DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - more pictures

Just a few more pictures...

First, Estefany gave me this (grazie!!) - cute, isn't it?

These pictures were taken in San Severino:

And this one in Rome:

And now, 6 months after the end of those due settimane di gioia (two joyful weeks), I'm gonna stop writing about the memories of my journey.

The last picture is not mine (thank you, Sol), but I like it a lot because it shows unforgettable people in one of the nicest places I've been to (the castle)

Thank you for reading!

(whoever you are)

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - websites

I've decided to post some useful websites, in case the readers (if there are readers here...) got curious about something I've said:

* this is Edulingua:

https://www.facebook.com/Edulingua-Italian-language-courses-349753403390/timeline/

http://www.edulingua.it/it

(here you can change the language, there are other options)

* and this is the airport I've been to in Rome - a little confusing but it has a lot of information 

http://www.adr.it/fiumicino

* and this is to check train's schedules and prices (really useful - I already knew what train I intended to take before getting in Italy)

http://www.trenitalia.com/

* and this is the castle we've seen in Caldarola

http://www.castellopallotta.com/

* and these are some of the bars I've been to

https://www.facebook.com/Bardellelogge1?fref=nf

https://www.facebook.com/BarCentrale0

https://www.facebook.com/bar-gelateriait-203571042996239/timeline/

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - eating and drinking

Even though half a year has passed, I still remember most of the things I had for lunch and dinner during the trip, and also some of the snacks :)

As I said already, I had pizza several times, and also calzone. But I also had pasta, chicken (twice or 3 times only), a very nice cream made of peas (piselli), and some kinds of sandwiches - one of them with ''salsiccia" and cheese and all the others with ham and cheese: hamburger, toast, panini (I don't know how to explain this, but I'd say it looks a little like a hot dog bread) and piadine (see the picture below, which I took from the internet randomly), which was my favorite.

Probably because I had more bread and pizza than I'm used to, I really missed Brazilian food :(
When I left Italy, I felt I needed our rice with beans, and I also missed eating strogonoff.


Anyway, I have to mention I loved the cornetto (like a croissant), especially one filled with chocolate, the ice cream, and some sweet biscuits (apple and cinnamon) I bought for my ''breakfast" - not exactly breakfast, but I liked eating every morning before leaving the hotel.


To be honest, I haven't tried many beverages. The thing I liked most was the peach juice (or iced tea, not sure, but it was really good).


And last but not least, I have to talk about the aperitivo. When a person goes to a bar and asks for a drink (usually only the alcoholic ones, but there are exceptions!), it comes with some snacks. I don't think those snacks would be enough for a real meal, but I must say I like the whole concept :)
One of the most successful drinks there (I've already mentioned it) is the spritz - explanation here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spritz_(alcoholic_beverage)

This is a picture I got from Bar Centrale's Facebook page - it's pretty much the kind of things I saw (but I think I only tried the chips and peanuts)

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - arrivederci, Europa

On Sunday, I woke up very early because I still had a few things to put away. When I was almost ready to leave, Estefany woke up (I was trying not to make too much noise, but it wasn't easy) and so she got up to say goodbye. Another hard moment for me...

I almost got lost in the elevator! I pressed the wrong button, because I'd confused the floors, but soon I understood what the mistake was and finally left the hotel, and headed to the station. I knew I 'd need to mark my ticket before getting on the train, but the machine wasn't working! I asked other people there for help, but it simply was not working. I got on the first train anyway, and luckily the ''controllore'' didn't check my ticket. It was a short but pleasant trip.

I got off  and soon marked the other ticket - this time the machine worked perfectly :)

And I didn't wait for long - the train to Rome was on time. Staying awake wasn't very easy, but I was sitting by the window so I could enjoy the view. 

These are the tickets:

When I arrived in Rome, I needed to choose a way to get to the airport - bus or train. Some people had told me the bus was a little cheaper, so I found the place to get the tickets and bought mine.

A little chaotic! apparently, the bus that goes to the other airport stops at the same point, so I could've easily ended up in the wrong place! But I didn't... I sat close to a door so I could quickly get off the bus and get my bag. 

I had a lot of time at Fiumicino, and part of it with the bag, but I arrived there really hungry, so I went to Mc Donald's to have "lunch". I spent a little time reading and checking my e-mails, until I could finally check-in. Without my bag, I decided to walk around the airport, to see the parts I still hadn't seen. In the end, time passed more quickly than I had thought :)

However, the flight to Lisbon had a little delay... not a big deal actually, but I was already tired of waiting. During the flight I was ok, but I arrived in Portugal feeling bad - probably because of the dinner. Then I had some snacks and got a Pepsi, and had very little time before the departure.

When I finally entered the plane, I started feeling even worse. It took me a while to get better, I had to refuse the first meal because I thought eating at that moment wouldn't help at all... Fortunately, after the meal the lights went off and I could sleep enough to be ok.

I tried listening to music or watching some stuff on TV (one of the titles I chose was Into the Woods, but I had one of the meals while watching it so I didn't pay much attention to some parts - I think I watched half of the movie), because this time I didn't talk to other passengers, so it was a tiring flight :(

Anyway, I arrived in São Paulo, got my bag and looked for a place to sit down and recharge the cell phone's battery so I could call my mother. She needed to know what time I was gonna arrive in Porto Alegre. I walked a lot to find out how and where I'd have to go in order to try to change my next flight time. It was actually very easy and I got a flight a few hours earlier than planned.

Once again I tried to read a little, I had a snack, bought candies for my family and went to the check-in queue. All I wanted was enter the plane as soon as possible...

The last flight was fast, and sometimes I talked to a man next to me - he had seen the Portuguese airline label attached to my backpack and asked if I was coming from Portugal, and he told me a lot of things about the places he'd been to there.

I arrived in Porto Alegre, got my bag, and soon my mother picked me up and took me home... I can't say that it was a nice feeling though... getting home felt strange...

Anyway, I was back, with my bag full of things and my heart filled with good memories.

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - Roma

Saturday was a long day!

It took us a few hours to get to Rome (about 4), but time passed by quickly. I tried to sleep a bit but it was not easy - especially having one of the guys from Costa Rica trying to take a picture of me sleeping...
It was nice anyway, I could listen to the guys practicing 'Volare' for the karaoke, and sometimes I talked to other students.

Before arrving near Colosseo, we said goodbye to some people who were leaving (including Solange and her parents), they got off the bus a few minutes before us. Another sad yet beautiful moment, really touching.


Fortunately, it was a really beautiful day, sunny and not very cold :)

I admit that I had to take a look at Rome's map to remember the names of some places we've seen... we started with Colosseo and Foro Romano (but I couldn't take good pictures)

We walked a lot, and we quickly saw Fontana di Trevi (not exactly a beautiful sight that day, because of the restoration) and later headed to Piazza Spagna.

Then we had only 40 minutes to have lunch! I had a calzone - again - in a small place with Estefany and some Brazilian students.
I really needed to go to the bathroom, so I found a gelateria, near Pantheon, and considering I was there already, I had to buy an ice cream - a really nice choice, it was great!

Later, we went to Piazza Navona, a crowded place, full of bars and restaurants.

After a few minutes, we saw Castel Sant'Angelo and headed to Vaticano, our final destination. It had been about 6 hours walking and I was really tired, looking forward to the time to go to the bus.

When we finally arrived in San Severino, I was not feeling well, and I was sad because I knew that was probably the moment I would have to say goodbye to the guys (except for Anibal, who had left the day before). It was very hard, I could barely speak, so I basically just hugged them before going to the hotel. I wish I could have gone out with them later, but unfortunately I had a lot to do, so I couldn't have gone even if I had been feeling better...

So I started to organize my things, and it took me a while to get better and finish everything. I went to bed sad because my time there was about to end...

* just one more picture to close this post happier:

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - last tears...

My exam was on Friday morning, at 9. I hadn't studied, because I really wanted to see what I had truly learned, and not simply memorized. When I arrived at Edulingua, I met Ana and Anibal, and then I noticed everybody was having the exams in the same classroom - a whole group of level 1 and 3 students from level 3. 

It was a long and tiring exam, but not exactly hard. The listening and vocabulary were the the most difficult parts, grammar was easy, reading a little strange and writing made me cry once more! I had to write about Facebook, and somehow I started writing about the people I'd met during my trip and said Facebook was going to help us keep in touch (but I'm not sure if I still believe this now... anyway, I made few mistakes and got 20/20 in the writing!!! almost unbelievable!)

After I left the exam - exhausted - I met the students during the break and went to class. I got surprised when I saw my teacher looking at my exam, amazed that I hadn't made any mistakes in one of the grammar parts!! At the end, my Brazilian classmate (who was also about to leave) and I recieved our certificates and we all took a picture together.

Many things happened at the same time after that, one of them was Deborah giving me a cute gift:

It took me a while to notice my final grade was 100! Only a few weeks afterwards did I ask my teacher about it, because when the school's coordinator showed me the exam that day, the grade I saw was different, so I was confused... but in the end everything makes sense.

I had lunch with Estefany and the guys (not pizza this time, but a huge calzone!), took a quick walk with her and went back to the hotel, because I really needed to sleep!

In the afternoon we went to the train station because Ana was leaving :( a very sad moment, but also beautiful - so nice the way some people got really close, they looked like a family.

Estefany and I walked for some more time, and we took some pictures in the public garden (fortunately, the weather was great that day!)

I had arranged to have dinner with the Brazilian women I'd worked with for the international dinner, so we could celebrate, and in a way it was also a farewell for 2 of us :( The girls made pasta, it was really nice! Deborah was also there and some people from Argentina showed up inviting us to join them somewhere later, but in the end I couldn't find out where they were so I went back to the hotel. We would need to wake up early on Saturday, because of the trip to Rome! 

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - pizza, gelato and opera (and pasta too)

On Thursday, our teachers told us what the school's surprise was - an opera presentation that evening!

In the beginning I got sad and a little angry because it meant the karaoke evening (initially supposed to be that Friday) would be only the next week... and my group hadn't even started practicing... actually, I'm still upset I couldn't be there or watch most of the presentations :(

But later I ended up ''accepting'' the schedule changes and looked forward to the opera :)

In the morning, we had an 'outside'' activity - it was the second one, the first had been the week before, a little more interesting. Basically, this time we had to interview people around and prepare a newspaper report... it was a bit hard, because I worked with Deborah (just like the week before and many other times, and I always liked working with her) and she was nearly voiceless, and I was extremely sleepy... not to mention I didn't feel ok interviewing people out of the school...

I had lunch near the hotel with Estefany, Anibal and Iván - pizza again! Time went by very quickly, but I had a lot of fun with them \o/

We went back to the hotel to rest for a while because in the afternoon we had a different culture activity at Edulingua - a game! ''Who wants to be a millionaire?'' We made 4 teams (mine had only women and we named it ''Belle donne''), and there were prizes for 3 of them (more pizza!). I didn't care about the prize anyway, and the game was very funny.

After that, Estefany and I took a walk, we went to a bookstore and newstand, I don't remember where else, and later met some people at Gelateria.it - that's when I had the gelato (ice cream). Also a very good time :)

And then we had to get ready for the opera... I don't remember the name of the company now, but the opera is ''L'elisir d'amore'', a very simple and funny love story. There were 3 singers and a ''narrator'' who helped telling us some parts of the story, and also played the piano. Very beautiful!

Here is a picture showing 2 of the great singers - again, from Edulingua's Facebook

And after the opera, we headed to Birreria again... it was a farewell gathering, because some people were going to leave the next day, some other on Saturday :(

It wasn't exactly a happy evening for me, but at least I had nice pasta (I had seen Anibal eating it the week before and thought of trying it - especially because it had peas and ham!).

Here is a picture of some of the girls, probably waiting for the beer and snacks...

I should have gone back to the hotel early, but I didn't. And I remember I started crying again when I was telling the guys I believed the most wonderful thing about the trip was having met such amazing people... And they were really really nice (Iván, Nicolas and Ana even hugged me) and soon the tears were gone, and we talked for some more time before Estefany and I left. 

I think I went to bed at about 3 am! Which means I didn't sleep more than 4 hours before my exam - but that's the next post...

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - Gubbio

On Wednesday, we had class in the morning, and I had lunch in a very good pizzeria with Estefany, Ana, Iván, Nicolas and Anibal (but I may have forgotten somebody, I sometimes don't trust my memory that much...). The only time there I had a ''quattro formaggi'' dish - and I love things with 4 formaggi.

In the afternoon, we had a trip to Gubbio :)

On our way there, I talked to Iván for some time, it was very nice! I also tried to take a few pictures, but it was not easy... here is one of them

Gubbio is very interesting! A medieval city, really beautiful.
Uunfortunately, my camera ran out of battery soon after we got there, so these 2 pictures are all I have...

this one is a theatre, I think...

I really liked this trip - the place is nice and the weather was good. I had great ice cream too! twice \o/

While we were going back to San Severino, the guide/teacher told us there was going to be a surprise at Edulingua the next day, and therefore some changes regarding our schedule. I got really curious!

After that, I remember there was a moment I started to cry, wondering how much I was going to miss everything and everybody later... 

But then, some minutes before arriving in San Severino, I started talking to Deborah, we shared some ideas about teaching, it cheered me up a little :)

I didn't go out that evening, so I just had some snacks in the room and later went to sleep.

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - birthday at Bar Centrale

Monday was a holiday in Italy (Lunedì dell'Angelo), so we didn't have class. Some students stayed in San Severino, and I had lunch with Ana - my first pasta there! We spent some hours talking, it was really cool!

I took a nap in the afternoon and didn't do much... in the evening I met some people at Birreria, but we didn't stay really long. 

On Tuesday, the morning class was a little later (30 minutes actually). I had lunch with Estefany and in the afternoon we had one more class, about art - very interesting and funny! A bunch of students went to the supermarket and then I had to wait for a while before going out again because it was Estefany's birthday.
Some people were preparing a little surprise at Bar Centrale - including a cake! One of the Brazilian girls let me know when everybody was there, so Estefany could arrive after all of them.
As soon as we arrived we sang ''Tanti Auguri'' (the Italian Happy Birthday).
It was great!! We had a lot of fun there, talking and drinking and taking pictures \o/


I got some pictures from Iván's Facebook (grazie!)
This first shows the moment we arrived at Bar Centrale :)

and I really like this one too...

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - Verona

On Sunday (Easter, by the way), we were supposed to be at the station at 5am!!
I think it took us over 6 hours to arrive in Verona, and it wasn't exactly a good time... some people felt really bad (I was one of them) and the weather didn't help much :(

When we arrived in Verona, it was cloudy but not raining. I couldn't really enjoy this trip, because I felt bad and it was very cold. I can't even remember most of the places we've been to... but we started near the Arena - here's a picture we took there:

One of the places I remember seeing is Giulietta's house (it was crowded, I guess it's always crowded). I'm not exactly a fan of Romeo and Juliet, so it doesn't matter much how real this is... we were told the house didn't belong to a family named Capulet, but somehow it became Juliet's house and people love going there. I didn't take a picture of Giulietta's statue (it's supposed to bring good luck if you touch it), but I liked her "balcone" (balcony)

I have no idea what this is, but it looked beautiful so I took a picture anyway...

We walked a lot and I was feeling hungry, so unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the names of the places we saw, and I took few pictures.

But I know this is supposed to be Dante Alighieri:)

I had lunch with some Brazilian students in a small restaurant. After this I got a little better, but not enough to pay attention to everything the teacher/guide was telling us... so, instead of writing, I'll just show you some pictures for now:

one more selfie (I got this picture and also the one near Arena from Edulingua's Facebook page) 

We had some free time to go wherever we felt like, I just walked a little to buy a few things for my grandmothers, and talked to some students while we were waiting for the rest of the group. Some people (including my roommate) didn't go back to San Severino because they'd decided to spend the night in Verona or Venezia (which was Monday's trip). 

I went to the hotel, had some snacks and soon went to sleep... it was a very tiring day! the good thing is that I could sleep a lot again and recovered \o/ 

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - La Birreria!

Birreria del Borgo is a very cozy place with great food. Many people there loved the ''ventotto'' (28 - because we ordered food using the menu's numbers), I think it's one of their most popular hamburgers, but I haven't actually tried it. However, I had really good fried chicken and also pasta!

The important thing about Birreria is not the food though... I've been there 3 times only, but all of them were awesome!! Because of the people, doubtlessly :)

I'm not good at saying goodbye, and sometimes I feel I may not have said enough, so I'll not use this text to talk about Birreria itself, but about some of the amazing people I've been there with.

[I'm only writing about the people I talked to the most, but there were more people who shared the table with us there. And I'll go in alphabetical order, because no order would be fair anyway - and it doesn't really matter, does it?]

Ana

She's extremely funny and smart, and she taught us some very important things, such as proverbs - I'll memorize the glass thing one day! haha

In the beginning it was a little hard to understand her, but then when we talked in Italian it was ok. 

And she convinced me I must go to Spain. Moreover, she convinced me I have to go to Valencia, for Las Fallas, and I really want to! Even though it hasn't been easy to find her online because of the time zones, I'm glad we can still talk once in a while :)

Anibal

Before talking to him I thought he was weird, but then we started talking and I noticed he is weird indeed haha... but in a good way:) I tend to enjoy talking to people who are different from the ''crowd'', and he was no exception.
Apparently we share some tastes and opinions, so the conversation really seemed to flow.
Oh, and he can imitate Sean Connery's voice really well!

Estefany

Like I said before, best roommate ever!!

When I decided to share a hotel room with a student, I was a little worried, because I didn't know what to expect. But things were really nice, we could communicate easily and I'm very very happy that we still talk to each other often :)

She's a great person, very intelligent and funny (she has a peculiar laughter I really liked hearing haha), and it was great to 'explore' the town with her!

Iván

Basically, one of the nicest people I've ever met! Talking to him was always easy and enjoyable, and he often helped me understand the others speaking Spanish :)
There were moments it felt like I had known him for ages, it seemed that I could talk to him about anything - and he's really good at giving advice.
I must also say he's very brave! Hopefully one day I'll be able to travel like this too...   

Nicolas

He's not just another smart and funny guy, he also has the amazing ability to sound like a native speaker in different languages haha... if I hadn't listened to him in Spanish, I wouldn't have believed he is not Italian (isn't he? really?).
He made people laugh many times, but it doesn't mean we can't have a more serious/sensible conversation with him too. And his voice singing 'Volare' (especially while we were going to Rome) is still on my mind :) 

Solange

Although we didn't talk much in Italy, I could notice she's a very nice girl. Luckily things have changed, and now I think she's the one I've been talking to the most recently - and I've been learning a lot of Spanish!! \o/
We have many things in common, and even when we speak different languages the conversation really flows (sometimes it's like we can read each other's minds haha)

A little message to all of you

If someone asks me what my best memory of Italy is, I can only say it's the people I've met there. 

I've seen beautiful places, I've had great gelati and cornetti, I've learned a lot of stuff, but this trip wouldn't have been so special without you...

I really wish I can see you again,

you have (and I believe you always will) a very special place in my heart!!

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - I don't speak Spanish! (not yet)

On Friday, I had lunch with Estefany (after the morning class) and in the afternoon there was a very nice culture class about Italian habits. After that I went to Bar Centrale with a lot of students speaking Spanish. That was when I met amazing people from Argentina and Spain... but sometimes they would speak only Spanish and I'd get a little lost... luckily, some of them translated a few things for me - gracias! 

At Bar Centrale we had 'aperitivo' (I'll explain this later, wait for it). Some girls had Spritz, which is really good, and I had a drink made with prosecco and peach, also good and not too strong (I actually drank it kinda quickly, and I'm not used to doing so...).

After a really good time at Bar Centrale, we headed to Birreria del Borgo (more about it later), where I spent several hours, having a lot of fun too \o/

There was a trip to San Marino on Saturday, but I decided not to go - I thought it was going to be too tiring, because on Sunday we were going to Verona.

So I spent the day resting (it feels so nice when we can simply sleep without worrying about what time to wake up, isn't it?), checking e-mails, saving the pictures I'd taken, and watching TV for a while (basically I watched Nickleodeon TV shows, with the sound in Italian, interesting...)

I also walked for a while around the town, the weather was ok so I could enjoy it. But I looked for some places I couldn't find :/

In the evening, I met some people at Bar Centrale again, but it was raining and really cold... I had a toast and soon went back to the hotel.

* And I've decided I need a post just to talk about Birreria and some of the people I went there with...

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - 2 more days...

On Wednesday, we had class in the morning and in the afternoon we had time to prepare the food for the international dinner (cena internazionale).

I joined the girls from my group to help them make our posters and our ''docinhos'' (brigadeiro, beijinho, cajuzinho), which in the end got the best sweet prize!

Here's a picture of  them (grazie mille, Iván!)

In the evening, all the countries presented their food and drink, it was really interesting. We could learn a little about typical dishes from Brazil, Argentina (the champions, with 'empanadas'), Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, Australia, Finland and Libanon. And there was also pizza!

On Thursday I had lunch at Edulingua after the class, and in the afternoon we went to Caldarola and Tolentino.

In Caldarola we visited a castle! It was really cold there because there wasn't much sun in many rooms, but it was amazing - really beautiful :)

In Tolentino, we saw a beautiful church and later had time to go shopping. I finally managed to buy a new zaino (backpack) - mine wasn't strong enough so before arriving in Europe I realized I shouldn't travel back home using it.

I don't remember taking pictures in Tolentino, so here is another one I took in Caldarola :)

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - meeting people, seeing places...

It's difficult to summarize my first days in San Severino Marche, but I'm going to try...

It took us about 4 hours to get there, but it was a pleasant time. I slept a little, took some pictures, there was a movie on TV, and we had a quick stop (sure, people needed to go to the bathroom, and buy some things). We got off the bus in groups, according to where we were going to stay. I was staying in the hotel, and while I was there waiting for the elevator I found out who my roommate was: Estefany, a really nice Mexican girl (best roommate ever!). We were hungry, so soon after leaving our luggage in the room we headed for a pizza place. Back to the hotel, we started organizing our stuff. Luckily I slept really well - I must say that the hotel room's bed was great, so sleeping there was not a problem :)

On Monday we had an eventful morning at Edulingua - the principal introduced us to the school and showed us around, we had colazione (breakfast) and a guided little tour around the town.

After the tour we had lunch at school. I met some of the Brazilian students, they are very nice :)

And from 2 to 6 we had classes. I was in the smaller group, only 6 people (5 in the 1st day), and I met one of the sweetest students there: Deborah, an Australian girl who's a language teacher too! 

In the evening I walked a little with Estefany (we had to find a place to eat, which was not really difficult), and later joined a nice Libanese guy (ok, this is the point I probably have to explain that everyone I met was really nice, so I won't need to repeat it again later), but unfortunately I wasn't feeling ok so I had to leave them and go back to the hotel to sleep :/ I know they joined other people somewhere and had fun, but I really needed to rest...

On Tuesday we had class in the morning, and in the afternoon we had another tour around the town, but this time it was longer and he went to many interesting places. I took a picture of one of the most amazing views there:

We also went to a really beautiful theatre (Teatro Feronia) and a museum, where we were guided by some teenagers. Later many people needed to go to the supermarket, so did I. 

I had dinner in a pizzeria with some Brazilian students and also a German one I had talked to in the afternoon. My pizza was huge so I took half of it to the hotel (and had it for lunch the next day, sharing it with my roommate), and headed to a great gelateria where I'd had lunch, but I got a little lost before finally finding it! Many other students were there, I talked to some of them and also to some girls from the school staff. I had a lot of fun - and ice cream! - and ended up going to sleep late...

*just one more picture, I took it from Edulingua's Facebook page, I love it!

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - flying...

...It was going to be my first plane trip by myself, and I have to say that I don't really like planes, so I wasn't exactly calm...

I had to run to get my first flight, from Porto Alegre to São Paulo, but everything was ok. I think I slept a little, I ate peanuts, the flight was not long... but then I finally arrived at Guarulhos airport. I had to walk a lot to find where I'd have to do the next check-in, and I had my bag for a lot of time. I still had it when I had lunch... I needed to wait for some hours, I read a little (Machado de Assis), I surfed the web for a few minutes, but I couldn't help feeling bored. And the next flight, to Lisbon, was a little late =[

But again, everything was ok. In the plane I started practicing a little... English? Yes, I talked to some foreign people, like a very nice English guy who sat beside me. The food was ok and I could rest a little, so I was fine when I arrived in Portugal. I didn't have a lot of time, so I just went to the bathroom and later got a Kibon's ''sorbet'', and soon I entered the plane.

And then, going to Rome, I could speak a little... English again? Yes, there was a lovely lady beside me and we talked a little. She was born in Ecuador, but she's married to an American man and they live in Florida.

Once again the food was good :) and I arrived very well in Italy.

But it took me a while to start finding the places I needed to find at Fiumicino. That airport is very strange! Anyway, I ended up finding the meeting point, and after lunch (McDonald's) I didn't have to wait for too long. Soon I found some people from the school and the students, and we headed to San Severino \o/

DUE SETTIMANE DI GIOIA - first things first...

So, I've decided to write about my trip to Italy. It was an amazing experience :) way much better than I would've ever imagined!!!

It all started in November. I was checking my e-mail after work and I saw a Facebook post (by oriundi.net) with this ad:

Spring in Italy? I liked the idea... the prices seemed reasonable... well, why not?

I started to gather a little more information, and it took me some weeks to make up my mind.

I asked my parents for help, because I knew I wouldn't have the money for everything :( But my 30th birthday was going to be soon, so they gave me the flight tickets as a gift.

And basically, I ended up having only 3 months to prepare everything... I didn't even have an updated passport! But 3 months were enough, everything was ok, and my journey started on March 28...

[to be continued]

* I wasn't looking for this, I wasn't even thinking of going abroad soon, but, luckily, this ad changed everything. Now I know I would've loved spending more time there, and I'll surely consider this next time I travel - no idea when it'll be possible...

Boogie Oogie - a simplicidade ainda funciona

Parabenizo Rui Vilhena e toda a equipe pelo excelente texto da novela. Muita gente reclamou dos clichês, mas considero que a trama foi ao mesmo tempo clássica e original. Histórias simples, que ficaram ainda mais interessantes com a beleza de uma época sem internet e sem celular, com o glamour da discoteca, e o divertido toque dos patins.

E com um elenco extremamente competente - difícil destacar apenas alguns, mas é imprescindível citar os talentos de Fabíula Nascimento, Giovanna Rispoli, Bianca Bin, Thaís de Campos e, claro, Alessandra Negrini, que deu vida a uma das personagens mais divertidas da novela. Aliás, houve personagens divertidos de sobra, cheios de acidez e ironias, e grandes "filosofias".

Se questões como troca de bebês e outras são assuntos já muito utilizados na teledramaturgia, desta vez o diferencial foi a agilidade - grandes revelações aconteceram logo no começo, quando não havia espaço algum pra enrolações, e os capítulos frequentemente terminavam de forma instigante.

Quem diz que a novela se perdeu por isso ou aquilo é porque certamente não acompanhou tudo.

Podem dizer que estou exagerando, mas pra mim esta foi talvez a melhor novela do horário desde o início do século, com certeza a melhor dos últimos dez anos.

Boogie Oogie foi uma grata surpresa, que mostrou que a simplicidade tem seu mérito, e pode sim funcionar muito bem!

[fica a dica: em 2014, Record e Globo com suas ótimas - e bem diferentes - produções ambientadas nos anos 70 nos deixam um gostinho de ''quero mais'', espero que muito em breve possamos ver mais produções assim, ou mesmo nos anos 60, 80...]

cada vez que acesso minha conta fico mais perdida =b

mas faz tempo que não escrevo, então ta na hora