers, and now after almost 1 year in Portugal, they accepted!

Well, the plan now is stay 6 months in Portugal, working, probably in the summer! :p I need do this to keep the visa! And the others 6 months, Ireland again? Australia? Eurotrips? who knows??

So I did this beautyy tumblr to put what all the years that you read right now made with my mind, be careful and come with me! ;)

#loseyourself

#findyourself

PS: SORRY ABOUT MY ENGLISH! I STUDIED ONLY 2 MONTHS!

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