RIP Madiba

"I have walked that long road to freedom. 

I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. 

But I have discovered the secret that, after climbing a great hill, 

one only finds that there are many hills to climb" 

I still cannot believe that Nelson Mandela is not with us anymore. When I got the news about his death, I didn't believe until the morning after, when it hit me. The man, who was and still is such an inspiration, who fought hard for his beliefs, who changed his country's and the world's mentality, who inspired people all around the world, died. Many people can say to me, yes I was expecting that, he was ill and 95 years of age, and all that, but for me Mandela is one of those people that you don't expect to die and that they're going to live forever. However, for me, he will always be here, we will always be an inspiration, we will always be the person that when I feel like I can't do something, I will think about how hard he fought even though he was in jail and he still conquered his dreams, he still overcame all the barriers that existed and he still changed people's minds.

Yesterday, it was my graduation, and during the ceremony, the university's Chancellor, and teachers honoured him, by quoting him and did a minute's silence in his memory. One of the things that they all said was "You are graduating in the week that one of the most important and brave person in the world died. You should see this as the way to inspire you to change the world and fight hard for your dreams"

As Mandela always said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

For the man that inspired the world, Thank You! You'll always be with us.

RIP MADIBA 1918-2013 :( 

Now it's Christmas

It's almost Christmas!! 

The time of the year that everyone goes mad, buying Christmas presents, and all that. For me it's more than just presents. To be honest, I don't even care about the presents anymore, as I feel Christmas is now an excuse for consumerism, instead of spending time with our loved ones. Living away from home as made me valuing this time even more. 

This is the second Christmas I'm flying home and I am super excited! Going to spend time with my nana, cooking the traditional Portuguese Christmas dishes, telling funny stories to my family and special spending time with my little cousins. That is Christmas for me. 

But for the past how many years, Christmas for me doesn't start until The Killers release their Christmas song. Everyone has their favourite Christmas song, everyone stars to feel Christmas when the traditional songs such as "All I want for Christmas is You" (which I do hate, by the way), "Let it Snow", and so on. For me that moment is when The Killers realise their Christmas song. Since 2006 they have realised 8 songs: "A Great Big Sled" in 2006, "Don't Shoot Me Santa" in 2007, "Joseph, Better You Than Me" in 2008, "Happy Birthday Guadalupe!" in 2009, "Boots" in 2010, "The Cowboy's Christmas Ball" in 2011, "I Feel It In My Bones" last year and this years they've realised "Christmas in LA". 

From the list above, Don't shoot me Santa, Happy Birthday Guadalupe and Boots are probably my favourite. This year's song has just reached the top 5 of my Christmas songs, and I already know most of the lyrics (sad, I know). Well, so you can know what I am talking about, and for those who haven't listen to it yet, here it goes:

 

(I won't write about The Killers all the time, it just happened that the time I found to write on the blog was about them)