I'm back!!

Hi people!

how are you? I'm really sorry but last week I had a lot of problems both with my pc and with my work so that I was not able to write my reflective blogging...what a pity!! My internet connection suddenly stopped as I was editing the wiki page on Water resources in USA but luckily now everything is ok...or at least it seems to be ok... sometimes I really hate technology and if there were a webcam on my screen everyone could see me shouting and getting angry with my pc...a really amazing show, or terrifying...it depends from the points of view!!!! ^_^

Anyway, now here I am again.

Last Monday my classmates did our last skype exchange with our American peers but unfortunately I wasn't there because I was working...what a pity again! However my friends Susanne and the other classmates told me it was very fun having a visual contact with people you had only had on phone before...

This week I'm preparing with Maria Chiara and Susanne our final presentation. It will be about American fraternities and sororities compared with Italian 'Goliardia'. It is a very interesting topic and I'm working on it very hard: I spend very much time in Internet searching for websites which contain interesting information and photos.

For the moment that's all, but as long as my work of research goes on and my presentation takes shape, I will write another post...it sounds like a promise, but I think that it's more a threat... ^_^

Cheers

Alice

Photo source

Talking about water

Hi people

here I am again after the Easter break. Last week I spent two days (Easter and the Monday after Easter) eating and drinking with my family but especially with my friends. We went on the hills near Padova and we had a lot of fun playing and laughing together. And you, did you enjoy your "Easter break"?

After this brief introduction, let's now talk about serious things...^_-

As usually this week too I had to contribute to a new topic in our wiki project concerning WATER resources in Italy. This is a very interesting topic because in this way you have the opportunity to stop for a moment and think about the importance of water as a resource of life.

As all my friends already know, I am not a very good writer when it's time to express my feelings and emotions (or maybe I'm just a little bit lazy...), so I decided to quote someone else's thoughts and statements...clearly dealing the topic of this week: water.

I'm not going to explain the reason why I chose these statements because I would like to think about them by your own.

Heraclitus said:

" The sea is the purest and the foulest water; it is drinkable and healthful for
fishes; but for men it is unfit to drink and hurtful. "

(Fragment 36,Clement Strom. VI, 17, 2)

Water is the most important figure in all T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" and during the whole poem it is the most desired element, as we can notice in this part:

Here is no water but only rock
Rock and no water and the sandy road
The road winding above among the mountains
Which are mountains of rock without water
If there were water we should stop and drink
Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think
Sweat is dry and feet are in the sand
If there were only water amongst the rock
Dead mountain mouth of carious teeth that cannot spit
Here one can neither stand nor lie nor sit
There is not even silence in the mountains
But dry sterile thunder without rain
There is not even solitude in the mountains
But red sullen faces sneer
and snarl
From doors of mudcracked houses
If there were water
And no rock
If there were rock
And also water
And water
A spring
A pool among the rock
If there were the sound of water only
Not the cicada
And dry grass singing
But sound of water over a rock
Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees
Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop
But there is no water

(T.S. Eliott, "The Waste Land", 1922, part V. "What the Thunder Said")

There would be many others works I could quote, but I want to close this post with one song of my favourite singers, Damien Rice.

Cold, cold water surrounds me now
And all I've got is your hand
Lord, can you hear me now?
Lord, can you hear me now?
Lord, can you hear me now,
Or am I lost?

Cheers

Alice

(Photo source 1, photo source 2)

Having fun with Skype

Hi people!

how are you? A new week has just begun...I hope it won't be too hard to face...^_^

This afternoon we're going to speak again with our American friends...it's really cool because last week I enjoyed it very much. Last Monday Lucrezia (a classmate) and I spoke with Francesco (typical American name isn't it?) and it was very very cool. In fact Francesco (as you can all understand) has clearly Italian origins ans he speaks Italian very well...do you know Filippo Nardi (he participated to Italian Big Brother and to another show, Le Iene, some years ago)? Our American friend speaks like him and I like it very much...^_-

We were supposed to talk about alternative sources of energy and at the beginning we did it...but after ten minutes, more or less, we began talking about our lives in general and about stereotypes ^_^. So, we asked him if he is part of a fraternity and he answered he is not and he added he doesn't like people who are in it because in his opinion they're very arrogant and too snob. In fact, Susanne (another classmate) told me that Anthony, the guy she was spoking with, was in a fraternity and he is quite snob.

We also asked Francesco if he knew some stereotypes referring to Italy. Come'on... guess ... you've got them: MANDOLINO, MAFIA and PASTA. So, I asked why he didn't mention PIZZA and he answered that American are convinced they were the first in the world inventing PIZZA...WHAT?! I was very surprised hearding it...PIZZA IS OURS, PIZZA IS ITALIAN !!! ^_^

That's all for the moment

Cheers

Alice

Photo source