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.
terça-feira, 22 de dezembro de 2009
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.
terça-feira, 15 de dezembro de 2009
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!
Enjoy!
Mar
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
sábado, 28 de novembro de 2009
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!
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!"
quarta-feira, 25 de novembro de 2009
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.
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.
Changes
The sun had set a while ago and the rain was pouring. A girl in drenched red dress stood outside, she was soaked from head to toe but she didn't seem to mind, she could hear the splashes from the puddles she stepped in but she couldn't care less because, standing there in the rain she felt free, it was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time... the "Tears of Angels" mixed themselvs with her salty ones "Tears of a Sinner" she thought, and in that moment Marie made a decision... things had to change.
The following week she sold her little cramped apartment in a bad part of town, packed her bags, quit her hideous job and started driving, driving away from what would have been sooner or later her death, that town had been killing her, choking her essence, making her wilt like a flower, draining her or all her energy, so on that day as Marie drove away she left behing her past and her death, following the wind to find herself and happiness.
After a few months on the road Marie settled herself in Chicago, some people would say it was ironic since she had followed the wind and ended up in the "Windy City" but she said it was destiny, she found her true passion and gotten a job in a small flower shop, the owner Elizabeth was an elderly lady who spent her days teaching her the lenguage of flowers, Marie loved working there, feeling the silky petals of the flowers, immersing herself in a thousand different aromas, smiling when a young man bought flowers for his lover and grimancing when someone ordered flowers for a funeral... at the flower shop the days were never the same, nothing compared with the days back in her boring little town, unlike many people Marie wasn't homesick, she didn't long to go back there. Marie had made herself a home in Chicago.
The sun was setting and Marie was walking through the park, she could hear children laughing, dogs barking and birds chirping before retiring to their nests, it was Autumn (Fall) and there were orange, red and yellow leaves everywhere, "The perfect picture" she thought to herself, she was so deep in her thoughts she didn't notice where she was going until she felt her body collide with another.
"I'm so sorry!" she apologized
"There's no need to apologize, I was distracted as well" The man said with a laugh, Marie felt herself blush "I'm Anthony" he presented himself
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Marie" They shook hands and he smiled at her, she smiled back, then she felt the wind blow
"Pleasure to meet you too Marie, I must go now, my nephews are looking for me, I guess I will see you around?" he smiled and waves walking toward 2 boys, she waved back. After he was out of sight with the boys Marie went back to making her way back home, she had rented a small apartment on the other side of the park. She usually had to cross the park to get to the flower shop and then to go back home.
Once home she was greeted by Juno, her cat as amazing as it seems it had been Juno to find Marie, she had plopped herself in Marie's lap one afternoon at the park and then followed her home... Now sitting at home in her favorite chaise-long Marie was thinking about her past, how so much had changed, she had been miserable back in the place she had once called "home", her job was boring and draining, almost like a vortex which sucks everything away from you, her parents had never cared much about her, they were divorced and had both remarried and built other families on their own... that always made Marie feel like a burden to them, now she had the exact opposite, she loved her job it made her feel alive, she had a family Elizabeth and her husband William were like the parents she never had a chance to have, a small apartment that wasn't falling apart like her old one, and even if it was a cat... she had someone to get home to...
Change was good
The following week she sold her little cramped apartment in a bad part of town, packed her bags, quit her hideous job and started driving, driving away from what would have been sooner or later her death, that town had been killing her, choking her essence, making her wilt like a flower, draining her or all her energy, so on that day as Marie drove away she left behing her past and her death, following the wind to find herself and happiness.
After a few months on the road Marie settled herself in Chicago, some people would say it was ironic since she had followed the wind and ended up in the "Windy City" but she said it was destiny, she found her true passion and gotten a job in a small flower shop, the owner Elizabeth was an elderly lady who spent her days teaching her the lenguage of flowers, Marie loved working there, feeling the silky petals of the flowers, immersing herself in a thousand different aromas, smiling when a young man bought flowers for his lover and grimancing when someone ordered flowers for a funeral... at the flower shop the days were never the same, nothing compared with the days back in her boring little town, unlike many people Marie wasn't homesick, she didn't long to go back there. Marie had made herself a home in Chicago.
The sun was setting and Marie was walking through the park, she could hear children laughing, dogs barking and birds chirping before retiring to their nests, it was Autumn (Fall) and there were orange, red and yellow leaves everywhere, "The perfect picture" she thought to herself, she was so deep in her thoughts she didn't notice where she was going until she felt her body collide with another.
"I'm so sorry!" she apologized
"There's no need to apologize, I was distracted as well" The man said with a laugh, Marie felt herself blush "I'm Anthony" he presented himself
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Marie" They shook hands and he smiled at her, she smiled back, then she felt the wind blow
"Pleasure to meet you too Marie, I must go now, my nephews are looking for me, I guess I will see you around?" he smiled and waves walking toward 2 boys, she waved back. After he was out of sight with the boys Marie went back to making her way back home, she had rented a small apartment on the other side of the park. She usually had to cross the park to get to the flower shop and then to go back home.
Once home she was greeted by Juno, her cat as amazing as it seems it had been Juno to find Marie, she had plopped herself in Marie's lap one afternoon at the park and then followed her home... Now sitting at home in her favorite chaise-long Marie was thinking about her past, how so much had changed, she had been miserable back in the place she had once called "home", her job was boring and draining, almost like a vortex which sucks everything away from you, her parents had never cared much about her, they were divorced and had both remarried and built other families on their own... that always made Marie feel like a burden to them, now she had the exact opposite, she loved her job it made her feel alive, she had a family Elizabeth and her husband William were like the parents she never had a chance to have, a small apartment that wasn't falling apart like her old one, and even if it was a cat... she had someone to get home to...
Change was good
terça-feira, 17 de novembro de 2009
Short Story Assignement
The Revenge
It was a cold night when, last month, John decided to move to his family's farm back in Texas, after a tragic day.
One year ago, John had been working with his friends on the construction site.
On a sunny day, he was walking to get to work when he saw a woman being assaulted by two guys. He then, jumped to save her and the thieves run away. John asked her, "Are you ok?". She replied, "I'm fine, thank you for your help". It was love at first sight.
They started to hang out together, dating, and after a few months she decided to live with him, after he asked her.
On a rainy day, John had just arrived home when he saw his girlfriend lying on the floor. She was dead. He was paralyzed with fear. After a few seconds, the police entered their house and arrested John.
"Why did you kill her?" the policeman asked but John didn't answer and he wouldn't answer any of his questions, he was frightened and scared by all of this situation, so the police locked him up.
After a few days the policeman came and told him "You are free, someone paid your bail".
Outside, his friends were waiting for him. After he saw them, he felt great sorrow for the loss of his girlfriend. His friends told him "We believe you didn't do it, so we saved some money to get you out of prison".
Back on his family's farm, which had many horses and a beautiful landscape, he could rest and started to think who might have done this. Thats when he remembered his girlfriend talking about her ex-boyfriend and his gang that had been always stalking her.
That's when John took the plane to Florida to find her ex-boyfriend and get some answers.
When he arrived, he went straight to the house that his girlfriend had described when they were together, as the house where she had lived with her ex-boyfriend.
John had got there by morning, the ex-boyfriend opened the door and he asked him, "Did you kill her?" and he said "Yes, if she couldn't be mine, then she couldn't be anyone's. John felt this anger building up inside him, like a volcano ready to start erupting, and then he punched him, so they started to fight. In the middle of the fight, John got his weapon from his left jacket pocket and pointed at him saying "For her" and shot, killing him.
After that, John remembered his father's words, "Never take justice into your own hands". He felt regret and delivered himself to the police, he had thrown his life away because of revenge.
This was what I wrote for the short story assignement, hope you liked it.
It was a cold night when, last month, John decided to move to his family's farm back in Texas, after a tragic day.
One year ago, John had been working with his friends on the construction site.
On a sunny day, he was walking to get to work when he saw a woman being assaulted by two guys. He then, jumped to save her and the thieves run away. John asked her, "Are you ok?". She replied, "I'm fine, thank you for your help". It was love at first sight.
They started to hang out together, dating, and after a few months she decided to live with him, after he asked her.
On a rainy day, John had just arrived home when he saw his girlfriend lying on the floor. She was dead. He was paralyzed with fear. After a few seconds, the police entered their house and arrested John.
"Why did you kill her?" the policeman asked but John didn't answer and he wouldn't answer any of his questions, he was frightened and scared by all of this situation, so the police locked him up.
After a few days the policeman came and told him "You are free, someone paid your bail".
Outside, his friends were waiting for him. After he saw them, he felt great sorrow for the loss of his girlfriend. His friends told him "We believe you didn't do it, so we saved some money to get you out of prison".
Back on his family's farm, which had many horses and a beautiful landscape, he could rest and started to think who might have done this. Thats when he remembered his girlfriend talking about her ex-boyfriend and his gang that had been always stalking her.
That's when John took the plane to Florida to find her ex-boyfriend and get some answers.
When he arrived, he went straight to the house that his girlfriend had described when they were together, as the house where she had lived with her ex-boyfriend.
John had got there by morning, the ex-boyfriend opened the door and he asked him, "Did you kill her?" and he said "Yes, if she couldn't be mine, then she couldn't be anyone's. John felt this anger building up inside him, like a volcano ready to start erupting, and then he punched him, so they started to fight. In the middle of the fight, John got his weapon from his left jacket pocket and pointed at him saying "For her" and shot, killing him.
After that, John remembered his father's words, "Never take justice into your own hands". He felt regret and delivered himself to the police, he had thrown his life away because of revenge.
This was what I wrote for the short story assignement, hope you liked it.
segunda-feira, 2 de novembro de 2009
segunda-feira, 26 de outubro de 2009
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