Task two - short story

The idea of living abroad had seemed so exciting. I mean, it must be since I had thought of doing that for almost all my life.
The plan seemed simple: I would take a degree at one of Portugal's best language universities, in English, then I would take a Master's degree in Tourism, also in my country, but now close to the beach, in Estoril. Finally, I would move to Switzerland to specialise in hotel management.
People always told me I was lucky for I've always known what I wanted to do with my life, and I knew they were right as I remember seeing friends of mine dropping out of university, saying that that wasn't what they really wanted.
My first year in university was difficult but the two other ones weren'ts really that bad as they were demanding, of course, but I wasn't expecting other thing.
After taking a degree I went to Estoril. One of my best friends in high school was my classmate I was thrilled at being friends with her again.
I couldn't remember why we stopped talking. I suppose I could say that when people go to different colleges, with different schedules it seems like we don't have time to talk with anyone anymore.
The second year in Estoril was one of the best years, if not the best one really, of my life as I was finally dating with that friend of mine I always had a crush on and I was also working as a receptionist in a hotel in Lisbon.
Having finished the Master's degree, it was time to go to Switzerland but the idea of moving to another country for two years where I didn't knew anyone was giving me feel butterflies in my stomach. I mean, I had finally my liufe where I wanted it and I was moving? Still, at the end of the summer, I broke up with my boyfriend and caught a plane to Switzerland.
Looking back at the day I arrived here, I swear I can feel all the emotions I felt that day: the fear and the anxiety among many others.
I had spent six months in Switzerland before I realised I would give everything to get back to the life I had before. Sure the idea of living abroad had seemed so exciting but now, catching the plane home, I feel some regret for I almost gave up my life where I belong.

Personalised writing

My purple life

I believe that my lifeline is pretty stable since I have no significant ups or downs.

A big high in my life was my childhood, as I often remember my grandmother's beach house and my family together. That memory is strong enough to calm me down, when I think about the beach, the sun, the rocks, the sea and all my family together.

Another thing that calms me is music, one of my passions, as well as my family, friends and travel. And when I can put them together even better. That's what happened this year when I went to Andorra with some of my friends. I can say that it was the best week of my entire life.

The year 2004 marked me in a negative way. That year marked a major turning point for me, since I moved to a new school where I didn't know anyone. Unfortunately, there were many silly people, and my class was full of them. So people whom I thought were my friends, in reality clearly weren't and I learnt a lesson, which is "never trust anybody". But in the other hand I grew up, and I was able to find some true friends later. So, I might say that the year 2004 wasn't so bad at all.

I suppose I can say that I've had a happy life so far because I've always had someone by my side, either my family or my friends.

My first strong challenge in my life happened this year when I entered university, and now I can say I'm there to fulfil one of my biggest dreams which is working in Tourism.

I hope destiny will give me more highs in the future but, if not, at least I want to continue my life with my family and friends, studying in university and hope to enjoy it as much as it's possible.

That's why I think I have a purple life because, as people usually say, that's the colour of happiness and optimism.

Some really nice pictures!

Hey hey hey everyone!!

Take a look to this wonderfulk pictures I received by email. It's the National Geographic's International Photography Contest 2009.

You have here the link for you to peek!

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/national_geographics_internati.html

Enjoy!


Mar

What's art?

Hello everyone!

I hope you're having the nicest weekend!

I know we have been talking about this for the past classes, but watch this video. It's curious and funny. It's about Duchamp's work, a urinol that they called art!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/video/2008/feb/20/fountain.duchamp.tate

Regards

Mar

"Change"

He had just begun to put on his coat to leave the studio and go home when Patrick, Elliott's boss, told him about the next project. Something about a church for Rio de Janeiro. Elliott looked through the window and realised it was night already. The rest of the architects were preparing to work all night, and had started calling their families warning them not to put their plate on the dinnertable. Having nobody to call, Elliott started thinking how he was going to feed Buzz, his pet cat. "I think I left his bowl filled", he wondered.

The studio had been working for Brasil for the past 2 months. Actually, the pressure had been really high since the studio had that client. At first, the hours at the gimnasio were cut off. Secondly, the phone calls to his girlfriend became frequent, warning her she would be having dinner on her own. after that came the weekends, fully dedicated to that important and wealthy client. the weekend before, he had received a letter from Sarah, his now ex-girlfriend, explaining to him why she left him. His friends stopped meeting him: he never had time to respond to their phone calls or emails.

The church for Rio de Janeiro had been growing. Elliot had been living in the office, just like his co-workers. He only went home to feed Buzz, have a shower and shave.

One month later, the boss called together all the architects and opened a bottle of the finest champagne. "Congrats to all of you. You have been very professional. Many thanks for your effort in getting this". Elliot was feeling relieved. During this month he didn't get the time to think about Sarah, or his friends, or his family. Only Buzz had a bit of his attention, and only because he had to fed or he would die. "Wonderful job Elliot! I must confess you were absolutely essential. I will give you a promotion for this!", Patrick said. "Oh, god, I can't believe it! Thank you very much Patrick. Oh dear, I'm actualy feeling funny! A bit strange I must say....". And BANG, he fell to the ground.

A day later he wakes up and realises he's at the hospital. No one's there, only him all by himself in a strange bed. He notices this huge bouquet of flowers from the studio. "Probably had had another church, but this time for Brasilia!", he thinks. The nurse arrives with the doctor and Elliot is told to stay at home fot the next two weeks.

His house feels strange to him. His bed isn't as confortable as he remembers. He checks his phone calls and listen to the messages: his best friend Paul phoned to invited him to his birthday dinner and refers to his cellphone as useless, as it's never turned on.

He finds himself in front of the tv, watching terrible programs. Nothing is good and he is getting bored. Only Buzz satisfies him. He's now thinner than he was, but remains a true friend. Elliot is now conciousness of what his life had become. He starts asking himself about the path life he is taking. "I do not love architecture this much to suffer with this", he thinks. He remembers his old guitar and gos looking for it.

He notices he had forgotten some notes, but quickly gets into it. Looks for his old music that he had composed at the age of fifteen and finds some good songs. The next two weeks were spent praticing. Elliot feels awkward with the joy that he's having. He never thought that something so simple could make him so happy.

One month later he picks up the phone and decides to call his old friends to tell them about what had hapened. He explains to them about all the stress and pressure that his old job had, and also about his day in the hospital. "I'm sorry for not be there, and for not having time for you. The truth is that I decided to leave my old life. I'm going to be a musician! Can we meet again? Paul, please come have dinner at my place today. I want to show you my musics!" In the same day Paul and Elliot meet. Elliot feels so sad and disapointed to himself that he can't look to his friend's eyes. He feels ashamed. "Oh, come on Elliot. It's fine now. Let's have dinner so that you can show to me your musics!", Paul said. Elliot felt relieved, and said: "I'm sorry mate, but I changed!"

Assessment Task 1- Personalised Writing: My Favourite Poet

My favourite poet in the world is Fernando Pessoa. One of his most important characteristics is that he writes using the names of about seventy people invented by himself. Each one of these with a different life history, emotions and personalities.

Pessoa is my favourite poet because I feel a connection with these characteristics. The truth is that I’m not really certain of who I am, what my abilities are, my strengths, my fears, my weaknesses. I don’t even know if I’m a good or a bad person, if I’ve been able to make the right decisions. I don´t have a clear picture of what I should do in the future. And I guess it’s like I have various personalities, each one massively different from the others.

I think this has been a quest of mine since my childhood. In every memory I can remember there is always a sense of fear, confusion and ambiguity. I’ve always had dreams; I’ve always wanted to feel a sense of belonging. I’ve even tried to be a part of my village’s group of Scouts, because I wanted to do something useful for the community, but I ended up leaving it since I felt all we were doing was walking down the street with uniforms and chanting at the Church so the old ladies could look at us while praying.

The thing is I feel that I’m really different from my family, and I’m afraid to hurt or disappoint them by being this messed up person that I feel sometimes.

I guess I’ll just try to find out who I am, not only in the eyes of others, but also from my own point of view.

Until then, I’ll just cultivate all of my passions: plant caring, literature, biology and even different cultures and religions. At least it should give the peace of mind that I’m so longing for.

Change

It was 7.30h in the evening. She was at the public library as usual. It had became her private rite since she had leanrt how to read. Her mouth formed an ironic smile as she read the title of the book she had just picked up from the coffee coloured carpet on the floor. «Change». She thought that it could be a good title for the story of her life. Too bad someone had thought of it before her.

Throwing the book onto the empty table beside her, she went home.
Later that night she woke up after a very realistic dream. It was as if she was sitting in this big, dark, poorly ventilated cinema looking at a blank screen. From time to time, the screen came alive with thousands of images, and suddenly, as fast as they had appeared, they would vanish again. The strangest thing about that was that all the images looked familiar to her, like she was seeing one of her favourite films, the ones she watches over and over again, but at the same time she felt that she was seeing herself, but a different self. She recognized the person and the situations, but it was like reading someone's journal.

She went to the kitchen to gran some Cheerios and a diet coke. Back in the living room, she sat down on the sofa with a blanket around her shoulders. The sweet prickling taste of the coke calmed her down. But for some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about the book. The «Change» book. She had a feeling telling her that it was connected to her dream. That restless feeling was returning to her. It was like a worm cralling up her spine. Her stomach felt full of a million tiny spiders trying to find their way out and all she could do was to try to drown them with the diet coke.

The next morning she got up pretty late, as she had only fallen asleep after 5 o'clock. Having already missed the most important lesson of the day she decided to have a walk in the park. She had been walking for three hours when she felt really tired and the heat was almost unbearable. She set down on a bench surrounded by fern and fuchsias. After a few seconds she fell asleep.

She was in the cinema again. Sitting in the front row. The film hadn't begun yet. She was the only person in the room, but she could hear voices coming to her through the open side door. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but she recognized the voices, she just couldn't say to whom they belonged.

She stood up and walked towards the door. With each step she could hear more and more of the sounds she was following. Finally she could understand them.

She was in a room that reminded her of her childhood bedroom. The walls were blue, there was a window with a white curtain, a wooden bed and lots of toys. There were four children. The tallest, a skinny blond girl with light brown eyes was clearly the leader. Then there was this fat boy, with a pleasant smile and red cheeks holding this cute litle brunnett girl with big dark eyes wuth an amazing shine and finally there was a blond girl, she was the middle one in terms of hight. She was very energetic, a huge grin dancing on her face with every step she took. She seemed to be invisible to all the four children, and didn't know who they were. All she knew was that she felt like she belonged there.

Suddenly all the kids ran through another door in the opposite wall. She felt the urge to be with them and so she followed the children.

In the next room there were only the two blond girls. They were older. The skinny one was watching TV and the energetic one was really quiet. She was reading a book and on the floor, beside her were three more books.

She finished the one she was holding, picked the others up and walked through another door.

When she followed the blond girl with the book through the next door she gasped. She was in her living room. The girl was on the sofa, her back to the door, a diet coke on the table beside her.

She walked to the front of the sofa and looked at the girl's face. Her huge grin had faded away, she was even quieter than she was in the previous room and the feeling of loneliness was all over the room.

Suddenly, she realized what she was seeing, she had been watching her own life from an outsider's prespective. For once in her life she had walked out of her shoes and analysed the situation. She realized how much life had change. How much she had changed. She finally knew what she'd been looking for, even if it had been with her all the time.

She woke up. The flowers around her made her remember when she had played with her cousins and sister, pretending the flowers were earings. She missed them so much.

She got up and picked up eight flowers. Then she headed home. Not the house where she lived right now. But the house where she'd been happy.