Complex ideas are built upon simple ones.

What bores you? I love a challenge! A teacher once mentioned something to me. I only really paid attention to his classes when there was some hard problem to be solved. Specially if my other classmates were not capable of figuring it out. And that’s true. If it is something easy, or that I already…

What is your favorite drink? Caipirinha is the Brazilian national drink, and deservedly so. More specifically, it originated in the state of São Paulo, where I came from. Unsurprisingly, it’s my favorite cocktail. The word caipirinha is the diminutive of the word caipira, which in Brazilian Portuguese refers to someone from the countryside. The basic recipe asks for fresh limes cut in…

Who are your favorite people to be around? When it comes to people, I try to surround myself with loving, funny, open-minded human beings. I know I am lucky in always having friends like this by my side. Open-minded Not everyone will have the same dreams or opinions as you. And that’s OK. We live…

Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you. My trip to Peru was really incredible in every way. It’s shocking how much things change in ten years! Or rather, eleven years. For this post, I went back thus far to revisit one of the trips where I walked the most.…

Write about your approach to budgeting. A rule of thumb about budgeting approaches is to spend every month less than you earn. In other words, you have to resign yourself to live within your means. That seems pretty basic but in practice may be hard to achieve. But believe me, you will do well if…

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you? I am patriotic in my way, yes. I root passionately for my country. It doesn’t matter if it’s Brazil or Canada. I cheer whenever there’s an international sport event, like the World Cup or the Olympics. When it comes to movies, Brazil goes to the…

Have you ever unintentionally broken the law? Yes, when I (kind of) smuggled my cat into Canada. Documentation for Cati There was no chance that we would leave our two cats back in Brazil when we moved to Canada. You have a lot of paperwork to prepare when you are bringing your pet to a…

If there was a biography about you, what would the title be? I thought of using songs to roughly represent what my biography would be. There are so many that I love, precisely because their lyrics relate with my life. I couldn’t decide on just one. So, I will use a few songs that I…

What were your parents doing at your age? My dad and mom were born almost six years apart. If I want to talk about what they were doing at my age, I need to look at the years from 1997 to 2002. After my graduation I had just graduated in 1996. After spending roughly one…

If you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why? Definitely, I would change the laws and rules for electoral campaign funding. A few things that I would implement: I will explain why I would do this through an hypothetical example. A thought experiment Let’s just make a little theoretical…

Write about your dream home. I have lived in so many houses throughout my life. Off the top of my head, I remember at least 20. Emphatically, I can say I was happy in all of them. Not all of the time, of course, but most of it. What makes a house to become a…