Life passions

I have two huge passions in life, and they are completely opposite of each other.

One came from the family, from generation to generation. My grandparents passed this passion on to my father, who passed it on to me. Football. In my case: Clube de Regatas Flamengo. My favourite team. Yes, I'm passionate about this sport and this team. My father taught me to love both from a young age. We used to go to the Maracanã and watch the games together on TV at home. It's a family love. My mum and sister have this love, but it's not the same passion.

We used to watch sports programmes that discussed sports as a whole; they covered everything, and that gave me a different relationship with my father. But not everything is perfect in a person's life. We grow up, and other passions emerge, and because of my second passion, which ultimately became my career, I moved away from the first.

My second passion was an accident; I have no other way of describing it. It was an accident that came to stay. In Brazil, when we enter high school, we can take exams for public education, including technical education. Following in my sister's footsteps, who was taking a technical course, I also took the exam. However, I was not as good as her in the exams, and I was not ranked as highly; I also did not have the luxury of choosing which technical course to take. In the final selection round, I was offered a place on the course that had a vacancy, Food. I went in and thought, 'Whatever happens, I will retake the exam or apply for internal mobility.' But why? I fell in love with the area and have been studying food ever since. I'm currently completing my PhD in the area.

However, this passion, which turned into a career, led me to change. I moved away from Rio de Janeiro to attend university in another nearby city, but I would only return on weekends. My master's degree was a wonderful time, as I moved back to Rio and spent two years at home enjoying my two passions. When I finished my master's degree, I started moving. I went to the interior of Bahia, then to the interior of São Paulo, and today I am in Portugal.

The time zone does not allow me to follow the matches and TV shows I used to enjoy in Brazil, but I always keep an eye out, and whenever I can, I watch everything and comment on it with my father. Whenever I see something interesting on the news, we chat, and he texts me when he knows something I don't know. The interaction will never stop.

I am chasing my dreams and my life; I am not letting either passion die - they are alive, but I have to prioritise one at the moment.