Olá, amigos!!
My name is Mariana, I’m 24 years old and I come from the warm tropical lands of Brazil! I’m joining this beautiful family for this summer as an Oak Counselor and could not be more excited to see all your pretty faces and live an amazing experience in this wonderful place!
I come from Foz do Iguaçu, a city on the south of Brazil that makes frontier with two other countries, Argentina and Paraguay. We have two big touristic spots: the Iguassu Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, and Itaipu, the biggest hydroelectric power plant of the world in terms of energy producing; which makes Foz do Iguaçu a really touristic city, receiving tourists from all over the world. Because of that we are always in touch with people from different nationalities and cultures, which is something I find really amazing about my city.
But I can share more about Brazil during the summer, let’s talk about Mariana now!
I come from the most amazing family I could ask for. We are really close and my parents and my younger brother are my best friends. They are the reason why I’m having the chance to live this amazing experience this summer and I could not thank them enough. We love spending time together doing all sorts of things, but one of our biggest shared passion is definitely traveling! We have been to Peru and the US before and I’m hoping to add some places in that list this year! 😀
Another little “person” I have to mention is my dog, Cacau (which means Cocoa in portuguese). I got her on my 21st birthday from my friends from university and she was rescued by them from the streets. I can’t even express how much I love her!!! It was the best surprise I’ve ever got so far and I cannot picture my life without her anymore.
Now school:
I’ve recently graduated from university and I’m now a Mechanichal Engineer. My years at University brought me so much knowledge and experience, professionally and personally, and for that I’ll be forever grateful. For 5 years I was part of my college band, called Bateria, that is a percussion band that plays mainly brazilian samba, and that’s one of the things I’ll miss most about college.
Now jumping from the Mechanical Engineer to the ballerina…
I started taking ballet classes when I was 7 and then found out one of my biggest passions: dancing. My childhood and teenage years were all about ballet! Nowadays I love everything that involve arts, music and specially dance!
It has been a long and beautiful journey, full of performances, competitions, injuries, expectations, characters, rehearsals and a lot, a lot of learning. This journey had a lot of impact and influence on who I am today.
I started working with ballet when I was 14 as my professor’s assistant and when I turned 16 I started teaching by myself. In the beginning, when my teacher invited me to work with her, I was scared and did not want to do it. But I decided to try, encouraged by her and my family, and it was definitely the best decision I made so far. That was when I discovered another big passion: working with kids! And it was a huge factor that helped me making the decision of working as a counselor this summer.
Well, that’s a little bit about my life! There’s certainly a lot more about Mariana and I’m looking forward to share it during this summer!
It is my first time in a summer camp and living in the woods and I can’t wait to experience everything this journey may offer me. I want to learn as much as I can and share everything I have! And of course, have lots, lots of fun!!!
I’ll be waiting for you with my arms opened for a nice warm hug, with all my heart!!!
Com muito amor (With lots of love),
Mariana
